favorite and least favorite record store in your city/town/village

Worst? There's so many crappy little ones its hard to say... I sorta have a soft spot for *any* record store I see, to be honest.

I always appreciated Cheapo Records when I was in Mpls., their used selection was phenomenal.

my favorite small store in SF is Grooves. all used vinyl and listening stations (key). and Ray is my homie. he's always dancing around drunk and stoned and telling me crazy stories.

my least favorite is Groove Merchant just because Cool Chris has attitude. their selection is pretty rad, but their prices are pretty steep (if only because they know what's up w/the hard to find shit).

i also never venture into the tons of techno/house/dj stores around town just because i don't buy that kinda stuff on vinyl, so maybe those are my least favorite? i still go into Groove Merchant

MOST FAVORITE: NYCD on the Upper West Side, though to my knowledge, they've never stocked a single Killing Joke disc (and Jaz even exhorted at them once for it, bless'im). Still, great selection, knowledgable staff, nice guys...if only they weren't way the hell out of the way.

LEAST FAVORITE: Well, apart from the chain stores, I'd say Rockit Scientist (formerly on Carmine, now on St. Mark's). For a start, they stock only MOJO-rock (i.e. fodder for readers of said Dadrock Bible). Secondly, they're INSUFFERABLY patronizing. Fuck those guys where it hurts.

re big box stores: i think they're a push. overall i find that places like tower, target, and best buy can be great for certain new mainstream stuff, and cheap catalogue titles. target had the nirvana box for $27 on Black Friday, which almost made it worth it.

i've gotten a lot of rare vinyl at eat for cheap, plus they're nice guys that do occasional shows there, too.

IN THEIR DEATH THROES
- Record Runner
- Rebel Rebel
- Sounds

When I was a wee lad, I remember swearing by unlikely spots like the CRAZY EDDY's on E.86th Street (staffed by Brian, a Punk Rocker who liked Kiss) and DISC-O-MAT on E.59th Street (around the corner from the long-gone Comic Art Gallery and now a Coconuts or FYE or something).`Twas there I first bought London Calling, Prince Charming and For Those About to Rock...

-- j.m. lockery (jlocker...) (webmail), January 18th, 2005.

Yeah, it was sort of. They had about four locations in North Carolina, and I think yours was the only South Carolina store. Mid to late 2004, though, the owner decided to close shop and shut all the stores down. Thankfully though, someone bought the Charlotte store and re-opened it. Now it's better than ever. Thank God for that because otherwise there woldn't be a single music store in Charlotte worth going to. I'd have to drive to Chapel Hill for all my music purchases. As far as I know, every other Manifest Discs location is still closed.

ah, this takes me back...

My current fave: R0x in Yr Head.
Least fave: Same as Alex in NYC's- the proprietor has a major case of Record Store Guy 'tude. With new location, no reason to go in there if you can go to Kim's.

R.I.P. GREAT RECORD STORES OF NYC'S PAST:
What about Midnight Records going mail-order only?

R.I.P. CRAPPY RECORD STORES OF NYC'S PAST:
Jimmy's Music World

When I was growing up in Queens, I used to ride my bike to buy records at the E.J. Korvette's in Douglaston- I even got a copy of Modern Lovers Live there.

What was the record store at the entrance to Grand Central Station? Was it a DISC-O-MAT? If so it was a good one.

For some reason I really hate Other Music. It's just, WHY do people love it so much? Beats me.

Scott - Was Bleeker Bob's featured in that Seinfeld ep. when Kramer and Newman are selling used LP's?

Bleeker Bob's Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions
[the setup: two unsuspecting music lovers walk in and hear a tape of Elvis Costello doing his pre-Goodbye Cruel World solo performances.]

KL : Is this the Elvis Costello acoustic show?
BB Counterman: No, it's the Elvis Costello heavy metal show.
KL's friend: Who made this? Did you make this?
BB Counterman: God made it.

EVERYONE should buy stuff from Rocks in Your Head. They're having big tough times, financially, and everyone should help them out. When they go, there's one less reason for me to stay in NYC.

Anyone remember Lunch for Your Ears?

Other Music is also insufferably pretentious, but their re-release section (right near the register. They call it something smarmy like "ancient history" or something, but they do have good stuff) is worth the trip.

I hate the way Kim's refers to certain acts as "the establishment". Yeah, like buying a fuckin' Hot Hot Heat disc is really a blow against the empire or something.

Yeah, I thought they only kept albums around for the clueless tourists.

where i live now, there are 2 stores. one good. one bad. the good one has been very good to me. kompakt cds, old vinyl at good prices, the new ugly things when it come out. they are a great little store!

Anyone remember It's Only Rock'n'Roll on W.8th Street?

They call it something smarmy like "ancient history" or something
I believe they call it "Then."

Rockridge has a little Hayes Valley-esque shopping district (only bigger and slightly chic.) I presume that's where they are.

Yeah. Saturn is on College south of Claremont, and then there are two record stores on Claremont west of College. I bet there are a couple others, as well. All three have some really great finds, if you like vinyl or just older stuff in general. Not particularly hip on new releases.

to scott: 9th st is still great! 3rd st more or less *became* aka when mike ho44man opened it up on n. 2nd. they're going to expand ridiculously sometime later this spring, featuring two floors and a mezzanine! it should flatten their old location at 7 n. 2nd. and their return to greatness should follow shortly thereafter.

spaceboy's a mixed bag. their vinyl is cheap, but they have so little space that they don't have much to offer beyond new releases and catalogue flavors of the month.

yeah, repo on south street was pretty lame.

yeah, i liked a.k.a. they always had something cool.

worst: um, the death of track records and sam the record man

Here in Seattle, I adore Easy Street. I don't really have a least favorite.

i don't go into the record ex very often down here. generally overpriced, and a bit dodgy on quality to boot. they get the best instores though.

now that i live an hour and a half from boston i really have to make more trips to cambridge when i have the money. they've got lotsa great vinyl there!! I still haven't even made it to twisted village yet.

I lost my copy of 'Space is the Place,' so I can't look this up: Was it 9th Street or 3rd Street Jazz that was at the center of that hilarious tale of Sun Ra seven-inches?

-- j.m. lockery (jlocker...), January 18th, 2005.

Yeah, it was sort of. They had about four locations in North Carolina, and I think yours was the only South Carolina store. Mid to late 2004, though, the owner decided to close shop and shut all the stores down. Thankfully though, someone bought the Charlotte store and re-opened it. Now it's better than ever. Thank God for that because otherwise there woldn't be a single music store in Charlotte worth going to. I'd have to drive to Chapel Hill for all my music purchases. As far as I know, every other Manifest Discs location is still closed.

-- Mickey (modestmicke...), January 19th, 2005.

The Greenville Manifest location (I live in Greenville) was bought and the name changed to "Earshot Music" which is probably the worst possible name for a music store. Its still a good store though, and thankfully they didn't change too much as far as what they carry.

BEST in Seattle... way too many to name:

Easy Street (Lower Queen Anne location).. probably the best of the semi-big indie stores in town. With occasional holes, they have a little bit of everything.. literally. Huge used section. Nice vinyl section too.. even though you now have to bring your own needle to preview.

Everyday Music (Capitol Hill).. up there with Easy Street, though the vinyl section could use some work. However, the CD selections are HUUUUUUUUGE!.. especially now that they are a two-level store. You can easily spend an entire day looking through the used CDs alone. And it's open til 11pm or midnight every day. (the original stores are in Portland)

Jive Time Records (Fremont, Capitol Hill)... probably the most controversial of the ones I list here. A lot of people give the store(s) flak for overpricing the rarer records, but the one thing that's consistent about Jive Time is that almost all their records are in great condition -- vinyl and album jacket. They'll always mark down a less than stellar album jacket or less than good quality vinyl to a reasonable price, even if it's a rare record. You can also catch up on all your ELP, 10cc, Sugarloaf, ELO, and other 60s/70s rock for very cheap -- with good condition vinyl too. And the people who work there are the greatest. (Tim, formerly of Fallout records, now works there.)

Sonic Boom records (Fremont, Ballard, Capitol Hill).. the staff could be nicer or seem a little more motivated, but they do have the most competitive prices on new releases almost always.. the best prices even compared to Amoeba.

Singles Going Steady (Belltown).. with the demise of Fallout records, this is pretty much your one-stop shop now for any loud form of rock music.. be it Crust, Grind, Punk, Hardcore, Metal.. and they carry a lot of obscure stuff too. They even have a small hip hop section as well. Nick, who works there, is a human hardcore/punk encyclopedia (he introduced me to bands like Gauze, Gism, Eater, and other lesser known obscure old hardcore and punk that has dated very well), and he's a super nice guy to boot.

Zion's Gate Metal (all kinds), dub, and electronic dance music. Cd and vinyl. The staff is EXTREMELY helpful, very knowledgeable, and will try their best to answer your questions. Amazing dub/dancehall vinyl selection.

WORST in Seattle... this one's hard because the independent stores that aren't that hot don't think that they're hot shit really (except for one guy at one store), so these aren't necessarily BAD as much as they are not worth too much of your time.. however, they are well worth taking advantage of, due to bad pricing schemes. Bad pricing usually means GOOD THINGS to vinyl geeks:

Second Time Around (University District)... Biggest indie prick in the city works there. Me wanting to listen to used copy of the second OOIOO record.. guy's response: "Sigh.. you KNOW these guys are a Boredoms side project, right?". Like, I had no fucking right to listen to the record because of that fact, and I didn't already know that, assprick. It was a cheap excuse to either show off or show off complete lack of social skills. I haven't stepped foot into the store since.

Platinum Records (Capitol Hill)... this one is a bit torturous because they have a really decent selection of new hip hop and dance of all sorts, but I think every female DJ friend of mine in town has been given the "so are you just helping your boyfriend pick records?" comment. Then again, I think these are becoming legacy stories moreso than current stories. Then again, I haven't walked into the stores with boobs on my chest before. *shrug* (another store originally from Portland)

Sonic Boom Vinyl Annex (Fremont)... there's one guy I really like there, but over all, I feel uncomfortable with the "Hey, Bro!" atmosphere there. Their whole "WE don't over-PRICE records like SOME stores in town do" attitude is going to quickly gentrify their vinyl selection in no time. On the plus, I get to find a lot of really rare records there for cheap, with the staff fulling knowing that fact. It's perplexing, but I'm not complaining.

Gruv (Capitol Hill)... mainly for people who want used DVDs and generic dance music CDs. No problem with that. My only problem is that the staff there treats me like a prospective criminal upon purchase. Granted, maybe I just have "that look", or caught them on a bad day.. still. (Granted also, they operate on Broadway, which is a highway for sketcher/street kids, so they probably deal with a lot of shit.)

BEST AND WORST AT THE SAME TIME in Seattle:

Bop Street Records (Ballard)... It was a tough to put this in any category, but this qualifies as a quagmire just because of the unpredictable nature of your shopping experience. It will definitely be disillusioning whenever the owner is in the store at the front. However, you can spend hours in the basement of probably one of the biggest stockpiles of vinyl you'll ever see in your life. If you're looking for almost any rock or soul or jazz record from the 60s or 70s that was at least semi-known, there will probably be at least three copies of it down there.. granted in dusty and not so great shape, usually. But it's quite a stockpile. It's quite the jaw-dropping experience for any vinyl shopper. The PROBLEM is: then you'll go up and spend two hours with the owner as he just decides, using a combination of reading a pricing book and his very odd logic, to give you $5 for a rare record, or maybe $50 for a not-so-rare record that you really want, or $35 for a 99 cent record... It's really painful. It doesn't help whenever you go downstairs and you see the owner's "friends" sleeping in the basement like they live there. Very very surreal and awkward.
HOWEVER.. when the "other" guy works there..(usually during Mountain Goats shows at the Tractor Tavern next door), the dude will be cooler and just say "OK, I'll just let you have that for free, just for gettin' these others here", even if the dude still uses the pricing book.

ps. thanks brian for not giving me that list BEFORE i came to Seattle.

from my NYC experience.. I had an awkward moment with some folks at Other Music. One of the staff was seemingly guarding a big section of the vinyl, which is something not uncommon for a homeboy to do at Amoeba records in L.A. in the bootleg dance sections, or other vinyl record stores in So Cal.. so I asked if the guy was guarding the section.. and then all the staff starts laughing and the guy goes "YES! I'm guarding the vinyl. You can't look there." and stood there for a while before he let me in on his sarcasm. OK, fine.. cultural difference.. ha ha ha. Still though.. that really soured my experience there.

Earwax in Wmsbrg. was just fine for the one time I was there. Although I had to guide the one tall slow guy with the glasses to find a Dome CD because he was looking for it in the "D" section, even though it was filed under "W" for "Wire". There was also a really large line behind me, and there was no sense of urgency from the staff about this large line of people. Anyway, I found some good cheapies there. It's a small store, so I can understand it getting old hopping in there all the time, but for a one-off visit, no major complaints here.

Kim's near Columbia was kinda weird. The staff there seemed unhappy... *really* unhappy. (then again, knowing former Kim's employees, I guess that shouldn't be shocking to me at all.)

I hate this more than anything on earth. it drives me crazy and makes me homicidal.

too bad: Disquivel RIP

Everyday Music (downtown, NE) Damn. This pretty much is where you go to get music in da PDX, folks. Stores are humongous and many great bargains to be had.

Portland, OR WORST:

Jackpot Records.. I won't go into the issues with the store staff. but UGH THOSE REALLY UGLY BLINDING PAPER CARDS THAT HOLD THE CDs! I understand it's great to conserve space, and it is a unique approach, but man it just makes the store seem much smaller than it really is. And that bright-words-on-white thing makes me dizzzzzzy.

Honorable mention for BEST goes to Ozone and Ozone UK (despite the name of the latter store).. although it's hard to call it THE best, now that they since split up into two halves that are a combined paler shadow of their former incarnation as a single store. :/

I remember some decent stores in Columbus. Have they gone? You can always drive to LUNA Music in Indianapolis.

Vancouver BEST:

Beat Street (downtown).. best hip hop vinyl store in the northwest. Possibly the west coast altogether. Fatbeats in L.A. is great, of course, but have they finally allowed you to preview vinyl there? If so, I'll rethink the "best in the west" claim. Otherwise, it still stands for Beat Street.

Otis (Davie St. and Davie St.)... it's weird. there are two different Otis stores on the same street just blocks away. The better one is away from the main strip, where the more "collector" one is on the strip. Anyway, great dance/disco/new wave/80s used vinyl finds, and the guys there will always price down your stuff and not charge you tax.

Zulu Records (Kitsilano)... the equivalent of Easy Street in Seattle, or Everyday Music in Portland. Large store, great selection of almost everything.

Active Pass (downtown, bordering on Gastown).. small store, but best techno vinyl store for my tastes in the northwest. Very friendly staff, very interesting selection.

Audiopile (Commercial Dr.)... yeah, the store owner may seem like Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons, but he's a really nice guy, and he could get away with charging a lot more for some of the legitimately rare records he does have and sell. The vinyl section has gotten quite huge. I also happen to find GREAT used CD finds there. Found Schoolly D's Smoke Some Kill there for $9CAN.. which is its worth, at least.

Vancouver WORST:

Black Swan records (Kitsilano) if it still exists... maybe a decent folk and classic rock section.. but ROCKISM is the M.O. of the staff. I actually bought a 99 cent record that was an early 90s Madstock breakbeat cover of the Smith's "Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now".. and the sticker on the record said "almost as bad as the original!". All new wave or 80s records, rare or not, are automatically "crap" and go to the bargain bin. Yay for me, the 80s vinyl fan!

Vinyl something.. shit, I forget the name of the store.. maybe it closed down.. all for the best, surely. but it is or was near Granville and Pender or something.. they're apparently a store whose owner will go out to the other vinyl stores, find the cheap but uncommon stuff, and then charge something incredibly ridiculous for it.. like twice something even a nut on eBay would pay for it.

Wrong-o. There's Magnolia Thunerpussy and School Kids/Used Kids in Columbus, and there's the truly remarkable (for its remote location) Threshhold Audio in Newark, Ohio (wherein I prized my first Cocteau Twins album in the chilly autumn in 1985).

(Lights up on youthful, bright-eyed, rosy-cheeked customer, BILLY, from the Midwest, browsing the pretentious "Out" section at Other Music. He approaches the clerk, MASAHR, a sallow, sickly, gangling fellow propped up on a stool.)

Billy: Excuse me--(Masahr emits an low gurgle)--excuse me, it seems like you might be out of the (Referring hesitantly to print-out of Pitchfork's "Best New Music" page) Soof-jan.. Stevens disc I'm looking for. I checked under--(Another gurgle)--are you okay? (Masahr attempts to gesture, but falls off the stool, dead, and lands in a heap, crushing his horn-rimmed glasses.) Oh my god! (A wiser customer, THURSTON, has overheard their conversation, and approaches.)

Thurston: Don't worry, he's dead.

Billy: (Horrified) What did I do?

Thurston: You must have said the name of a band that wasn't Swedish--or Arthur Russel. (Another Clerk, LAHASIA, lurches by soullessly towards Masahr's body and begins feasting on it. Thurston addresses her.) Excuse me, befrielse från förpliktelse förevändning, undanflykt "Kenneth Higney - Attic Demonstration" låta gå på toaletten? (They laugh, as Lahasia lights up and momentarily becomes something resembling a human.)

Lahasia: (Picking out a record from the shelf) Jodå. (She smiles and begins to walk off before Thurston stops her.)

Thurston: Oh, and, dödsfall bergmån ein "Application"? (She falls over dead.)

BLACKOUT

The ones to avoid studiously are virtually every single place on Melrose. Shabby selection for the most part, high prices, half the places are staffed with assholes. Atomic Records in North Hollywood has lots of stuff, but the prices are mostly too much. It's a collector store in the worst sense of the word. Vinyl Fetish never did it for me at all, plus the stupidest thing they could have done was move from Los Feliz on Vermont Ave to Cahuenga Ave half a block up from Amoeba. Rhino Records has gone to shit. Five years ago it was pretty good, but now it's not worth the trip because a) the selection and prices are so shit and b) Aron's and Amoeba are ten times as good. Pennylane is awful, true. Second Spin is pretty much crap. Wherehouse isn't even on the radar anymore.

oh and Freakbeat's on Ventura Blvd up in Sherman Oaks is okay, I guess, but I never go there.

best - princeton record exchange. bigger, better, faster, more, more more. i can walk in there with 20$ and come out with 10 amazing things.

worst - repo records. the selection sucks and the newly opened vinyl basement smells HORRIBLE. as my friend says, "that place is an assault of the senses."

everywhere else is somewhere in the middle.

Musicwerks (Capitol Hill)... now the fact that they are an exclusively goth/industrial/experimental electronic record store is not what makes them bad! it's the really high prices on the CDs, and that the guy behind the counter is constantly on the phone, non stop.. dare you actually have a question, be ready to spend an afternoon waiting for his drama to resolve.

i would've mentioned prx, but i never get up there, best intentions aside. that place has on more than one occasion forced me to sell a recently purchased cd because a mint LP was available for under 3 bux.

goddammit. this is the store that i went into first. it was around the corner from my hotel. i found so much shit i was looking for (he had a great soul section), but everything was soooo expensive. but it was 20% off for boxing day and i figured the US dollar was a bit higher. so i bought a few things, passed on a few others and left. the one thing i'd been looking for was a Rasputin's Stash (black acid rock) and got it for $35. i go around the corner to Beat Streat and find the same fucking record for $16!!!

also, he had two copies of the same Jorge Ben record. one for $35 and one for $28. the $28 one was fucking broken!!!

Also honorable mention to Georgetown Records in Seattle, partly because they are in my 'hood. They have a terrific littls shop, and all of the folks there I have talked to are friendly and, even if they aren't sure what you're buying you can tell they care about music in general. Only problem is that their selection is pretty skimpy. Hopefully it will improve if they stick around. They've been open less than a year...

Only truly shitty thing I've ever heard of there is one time Jen found some stuff and the fucker (not the owner) actually had the balls to tell her he wasn't sure if the owner really wanted to sell that stuff or not. Took her phone number and then, of course, never called.

Record Surplus is VERY cheap on their shit, as I mentioned above, and most of it is in insanely good condition. You can find some great old jazz records for under ten bucks on LP, for example. One time I saw one of the guys from ATOMIC RECORDS on his cell phone with a sheet of paper, consulting someone on the other end of the line, holding a stack of vinyl. I guarantee the motherfucker was going to charge thrice as much at his place. I haven't gone back since.

jackpot was certainly more indie-centric, which means limited selection, but what they had was pretty cool, and the store is fun to shop in.

But wow this place is soooo much better than that Warehouse place that used to be a block away. That was like a walmart!

Seattle record stores have really come of age since I've lived here. When I first moved here at the end of '98, there just simply weren't any good stores, and it seems like it had been that way for a long, long time. It's astounding how far things have progressed since then.

One store that it occurs to me hasn't been mentioned is Silver Platters. I tend to go to them more often than other stores simply because they're closest to my house. It's a kind of sterile atmosphere, CD's only, and sometimes things are overpriced. But I like the fact that they try to keep most of an artist's discography in stock. Sometimes it will occur to me I want things that Sonic Boom just doesn't have. That's one thing that really irks me about SB sometimes: soooo indie-centric. They'll have this release by some little known band from Arizona, but god forbid if you want something a little more standard like an old Roxy Music or Stranglers disc.

I went to college in Ohio. I don't recommend it.

and for ambience, id pick the tower records on broad & chestnut because there's always crazy and/or homeless people in there.

In any event, in Michigan: Metro Detroit Area - Seek Neptune records
Suburban, west bloomfield type area - Switched On
West side of the state - There's only one in Grand Rapids, but it's very good.

WHACKITY... what a hit to the gut. dude, that record store OWNZ. sure, it's not the megaromp that amoeba or rasputins is. it's not the brit import glory of modlang or weird of aquarius...but ... the spockmorgue weirdo section, the singles selection, the rarities... etc etc. i guess dicks just happen or something. i always thought the staff there was rad. but i was a semi-regular passing it from the bart to and from work.

ugh, i miss cali.

nashville, the best is grimeys... and the worst is probably grimeys... or not. i dunno. times have changed there, so it's hard to judge. the store is good, and the people are less annoying, but the store will ultimately not be the MEGAHAVEN of elsewhere for me personally because my taste is skewed from the average "cool" of nashville. cool here is uniquely different. that means, even if the people recognize that i'm selling them back something really cool and worth decent credit, they'll often pass because they realize it probably won't sell in their used bin. so i can't "rent" music. that sucks.

(off 12th was the best. great escape suffers occasionally from being a used only sort of place for records/cds...but their comics, etc stuff ownz.)

raleigh-durham-chapel hill... the best was easily cd alley in chapel hill... worst was probably school kids in raleigh... the store is too safe with what they get in. at least i hope that's why they are classically a month or two behind. otherwise, i'm a smug asshole and they have the taste of a lard snail on a donkey headed for nowheresville. (ah meanness.)

m.

i found some really strange 70s british 2xlp copy of Tago Mago there

It's not a record store (all the other proper record stores in Tallahassee are chain stores), but the worst place to buy music from in Tallahassee would be this New Age/neo-hippie store called Crystal Connection. They have a terrible selection of music to begin with, but new/shrinkwrapped cassettes are between $12-15 dollars, and new CDs are $22. I don't know what gives...

my buddies would sing the praises of vinyl fever. since you mention tallahassee...

nostalgia-wise, i must mention gainesville... the best was shaft. it was gone last i checked. wayward council is deece in it's co-op punk way. hyde n zeke's always ebbed and flowed in quality. if dude had the right kids working there, stuff was proper. urband wax was awesome for dance stuff. sucky was... bobaloos? i dunno. hnz could suck a nad.

m.

i wish i'd appreciated Rhymes when it was around. coulda grown up a punk.

db....just want to chip in on the praise of this great little independent. was in seattle this past friday [to catch the neurosis/jarboe gig] and the dreadlocked guy was way helpful. he recommended Floor to me,and i am really enjoying the 'dove' cd.

Vancouver ::
...really have to give a nod to scratch on seymour. very helpful staff,better overall prices than Zulu [which i also love} and a great little record label as well.Black Mountain anyone?

rasputin's (two locations, vinyl/used, and cds)
amoeba
leopold's
something like 3 tower records, including one that was nothing but classical music
mod lang
the musical offering (classical)
and, like, a wherehouse or something on shattuck.

Leopold's was amazing for imports, I bought so many duritti column CDs there, and weird ass import vinyl 12"s. Amoeba pretty quickly took their steam away when they opened up; Rasputin's just became crappier and crappier until they (recently) got a little better.

Mod Lang is still my favorite because the owners are nice and it's on the way home.

their tastes have gotten really specific there, after finding the new location when i was back in detroit for the holidays i discovered i was not cool enough to shop there anymore.

I like Scratch.. would never put it in my worst list, by any means. But I've come out dry after the last few visits.. and I can't preview vinyl there, last I checked. so I couldn't really put it under best, either. :/ that said, I think Scratch is a much better record label, mainly because they still devote time and money to release stuff by Sean Byrne aka Bugskull, one of the most overlooked musicians ever.

...neurosis....AND jarboe!!! i would not have missed it even if it had snowed all day! terrific sound and josh graham[red sparowes] doing the very effective visuals.
fyi donut bitch/christ ::jarboe has pics and some comments about the show on her site.

-- keith m (keythkeyt...), January 19th, 2005.

Sure you are. You love everything on Rune Grammofon, Touch, Kompakt, Areal, Traum, M-nus, Eclipse, Table of the Elements, and VHF, don't you?

Yer crazy. We had a couple of stores before you got here in '98, but it's good to see we are "progressing". I've been shopping for junk since the early eighties and there's always been a hot store or two and several functional places to score.

One store that it occurs to me hasn't been mentioned is Silver Platters - that's because it sucks rod. Saying Silver Platters is "sometimes...over priced" is like saying sometimes people need to breathe.

I don't go to Sonic Boom that much but I think they identify themselves as an indie rock store, so it's not too surprising that they are indie-centric. Space probably dictates that they can't have everything they'd like to.

I'm surprised at how many people upthread are looking for "ambience" and "friendly staff" - I'm usually looking for cheap, underpriced shit and people who leave me alone...

OT motherfucking M

this is a major part of what *I* mean by ambience at a record store.

As for the other part: Call me old fashioned, but I'd rather frequent a store where the staff are friendly and knowledgable, where the store is well-organized, and where the light is friendly than at the slightly cheaper hellhole you guys seem to prefer.

I find it interesting that you fail to name which stores you found to be "hot". The only one that particularly appealed to me was Soundwaves, but that was ALL the way down in Burien! Sonic Boom was little more than a hole in the wall, for example. And although Easy Street was pretty good, it also was a long way down there in West Seattle, not very convenient to get to. I do think having them open up the huge Queen Anne location, as well as Sonic Boom's expansion and addition of 3 stores represented leaps and bounds of progress, don't you? I used to just go to the U-District most of the time and scout the ones on the ave but I can't even count the times I failed to find what I was looking for. Perhaps it's really our buying habits that account for our difference of opinion here: you like "shopping for junk", i.e. digging through and seeing what you can find. Nothing wrong with that, but I usually have something very specific in mind when I go music shopping, and I don't want to have to wait for it or drive too far. Hence, sometimes Silver Platters just suits my needs.

The really shocking thing is that lately I've been finding some very pleasant people working at Mondo Kim's. It's kind of scary.

Favorite record store currently is the downstairs of Bleeker Street Records (not to be confused with Bleeker Bob's) which apparently is owned by the same people who run Generation on Thompson. They have a really interesting, though totally random, collection of obscure vinyl from the 70's and 80's.

by Vinyl something.. shit, I forget the name of the store.. maybe it closed down.. all for the best, surely. but it is or was near Granville and Pender or something.. they're apparently a store whose owner will go out to the other vinyl stores, find the cheap but uncommon stuff, and then charge something incredibly ridiculous for it.. like twice something even a nut on eBay would pay for it.
do you mean Crosstown Records/Vinyl at Pender and Richards? if so, yes, it's closed down, probably for the best.

just up Granville from Pender is Noize records, but I've always found them helpful, lots of 80's stuff relatively cheap.

Just read in the paper that A&B Sound is in financial trouble, and may be sold to some american buyer. They're interested in 'preserving the brand' and such, but they're also talking about store renovations etc. which really bothers me. A&B is where I started buying music, and it hasn't really changed since. it'll be the end of an era, y'know. Plus, they're really cheap, and I bet that's gonna change.

hey donut christ :: really make an effort to get up here to vancouver for your boxing day shopping this year as both zulu and scratch run 10/15/20 % off sales. i grabbed the black mountain at scratch before its release for just $9 can.

search: buying things on the internet, cdepot, smash! (for random used vinyl), joes record paradise
destroy: maybe cd/game exchange, but i do always find rare-ish stuff there for super-cheap.

My problem now is that I used to be able to get to NYC record stores after work, but now I work in Queens, and it's a barren wasteland here for record stores. I used to go to Empire Records out in Garden City, but it's on the brink of death and not really stocking anything decent.
Anyone have any recommendations for Queens and Nassau?

That space used to be occupied by vinyl stronghold, Goldendisc. I miss that place, actually.

Running a very close second is the perennial favorite, Newbury Comics - which is basically good for everything non-import, with relatively good prices to boot.

My initial knee-jerk “least favorite” reaction was going to be the Virgin Mega on the corner of Mass. Ave. and Newbury St., but its selection surely makes up for its hyper-inflated prices. Although Twisted Village is import-friendly, they sure as sh*t weren't going to bring in Jimpster's Selected Remixes 2000/2003 anytime soon.

Which pretty much leaves Strawberries all alone in the least favorite trash heap. All of its outlets are awful. And sadly have been for years. Although I do love their gigantic red neon sign facing the Charles River – it's as Boston to me as that Citgo sign.

Pretty sure this is not Crosstown. They guy there was fair and cheap. More than likely you are refering to that little English Troll named Geoff who formely owned the Beatles museum (several locations) and also a store a couple of blocks east of Crosstown on Pender. He's a rip off merchant extraordinaire. Or else he just has no idea of the value of records. Now he just sells framed pages of ads clipped from old copies of the NME on E-Bay and I think he's about to move into his, like, millionth location next door to Cockney King's Fish'n'chip shop in Burnaby(after being in 4 Alexander Street up till last summer - nope nobody ever heard of him there either).

Zulu and Scratch are all I need in Vancouver.

I like Scratch a lot, not the least for being consistently $2-3 cheaper than Zulu. I like Zulu for the used selection.

I found both a lot of hip hop/r&b and a double Iannis Xenakis CD there for cheeeap, the latter in fluorescent orange double jewel case. Xenakis PLUR! :)

is van unusual in having zillions of cheap used cd stores? or are all the other metropoli equally blessed? (i really love how vancouver has hijacked this thread)

I think the gazillion-generic-used-CD-hole-in-the-wall thing is a Canadian thing.. at least a big Canadian city thing. I've seen them also in Toronto and Montreal and Victoria and even Nanaimo. Kinda like the pizza-slice-for-a-loonie places. But there was also that element in used CD shops in London as well... so it's probably a cross-European thing I'm guessing. (there's even a couple of places like that in Reykjavik, outside the main indie shop, 12 Tónar, and that bigger more commercial shop)

haha, looking over my collection, i'd estimate that maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of my cds have come from charlies. hooray!

I do NOT like Other Music, Second Hand Rose, Downtown Music Gallery (picked over & overpriced vinyl, though sometimes they do get good stuff), Etherea, Kim's (even though I'll shop their sometimes, it's just a bummer to be there usually.)

It seems that there is indeed million little places that sell used CDs, but i find that in most of them selection is poor and price is too high (i wonder how they survive? is it just a cover for something else, or do they sell stolen cds?)

Charlie's stuff is overpriced imo (ha, and i did apply for a job there once). So i would say, Zulu's used section, Otis on Davie (some good older electronica stuff from 90's), also there is a small store on Commercial (don't remember the name), got MBV "Isn't Anything" for $5.

Vancouver Island seems to be a better place to shop for used CDs, better selection/lower prices (at least in Nanaimo).

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/culture/2012/07/6226589/records-capital-presents-documentary-about-final-days-bleecker-bobs

Lots of threads about record store clerks, but I couldn't find any about customers... I'm sure this is all part of the general trend of people coming out of the pandemic not knowing how to act in public and record stores aren't any worse/better than any other retail shop, but jesus the customers I've been around lately have been joyless turds that suck the fun out of hitting up shops. I feel so much for clerks right now.

Mainly just general rude/entitled asshats and people who demand the clerks personally shop their lists for them, item by item. But also people that go above and beyond that, with just complete disregard for other shoppers.

Earlier today I hit up a smallish local and wanted to check the new release bin, but there was this big burly dude standing at the bin with his partner, pulling every single record out individually to show the partner and talk about it. I get it, but the place was kinda busy, so maybe not do that? I hovered for a bit, but it was clear that this dude wasn't going anywhere soon, but he was proceeding at about a rate of about one record every 2-3 minutes by the time they were dons discussing each. So I went over and browsed elsewhere for about twenty minutes, but he was still there. Repeat and browsed again for another 15 minutes - still there. So I went and stood right by him, hoping he'd get the point. Nope, no dice. So finally I asked him if he was nearly done, he glared at me as if I'd asked how soon his dog was going to die. No verbal response, other than a grunt, and went back to it even more slowly. So I finally gave up, I didn't have any more time to wait, so I went to checkout with my purchase. As I'm wrapping up, they finally get done and walk out without buying a single fucking record.

That sucks. I haven’t seen that before but today I overheard a young guy browsing records with a young woman and she asked him if he had a record player and he said he didn’t but he sometimes buys them anyway. Anyway it seems maybe some deals are finally starting to show up again on used vinyl. I got a couple of good records for $5 each. Incredible String Band “Big Huge” in decent condition and a pristine copy of Audacity’s Mellow Cruisers.

hate people looking shit up on their phones while shopping especially when they’re standing where I want to look

sorry. I do that but I'm not looking up the price on discogs, I just have my want list on my phone

I don't have a most or least favourite record shop where I live, every single one I've been to so far has been overpriced and shit so they all tie for last

the only thing I miss from the town I moved from is a fucking awesome shop opened up just after the pandemic lockdown in the basement of a bookshop with tons of punk stuff I'd been looking for for years, mostly not particularly rare stuff but things I could buy off Discogs easily but not from this country so the shipping would be ruinous. they do have rare stuff too some of which has been an eye opener because I have a lot of the records on the wall, I just didn't pay that much for them

e.g. I had no idea X-Mal Deutschland records went for that much. I'm not selling mine

actually I have been unfair because there was one I went by the big Tesco in Hove that was not stupidly overpriced and full of rubbish and I got lots of good stuff there. finally bought Demystification by Zounds on 7" which I have had on CD since the 90s but that CD was mastered by a crust punk who'd inserted safety pins directly into his eardrums

always look stuff up because i mostly buy records i've never heard of before so i give stuff a listen while i'm rooting about. definitely try not to be a binblocker about it though

I would do that if record stores had chairs and stuff, there’s this one in Davis CA that actually has a bar attached lol

god damn it CP why did you have to ruin that Zounds CD for me lol

I guess I have to break down and buy some damn reissues

Trying to convince myself not to go back today and buy the VG copy of YMO’s self-titled debut that I was looking at yesterday.