Here’s the full version to a recent post on KCRW’s 5 Things Blog. Melting Pot Radio Hour this week will pay tribute to #1 on this list, the venerable Groove Merchant…
Happy hunting,
Michael
Top 5 Record Stores To Cultivate Your Complete Addiction To Vinyl
My name is Michael, and I am a (mostly) recovering vinyl junkie. There was a time in the not so distant past where I’d spend whatever money I had on records. Rent, food money, clothing expenses, all were secondary to an insatiable need for vinyl. I champion vinyl because I stand by the belief that audio on a quality vinyl record will produce a warmer and fuller sound as compared to any digital format, not to mention all those groovy record covers…so I continue to seek out vinyl wherever and whenever I can even if, for the most part, I’m not nearly as crazy addicted as I used to be (however, each time I get accepted to present at academic conferences, my first thought is to immediately plan out which record stores I’m going to hit up).
Unfortunately, as I’m sure many of you are aware, great record stores are becoming a thing of the past, for every new one that opens it seems 4 or 5 are closing. There are at least two or three stores that should be on this list but they no longer exist (now defunct Brookhaven Records, Dumpster Dive and Red, Beans & Rice in Atlanta hurt the most), so keep the vinyl alive and make sure to support your own local independent record stores. If you find yourself in close proximity to any of the following stores, make sure you saved up a little extra moolah and set aside 3 or 4 hours (or more) to do your diggin’ right and feed your own vinyl habit.
(Honorable Mention)
Records L.A.
5654 W. Adams Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90016
(213) 399-9806
This spot, which just opened in Oct. 2009, has so much potential I call it “Groove Merchant South,” because it has the same mix of high quality rare titles and way too affordable gems, especially on 45. Stop by, let traffic die down, and give in to your need for fresh vinyl.
5. Good Records
218 East 5th Street
New York, NY 10009
(212) 529-2081
In full disclosure, I haven’t been to this store, yet. It finds it’s way on this list through word of mouth from DJs that I respect, particularly Oakland’s Matthew Africa, who I swear owns every record ever recorded, and Oliver Wang, who runs the fantabulous Soulsides.com audioblog. Both rave about both the jaw-dropping quality of records and the service from the staff. Like a number of stores opened by Hip-Hop DJs, they stock a variety of funky fare from all over the world, new and old, and specialize in rare pieces, particularly from Africa. They also run a very nice blog at the web address above.
4. Jazz Record Mart
27 East Illinois
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(312) 222-1467
Back when I lived in Madison, WI I’d often make the drive down to Chicago (after a quick stop at Toad Hall’s Records in Rockford, which gets an honorable mention) for the sole purpose of going to this record store. Bar none, this is the single best record store in the country for Jazz and Blues, as you’d might expect from the Windy City. The staff is a bit stereotypically record store nerdish (there is a reason why the film version of High Fidelity was filmed in Chicago after all), but for a specialty store, only focused on two genres, it’s a fairly large space and very well stocked with cheap and mid-range titles to begin your collection from all periods of Jazz and Blues. When I used to frequent there they had a separate smaller section of maybe 500 records, that was more of a collector’s alley, with much more expensive titles, but records you rarely ever see anywhere (many with the signature of RJ Cuzner, always wondered who that was…), super rare still un-reissued Blue Note titles, Strata East records, Art Ensemble of Chicago on Nessa, obscure private press albums, just unbelievably good records.
3. Record Man
1322 El Camino Real
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 368-9065
This store is a bit of an oddity. First off, virtually none of the records have a price on them. Connected to that first point, when I first heard of this store, DJs would always refer to the actual “Record Man” who owned it as the “Record Nazi,” solely in reference to the Seinfeld “Soup Nazi” character. Though I don’t think he ever actually said “No records for you!” to a customer, I’d always hear stories about how when people brought up their unpriced records to the counter he would look at the person for a moment, then look at the records, then look at the person, then back to the records and say something like “For you, this one’s is $25, this one $30, this one is $40, I can’t sell you this one, and this one is $50.” This was especially the case if it was clear you “looked” like a Hip-Hop DJ and were buying records to sample beats. Every time I shopped here I didn’t get this treatment, perhaps because of my eclectic tastes and generally disarming demeanor, I don’t know, but for me, he just looked up the records in a book and set a price based on that.
Aside from the legend associated with the man, this is absolutely one of the best stocked record stores I’ve ever been in. There are so many records of all genres, that it’s almost overwhelming, even though for the most part everything is in alphabetical order, there’s just so much that if you didn’t have a list coming in you’ll go completely blank amongst all the vinyl gems therein.
2. Bagatelle Records
260 Atlantic Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90802
(562) 432-7534
If Record Man is almost overwhelming, Bagatelle is completely overwhelming. Within a relatively modest space, there are just records and records and records and records and even more records (there’s even hidden panels in the shelves that reveal even more records behind them!). Though I’d say that this store isn’t nearly as selective as the other four on this list, every time I go I find something I’ve never heard of (such as obscure Japanese surf rock from Yuzo Kayama!). Sometimes the records are in near mint condition, some times they are in “I just hope it doesn’t skip on the best song” condition, but this store never fails me. The guy who owns it enjoys conversation about music and records and has a good sense of what he’s got, which is amazing, because it’s very loosely organized, by genre. He also has very fair prices (except on rare 45s, for which he goes to his copy of Manship) and multiple listening stations. The owner recently brought out more of his considerable 45 collection and I spent 2 hours going through probably 1,000 45s and that wasn’t even 1/20 of the 45 collection on the floor. He keeps telling me, “I got even more records in the back…” which is just insanity. It really does require at least a separate day, maybe two to comb through this store fully, but I guarantee regardless which genre is your favorite you will find something on vinyl here that you’ve been looking for.
1. Groove Merchant
687 Haight Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
(415) 252-5766
My pick for the best record store that has ever existed, EVER, and one of the few to ever be name checked in a rap song (Beastie Boys “Professor Booty”), and it’s the only store I’ve ever actually run into crate-digging celebrities like Cut Chemist, DJ Premier & Dan the Automator, just to name a few. It’s not the biggest store in the world, in fact there are probably only 4,000 records at this store, (perhaps more now that Chris has added bargain bins below the main stacks) which is tiny compared to behemoths like Amoeba. However, you will never find a record store (at least in the US) that has more top quality records than Groove Merchant. Proprietor Cool Chris is a legend for precisely this reason, he finds mega rare records that no one else has, just insanely rare records, break your budget, spend your kid’s college money rare records. But he also has a number of solid records that feature classic Hip-Hop breaks or should just be in everyone’s collection, for much more reasonable prices than similar dealers. He’s also just as cool as his DJ name (how cool you may ask? At the most recent Record Store Day, he brought chilled beers for the customers, that cool), and extremely knowledgeable about all varieties of music, particular jazz, funk, soul, Latin & Jamaican music. He also has an insane memory, I don’t know how he keeps track of what people buy, but whenever I go, he knows that if he plays a certain type of record (one containing fuzzy guitars, soul claps and/or heavy drums) I have to have it. When I sold most of my record collection to fund my wedding, Chris was the first person I called because I knew not only would the records find a happy home, he’d also give me a fair price, since I’d bought about half of them from him anyway. This is the store that you must go to if you consider yourself a “serious” collector. Even if you’re not a “serious” collector but you love music and you want to foster a deeper appreciation of multiple genres, check in at Groove Merchant, spend a few hours browsing, listening to records and most importantly talking about some of the best music ever recorded.