A  big argument from fans about buying music digitally is that it leaves  out the thrill of “bin browsing.” To a music fan, there’s nothing like a  spontaneous trip to the record store and stumbling upon a copy of that  rare or forgotten gem that suddenly becomes the perfect salve for  what ails you.

But  if you haven’t noticed, there’s a serious lack of local record stores  these days (tips my 40oz. to Under the Mooch/Mohawk Music/Peaches &amp;  more). “Big Box” shops, who carry CDs almost as an afterthought, mostly fail  to deliver on the hidden-gems front, too.

Well  fear not, dusty bin browsers. There’s a damn-near perfect solution for  your musical grab-bag blues. It’s a place that was here before music  shops and the internet, and yet combines the best of both-- browsing  bins and free sampling of music.

It’s more than just Raffi albums and recordings of Tuvan throat singing-- It’s the library, suckers.

Some  locations have a larger selection than others, of course, but with the  Tulsa County Library’s fabulous holds system, you can always get great  stuff brought in. The Netflix-like online catalog is a wonderful tool  and one can spend hours virtually bin-browsing  the wonderful  music titles that the library has, and adding them to your “queue.” You  can have items sent from all over town to your neighborhood location  whenever it’s available.

These  days, Tulsa County Library is doing quite an impressive job at  regularly acquiring lots of new releases. They may not be available the  same week as their national release, but at my location alone, (big ups  to Nathan Hale branch), there were several titles on-shelf that were  released just in the last few months.

You  can also click the “new titles” on the web catalog page to view what  was recently added to the stock. (Current titles include the new  Elton/Leon duet album, Sufjan Stevens, Mavis Staples, Grinderman, and  Lil Wayne . .  yes, Lil Wayne at the mother-scratching library).

Here's a look at my recent library grabs. Cost: $0 + some funny looks from the librarian. (Not a Bread fan, I guess).

<a title="TDTLibStash by tdannerclark, on Flickr" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/tdannerclark/5149930396/"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4003/5149930396_e492738c0c.jpg" alt="TDTLibStash" width="375" height="500" /></a>

Of  course, the library also has a great selection of rock-related movies  and books, including a book on Burlesque Poster Design (which inspired many rock posters). Yes,  librarians aren’t the only sexy thing you’ll find at the library.

So dust off your library card, rude-boy, pay those late fees and go get your rock on at the Tulsa City-County Library. (Not to be confused with getting your rocks OFF, which is still prohibited at the library, by the way. Believe me.)
<h2>PLAYLIST: Revisit the '90s</h2>
Since  I know people that haven’t even been to the library  since researching for their senior paper in ‘97 (cuts eyes to my wife), I  decided to spin the crank on the 'ol Wayback Machine and give you a set  of gems from the 1990s. In case you haven't noticed, I'm kind of obsessed with this decade right now. Fellow music geeks will recognize most of these,  but hopefully you’ll find a few you haven’t heard.

It  blows my mind that we can still find music released during our  adolescence that we’ve never heard before. It reminds us that maybe we  DIDN’T know EVERYTHING like we thought we did. Then it makes us  wonder if there’s things NOW that we don’t know. (Wha?! Get the eff  out!). If only there was a place in our community where we could go to learn  things and stuff . . . .
<ol>
	<li>Silver Jews - "Random Rules"</li>
	<li>Elevator to Hell" - Why I Didn't Like August '93"</li>
	<li>The Dismemberment Plan - "Gyroscope"</li>
	<li>Sleater-Kinney - "Get Up"</li>
	<li>Jawbox - "Savory"</li>
	<li>Built to Spill - "Car"</li>
	<li>Helium - "Pat's Trick"</li>
	<li>The Beta Band - "Dry the Rain"</li>
	<li>Arches of Load - "Web in Front"</li>
	<li>Jesus &amp; Mary Chain - "Little Stars"</li>
	<li>The Magnetic Fields - "Underwear"</li>
	<li>Damien Jurado - "Ohio"</li>
	<li>Neutral Milk Hotel - "Holland, 1945"</li>
	<li>Bonnie Prince Billy - "Another Day Full of Dream"</li>
	<li>De La Soul - "A Roller Skating Jam Named 'Saturdays'"</li>
	<li>Fugazi - "Forensic Scene"</li>
	<li>Solex - "Randy Costanza"</li>
	<li>Mercury Rev - "Holes"</li>
	<li>Bettie Serveert - "Kid's Alright"</li>
	<li>Modest Mouse - "Trailer Trash"</li>
	<li>Guided by Voices - "I am a Scientist"</li>
	<li>Olivia Tremor Control - "No Growing (Exegesis)"</li>
	<li>Of Montreal - "Tim I wish You Were Born a Girl"</li>
	<li>Heatmiser - "Plain Clothes Man"</li>
	<li>Pavement - "Trigger Cut/Wounded-Kite at :17"</li>
</ol>