M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, DeKalb, Illinois * I knew that this day would finally come. Record Revolution, known to loyal customers simply as Record Rev, the last independent music store, which has served our small college town for more than 35 years, will close for good in April.

Store owner Mark Cerny, a good friend of mine, said that the floundering, save-first economy and the ever-expanding Internet has made it difficult for Record Rev to survive.

Things have been so bad for Record Rev lately that a day in which he breaks even is a "good day," Cerny told The Jakarta Post recently.

I knew things were not going well for Record Revolution. The last time I visited, it looked deserted and at a usually busy hour I was the only one flipping through the discounted vinyl bins.

It is very hard for me to forgive myself for not snatching the last vinyl copy of Joy Division's Closer on my last visit. Maybe through the purchase I could have helped Record Rev survive for another day.

In the Northern Illinois University (NIU) campus paper The Northern Star article - written by Derek Walker, a former Record Rev clerk whom I will forever remember for recommending the vinyl of Arcade Fire's Funeral to a friend of mine - Cerny also said that he considered shutting his doors several years ago. "But my love of music kept me coming back and it's amazing that we've kept it going as long as we have," he said.

In the obituary for Record Rev, Walker recalled his happy days of standing behind the counter recommending good music for customers, some of whom are vinyl junkies who need no suggestions about what new music to buy.

"It's one of those dream jobs, up there with firefighter and astronaut," Walker said.

The saddest part about Record Rev's closing is that the NIU community will lose one of the most important learning institutions, a signifier of how civilized we are. Walker said that the Rev is more than a retail outlet or a place to flip through posters, it is above all else an environment to learn, to grow and to come together in.

Growing and coming together we were indeed. When the storefront's neon lights are switched off for good on April 25, what I will miss the most will be the shared experience of finding good music with the assistance from the good people at Record Rev.

I still remember when Walker handed me the fresh vinyl copy of In The Aeroplane Over the Sea, a low-fi masterpiece from Denver's seminal indie band Neutral Milk Hotel, or when I threw my hands up high, half-screaming, when I stumbled upon an old copy of The Kinks' 1967 pastoral rock LP Something Else.

When graduate school wore me down, Record Rev was the perfect place to escape. At times I felt very bad having to come back to the store two or three times a day just to make sure that the rare vinyl copy of Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, from Chicago's own Wilco, was still in the new arrivals bin and could wait for another day or two until I received my monthly stipend.

As much as I have mourned Record Rev's demise, I still can't stomach the fact that the record store will fly the white flag this soon, especially when statistics from the record industry gave me enough reason to be optimistic.

Last year, the number of vinyl records sold leaped from 988,000 in 2007 to 1.88 million - an 89 percent spike. Although the sales from vinyl only made up 0.1 percent of total music sales in 2008, it was still good news, as the steep increase took place in a year that saw a 14 percent decrease across the board, as the music rag Rolling Stone reported in its January edition.

The big leap in records sales can be attributed in part to a decision by Capitol Records to release the back catalog of some of its big-name performers on vinyl. Among the old and modern classics that Capitol re-issued on vinyl last year were the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds, all Radiohead albums recoded by the label, from Pablo Honey to OK Computer, as well as Coldplay's first three albums Parachute, A Rush of Blood To The Head and X&Y. I could not be more grateful when Record Rev provided me with vinyl copies of Pet Sounds and OK Computer at a student-friendly price with a 10 percent discount.

Now I also know why Record Rev always had a copy of In The Aeroplane Over The Sea in the new arrivals bin. The 1998 classic came in sixth, ahead of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon, in last year's list of the biggest vinyl sellers. In The Aeroplane's surreal painting of a tambourine-headed lady sure looks good on a larger canvass.

Now my heart sinks whenever I drive by Record Rev and see that "retirement sale 20 percent off," sign. I remember all the good people who ran the store with love and passion that has provided me with a lifeline in the past two years.

I am sure that Cerny will have no regrets closing his store for good. In fact, I believe that he is proud of prevailing for so long. There's also a sense of pride that his store, located deep in a sleepy Midwestern college town, is known in half a world away.

"Now we are famous in your country," Cerny told me recently, showing me the printout of the Sunday edition of this newspaper that published a story about his store.

It was the least I could do to return the favor.

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