Record shopping in Baltimore.

[Dmitry]

I will be in Baltimore on March 18th-20th, exhibiting at the Baltimore Antique Arms Show http://www.baltimoreshow.com/

If there's a must visit record store in the area, I'd appreciate a recommendation.

[BeBop]

I haven't spent a lot of time there, but the Sound Garden and, better still, An Die Musik left me with pleasant memories. The latter is also a performance venue. http://www.andiemusiklive.com/

Hopefully some 'local' will weigh in.

I should qualify my response: I'm not really a recorded music buyer. I'm more of a browser and hanger-around-in-record-store guy. An Die Musik is small and friendly. And, again, a live music spot. That's good for me.

Edited March 8, 2011 by BeBop

[Peter Johnson]

Don't know what happened to my response. Will try again! Stumbled across a cache of great stuff at great prices (BN, Impulse, Prestige, mostly original press) at Normals about ten years ago. Went back a couple of years ago and don't remember being as impressed, but the selection was still quite vast. You might give them a shot--they're just a little bit northeast of downtown, if I recall correctly.

Normals

[Dmitry]

Thanks for the recommendations! I was also directed to Trax On Wax in Catonsville, Sound Garden in Fells Point, and Record & Tape Traders in Towson. I'll only be able to make it to one store, due to a busy couple of days. I'll have to figure out which one...

[Dan Gould]

Its possible it was Normals that I visited in 1996 when I went to Johns Hopkins to harvest bone marrow for my brother. Doesn't say much about its stock now but I recall finding the Wynton Kelly Verve LP with the comic-looking cover and Horace Silver You Gotta Take a Little Love which I was glad to see had no vocals and wouldn't get a CD reissue for about a decade. Both in good shape at very reasonable prices. And I know my eyes were bigger than what I was willing to take on the plane.

[Dmitry]

I'll most probably go to the Record & Tape Traders in Towson, since it's only a couple of miles away from the Faigrounds, where I'll be for two days.

Looks like they carry a decent stock.

http://www.recordandtapetraders.com/

[GregK]

great timing for this thread! I was wondering the same thing as I will be in Baltimore from March 13-16, for a conference at a hotel (Sheraton Inner Harbor, I think?). I hope I have time to check one of these places out.

[BeBop]

great timing for this thread! I was wondering the same thing as I will be in Baltimore from March 13-16, for a conference at a hotel (Sheraton Inner Harbor, I think?). I hope I have time to check one of these places out.

I'm pretty sure that's where I stayed. An Die Musik was a reasonable walk (409 N Charles Street), though, as I say, it was a more "limited" record store, but a cool venue. Sound Garden was a bit further (1616 Thames), but also walkable, as I remember.

[Hoppy T. Frog]

As a semi-local, I would most recommend Normal's for used vinyl shopping, Sound Garden for new releases on CD, and An Die Musik for classical (and a little jazz) CDs. Only if you have time, check out Own Guru on Lancaster just one door west from Broadway, and their "secret" location on Broadway for vinyl.

Also, the True Vine in the Hampden neighborhood off West 36th St used to be pretty cool for avant-garde CDs and used vinyl, but it moved and downsized recently and isn't as good as it used to be.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Hoppy T. Frog

[GregK]

Just got back from Baltimore. I had no time to do any record shopping, but I liked the city a lot. The only thing I had a problem with was the seemingly SEVERE lack of Starbucks locations! I was able to only find one, close to the Hippodrome (I forget the street). Thankfully I had it in my hotel room.