| Author | Message | ||
     jerry hann Member Username: Jerry_h Post Number: 69 Registered: 07-2005 |
I'll start with Action records in Preston and Record Collector in Sheffied, both eclectic and independent. In London I use to go to a small record shop on Clapham Park Road which again was great (can't remeber name now-not even sure it exists)where I bought my first few go-betweens LPs Any suggestions round the world Without being to controversial when I've been in the states I've never stumbled upon any great record shops, but I guess if I og to LA/SF I'll visit Aoemba after randy's suggestion on a previous site | ||
| XY765 Member Username: Judge Post Number: 23 Registered: 01-2006 |
Well I'd have to agree with Randy. Amoeba is by far the best record shop I've ever visited... | ||
| Simon Withers Member Username: Sfwithers Post Number: 16 Registered: 08-2005 |
Amoeba is great - I could have spent hours there. I've always had a fondness for book and record shops, and Amoeba (Hollywood, LA) has to rank as the best I've ever been to. | ||
| Jeff Whiteaker Member Username: Jeff_whiteaker Post Number: 186 Registered: 10-2004 |
Living here in the Bay Area with two Amoebas (Berkeley and San Francisco) makes this a pretty easy question to answer. Amoeba is great, but not necessarily the best, in that it tends to be picked-over, unless you hit it at the right times (ie- first thing in the morning). And you're not necessarily going to find that odd, rare LP if you just walk in there any old time. But overall, it's a great place and I spend way too much time and money there. San Francisco used to have several great smaller shops before Amoeba moved in (like Monster and Rocket). Within a year, three of those small shops were forced out of business because they couldn't compete. As much as I love Amoeba, I really miss going into those smaller shops. But, SF does still have some good, odd little record shops left. There are two in North Beach, which are practically right across the street from each other. They don't necessarily have names, per se, but they're easy to spot, and they're both owned by the same guy. One of them has this dank, dark basement that is literally packed with LPs, *none* of them categorized. 85% of their stock is crap, but I've found some awesome gems (like rare go-betweens & microdisney 12" singles and laughing clowns LPs) when I've had the time to wade through it. The East Bay also has Saturn in Oakland, and Mod Lang (which just moved from Berkeley to neighboring El Cerrito), the latter of which is owned by a British guy who makes occasional trips back "home" to fulfill peoples' want lists. LA has some amazing record shops, though I haven't been to LA since Amoeba opened down there, so I don't know if these smaller shops have been adversely affected. There was one in particular, in Burbank, called Atomic, which was just bursting at the seems with tons of hard to find LPs. I spent 2 hours there. There was another place on Melrose (but I don't recall the name), not to mention several other shops that all offered a surprisingly good selection of hard to find (albeit sometimes overpriced) vinyl. There's a great little record store in Florence, Italy on Via dei Neri, near the Santa Croce cathedral. The front room isn't much to write home about, but if you go through a hallway to the back room, there's a pretty massive stash of vinyl, with lot's of difficult to find stuff and price tags that are still in lire. Some of it's kind of overpriced like the shops in LA, but there's a lot of stuff you just wouldn't find in most other record shops on any given day. | ||
| Peter Collins Member Username: Tyroneshoelaces Post Number: 78 Registered: 05-2005 |
Beano's in Croydon has a great selection of vinyl, including a good crop of Krautrock. | ||
| Wilson Davey Member Username: Wilson Post Number: 35 Registered: 05-2005 |
Record Collector in Sheffield, the guy behind the counter in early to mid 80's was a huge Paul Haig fan. It was/still is (?) in a part of Sheffield called Broomhill in the West End. | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 182 Registered: 05-2005 |
There's only one in Birmingham any good, Swordfish. They actually funded and put out the very first Lilac Time album. Record Fairs seem to be ggod though. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 136 Registered: 05-2005 |
Ive got that Lilac Time on Swordfish? Wonder if its worth anything? | ||
| spence Member Username: Spence Post Number: 185 Registered: 05-2005 |
LP or CD? I think I have both. Might be worth e-baying your luck? If you can bear to part, I adore that album. | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 137 Registered: 05-2005 |
LP Spence, dont think I had a CD player then. Not that I would sell it. | ||
| mingus Member Username: Mingus Post Number: 14 Registered: 06-2005 |
Rocking Horse - Brisbane. Greville - Melbourne. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 184 Registered: 05-2005 |
Where is Greville? I will be in Melbourne in a couple of weeks for the U2 concert. Sydney used to have lots of good record shops when I lived here in 1992 but most closed down before I moved back in 2002. Now I probably buy more in the two $10 shops in Pitt St than anywhere else. I always found Melbourne to have better record shops that Sydney anyway. I've been to San Francisco twice but never got to Amoeba, which is a pity as I don't know when I will ever get back there. I found some other great shops in San Francisco, including a couple of great, huge ones out in Mountain View (I think it was Mountain View, it might have been one of the other valley towns). Berwick St in London has several really good record stores. I hope those kind of shops can survive. In huge cities such as London they probably will, but probably not elsewhere. Sometimes I buy stuff in smaller shops and think to myself "I'm the kind of person who should be buying albums here and if I, and others like me, don't it will soon close". Hamilton in New Zealand's north island has several great record shops in a few streets round the town centre. Lots of rare Flying Nun stuff on vinyl and CD. It is a very boring town other than that though. Not worth a visit unless you are a music geek - which all of us on this board are anyway. | ||
| mingus Member Username: Mingus Post Number: 15 Registered: 06-2005 |
Greville Records is in Greville St Prahran (in the middle of the shopping strip). Lots of vinyl, box sets.... | ||
| mingus Member Username: Mingus Post Number: 16 Registered: 06-2005 |
you probably won't be here in a few weeks for the U2 show ...it's been postponed ! | ||
| mingus Member Username: Mingus Post Number: 17 Registered: 06-2005 |
Second hand records: Vicious Sloth, 1309 High St Malvern | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 146 Registered: 09-2004 |
Like mingus, Greville St records is my pick for favourite Melbourne music shop. The guy that runs it, Warwick Brown, really knows his stuff and loves to chat if he approves of your purchase. He sure loves Dylan and Neil Young, and he used to be in a great and obscure local band called the Sunset Strip in the early nineties. He loves the Go-Betweens too and he was the first in Melbourne to stock both sets of Circus/Lomax reissues. Mingus, I'm unaware of Vicious Sloth. I takes a very good reason to get me over to that side of Melbourne. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 185 Registered: 05-2005 |
Thanks Charles. Yes, I saw that the concert's been cancelled. But my flights and hotel room bookings (both very expensive because the bloody commonwealth games are on - I bet we really kick Kenya's arse in badminton) are already long paid for so I will be going down anyway. It's a couple of years since I've been to Melbourne and I want to catch up with young Mr Azzopardi anyway. | ||
| mingus Member Username: Mingus Post Number: 18 Registered: 06-2005 |
Yeah, Warwick is the man, and great for a yarn ! I have some great jazz records courtesy of some of his trips to the US in the early 90s. Hmmm, I don't stray too far from the north side myself. Speaking of which Northside Records in Gertrude St Fitzroy is great for funk/soul type stuff. check www.vicioussloth.com.au if you don't want to travel! | ||
| Roger Griffin Member Username: Roger Post Number: 29 Registered: 11-2004 |
Red Eye Records - King Street, Sydney. Anything at all you're after - particularly new imports and old rarities, chances are they have it. They have a web site they sell from as well. Red Eye has been keeping me happily broke since it started in the early 80's (and before that as Anthem Records in the Town Hall Concourse in the 70's) | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 239 Registered: 05-2005 |
I went to Greville Records in Melbourne with Peter Azzopardi of this parish on Saturday and loved it. What a great shop. Found some great second hand stuff there, Pete got some vinyl and new CDs and we both had a fine chat with the owner. A very satisfying trip. In fact Pete and I had a great day's shopping for records in various Melbourne shops. | ||
| mingus Member Username: Mingus Post Number: 30 Registered: 06-2005 |
Glad you enjoyed your visit to Greville... What did you snaffle? | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 240 Registered: 05-2005 |
John Cale's Black Acetate, a 1990 Hard Ons album, Vic Chesnutt's Drunk and, cough, Ned's Atomic Dustbin. Thanks for the tip. Pete knew the store anyway and the owner greeted him as a regular, which is always nice. | ||
| Peter Azzopardi Member Username: Pete Post Number: 151 Registered: 09-2004 |
Yes, it was a splendid day, and so nice to be greeted as a regular at Greville, especially considering I haven't stepped foot inside the shop in over a year. | ||
| Cichli Suite Member Username: Cichli_suite Post Number: 97 Registered: 08-2004 |
Pádraig, I'd be interested in a review of Cale's 'Black Acetate' from a respected source! It's been on my list for the last few months. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 241 Registered: 05-2005 |
How nice to be called a respected source! Haven't listened to it yet Cichli, but will get back to you when I do. The compliment will speed my path to listening to it! | ||
| Geoff Holmes Member Username: Geoff Post Number: 79 Registered: 05-2005 |
Only trouble with Redeye is that they know ALL TOO WELL that FOLKS LIKE US will pay BIG BUCKS for anything even slightly interesting. I've often found over the years that you could find something for sometimes half the price of Redeye elsewhere. | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 254 Registered: 03-2005 |
Padraig, is this your first Vic Chesnutt? I don't have "Drunk" but I'll be interested in your take on it. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 242 Registered: 05-2005 |
No Randy. I got my first Vic Chesnutt album about 12/13 years ago. It was the first edition of Drunk, which Chesnutt issued himself, only on cassette. A friend in Atlanta sent it to me. The original version has a few extra things not even on the second CD edition of the album (the one I got at the weekend). The reason being that they don't want to be sued by U2! Chesnutt just sampled a U2 remix without any permission and stuck it onto the original cassette version. He didn't even tell his then record company that he was releasing it. I have not played it in years, but certainly used to love it. I will let you know what I think of the CD, as well as putting up my thoughts on the new John Cale when I get around to playing that. What I played last night after putting my daughter to bed was the new Augie March album (Melbourne band) and it's terrific. A great album. I had played it before but had fallen asleep (tiredness, not boredom). Yes Geoff, Red Eye is incredibly expensive, which is exactly why I almost never buy anything there. I only get something there if I have exhausted every other possibillity of getting it elsewhere. I had a conversation about this with the owner of Greville Records in Melbourne at the weekend. The worst thing Red Eye do is sell NME for $12 when it is available across the road, a whole 30 seconds away, for $5.50. I laugh at the fools happy to pay an extra $6.50 every week just to be seen getting it in a 'cool' indie shop rather than a newsagents. |