Fun Stuff > BAND

Favorite Record Stores?

(1/11) > >>

nescience:
In another thread I recently suggested (only half-facetiously) to another poster that life without Amoeba Records SF is like a life without meaning.  This got me thinking: what are other really righteous record stores in the world?  Here are my personal top 5:

5. 101 Music, North Beach, San Francisco, California - This is actually two stores diagonally across the street from each other on the corner of Grant & Green.  The (edit:southwest, not northeast) store is cluttered with half-working musical instruments and electronics of all kinds, and in the basement there are over seventy-thousand vinyl records, unsorted, in bins that customers can leaf through and buy for $5 a piece, flat rate.  I found "Dusseldorf" by La Dusseldorf (normally $30 or so) and Freddie Mercury's solo album "Mr. Bad Guy" in the same bin and I was hooked.

4. Everyday Music, Capitol Hill, Seattle, Washington - Recently added another floor.  This Django Music partner features a detailed Electronic section and criminally low prices (an average of $2 less for new than anywhere in California).

3. Rough Trade, Notting Hill, London, UK - The store itself is very small, but features some of the best selection (and best history) I saw in England.  Your one-stop shop for dropping way too much money on the newest import 12-inches.

2. Tower Records, Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan - Ten floors tall, this is the only Tower Records I've visited that is an actual tower.  The upper floors are mainly of interest to international listeners.  Inexplicably has a constant no-wave bent to the displays, which makes me very happy.  There is a music venue in the basement.  It is a veritable arcology of music.

1. Amoeba Records, Upper Haight, San Francisco, California - The world's largest independent music store.  Hundreds of thousands of used CDs.  Some of the best Used Prices in California and best selection.  My favorites include well-stocked and well-curated Experimental and International Rock sections, new MP3 listening stations, multiple Clearance sections with quality items, large DVD room, and the excellent 20th Century Avant Garde section.

Honorable Mention: Aquarius Records in the Mission district of SF.  Arguably better independent-label and experimental selection than Amoeba, but prohibitively priced.

Bunnyman:
Everyday does indeed kick ass.  As does the Amoeba on the Haight.

And the Rasputin/Amoeba superorganism on Telegraph in Berkeley makes a nice second.  Or third.  Or whatever.

Inlander:
An all-Australian list (though I also remember finding a couple of good places in Helsinki).  In no particular order:

- Polyester Records (Fizroy, Victoria): my home away from home these past 18 months!  I've bought so many C.D.s from them that when I went to buy the Clap Your Hands Say Yeah record, the guy behind the counter said "Don't you have this one already?"  If it's indie, they have it.

- LandSpeed Records (Civic, Canberra): similar to Polyester, though without the range.  Their original location was the best: upstairs in a beautiful light-filled space, it was like a refuge from the street below.  Still, their new store (relatively speaking - they've been there for years) is bigger, so you can't complain.  I've bought many a Will Oldham record there.

- Abels Music (Manuka, Canberra): THE record store in Australia if you're after classical music - the range is amazing.  Also jazz specialists, and though the jazz range isn't all it could be they've always got something interesting.

- Impact Records (Civic, Canberra): R.I.P.  When this shop was recently bought out by J.B. Hi-Fi (a chain store, albeit a very good one) it was much lamented not just in Canberra but throughout Australia.  It was Australia's largest independent record store, and with its location right next to the bus interchange it was the first stop on any trip to Civic, back when I was living in Canberra.  They also had an amazing range of different types of music, and the sale section had some amazing bargains (at one stage they were selling just about every Tom Waits album under the sun for A$12).

McTaggart:
Perth is somewhat lacking.

We've got 78 Records in town. Short walk from the train station, good range, convenient prices (everything's a multiple of $5).

Other than that theres J.B. Hifi in the city and other places. Not bad range, not bad prices, every store I've seen has been either above or below ground level.

There's probably something in Freo somewhere but that far as hell from where I am.

Sturge:
Reveal Records in Derby.

I love and hate that shop.

It steals all my money! :(

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page