...the CD rack.
I was at my favourite independent bookstore this afternoon, and picked up a CD by Tigran Mansurian. I'd maybe (maaaaybe) heard the name before, but I'd picked it up because it's part of ECM's New Series, and it's basically a disc full of music I've never heard. For various configurations of strings and occasionally piano.
I picked it up because Kim Kashkashian plays viola on it, and she's one of my favourite violists. I'm a poor player, and her sound and musicality are things I wish I had, even in the smallest quantity.
I haven't heard it yet. We were out late, came back, put the (recorded) ball game on. We're watching the Jays lose to the Mariners. Again. O this cursed season.
Maybe later, after the lake and supper and our twice-a-week call with my partner's parents. This weekend's been flying. I'm drinking coffee right before bed, and I know I'm going to be asleep as soon as I hit the pillow.
Hello, another old fashioned way is this: I semi-regularly visit a store which displays unbelievable stacks of second had LPs and CDs. If I go there, I mostly ask for something, and then I wander off between the stacks. I always find something intriguing. And if I don't like it, I bring it back. I just have to watch my own space :-)
My girlfriend refuses to use Amazon after they grossly mishandled a purchase from her that she did not actually purchase. She'd a huge CD-fanatic and hates streaming music on subquality streams.
She currently uses https://www.discogs.com/ for her needs, a site that has been around far longer than Amazon and has literally everything.
Haha I read that as Kim Kardashian and almost found myself giving her a shred of respect, a re-read quickly fixed that.