10 Best Record Stores In The USA

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by sons of nothing, Dec 16, 2018.

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  1. Oatsdad

    Oatsdad Oat, Biscuits, Abbie & Mitzi: Best Dogs Ever

    Location:
    Alexandria VA
    Despite the name, I find CD Cellar to be spotty for CDs. I occasionally find something there but it's not a treasure trove in my experience...
     
    Larry Loves LPs likes this.
  2. OptimisticGoat

    OptimisticGoat Everybody's escapegoat....

    Thanks for those recommendations. I am pretty much a rock and jazz fan. They look like good options.
     
  3. OptimisticGoat

    OptimisticGoat Everybody's escapegoat....

    It does look like an excellent store but I am not sure I will get enough "free" time from other (family) commitments to get there.....:)
    It is on the radar though - I'd like to have a look around NJ as a Springsteen fan.
     
    uzn007 likes this.
  4. CBM

    CBM Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    The best in the DC area in my experience. Biggest vinyl stock—from audiophile to dollar bin. Lots of turnover in stock. Good across pretty much every genre (although soul is a bit light) and also cds and DVD’s.

    Also in DC is Joint Custody on 16th and U, one block from Red Onion.

    Also second the above recommendation of Trax on Wax in Catonsville. Big selection and expertly labeled used vinyl, noting first pressing, mono/stereo, etc and even having artists’ releases shelved chronologically!!!
     
  5. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    there is a YouTube Channel called Mean Mr. Mayo. He's a nice but jaded Beatle fan who frequents a record shop called Infinity Records. It's suburban New York/maybe Long Island? It's AMAZING the used stuff they get in there.. AMAZING... Watch videos to see the store... May be worth a drive. Once you're in that area, it may be worth a $25 Uber ride?
     
    OptimisticGoat likes this.
  6. bopdd

    bopdd Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    Pardon me while I make disparaging remarks about a record store I've only visited a handful of times (and haven't been to in a few years), but I honestly can't think of a record store in Portland worse than Jackpot. It's practically the one store in Portland I would tell a visitor to avoid. I can't even imagine how it would've ended up on a list by Rolling Stone.
     
  7. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    Jackpot Records over Music Millenium in Portland? I like JP okay, but that's ridiculous. I think the writer just wants to be hip...sorry. MM's an institution, and I prefer either of the Everyday Music locations to JP. One of Jackpot's niches used to be garage psych on cd ~ hope that's still true, haven't been in in awhile.
     
    Last edited: Dec 17, 2018
  8. Marty T

    Marty T Stereo Fan

    Location:
    NM - North of ABQ
    I think it funny the Rolling Stone calls Amoeba Hollywood the "Disneyland" of record stores. I've always thought of it as the "New Jack City" for music addicts. Your experience of hours flying by is testament to that and is my experience as well.

    We have some other excellent stores in So Cal - Record Surplus in Santa Monica, Canterbury in Pasadena and Caveman in the Echo Park area.
     
    steelydanguy likes this.
  9. Larry Loves LPs

    Larry Loves LPs Forum Resident

    Location:
    Alexandria, VA
    They have def turned into a mainly vinyl store, at least that’s what I always shop for.
     
    Bill Why Man likes this.
  10. chahooa

    chahooa Forum Resident

    Location:
    Indianapolis
    All record stores are beautiful! Of this list, I’ve only been to 3, and of those I probably liked Grimey’s the best. A couple others I’ve really enjoyed are Vertigo in Grand Rapids, MI and Monster Music in the Charleston, SC area. I’m in Indiana and like going to Landlocked in Bloomington a lot.
     
  11. Dillydipper

    Dillydipper Space-Age luddite

    Location:
    Central PA
    Once I discovered Nick Drake (and didn't know anybody who knew who that was), my radio career and post-college freedom sent me travelling across the country and back while kicking-off my quest. I stopped in every damn town I approached, and stopped in every damn record store I could find, just to "stretch my legs". I easily canvasesed over 100 record stores in two years - I might as well have taken a job as a rackjobber rep, for all the time I spend handling shrinkwrap. There was always a hip place near a college, and a dull place in the mall, a shelf of imports or a room full of Classical selections or New Age synth records right next to waaaay too many sound effects libraries, or a head shop next door, or a comic shop next door, or a stereo store next door...or a place to scratch your head looking at punk 45's and guys at the sales counter with studs in their noses. And I bet most of the cashiers looked at me after about 90 minutes of my meandering, wondering what the hell IS he doin' in here, anyway....

    I think I've forgotten more cities and record havens than I can remember, and don't know where most of my music's come from, be they singles, albums, silver discs or magazines talking about music I couldn't even buy there. But yeah, I've been to Hymies and Landlocked and Grimeys and Oar Folkajokapus, Princeton Record Exchange, Reckless, Rose, Wax Trax, Trax on Wax, Wax Wax Wax, Tracks Tracks Tracks, Coconuts, Disc Jockey, Musicland, Music City, Music Box, Chess King, Korvettes, Virgin, Tower, HMV, Goody's, Disc-Go-Round, Round Disc, Round and Round, Record and Tapes, Discs and Cassettes, Vinyl and Plastic, Campus and Downtown, Up and Down, Town Clown, Black and Brown, Lost and Found...they all run together for me. There were always destinations for me to make my Saturday afternoon pilgramage...just to see what I really wasn't gonna buy anyway, even if it's still sitting there in the dollar big and I'd been dreaming of it since last Saturday. Might be Twist & Shout in Denver, Fetus in Minneapolis, Headstone Friends in Terre Haute IN for all I knew.

    And, if I hadn't had so much fun learning about records, music and both the retail and the business...it would have been a total waste of time.

    But I sure got more than my share of new music to discover when I got home.

    And, yet, somehow...? I've only been to four of those stores on that list in Rolling Stone, and still don't feel I've missed anything (except Amoeba, maybe). I just wonder how many other great stores didn't make that list...that don't sell Rolling Stone at the Checkout...:idea:
     
    Bill Why Man likes this.
  12. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    Hardly anyplace in NYC if you want CDs and not vinyl....we lost so many great stores in the last 15 years : HMV, Tower, Virgin, and saddest of all, J&R Music World
     
    OptimisticGoat and trickness like this.
  13. zwolo

    zwolo Forum Resident

    Location:
    providence
  14. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    If @OptimisticGoat is traveling between the two by car, it's on the way. Probably stop by Vintage Vinyl as well.

    If not...it's a fairly short train ride from Manhattan. If downtown, it's the PATH to Newark, Northeast Corridor over to Princeton Junction. Then shuttle to the University.

    If in midtown you can skip the PATH and just take the Northeast Corridor train direct to Princeton Junction.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2018
    OptimisticGoat likes this.
  15. trickness

    trickness Gotta painful yellow headache

    Location:
    Manhattan
    And don’t forget Other Music. I’ve been shopping for records here since the mid 80’s and It’s just completely depressing, all the great record stores are gone and those that remain are pale by comparison
     
    Bill Why Man likes this.
  16. Gaslight

    Gaslight ⎧⚍⎫⚑

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Massapequa Park LI is actually a slightly longer trip from NYC, in comparison to PREX.

    LIRR Babylon line is probably the best bet but that's close to a two hour trip from downtown. If in midtown you can probably shave over 15 or 20 minutes from that, depending on the distance from Penn Station.

    Uber ride wouldn't be $25 btw, not from NYC. Probably closer to $100.
     
    Last edited: Dec 18, 2018
  17. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I think of Newbury’s as a socks and accessories store that carries records as well. Great socks though.
     
    mBen989 likes this.
  18. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    The basement of The Thing where the records are kept is terrifying.
     
  19. Marc Perman

    Marc Perman Forum Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles
    I went to Human Head in Brooklyn on my last trip, it’s worth stopping there too.
     
    OptimisticGoat likes this.
  20. OptimisticGoat

    OptimisticGoat Everybody's escapegoat....

    Yes. I have visited NYC a few times in the past but it was only on my last visit 2 years ago that I had the time and budget to shop for CDs and vinyl. Overall I was disappointed. Many shops in Manhattan had closed - some very recently.
    Prices were high and the stock not that outstanding. Will try to get to Brooklyn this trip - but record shopping will not be the no. 1 focus:)
     
    jjhunsecker and Gaslight like this.
  21. I desperately miss EM Beaverton. They got some great used lp's in there; the real good stuff went up on the wall.

    I like 2nd Ave records a lot. 1709 records over the river in Vanc is small but good(no rubbish), Vinyl Resting Place in St.Johns always has quality used stuff too.

    edit: Clinton Street Records is cool, tiny and has oddball stuff!
    Mississippi Records is not a lot bigger and has an eclectic selection too.
     
  22. chaz

    chaz Senior Member

    Location:
    Canada
    Any of the Silver Platters stores in the greater Seattle area.
     
    tvstrategies likes this.
  23. anth67

    anth67 Purveyor of Hogwash

    Location:
    PNW USA
    I remember EM Beaverton!
     
  24. jjhunsecker

    jjhunsecker Senior Member

    Location:
    New York city
    To quote Joni- "you don't know what you got til it's gone"- Whoever dreamed back in the 80s and 90s that it would be so hard to find a CD in NYC- we even had the Wiz and Sam Goody , and tons of little indie stores in the East and West Villages
     
    steelydanguy, jhm and trickness like this.
  25. StevenC

    StevenC SUEDE > Both Oasis AND Blur.

    $100 each way? Yikes. Shows how much I know. I was trying to say if you're only in that NY region as a rare occurrence and you aren't from there, it may be worth a little extra time and money to go to a great shop versus trying to do it all cheaply and settling. Personally, I love British music and I realize Rough Trade is a British shop that happens to have opened a location in Brooklyn, but there are better places with great used titles in great shape... versus A1 with tattered records. But $100 is too much
     
    OptimisticGoat likes this.
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