{"id":246,"date":"2016-11-17T03:18:47","date_gmt":"2016-11-17T03:18:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thedeepsouth.ca\/?p=246"},"modified":"2016-11-19T05:18:44","modified_gmt":"2016-11-19T05:18:44","slug":"condos-ab-sound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedeepsouth.ca\/?p=246","title":{"rendered":"Condos- A&B Sound"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"absound_bag\"<\/a>Bag from a&b sound<\/a>, boasting about the chain’s ubiquity in Western Canada at its height.<\/em><\/p>\n

Alright, this one gets a little personal.<\/p>\n

If you really want to put things into perspective, there may be nothing better than looking at an old electronics flyer. The bulky, expensive, low-fidelity TVs and stereos. Computers at ridiculous prices with processing power a fraction of the average smart phone today. What may be strangest though is media, and music in particular. I\u2019m sure kids today will find it hard to comprehend that there was a time when you didn\u2019t have access to nearly every song ever recorded from wherever you like. Even the P2P services like LimeWire and Kazaa that were accessible, popular and ground-breaking when I was growing up seem so archaic now; no doubt YouTube and Spotify will seem ancient and strange in a few years as well. Of course I always preferred physical media and got pretty swept up in buying CDs in the early 2000s (and if I\u2019m being honest they\u2019re still what I prefer, although I have to admit, Spotify has been awesome). And if you really want some perspective and more than a little appreciation, look back at how much money we used to spend on things like that. Hell, I can barely comprehend the idea of spending $25 on a CD with one good song on it and I\u2019ve actually done it. <\/p>\n

It must seem like complete madness now. \u00a0But back around 2002 that was still very much how the world was. Sure Napster had already blown up, but it was now a shell of its former self. And between the lawsuits and how sketchy and unreliable its successors were,<\/a> record shops were still doing fairly well. HMV could still get away with charging the outrageous prices. This led me, a kid with a small monthly allowance, to look elsewhere. Wal-Mart and Zellers, to Future Shop, before settling mostly on Music World. The prices were a little better than HMV and it felt comfier. But still, I was mostly into classic rock stuff at the time and it was a bit of a struggle to find older albums. After complaining about this one day my mom recommended I try A&B Sound (stylized a&b sound; I use both) in Millrise. While I had been vaguely aware of it, I\u2019d never been there before\u2026maybe the building was too inconspicuous. Looking back I feel pretty stupid for not going there sooner, because it changed everything.<\/p>\n

\"absound_receipt\"<\/a>From this website, it should be obvious I’m a pretty sentimental guy who’s hung on to a few things. Above is my first receipt from a&b sound.<\/em><\/p>\n

Look at that. It may not seem like much now. In fact, for a lot of people my age and younger, spending even that much on albums might sound crazy. But in 2004 I was amazed. You know what, in 2016 I still am. All three of those albums, 54 40\u2019s Green Album and The Clash\u2019s London Calling and Combat Rock,\u00a0 I still think they\u2019re great. Here are links to all three on Spotify if you want to have a listen and really set the tone for this article:<\/p>\n