Graviton

Last year when I spent three months in Bangkok, I stumbled upon this teeny music vendor in the Chatuchak Weekend Market that sold copies of really great indie, rock, pop, electro, folk, etc. It's a 6x8 ft space with just racks upon racks of CDs. There is only one copy of each album available and they are 100 Baht each. The guy who runs it a) knows everything about every album there and b) knows exactly where they're all located in the crazy mess. It's nuts. I popped by there practically every weekend when I wasn't backpacking outside the city to pick up new tunes. Which is how, despite being abroad for so long, I managed to stay ahead of the new music curve.

Soooooooo GUESS WHAT? I found it today. It took me well over an hour to find it in the maze of stalls, but I did it. This makes me master of the universe because anyone who has ever been to Chatuchak Market can tell you that it is nearly impossible to find the same store ever again because it is just that crazy, crowded and disorienting.

I ended up spending about two hours sitting on the only stool in the teeny tiny stall just shooting the shit with the owner while my stack of CDs-To-Get grew and chatting with other customers. Nothing makes me happier than knowing how many people like good music. I nerded out about bands with people from about a dozen different countries today. I am particularly blown away by how hip to the music scene the Thai youth is. I had a long conversation with an older Thai woman about how awesome Sigur Ros, Stars and Beulah were. Seriously? Most people in the US don't even know who any of those bands are!!! The one downside is that they were out of a few CDs I really wanted: the new The Music album, Lykke Li's full length album (still on import status in the US), The Fashion and the new The Cribs album. Bah. Oh well.

After my stack of CDs reached 31, I had to make myself leave. If I had zero self-control I would have definitely spent the rest of my money there. No joke. It was cool though because the store owner let me pick out an addition 4 CDs for free because a) I had bought so many and b) I essentially talked other customers into buying at least a few dozen albums combined.

Those two hours alone makes my day a complete success. If you ever find yourself in Bangkok, deifnitely hit up Gravitron @ Chatuchak Weekend Market, Section 3 Soi 43/1 (Yes, I took about 20 business cards to ensure I never forget where it is again)