Record stores

[mjzee]

Two more record stores in Houston have closed.  Sigh.

[JSngry]

which two?

[mjzee]

Black Dog Records in Bellaire, and Sound Exchange in Montrose.  UPDATE: I'm glad you asked.  Did a little research on the Web.  Sound Exchange has moved, not closed.  They've moved to 101 N. Milby in the East End.  Recommended.

[gvopedz]

If you stop in Austin, check out Waterloo Records.  Every time I go there, I get the impression that the vinyl section has expanded.

[Aggie87]

I used to go to Sound Exchange, but haven't been there in years.  Glad to know it still exists.

 

Anybody recommend music shops in Philly?  I know Princeton Record Exchange (and a place in Voorhees), but don't really know Philly stores in the city itself.  I need to get spun up on them moving forward.  I went to a small but halfway decent one near 3rd & Church many years ago, but I doubt it's still there, and don't recall the name.

[Niko]

When I was in Philly a year ago, I went to a few stores, mostly those for used LPs within walking distance from the center... the one that I liked the most by a wide margin was Long in the Tooth, but also bought a few LPs near South Street where there are several shops (Repo Records is one of them but I forgot which ones were the best...)

[JSngry]

Is Sound Exchange the one that was in some sort of house that you walked upstairs to get to? I used to stop at that one when I came through town, had some good luck there.

[mjzee]

19 minutes ago, JSngry said:

Is Sound Exchange the one that was in some sort of house that you walked upstairs to get to? I used to stop at that one when I came through town, had some good luck there.

Yup.  It was in a trendy part of town, so will almost definitely be torn down and repurposed for something else.  It already is surrounded by a chain-link fence.

Turns out Black Dog is also moving, and merging with a coffee bar.

[JSngry]

Glad to hear that they both still live. Had a LOT better luck at Sound Exchange than I did at the Half Price that was in somewhat the same area.

[mjzee]

Cactus Music is also really good.  Just be prepared to clean the vinyl.

[JSngry]

Are there thorns?

Cactus thorns suck.

[felser]

19 hours ago, Aggie87 said:

I used to go to Sound Exchange, but haven't been there in years.  Glad to know it still exists.

 

Anybody recommend music shops in Philly?  I know Princeton Record Exchange (and a place in Voorhees), but don't really know Philly stores in the city itself.  I need to get spun up on them moving forward.  I went to a small but halfway decent one near 3rd & Church many years ago, but I doubt it's still there, and don't recall the name.

I don't get down to Philly anymore, but have bought a ton of music from this dealer thru discogs recently - here is their description in discogs.  Passyunk Ave. is in South Philly, this would be near the stadiums.  They have 96,000 items online, 3/4 of it vinyl, and great prices on CD's (I don't track vinyl prices):

"Philadelphiamusic is based out of a record store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania called Beautiful World Syndicate located at 1619 E. Passyunk Ave. Philadelphia, PA, 19148. Our record shop carries a variety of record collections. We try to sell everything at a reasonable price and try to list interesting new records on the site everyday." 

[Aggie87]

4 hours ago, felser said:

I don't get down to Philly anymore, but have bought a ton of music from this dealer thru discogs recently - here is their description in discogs.  Passyunk Ave. is in South Philly, this would be near the stadiums.  They have 96,000 items online, 3/4 of it vinyl, and great prices on CD's (I don't track vinyl prices):

"Philadelphiamusic is based out of a record store in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania called Beautiful World Syndicate located at 1619 E. Passyunk Ave. Philadelphia, PA, 19148. Our record shop carries a variety of record collections. We try to sell everything at a reasonable price and try to list interesting new records on the site everyday." 

 

Thanks, John.  I'll be moving up your way this summer, so I"m ready to start learning about the music opportunities in the area.  Our house is 30 or so minutes from the city, so I don't know how often I'll be able to go shopping, but hopefully between the city, Princeton, and a train hop to NYC, I'll be set for a bit, music-wise (both live and collecting).

 

And thanks Niko, for the Long in the Tooth rec.  I'll be sure and check them out!

 

Edited April 3, 2019 by Aggie87

[HutchFan]

Like felser, I'm a regular at philadelphiamusic. I've never been to their store; all of my purchases have been thru discogs. They have very low prices -- and they grade records very fairly / conservatively.  (Their VG-graded LPs are actually in very good condition!) Stock-wise, it's a bit of a crap shoot, but that's part of the fun.

If I ever make it to Philly, I'm going. 

[Pim]

Quite a lot of record stores in Amsterdam and the Netherlands have shut down either including a shop specializing in jazz. But to my surprise a record store opened its doors 2 years ago in my hometown Heemskerk (pop. 40.000) and seem to do ok. Probably has something to do with the revival of the LP. I order new stuff in that shop now instead of buying at amazon or other big ventures. Costs me a 2 or 3 extra a piece but worthwhile to me.