Happy Record Store Day

Have you noticed that record stores are going out of style?  Today would be a good day to support your favorite shop because it's Record Store Day.   Hundreds of independently owned record stores across the country are participating by offering discounts and entertainments all day long.  What is your favorite record store that's still open?  I go for Crypt Records in Brooklyn.  But I also must mention Wuxtry Records in Athens, Georgia since that's where I first became a record hound.  Other favorites are Shangri-La Records in Memphis, CD Alley in Chapel Hill and Princeton Record Exchange right here in NJ.  I also wish someone would open a record store called the New Bin.

Now go buy some rekkids!

Sun Ra - Daddy Gonna Tell You No Lies (45)
Bruce Culver - Square Record
Bull Moose Jackson - Big Ten Inch Record
Slim Gaillard - Jumpin' At The Record Shop

Comments

[tony c]

When I lived in Boston we had Looney Tunes (jazz), Cheapo (American roots), and Twisted Village (general fmu style high weirdness). I hope they're all still there.

Now I'm out in the sticks of PA, and if it weren't for internet radio and mp3 blogs, I think I'd go nuts.

Was in Doylestown PA a year ago. They had a nifty little shop. Can't remember the name.

[paul]

woah... that diner one... that's in new brunswick, on french street, right? i went in there once years ago but haven't been there since, i don't even know if it's open anymore.

i'm too broke to buy records today :(

[James]

I love the Crypt store - I was able to get a copy of the out-of-print Crossfires compilation on Sundazed the last time I was there. In the NYC area, Academy Records, Ethera and Soundfix are also excellent.

[jhn]

Twist and shout in denver. And wax trax. Both awesome.

Bart's, with its great upstairs vinyl room, is holding out in Boulder although the boulder outpost of wax trax is gone.

When I pay for music, it's from amazon mp3. CDs don't do anything for me anymore. I mean, lossless files match them in quality (which I don't care too much about anyway), digital files obviously beat them in convenience, and vinyl beats them in terms of physicality. I kind if wish I had been a vinyl collector. As it is, CDs are just an ugly burden to me.

I miss record stores, and it's a huge loss to music culture that we're moving away from physical formats, but I think it's been a worthwhile tradeoff. Artificial scarcity is the pits.

[D.J.]

We are still kickin' and the Record Store Day celebrations are just begining.
We made the Top 20 for Canada's Best Record Store this year(There are more than 20 stores in Canada!)

www.atomixrecords.com

Mention WFMU in person and get a prize or discount!

[fred]

Not really applicable, being overseas, but shout out nonetheless to Bimbo Tower in Paris, France: http://bimbo.tower.free.fr/

The website pretty much sucks, but the store doesn't.

And, jhn, they're the embodiment of why I don't think the tradeoff is worthwhile. Blogs are fine but usually too focused on a specific sub-genre for me, plus nothing beats the offhand "hey, listen to this thing we just got" that can expand my horizon in a physical record store. People in small record stores are passionate and usually pretty clever at figuring out what makes you tick, and not afraid to take chances -- a definite plus in my book with the weirdos hanging around the station. Not that unlike 'FMU DJs, come to think of it, but it's more tailoredish.

I'm not going to buy into the digital model -- mp3, flac, or the next format that'll make your stash unplayable -- until we come up with something that makes this cross-pollination possible. The station is doing a great job at this, but I don't think it's enough, and what a waste if I were to be cut off from these willing and able people who are now working in the remaining record stores.

[diskojoe]

If you're in the Witch City (Salem, MA), check out the Record Exchange, where I have been haunting for the past 30+ years, and if you're lucky, you can see Barrence Whitfield working behind the counter.

[diskojoe]

If you're in the Witch City (Salem, MA), check out the Record Exchange, where I have been haunting for the past 30+ years, and if you're lucky, you can see Barrence Whitfield working behind the counter.

[Sam Jones]

Spiller's In Cardiff, Wales. The oldest record store in the world. Spiller's celebrated the day with live spots throughout the day. I stopped by and picked up Neu 75 and a compilation of old time songs about the devil, at cheap and cheerful prices.

Redevelopment and the chain stores swift take over of Britain's town and cities threaten spillers with closure....find out more here

http://www.urban75.org/photos/wales/spillers-cardiff.html

I work for a big record chain but the whole infrastructure of the business would be all the poorer for the loss of small shops, who nurture new talent and help to gel local scenes together. In the case of Spillers, Cardiff can more than support two big chain entertainment retailers and a local store, but Cardiff council seek the up the rents and attach big business, effectively destroying a heritage site as well as a place that helps to define the spirit of the city.

[Chris Bakos]

My older ( and wiser) brother owns Sound Exchange in Houston, TX and can tell you for a fact that record stores are not going away. In fact, vinyl is on the rise...sort of. Many bands are still producing vinyl.

[Jonathan Steinke]

Apop Records, St. Louis! Better than Vintage Vinyl any day of the week. In fact, Apop's gettin' part of a post next Saturday.

[blake williamson]

my pics:
nyc-> bleecker street records
athens-> school kids records
oxford-> hot dog records
seattle-> easy street records
new orleans-> mushroom, magic bus, louisiana music factory

[woid]

Top of my list, and greatest record store ever: Amoeba Music.

Their first stores were in San Francisco (on Haight Street) and Berkeley (on Telegraph Avenue). The third is my local, the gigantic, warehouse-sized store in Hollywood, at the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga.

Amoeba has the most comprehensive selection of CDs and DVDs, both new and used, in the galaxy, plus amazing vinyl finds. The Hollywood store especially is a bonanza of used discs, no doubt because of its location in the heart of what used to be the record industry. They also feature live in-store performances, with a full day scheduled for today's Record Store Day.

Dear Amoeba, please open a branch in New York! Thanx.

Checkemout @ http://www.amoeba.com

[jhn]

Amoeba is great. But Aquarius in SF has the weirdo music we love.

[jml]

I will have to wait a week before I get to go to my favorite record shop: Encore Recordings in Ann Arbor. http://www.encorerecordings.com/

[Matthew Bass Little-Farmer]

Enterprise records in Portland Maine! Open since 1987! People asking for the CD section are directed to a dusty plastic bag full of smashed discs pined to the wall. Fuck you and your clean laundry and CDs!

[Parq]

Here was the scene at Other Music on 4th St, David playin' that harp in the shadow of the vanquished giant, Tower. I also check in (and dropped bucks) at St Marks Sounds, Second Hand Rose, and Academy on 18th.

http://tinyurl.com/5gqc9s

Out of town faves include Magic Bus in New Orleans, Aquarius in San Fran, and Easy Street in Seattle. Does anyone know any good record stores in Tokyo?

[curt]

Hey Parq, I just spent a year living near Tokyo and I came across many great stores. Here's my favorites:

Modern Music, near Meidamae station on the Keio-Inokashira line. It's the flagship store of PSF Records (Keiji Haino, High Rise, Kan Mikami, etc.) It's a very tiny store and so when 3 or more shoppers are present it can become very inconvenient to browse, but they have tons of good psych/noise/underground CDs/records/books and stuff crammed in. I met guitarist Munehiro Narita from High Rise there once and also some guy who was showing the clerk photos he had taken of Les Rallizes Denudes circa 1989!

Also check out these stores in Shibuya, near Shibuya station:

RecoFan -- Huge store, good fair prices on all kinds of vinyl. Nice selection of 60s/70s psych but also soul, punk, indie, etc. Reminds me for various reasons (size, nice surprises, etc) of two other great stores, Amoeba in San Francisco and Millennium Music in Charleston, SC.

Warzawa -- has lots of the current noise and electronic underground sounds on vinyl and CD.

Disk Union -- I believe they have stores in both Shibuya and Shinjuku, and I'm pretty sure there's one in Yokohama as well. They have about 3 floors of records and CDs, and an extensive selection of progressive rock/glam/obscure hard rock CD reissues on the third floor (of the Shibuya store).

As far as US stores, I'd like to give props to Trash American Style in Danbury, CT for introducing me to countless mindblowing sounds and artifacts over the years. It's not a physical storefront anymore but owner Malcolm Tent has taken it on the road and may return to a store in the future -- see www.trashamericanstyle.com for details.

[Debbie D]

Yes!, Paul. That "diner" record store IS in New Brunswick. I was there @ 5 years ago and nothing was for sale that day. He had records stacked to the ceiling and tons of 45 boxes, etc. Records make some people crazy.

[zombot]

wuxtry in athens is indeed the shit. i drive there now and then just for wuxtry and bizarro wuxtry, the comic shop above it. most times i don't buy much, just breath in that crazy energy. guess i help to put those places out of business that way, but if they charged a door fee, i'd glady pay it.

[james]

you can find deals galore at an Amoeba, but you also have to put up with being treated like shit by the staff. and it's not the classic, charming, curmudgeonly kind of shit, either. they've certainly got the stock and the bargains in those supermarket-sized stores, but they don't have the love.

[james]

sorry, i went negative, there. Other Music, Aquarius, Dusty Groove, Love Garden, Scratch, Philadelphia Record Exchange, TimeBomb, Grimey's, and In Your Ear. Cherish the love.

[Listener Greg G.]

OH NO YOU DIDN'T!

Scratching my chin and trying to devise some form of payback....

[Debbie D]

Payback?! You're on the cover of a Porter Wagoner record! What could be better than that??

[Kerry]

I rode my bike to Shangri-la yesterday and bought a Memphis Slim LP. Viva Record Store Day!