ILX Lists The Best Record Shops In Canada

sorry.

the sonic unyon store is perhaps the best you will find in hamilton.
please fill me in if im wrong about that.

For overall good CD selection, yeah, Zulu is best. Although Scratch has good stuff, too. Vancouver is tops when it comes to used vinyl though. That said, Otis (both of them) and Beat Street (CANNOT stress this place enough) are the shiznitz. Active Pass is the best new dance record in town.

Victoria, BC:

Ditch records is pretty fucking great. It's a smallish store, but I never fail to find amazing used rock vinyl finds there.

Nanaimo, BC:

Blackball records.. Even smaller, but the guy who runs the place, Andrew MacGregor, has amazing taste.

Beat Street always taunts me, because every time I notice it and want to go in and spend an hour in their dollar bins, I'm on my way to somewhere else. I just found out that my studentsaver card gets me a discount there, so the next free day I have.... ooh!

Audiopile on Commercial isn't bad for OOP CDs(I got my entire Lilac Time collection there, for example), but the vinyl is far overpriced. The guy's got old Bruce Cockburn albums that I've picked out of Value Village bins going for $20 apiece. not cool.

soundscapes is good - i like the guy with the specs

Soundscapes is the best. Though Im not sure which guy doesn't wear glasses other then Matty P. The only problem i had is they made me buy Medicine on import, but at least they had it unlike RT.

Outeast, Moncton had until recently Blastoff records with pinball, which was sometimes free. Now its got two or so equal stores on Main. Hopefully they are still running.
Halifax has the best Sam The Record Man in existence and a good Urban Sound Exchange a few doors down Barrington.
Zulu recors would be my my favorite store of all time for awhile if they would reissue the Young Canadians and Pointed Sticks comps, but thats just a wish.

Also, for anyone in Newfoundland (where I'm currently located), Fred's Records is really impressive, with amazing selection.

If we're talking used CDs, I would recommend Second Spin on Bloor in Toronto, and the one that's across the street and a block west (can never remember the name). Anyway, the latter has new management, and since then has gotten some really amazing stuff in used.
Also, for anyone with about 2 hours on your hands, that warehouse store near Lee's Palace on Bloor can be worth your while.

And I haven't actually been to the store, but the website for Cheap Thrills in Montreal has a great selection, and I've been told that the store is really good.

I forgot about that one, yeah, its a great one. its about two blocks east of Lee's right? And you can grab a Tim's now there is one near by with super crazy bathrooms. Also the used record store just a bit north of Yonge and Eglinton on the east side is surprisingly great considering its in Young & Eligible.

I always wondered about record stores on The Rock. You at MUN Jonathan?

everywhere else, still need more research

I second Vortex, which I believe is the store north of Yonge and Eglinton, but have to say that while the selection is great, there is a guy working there who seems to have learned all of his tips of the trade from Rotate.

I ask because while the stores here in St. John's are great, there are a lot of titles they can't order in (like Ulrich Schnauss, Charles Atlas, Ms. John Soda, anything by Mum, or many other imports). Anyway, Cheapthrills seems to have a great catalogue, but I was just wondering if there are others worth checking out.
I heard that Soundscapes was considering a website a year or so ago, but don't think anything ever came of that, which is really too bad.

Vortex had a great sister store on queen west (west of bathurst), which then moved further east along queen (closer to university) and became 'kopps/vortex', or something like that. may be called something else now.... an EXCELLENT place for old soul 7"s..

when i moved to the UK i sold a lot of my CDs to that big warehouse place on bloor (sonic boom, i think), so if you're shopping there you might pick up some of 'em!

also: 'she said boom' on college st - very underrated, great shop.

Forgot about that kopps place, its not my bag but it does have an incredible odd mix of stuff which is a bonus. She Said Boom doesn't have all that much in terms of reocrds and cds but it is still great. We've done record shopping in TO threads a few times now though.

i've been meaning to check out she said boom for the longest time now, maybe this thread wil inspire me.

I concur, though.

That'd be Flash and Crash; Second Spin is great for cheap major label stuff, which always seems to appear on the release date, while F&C gets a lot of cool indie stuff through.

Out in the east end of Toronto, there's two places for people interested in vinyl: Discovery on Queen East near Jones has a whole pile of collector vinyl including a lot of stuff in the basement that they have to retrieve...so it's always worth asking (or check on the link above for a list of their inventory that's about a week old). There's also a place on Danforth just east of Greenwood station called Open City that has this amazing basement filled with lots of old stuff, at a dollar a crack.

She Said Boom alumni Simon just started another store in much the same mold as She Said Boom, across the street from Discovery, and a block west; lotsa books, a bunch of used CDs and some vinyl. Worth checking out.

http://www.scratchrecords.com/

Beat Street is amazing! I could spend a whole day in there.
Active Pass is nice for dance records, but they don't stock as much as Bassix or Boomtown.

Whoops, the new store is called Revolution.

Bassix is gone, isn't it? (could be wrong)

Boomtown is alright, too... Victoria or Vancouver stores.. but somehow I find more stuff I like at Active Pass.

Also, Zion's Gate just opened up a store in Vancouver (commercial dr. area), and had a store in Portland, OR as well. Seattle one is still the tops, though.

Also wanted to mention Black Swan records and Carson's Books in Kitsilano. The former has a large jazz and folk section. You can find lots of great used rekkids there too... although the Black Swan people are outwardly prejudiced against anything new wave or electronic, and hence will price anything of that sort, good or not, cheaply..(wink wink)

Le Pick Up on Mount Royal is good too--nice used selection.

Pop Shop on St. Laurent and Primitive on St. Denis are great all-round places. Wonderful used selections and a terrific range of new stuff. They are both owned by the same guy. Disquivel on St. Laurent is another high-quality source for used vinyl.

DNA and InBeat are for those of you who really "understand" house music. Some people have told me that there's some good stuff to be found at these places, but I cannot stand the attitude.

Esoteric (St. Catherine) and Atom Heart (Sherbrooke and St. Denis) carry a range of electronica, dub, and other weird mutek-y goodness.

If you're into reggae, there's Dub Shack in NDG and Triple A up in Parc Ex.

I don't know about Vortex on Queen in Toronto anymore. I get all uncomfortable going in there--I think it's all the $50 7" funk reissues.

I find more things I like at Active Pass too!

Haven't heard of Zions Gate. What sort of stuff do they stock?

Vinyl Records in Vancouver (W Hastings) has possibly the largest 2nd hand stuff in town now.

Zulu still going strong and Scratch holding it's corner as the only downtown store for new independent stuff.

Bassix RIP unsurprisingly. Zions Gate, we hardly knew you - now a frou-frou baby shop.