Serious record collectors among you probably know all about it: the biannual Record Planet record-and-CD fair in Utrecht is advertised as "the world's biggest record shop" and features 550+ music retailers from around the world - well, the majority came from Germany and The Netherlands, but there were stalls from, among others, UK, Italy, Belgium, France, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Turkey, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Brazil and the U.S.A. The last edition took place on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 April from 9:00 to 17:00 and, believe me, 8 hours are not enough to see the whole thing - though they're certainly enough to drain your wallet. Some peripheral activities are also taking place, including live music, book presentations, and auctions for the most collectible items, but it's mostly an endless browse-athon. The offer ranged from the super eclectic (rare psychedelic original LP's, Japan-only 7' singles, a stall with hundreds of Afro-pop records etc) to cheap second hand vinyl and CDs, which is my bread-and-butter. After 30 years of collecting (and 60+ years of rock'n'roll history) and despite my best efforts, my record collection still has endless gaps - and not all of them are expensive to fill. In general, prices here are the similar to, or lower than, those on discogs/ebay. Factor in the lack of postage and customs taxes, and you'll find that a visit to the jaarbeurs makes financial sense. And the rarities? Even if you can't afford them, you can still hold those sought-after albums in your hands - even take a selfie with them, if you're not afraid of looking ridiculous. I left the record fair loaded like a mule - you can see some of my catch sprawled on the floor in the photo below. It'll take me a couple of months to listen to everything, let alone present them in my blog. The way it's going I'll need two lifetimes to present what I already have -that's provided I stop buying records today. It's a losing game, but I'll do my best anyway...
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