Record Store Visit: Long In The Tooth - Philadelphia, PA - 10/20/22

I don't travel as much as I'd like.  I don't think most people really do.  But whenever I do travel I really try to hit up at least one new record store in whatever city I'm in.  I recently had to go to Philadelphia for work and while it's really not so far away from where I live that I'd consider traveling, it is still a city I'm not in very often.  Luckily, the hotel I was staying at was only a few blocks away from a record store called Long In The Tooth. 

It may not look like much from the outside, but once you go in there's a lot to love about this place.  Now, full disclosure:  I didn't buy anything while I was there.  However, I'm still going to say it was a great store it is.  That might seem somewhat incongruous, but I really do feel that way.

I think the main reason is because they had so many great records that I already had.  Just because I didn't need anything there that day doesn't mean that someone else that might not have my exact collection wouldn't find something they'd be really excited to pick up.  The store is very vinyl heavy, predominantly LPs.

Their rock section is really expansive and it passed the smell test by having the recent Rocket From The Crypt represses from Vagrant in stock.  But they had plenty of other goodies.  Mostly punk and indie rock with a few other things thrown in there.  The also had the No Knife record Hit Man Dreams up on the wall.  $125 does feel a little pricey for that record, but it really is hard to find and also very great, so I give them kudos for knowing what they had.

The 7" section wasn't nearly as big as the LP area, but they had a nicely curated selection of used goods.  A lot of 90s stuff and I almost picked up the copy of the Supersuckers' Born With A Tail 7", but the cover was a bit more beat up than I would have preferred.

The last section I spent time in was their hip hop LPs.  This was another area that was surprisingly great.  Very 90s heavy, as it should be, and they did a really great job of both stocking classics that are in print and having some used gems as well.  Again, nothing that I needed, but certainly the sort of section worth digging through.  I also have the feeling that if I lived there, I could very easily have them keep an eye out for stuff for me.  It just has that kind of vibe to it.

All in all, a fun store.  I would definitely go back if I was in the area.

Record Store Visit: Factory Records - Dover, NJ - 04/23/22

 

The best record store that was left in New Jersey was Vintage Vinyl.  Sadly, it finally shut down on July 31, 2021.  That was my usual haunt when Record Store Day came around, though I gave up waiting in line for hours before the store opened many years ago.  But I did still like to get out on RSD and just sort of see the sights and pick through the leftovers.

This year, there were actually three records that I wanted.  In perusing the RSD website, I saw that Factory Records in Dover was supposedly participating.  This was a new record store that had opened up in the past couple of years that I'd never been to.  it's also only about 20 minutes away.  From what I'd seen about them online, I wasn't really sure that they would stock the sort of records that I was looking for, but I decided to pop over there at around 11am, figuring most of the early morning chaos was probably over.

I wasn't really expecting to find the RSD releases I wanted, plus of the three I was after, one of them ended up getting pushed back to the second June RSD drop.  But I went in and was greeted at the door by a really nice guy who asked if I'd been here before, I said no and that it was my fist time and he just told me a little bit about the store.  Very nice.  Then I went into the store, which is pretty damn big

They had a whole special room set aside for Record Store Day releases.  You were given a ticket and they essentially started a timer where you had ten or fifteen minutes to start going through the RSD releases, no backtracking, just work your way around the room.  Super organized.  And amazingly, they had both of the records I was looking for at 11am after being opened for many hours.  A real treat.

After gathering my RSD bounty, I perused the rest of the store.  Very big, lots of record and they were organized really well.  They definitely have a focus on used records and reissues, but the selection was solid and the condition of the used records were top notch (aside from the 'dollar bin' stuff towards the back, but that's the point of that section).  If you are looking to deep dive into a specific or obscure genre, this probably isn't the best place for that.  The curation is pretty broad, but it is expansive and I did find a used Souls of Mischief record that I had been looking for.

I definitely wish it had a stronger punk rock section and that there was a bit more emphasis on 7"s that weren't 60s and 70s rock jukebox type records.  But, considering where it is and how long they have been open, I thought I was a pretty fun day and a great store.  

I don't even really know if being the type of record store that has a super deep and specific focus on a genre is really even in their plans, though I do think that Vintage Vinyl did a great job of stocking the obvious, while also digging deep due to knowledgable staff.  

Maybe Factory Records will get there at some point, but for now they're a store that is starting off strong and I'll definitely be heading back there this weekend to try to get the last RSD release I was looking for that got pushed back from the original date.

Record Store Visit: Singles Going Steady - Seattle, WA - 01/19/18

I went out to Seattle this weekend for the Seattle Pop Punk Festival.  A gathering of some fantastic bands and people in Seattle.  I had the most amazing time seeing some of my very favorite bands and hanging out with some great people.  So before I say anything about my record store visit, let me just say thanks to Ean, Denny & Josh from Sicko - Kevin, Rob, Andrew & Graham from Bum - Jonas for the place to crash - Alan for taking the clock back twenty years - and all of the cool people we met and chatted with during the weekend.  It was one for the ages.

We only ended up being able to get out to one record store while in Seattle.  I had every intention of hitting up more, but once we got there it just wasn't realistic.  Between the limited time and the flat out old man exhaustion from the travel and walking, it wasn't meant to be.  We hit up the one place that was recommended above the others; Singles Going Steady. 

Singles Going Steady was one of the sponsors for the Seattle Pop Punk Festival, so the recommendation to go there certainly carried some weight.  It was a good sized store with a solid mix of stock.  They mostly carry vinyl, but there was a corner of CDs towards the back of the store.  A good amount of new stuff, but also a lot of used, particularly when it came to 7"s.  The selection definitely skews punk rock, though there was plenty of indie rock and a smattering of complete randomness in the used bins.

I enjoyed digging through the 7"s, where there were all sorts of weird things hanging out.  Lots of 90's stock and obscure gems.  It's not every day you run across used Boris The Sprinkler 7"s in 2018, but you will at Singles Going Steady.  I didn't actually pick up anything while we were there, but part of that was due to jet lag/airplane exhaustion and a real lack of focus on the task at hand.  If I were to go back well rested with more time to kill, I'm pretty sure I would have unearthed something.  If I was local, it's definitely the sort of store I could see myself hanging around in.

Record Store Visit: Record Shop Base - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

Sadly, this is the last of the Tokyo record stores that I visited on my trip to Japan.  No matter how much I write about each one, it's impossible to accurately describe how great these stores were and how much it meant to me to finally go record shopping in Japan.  It was something that I had been wanting to do as long as I can remember.  Again, I must thank Kazu from Waterslide records.  Not only did he take me around to all of these stores, he also dug with me and helped me find quite a few things I was looking for.  It would have been easy to get overwhelmed if it wasn't for his assistance.  Cheers friend!

Record Shop Base was a killer store.   It just felt right.  Kind of small, packed to the rafters with tons

of records and a pretty heavy emphasis on the punk rock side of the spectrum.  Though they stocked more than just punk rock.  They had a solid used section and in particular some great 7"s to dig through.  The thing that stood out most to me here was that this was the store that I finally was able to find a Ron Ron Clou record at.  Sure, it was their covers album, but I was so thrilled to finally find one of their albums after coming up empty at the rest of the stores.

In addition to Ron Ron Clou, I also picked up a bunch of 7"s and some CDs as well.  That's the one thing that I really took away from record shopping in Japan: CDs.  I bought more CDs on this one day than I had probably bought in the previous 5 years.  It's just different there, CDs never went away and I would say that most of the Japanese punk rock I was looking for just never was released on LP.  Still at least it wasn't a bunch of cassettes!

I had such an amazing time in Tokyo, from start to finish it was simply the trip of a lifetime.  Every day we did something amazing, but that day we did nothing but record shopping will always stand out.  Everyone should get the chance to do that.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Shimokitazawa - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

As the light started to fade, we hit up the last Disk Union we were to visit on out trip to Tokyo.  This one was located in Shimokitazawa.  It was an interesting neighborhood, though we were told that a lot of the construction going on for the upcoming Tokyo olympics was threatening to change the area a bit.  Still, it was a really cool part of town to walk around in for a while.

This Disk Union was another that had a broad range of musical genres represented.  It was only one

story, but it had a larger footprint than some of the other stores we had went to.  As with most stores in Tokyo, a substantial portion of the store was dedicated to CDs, but there was some solid vinyl representation as well.  They had lots of 7"s (Including stocking of a pretty killer record by this band called Custody), once again broken up by genre for easy digging.

They also had an interesting selection of LPs.  In particular, I was drawn to a section that was 90's rock and alternative.  It was interesting parsing through old Beck 12"s and seeing records by bands like Stone Temple Pilots and Soundgarden.  Not because I had any interest in buying them, but it was just kind of funny to see those sort of records displayed so prominently.

I don't really remember what specific records I bought here, but I did buy a few.  I bought at least one record in every single record shop we went to (Except from the heavy metal store we went in by mistake).  Our Tokyo record store quest was starting to wrap up, but we had one more store to hit and I'll write about that one next week.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Shibuya - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

Another day, another Disk Union.  Let me tell you how utterly incredible this Japanese record store chain is.  We went to so many of them while in Japan and they each had a feeling all their own.  I would be spending my life in these stores if I lived in Japan.  Maybe it's best I don't live there. I'd end up poor, but I would have a hell of a record collection.

The Shibuya location isn't quite as big and awe inspiring as its Shinjuku neighbor, but it is still a pretty gigantic shop.  Many floors and each floor broken up into genre specific shopping.  Although here, two floors are dedicated to used records. I wish we had the time to have spent some of it digging through there a bit, but on this day our objective was the fifth floor, specializing in heavy metal and (you guessed it) punk rock.

This was a great store and I'm guessing the two floors of used records seeped into the punk shop as well.  There were no shortage of used records up there, especially in terms of 7"s.  Also, like the Shinjuku shop, the sub genres of punk rock were split up in super specific sub genres, making it easier to dive into whole chunks of the store at one time.  It's probably no surprised I was digging in the 'Melodic Pop Punk' section for quite some time.

I don't remember the specific records I picked up here, but I do remember that I probably bought more CDs at this store than some of the others.  I also remember seeing some crazy 7"s for super cheap, ones that I already had but were way more difficult for me to find ten years ago.  Simply put, it was another incredible record store in Tokyo.  In case you haven't figured it out, Tokyo has a lot of them.

Record Store Visit: Warehouse / Nat Records - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

After going through the Disk Union punk store in Shinjuku, it was only a short walk (after a brief stop at the giant Godzilla statue) to Warehouse & Nat records.  Now, I can't say that I completely understand how there are two record shops in one store and to be honest, I wasn't really paying a ton of attention to that when I was in there.  But essentially, Nat records specializes in noisy rock and roll and Warehouse seems to focus on used stuff.  Exactly where one store ends and the other begins isn't something that I took a picture of, I guess.

No matter which store is which, Warehouse/Nat was a great place to dig.  Lots of 7"s, lots of punk rock and a good amount of interesting older records to peruse (you should see the Ventures 7" section at this place).

I bought a lot of 7"s while shopping here.  I don't think I picked up any CDs and unfortunately I don't really remember if I bought any LPs, but I would think I grabbed at least one.  As the trip gets further and further in the rearview, I'm having a more difficult time remembering exactly what records I bought in each store.

Warehouse/Nat is definitely a shop worth hitting up if you're in Tokyo.  It doesn't have quite as much foot traffic as the Disk Union stores, but they have a lot of hidden gems here.  If you are into some serious digging, you could probably spend quite a long time pouring over their stock.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Shinjuku - Tokyo, Japan - 12/29/16

On the second full day we were in Tokyo, December 29th, Kazu from Waterslide records took my wife and I around for a whirlwind tour of record stores.  This is the day things really picked up as far as buying records went.  Our first stop of the day was the Disk Union in Shinjuku.  This is the best record store I have ever gone to in my entire life.

The store is seven stories and each story focuses on specific genres of music. World music? Head up to the fourth floor.  Looking for some J-Pop? It's down to the basement for you.  But for me, it was up to the seventh floor as that was dedicated to punk rock.  I really could not believe what I was walking into.  This store was just crammed full of records and CDs, all by bands that I love.  The genres were broken down in such specificity that became a little comical to see the sub-sub-sub genres of Psychobilly that had its own section.  But any store that had a special place to browse melodic pop punk is a store that I want to go to just about every day.

The other thing that I loved about the Shinjuku Disk Union was the sheer amount of 7"s they had.  It seemed like they were everywhere.  A section for new 7"s, a section for used 7"s, random 7"s stacked up on shelves that you didn't even notice the first time you walked by.  It was just crazy.  This is also the only store I have ever been in that has its own dedication portion of the used section dedicated to Snuffy Smile 7"s.  That was madness.  Flipping through that part of the used bin, I couldn't believe the 7"s that were just sitting around that had previously taken me decades to find.  Just as incredible as the records I did buy was the amount of records I already had that I couldn't believe I was seeing just sitting in a store.

I bought a ton of records at this Disk Union.  I can't even remember all of the ones that came from this store, but I got a lot of pretty great punk rock and I was completely shocked at how inexpensive it ended up being.  I spent less than a hundred bucks here, but walked out with a stack of 7"s over two inches thick and at least a dozen CDs and a couple of LPs.  More than anyplace I've ever been, excluding Flipside Records in Pompton Lakes NJ during the 90's, this store just felt like home.  I keep telling people that the thing I like most about Japan is the way they seem to really encourage people to find that thing they're passionate about and immerse themselves in it.  It felt like this Disk Union was built specifically with me in mind.  I just loved it there.

The crazy part is that we had such a busy day of record shopping planned, that I never even went into any of the other floors.  Sure, I can't imagine there was a hidden gem waiting for my on the progressive rock floor, but I bet there may have been some other interesting things lying around.  Just another reason to go back someday.

Record Store Visit: Disk Union Ochanomizu - Tokyo, Japan - 12/28/16

The hotel we stayed at in Japan was in a section of Tokyo called Ochanomizu.  It was in between the Akihabara train stations and the Ochanomizu station.  We used both, but the Ochanomizu station was the one that we used a bit more often.  This particular Disk Union was right across the street from the Ochanomizu station and was only 4 blocks or so from our hotel.  Though I only got to go in once, it was always cool that I was walking by my 'local' record shop every time I went somewhere.

Like the Disk Union in Nakano, the Ochanomizu station was something of a one stop shop kind of place.  Most genres were represented at least a little bit.  There were more CDs than vinyl, but the vinyl section was still pretty big, especially the 7" section which was well stocked with cool used records.  The day we went was our first full day in Japan so I think, like in Nakano, that I probably should have tried a bit harder to get back to this shop during the trip for a lengthier dig.  I have a feeling there were probably some undiscovered gems floating around, but we were tired and we hit this store towards the end of the day.

I only picked up one record here, an old four way split 7" that had a Husking Bee song on it.  A cool record for sure, but I think there probably was more here to find if I had a bit more time.

Bonus Store: A couple of blocks away, still in Ochanomizu is a 2 story Disk Union store that specializes in heavy metal.  I didn't totally realize that until we had gone inside and since I don't really listen to any heavy metal, we didn't stay long and I didn't buy anything, but I still think it is neat that a store like this exists and was full of people looking for some loud screeching riffs.

Record Store Visit: Disc Union Nakano - Tokyo, Japan - 12/28/16

Sorry for such a long delay since the last time I posted anything.  As I had mentioned, I went to Tokyo over New Years and then when I got home, I ended up pretty sick for about 2 weeks.  I'm still kind of pulling out of it, but I'l at least well enough to start up a little writing about my trip.  So, if I were to exclusively write about the record stores and records I bought while in Tokyo, I would probably fill up the next 4-6 months of this website with that.  To keep things a little more varied, I'm going to mix these purchases in with some of the more current albums that I'm buying this year. 

I went to a fair amount of record stores while in Tokyo.  Especially thanks to the wonderful Kazu from Waterslide records who brought me around to the very best ones for the type of records I was shopping for.  Over the weeks I'll be writing a little bit about each store, though as a warning quite a few of them were Disc Unions.  Still even most of the Disc Unions had their own personality.  It really was an amazing trip and even though I've heard my entire life how great record stores are in Japan, even I couldn't believe how incredible they were once I was actually there.

First up is the first record store I visited in Tokyo, the Disc Union in Nakano.  This was the first full day we were in Tokyo and I will admit that I was a little tired when we were walking around.  We tried to cram in a lot this day and we ended up at this shop after some time walking around Akihabara and then the Nakano Broadway building.  I think if I had gone to this shop a little later in the week, I probably would have done some deeper digging, but even in the limited time I was here, I checked out a good amount of stuff.

Unlike some of the more specialized Disc Unions, the one in Nakano was a store that had a pretty

broad focus and carried records from most genres.  Like most of the stores we went to, there was definitely more of a focus on CDs than vinyl, but their vinyl section was still quite big, very impressive and organized to perfection.  One of my favorite things about record stores in Japan is how specifically they divide the sub genres of each section.  Being able to head right to the used Japanese punk section sure made things convenient throughout the trip.

This store was a pretty good size, taking up the second floor of a decently large building.  We were there at about 3 in the afternoon on a Wednesday and the store was just full of people.  It was very rare that any record store we went to wasn't pretty packed with folks buying records.  Warms my heart.

Anyway, this was a really good store, though not at the top of my list at the end of the day.  I only ended up buying a Practice/What-A-Night's split 7", but again, had we gone back on a different day where we were a little more rested, I think I would have had the energy to dig a little longer at this store.  I'm sure I would have unearthed some sort of hidden treasures.

Record Store Visit: Shuga Records - Chicago, IL - 09/11/15

So the only other new record store I hit while in Chicago (I also went to a few I had been to already, but those don't really warrant write ups) was Shuga Records.  I walked there after hitting up Reckless Records at the Damen Blue Line stop.  Again, as I was trying to travel light, I didn't end up buying anything, but as always it was fun to peruse.

I wouldn't say that Shuga leaned towards any specifc genre.  They seemed to have a good cross section of everything and in particular, I thought they had a nice selection of older 'rare' records.  For my taste, they tended to be a bit on the expensive side, but I will cop to not really knowing what the current market value is for first pressing Pearl Jam LPs.  

They did have a copy of Strictly Business by EPMD, but the cover was completely destroyed.  We're talking tears, rips and no corners left to speak of.  They still wanted $20 for it.  Don't get me wrong, that's a great record, but in the condition it was in I don't think I would have paid $3 for it, let alone $20.

I wouldn't make it my first stop going back to Chicago, but I would definitely pop in if I was already in the neighborhood.

Record Store Visit: Bric-A-Brac Records - Chicago, IL - 09/10/15

I am back from my little vacation and my trip to Chicago to see Drive Like Jehu.  Both times I saw Jehu were incredible and I'm so glad that I managed to go to those shows.  It was also great to see loads of friends from around the country who had also come out for the shows.  It was a truly great time and I hope I see everyone again really soon.  

I can't say that I did a ton of record shopping while I was in town, but I did hit up two new stores.  The first of which was called Bric-A-Brac Records.  Located in Logan Square, it's a medium sized shop, but they sure have crammed a ton of stuff in there.  While I didn't buy anything (I was traveling pretty light and needed to keep it that way), that had a good selection of rock and roll.  As a whole I guess you could say they lean towards the garage-ier type stuff, but I saw plenty of neat things from all genres digging through their 7"s.

The thing that actually makes this the sort of shop I really wish we had in New Jersey is that they also sell vintage toys.  The toy section is pretty small in comparison with the records, but they had a lot of great stock.  In particular they had quite a few of the old Kenner Ghostbusters toys and a ton of He-Man.  The prices seemed pretty reasonable to me, but again, I wasn't really set up to be buying a bunch while in town.

Absolutely a store worth sticking your nose in if you are in Chicago.

Record Store Visit: Repo Records - Philadelphia, PA - 04/04/14

This past Friday I went down to Philadelphia for the first time in many years so that I could see Rocket From The Crypt play.  It was the 3rd show in a row that I was lucky enough to see them play.  Though I didn't really get much time to spend in Philly before the show started, I did manage to hit up 1 record store while I was in town.

Repo Records is a fairly small store.  They certainly slant towards indie music for the most part.  A few racks of CDs a bigger selection of new LPs and a few crates of used records floating around upstairs.  There's a 2nd floor of junker vinyl downstairs as well according to signs in the building, but I didn't really have time to go digging though that.

What the store really doesn't have much of at all is 7"s, which are always my favorite things to dig through.  It's hard to get excited about a store that has fewer 7"s than I do, but I think I have more records in the B section of my 7" collection than Repo Records has in the whole store.  Still, while I was there I picked up the new Cloud Nothings record on blue vinyl, so while it wasn't an amazing shopping experience, there were still things there to keep me interested.  Hopefully next time I end up in Philly I'll be able to hit up some of the other stores as well.

Record Store Visit: Logan Hardware - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13

Record Store Visit: Logan Hardware - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

The very last stop for the day on my record shopping tour of Chicago was at a place called Logan Hardware. While I won't say this was the best record store I went to while I was in Chicago, it was absolutely the coolest one I was at.

Logan Hardware is a big store. The room just feels like it goes on for days and they have a great mix of stock. New & used underground rock 7"s, piles and pile of oldies 45s, CDs, LPs, DVDs, VHS tapes, blind box action figures, wacky candy and more. Musically, I wouldn't say they focus on any one specific genre, but it's very much an independent record store so the selection is as it should be.

I really enjoyed the dynamic vibe of the store as there was just so much to look at, but the crowning achievement of Logan Hardware is the secret vintage arcade museum hidden at the back of the store. Maybe it's not really a secret as they do talk about it on the store's website, but being in the actual store itself, I would have had no idea it was there had we not been there with a local.

After you purchase something at the store, you get back a receipt with a secret code on it. You then punch that code into a locked door at the back of the store and enter into a hidden arcade full of vintage video games. Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man, Moon Patrol, TMNT, about 8 pinball machines and many more favorites. Simply amazing. Musically, I'd probably be happiest if there was a Reckless Records in New Jersey, but as far as just a flat out cool, fun store; I sure wish there was a Logan Hardware around here somewhere.

That wrapped up my record shopping in Chicago. I had a great time going around and wanted to once again thank the great @swamipat for showing my wife and I the shops to hit and for taking us out for one hell of a good burger.

Record Store Visit: Laurie's Planet Of Sound - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13

Record Store Visit: Laurie's Planet Of Sound - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Stop #4 of the record store tour of Chicago was Laurie's Planet Of Sound. Incidently, this store was right across the street from a vintage toy store called Quake. Quake looked like it was probably pretty cool, but they were closed (despite the fact that it wasn't closing time according to the sign on their door), so I didn't get to stop in. Laurie's, on the other hand, was open and I got to peruse their stash of records.

I have to say that overall I was very impressed with Chicago's record stores by this point. There's a level of consistency in these shops and each of them has something worth while. Laurie's selection of new records was solid, if unspectacular, but they had a better than usual used selection.

Additionally they were the one store in Chicao I went to that had the coveted "rare records" 7" box behind the counter. I nabbed a pretty old out of print Hex Dispensers 7"s from here, so that makes this visit a success as far as I'm concerned. Also, one of the clerks was originally from a nearby town in New Jersey, so I got a taste of that "it's a small world" thing as well.

Record Store Visit: Reckless Records - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13

Record Store Visit: Reckless Records - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

I don't know if Reckless Records is the best record store I went to in Chicago, but it is certainly the most broadly stocked store that I was at during my visit. While most of the other stores I went to seemed to to be a bit more focused in their approach, Reckless feels like a great one stop shop for all things underground. In fact, it reminded me a great deal of the glory days of Kim's Underground in New York City.

I guess Reckless leans more indie rock than anything, but this is a pretty big store with a good cross section of different genres. Their used section was great, with tons of old 7"s from the 90's hanging around. Any store that I can go in and pick up a Walker 7" on colored vinyl is a store that's going to get a pretty positive review from me. As New York City record stores die or move to Brooklyn, it's crazy to see the epitome of 1990s NYC record shopping living on in a store in Chicago. I'm jealous I don't have a Reckless Records here in New Jersey.

Record Store Visit: Dusty Groove - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13

Record Store Visit: Dusty Groove - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

The 2nd record store hit up on my Chicago adventure was also the one store I didn't actually buy anything at. Dusty Groove specializes in Jazz, Soul and Funk, though they also had a pretty solid Hip Hop section as well. I wasn't really in the market for anything that Dusty Grooves was selling during this trip as I had decided I didn't want to bring any LPs on the plane ride home with me, but it was certainly a fun store to browse.

I can definitely see a specific type of record collector flipping their wig for the kind of stuff this store carries, though I can't say they had much in the way of used 7"s, which was pretty much my main goal on this trip. It's a neat store though, and one that I'd like to dig through again some other time.

Record Store Visit: Permanent Records - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13

Record Store Visit: Permanent Records - Chicago, IL - 09/16/13, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

I'm back from my Chicago vacation. Let me start off by saying that I was very lucky to see Rocket From The Crypt twice in Chicago. Once at a club show that took place at a venue called the Double Door and once standing in the pouring rain at Riot Fest. Both shows were outstanding. I had a great time in Chicago, it's really a cool city. I'm hopeful to have an excuse to go back again really soon.

While in the windy city @swamipat was kind enough to take me record shopping. I'll be spending this week going over the various record stores that we hit up. All brand new stores for me that I'd never been in before. While I tried to limit my actual purchases to 7"s due to having to travel home with the records, I did check out pretty much everything and I can say that if I lived in Chicago, I would have no problem getting by with the stores they have.

The first stop was a place called Permanent Records. I would call it one of the more specialized stores that we visited. While they had a little bit of everything, you could tell that they specialized in the sort of garage/pop/psych revival rock that's been brewing over the past few years. They had a pretty good selection of new LPs and 7"s plus an easily accessible public rest room, which I thought was a nice feature.

They also had a really strong and affordable used section. I spend a great deal of time digging though their 7"s and found quite a few gems. I was mostly on the hunt for old forgotten 90's stuff and found a few records worth taking home. But the record I was most excited to find was the colored vinyl version of The Paperhead 7" Pictures of Her Demise. This was the only Trouble In Mind 7" on colored vinyl that I didn't have, so it was great to be able to add that to the collection.

All in all a great store. I wish I had the opportunity to shop there on a regular basis.

Record Store Visit: Princeton Record Exchange - Princeton, NJ -04/20/13 (RSD13)

Record Store Visit: Princeton Record Exchange - Princeton, NJ - 04/20/13 (RSD13), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

This will also be doubling as my post about the various Record Store Day hijinks that took place this past Saturday. Though Princeton Record Exchange was the 2nd store I visited for Record Store Day, I have already done a store profile on the first store I went to. For that reason we'll start with Princeton, even though it makes me tell the days events out of order.

The Princeton Record Exchange was always the store that was a rare treat for me when I was younger. It was easily the store that was furthest away from me, but was still within range to get to. It took an hour each way driving commitment; so we didn't get out there a lot. What Princeton was great for then (and maybe still now but I don't go in that section as much anymore) was used CDs. They were so cheap and so plentiful. I can only assume they were siphoning promos from the local campus radio station like crazy as everything was pretty current too.

These days my record buying budget isn't as tight as it was in college, so I tend to stay in the area of the store where my heart truly lies; the vinyl section. They have a really strong selection. A little something of everything. I'm always surprised by the smaller niche bands they manage to stock. I will say that they have always been terrible about 7"s, there's almost none in the entire store, but for LPs they are absolutely worth the trip down.

For Record Store Day 2013, they were the 2nd store we went to. We got there at 9:30am (store opens at 10:00) and were pretty far back in line. I would say there were probably 100 - 150 people ahead of us, but I'm not great at judging the size of a crowd. What I will say is this, Princeton Record Store is terrible at managing Record Store Day.

Rather than keep all of the records behind a counter and get people what they want, they literally make people stand at one end of their Record Store Day section and go down the aisle row by row. You have to flip through every single record to pick out the titles that you want. As you can imagine, this makes the line take FOREVER. Though I was lucky and The Thermals 7" I was waiting in line for all that time was still around by the time I got my turn, it's really just insane to make people get their records in this manner. We arrived at 9:30 and didn't get out of there until nearly 2. Again, I realize there were a lot of people in line, but I think you could have gotten everyone out much quicker if the staff (who are very, very nice) were given more control of the situation.

The line at Vintage Vinyl about an hour before the store opened

Much, much earlier, the day started off at Vintage Vinyl in Fords, NJ. We arrived at 3:30am (store opened at 8:00) and there were already about 15 people in line ahead of us. Frankly, I was shocked there were that many. I figured at worst we'd be 5 or 6 people back that early. We spent the next 4 and a half hours being cold, hungry and trying to figure out if the 15 people ahead of us were also there primarily for the Rocket From The Crypt records. About an hour before go time a TV crew from TV Tokyo showed up and started interviewing people in line. They also ended up in the store, recording some footage there as well.

Once the store opened, they moved at a pretty brisk pace. You give them your list they retrieve your records. Except they really don't do a good job with your list, plus random records aren't behind the counter, they are on a little display stand opposite the counter behind everyone in line. As soon as I walked in the door I saw the 2 RFTC reissues on this rack and bolted over to them. Luckily I got them, but I don't know that I would have if a couple of the people in line ahead of me were paying more attention to the layout of the store.

Once I handed my list in, I had to keep giving it back to them 3 more times as they didn't give me everything on my list after they went through it the first time. I understand they are busy and are trying to move quick, but I had been waiting outside their store for almost 5 hours, the least they could do is make sure I get everything on my list that was actually in stock. I got most of what I wanted except for the Thermals 7" (Vintage didn't get any, but I got that at Princeton) and the Superchunk 7" that the guy in front of me got the very last copy of (Luckily a friend in Philly picked me up a copy of that though - Thanks!).

All in all, despite minor organizational gripes with my stores, I had an amazing time at Record Store Day. Money was spent, records were bought and I took part in a little network of like minded friends across the country & overseas that were all helping each other get the records they wanted (#TeamSwami). I have the nicest, most patient wife in the world and I have a big stack of records to write about in the upcoming weeks; with more on their way from various friends. Can't wait until next year!

Record Store Visit: Earwax - Brooklyn, NY - 03/02/13

Record Store Visit - Earwax - Brooklyn, NY - 03/02/13, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

I hardly ever go into Brooklyn. Being from New Jersey, it just tends to be a real pain. The only times I really ever go is to go to a show that I absolutely can't miss. Well, one of those shows popped up this weekend so I ventured out into the wilderness to go see The Night Marchers, Dan Sartain & Mrs. Magician at at a place called Glassland Gallery. On my way there, I passed a record store on Bedford Avenue and thought it was worth stopping in.

Earwax is a pretty typical indie store. 65% LPs, 35% CDs. It's a small store but they make the best of it. The stock is really pretty ordinary. They stock bigger indie stff for the most part, though they did have a bit of punk rock thrown in. Almost no used section to speak of and I think I bought more 7"s last month than they actually sell at this place.

They really fell into the trappings of the stereotypical snobby store. The music they were playing consisted of one tone that played the entire time I was in the store. How does one tell if that's a good tone? I'm not up on my tones, so I guess it could have been an parody tone or maybe something that you can use to balance your stereo speakers.

The clerk was also a cartoon character of a record store employee, sitting around in an ironic Christmas sweater talking down to some young girl in the store telling her that only "Weird German men and Dads still buy CDs."

Anyway, it's not a bad store, and I you are in the area and are looking for current indie rock, it's as good as any. Just don't go their expecting to dig for gems or to engage in any conversation with the staff.