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.

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.