We live in the digital age. Unfortunately, that means that people are finding it easier to purchase music online rather than actually stepping outside and making the trip to a local record shop. The grand beauty and smell of a new LP, the liner notes contained inside a CD booklet — simple pleasures like these are becoming lost, abandoned to the true underground appreciators. Record shops are closing left and right in this new era of downloading as more and more people turn to file-sharing and when they're actually in the mood to pay, the unfriendly, unwelcoming world of iTunes.

But no laptop download, torrent file, or MP3 can replace the feeling of entering an indie record shop. The Norm from Cheers welcome you receive makes roaming the bins that much more pleasurable. The feeling is lost when you can simply sit in front of your computer and get the latest what-have-you by who-knows-who for free. We have truly lost our sense of community when we're no longer able to support the shops located right on our doorsteps.

We all have our favorite places to find that special something, though rarely does one go out of their way to do so. So, in an attempt to bring the masses back down to earth, I decided to spotlight two "out of the way" places to find great music at extremely affordable prices; I've also included one record shop you should avoid. To those of you who are still drawn to the thrill of the hunt, I made a list of my favorite Top 10 locations as well, so you can experience music shopping the way it was meant to be.

This article appears in Mar 10-16, 2010.