I’ve been way too lazy with this blog, to the point it’s
almost completely faded into obscurity. That wasn’t meant to be a Dehumanized
reference. Alas. Something that I’ve been meaning to document because it might
be useful to someone else, or merely a reminder to myself, is the names of
great record shops that I’ve come across in my journeys. M and I are rather
avid roadtrippers, vacation for us doesn’t really mean a formal plan as much as
“how much time do we have” and “how far from home can we go?” We try to
estimate a turn around point, then pass thru as many cities, national parks,
and other points of interest as we can. This past summer, we managed to travel
from our Mid-Atlantic residence to the Pacific Northwest and back. Our 2 ½ week journey
obviously required a soundtrack, so I made a point to google up and visit some
record stores along the way. In the process, I discovered some serious gems out
there still retailing all kinds of killer underground metal in a variety of
formats and figure that it’s worth putting the information out there for those
who still enjoy the old school record shopping experience.
These aren’t listed in order of preference or quality, but
in the order that I recalled them when I scribbled down a list of the noteworthy
shops I’ve come across. Future entries will document other places worth checking out.
Zion’s Gate Records
1100 E Pike St
Seattle, Washington
This place is incredible. It’s located in Seattle in what I
assume is the historic arts district/gay district of downtown. Their focus on
METAL, with an enormous collection of vinyl and band shirts. LOTS OF RARITIES.
They’ve got an impressive collection of CDs along the wall as well…I’m a CD
shopper mostly because the number 1 place I listen to music is in the car. Some
of their CDs can be on the pricey side…rarer and imported items are probably
going to go 20 bucks each. I did manage to pick up 3 Count Raven records here,
which was pretty awesome.
2nd Avenue Records
400 SW 2nd Ave
Portland, Oregon
Website: http://www.2ndavenuerecords.com/
A labyrinth of punk and metal as well as some other stuff.
Tons of vinyl but they carry extensive CD stock as well. It’s a bit confusing
as you basically have to ask the counter people to see the CDs, which they have
kept in somewhat alphabetized but not particularly organized boxes; they’re
more used to dealing with people that know what they want than the intrepid
hunter. That said, while there’s a little bit of hassle in having to ask
periodically for more boxes to search thru, they have an impressively large and
varied selection of metal for sale in basically every subgenre. Their vinyl
collection isn’t quite what Zion’s Gate is, but it’s massive as well. Lots of
shirts and merch too. Really fair prices as well which as a good thing; I
dropped almost $200 bucks in one visit.
The Record Exchange
1105 W Idaho St
Boise, Idaho
Website: http://therecordexchange.com/
Most college towns have a Record Exchange and Boise, Idaho
is no exception. Kinda at the edge of downtown not too far from Boise State
University’s campus; they’ve got a fair amount of everything here and their
metal assortment isn’t too shabby. I picked up albums by Solstifir, Scour, and
Unmerciful here if that gives you an idea. This was the first record store I
visited in the Pacific Northwest and I was a bit surprised to discover just how
big metal was out there.
Twist & Shout Records
2508 E Colfax Ave
Denver, Colorado.
Website: http://www.twistandshout.com/
This shop reminded me of what Tower Records was back in the
day. You aren’t going to find super obscure stuff, but you will find everything
you could want that’s on Relapse, Century Media, Metal Blade, Season of Mist,
Unique Leader, etc along with a few oddball items. It’s not a metal specific
store, but the metal section there is pretty large. I didn’t actually see a
whole lot of vinyl there, but it did have a really decent sized CD section.
Good prices. There's even amazing bookstore next door worth your time as well!
Bull Moose Records
151 Middle Street
Portland, Maine
OR
82-86 Congress Street
Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Website: http://www.bullmoose.com/
This is a local chain of record stores in Maine and New
Hampshire that’s a must visit when M and I are adventuring northward. Not a
metal specific shop, but lots of great prices and a great selection of both new
and used metal CDs. There's more locations than just these two, but I can't vouch for them. What I will say is that both the Portland and Portsmouth locations are located in really scenic tourist friendly spots so if your significant other isn't interested in waiting an hour while you comb thru used records to find that hidden gem there's other stuff to keep them busy. Also: the Portland location is kinda located downstairs across from a DVD store...it's a bit of a goofy spot to find.
Generation Records
210 Thompson Street
New York, New York
I don’t know my way around NYC so well that I can tell you
exactly where it is, other than it’s by Washington Square and NYU and it’s
about a 10 minute walk from any of the Subway stations I usually use to get
there. Decent selection of shirts and records…solid selection of new records
upstairs that basically covers your recently released essentials. But if you go
downstairs, you’ll find an ENOURMOUS selection of used CDs. It's a must stop every time M and I are in the city; there's also a really good Italian spot next door called Porto Bello and a neat little store dedicated to The Big Lebowski called "The Little Lebowski" that's right across the street. If you're not broke after stopping here, or are looking for other offerings beyond metal and punk, Bleeker Street and it's several shops are right near by as well.
Criminal Records
1154 Euclid Ave NE #A
Atlanta, Georgia
Website: http://criminalatl.com/
A really decent shop in the Five Points Neighborhood of
Atlanta. I was able to basically buy GWAR and Rwake’s entire back catalogues on
CD here for really cheap. It’s not the biggest shop in the world but if you’re
in the area it’s worth a visit. They carry a lot more than just metal, but the metal is kept in it's own section if you look for it.
Eides Entertainment
1121 Penn Ave
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Website: http://www.eides.com/info.html
This is a comic book shop/horror movie shop/record store. A
lot of people in Pittsburgh seem partial to Dave’s Music Mine over in South Side,
but this has always been the place I’d spend more money at when I’m in
Pittsburgh. You can usually find a few gems here when browsing around.
The Sound Garden
1616 Thames St
Baltimore, Maryland
Website: http://www.cdjoint.com/
I just recently figured out this place has free parking
behind the store. Of the places on this list, it's the one I go to the most. If you’re in the DC/MD/NOVA area…this shop is probably
worth the drive if you’re looking for death/doom/black metal. You aren’t going
to find super deep underground albums, but if they’re a band that’s played MDF,
you’ll find their stuff here.
Static Age Records
110 N Lexington Ave
Asheville North Carolina
No CDs to be found here. I do think they sell cassettes. But
there’s a healthy selection of underground punk and metal vinyl; I picked up vinyl by Acid Bath and Saint Vitus here. And fuck,
Asheville is just a cool place to visit anyway; there's more shops that also sell vinyl nearby.
Places You Can Skip.
In my adventures, I've managed to find a lot of great shops to pick up obscure records. And sometimes, Google Search and Facebook has led me to disappointments...and M shaking her head because I've wasted time she could be eating gourmet cheese or something...
The Heavy Metal Shop
63 E Exchange Place
Salt Lake City Utah.
Website: http://www.heavymetalshop.com/
They’ve got those sweet shirts, so you expect that finding
this store that it would sell a lot of CDs or at least Vinyls. Yeah….no. This place looks way more awesome from the outside than inside. There’s
a TINY section for CDs, almost all of which are the same old shit by Iron
Maiden, Judas Priest, Metallica and other 80’s dad rock. Shit you can find at
any FYE or Best Buy. Vinyl selection is basically the same, but even more
limited! There is an okay assortment of classic heavy metal shirts, but over
half of the merchandise for sale at this place was “The Heavy Metal Shop”
branded t shirts, magnets, coffee mugs, cock rings, etc. Okay, maybe not cock
rings but the guy who owns this shop isn’t actually selling very much heavy
metal out of his tiny cubicle, just products branded with his shop’s logo.
Quite a letdown, especially since you don’t have to be in Salt Lake City for
very long to pick up on the fact there’s a very healthy subculture scene there.
On the upside, I did rescue a Metallucifer record that
accidentally found its way there.
Chain Reaction Records
8739 W Colfax Ave
Lakewood, Colorado.
Website: http://www.chainreactionrecords.com/
Mostly used crap CDs. Maybe the punk selection is better,
but I found the metal offerings to be remarkable underwhelming and limited,
especially compared to Twist & Shout. Vinyl wasn’t anything to write home
about either. I guess they sell skateboards and shit too, but I’m too old for
that crap. On the upside it's in the part of Denver where you'll find dead hookers and meth.
The Underground Rock Shop
617 Euclid Ave
Des Moines, Iowa
Juggalo hell. Their available CDs are used nu-metal garbage.
Vinyl selection was moderately better, but it’s stuff most people into
underground metal already own. A modest handful of Emperor and Darkthrone…I did
stumble upon a vinyl copy of Celtic Frost’s "Into The Pandemonium" here…but they
wanted way too much for it so I passed. I guess if you wanna buy bongs and drug paraphernalia they can help you out though.
