Indie Record Stores
 

I thought it might be interesting to get recommendations on your favorite record/CD stores. I'm looking mainly for independently owned places, not mall or chain stores, unless it's a great local chain. Be sure to let us know what area of the world/country you're talking about. I can't be the only one who loves to scour through indie record stores whenever I visit new cities. And if the store has a website, feel free to list it.

I'm in central New Jersey, not far from NYC, so I'll list a few recommendations from this area.

Vintage Vinyl - Fords, NJ - http://www.vvinyl.com
My single favorite record store, though I've never been to California to experience Amoeba. Vintage is a CD junkie's paradise. Huge selection of indie, industrial, metal, hardcore, jazz, blues, 50s and 60s, electronic, imports, gigantic used section, a few rows of vinyl, lots of memorabilia, lots of music videos and DVDs. I usually manage to spend at least $100 every time I visit. The staff is very knowledgable without being condescending and if they don't have something you're looking for, they will order it if it's in print.

Mondo Kim's - St. Mark's Place, NYC - http://www.kimsvideo.com
The best NYC record store, IMHO. Not much mainstream here, but then, you can get that crap anywhere. Huge experimental music section, equally large indie rock and jazz sections. Nice sized used, smaller electronic, hiphop and blues sections. Plus, it's on St. Mark's Place, which also houses at least 4 other record stores of varying quality, all of whom have lots of used discs - Smash, St. Mark's Sounds (2 separate locations), 13 (formerly Venus) and Joe's. Kim's also has books, DVD and video on the second floor, including many import DVDs. Kim's West on Bleecker St. at W. 10th St. in the West Village is a smaller version of Mondo Kim's, but is also worth a stop.

Other Music - E. 4th St, NYC - http://www.othermusic.com
Another great place for stuff that is ignored by the mainstream. Hell, it's right across the street from the downtown NYC Tower Records and survives by carrying stuff Tower doesn't. Similar selection to Mondo Kim's, though CDs tend to be about a buck or two more at Other. I usually hit Kim's first with my want list and then pick up at Other whatever Kim's didn't have.

Compact Disc World - 10 New Jersey locations - http://www.clubcd.com
This is a NJ-based chain that mixes mainstream with some other interesting choices, though by no means as complete as the above stores. If you join their Club CD, you get great prices on everything they carry, which basically brings down to Best Buy type prices stuff that Best Buy doesn't have.

Jack's Music - Red Bank, NJ
Yep, the CD store featured in Kevin Smith's Chasing Amy. I used to like them when they had a larger used section. I find it hard to recommend now, though. Especially with their ridiculous prices. $20 for Aphex Twin's Drukqs when it was $13-15 everywhere else. A good deal can be found though when digging through everything.

There's lots more NYC stores, but these are my favorites. A more thorough, though by no means complete, list is at http://www.papermag.com/guide/music/record_stores.html

So that's the NYC area. Please add your favorite local stores from wherever you live.

Thanks!

In Dallas, TX

Bill's Records and Tapes

In Vegas, there's only one really good independent music store that I've seen...

Big B's on UNLV's campus. Great selection of indie discs and used cds...

Soundgarden and Reptillian Records in Fells Point in Baltimore. Also Record and Tape Traders is a local chain that's good.

Coalition Of Independent Music Stores
 

I've been to Soundgarden before. Where is Reptillian?

Princeton Record Exchange in Princeton, NJ

I used to use PREX a lot until I discovered Vintage Vinyl. Vintage is cheaper, closer to me and has a larger selection. I do like to hit the $5 and under used walls at PREX at least twice a year, though.

Reptillian is about 4 blocks North of Soundgarden on Broadway. It's has a bright green front. It's a great store if your into punk.

Used to live in Pittsburgh, and there are some really good independent stores there...

Eides Entertainment is the one everyone knows about.
Brave New World is good if you're into underground hip hop, punk or garage rock.
Dave's Music Mine might just be the best used music store I've ever been to.

Let It Be, in Minneapolis. It was my favorite hangout, lotsa cool and knowledgable people working there. Also, a great place to find obscure CD's and albums (and an alternative to friggin' Sam Goody's). More great Minneapolis indie stores were Electric Fetus and Oarjokefolkopus. Haven't lived in Minnesota for five years now, though, so don't know the current situation is with these places. Is Oarjokefolkopus even around anymore? Oh yeah, I did a lot of shopping at Disc-Go-Round, good selection of used CD's. God, I miss Minneapolis... :(

Amoeba Music in LA is without a doubt the best music store. Not to mention they have live music all the time.

record and tape traders in baltimore, lots of indie, local, punk, ect that you wont find at sam goody and fye.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton: Gallery of Sound

Thats in Northeast Pennsylvania...sorry about that

Reckless Records, Broadway, Chicago ('cuz the Wicker Park store blows chunkage)

I think there is like 3 Amoeba's. I want to get down to the LA one soon... I heard its really cool.

Locally (to me), I go to Offbeat Records or Go Boy Records (I believe both are in Hermosa Beach)

I forgot about Good Records which is also really cool.

A few more recommendations of places I've been:

Penguin Music - Toronto, ON, Canada - McCaul St just north of West Queen.
They specialize in techno, ambient, indie, post rock, industrial, goth. Pretty much most of what I listen to. Their used section is more genre spanning.

Digital Ferret - Philadelphia, PA - South 5th St, just north of South St.
Another goth, industrial, techno, ambient specialist. They used to be called Digital Underground.

Spaceboy Records - Philadelphia, PA - South St.
Probably Philly's finest indie shop.

Repo Records - Philadelphia, PA - South St.
Another good indie store, and they have a location in the suburbs in Bryn Mawr.

Bumping a pretty old thread to see if anyone has some recommendations for me. I just moved to the Denver/Colorado Springs area and was wondering if anyone knew of any good indie record stores in the area?

Twist & Shout is really good. They get a lot of really cool artists doing in-stores.

I'll second Reckless on Broadway. Never even been to the Wicker Park one. That area scares me for some reason. In the southern suburbs where I'm from, Threshold Music in Tinley Park is the only indiependently run store worth a damn I know of. They're not anything worth visiting Illinois for, but I can't really knock them seeing as probably 1/3 of my collection has come from them.

To be honest, I do about 90% of my CD shopping online nowadays. There's still nothing like spending an hour or so browsing through a record store and picking stuff up out of the blue, but I find that I'll go out looking for something in particular, not find it, and then buy 4 other albums instead. this doesn't happen quite as much when I shop online.

Also in SF and Berkeley. Awesome store. Check out the site

Another great indie chain in the Bay Area is Rasputin's

Know any good DC stores? I know of the one in Fredericksburg, VA, one an hour above it (in the middle of nowhere), and a couple in the Norfolk/Newport News/Williamsburg/Richmond areas. I have yet to really venture around DC, though.

Personally:

NYC
Kim's (great rarities - that's where I got Money Mark's Love Stains Demo)
Virgin MegaStore (I have yet to see a store with better import selections... anywhere)
J&R (good for CDs and DVDs)

Baltimore
Fell's Point has an OK record store, I think it was mentioned here already
CD Depot off Joppa Road and Loch Raven Boulevard near the Towson campus

LA
Amoeba Music in Hollywood

Most of these CD stores try to have a DVD selection as well, but with the exception of J&R, they are worthless. Amoeba and Kim's don't have enough of a selection, Virgin has awful MSRP pricing, and the smaller stores have a lot left to be desired -- although I did get Thin Red Line oop DVD in Fells Point a year ago.

Magnolia Thunderpussy in Columbus, OH.

Great selection of all genres in Cd &vinyl. T-shirts, videos etc too.

Website: http://magnolia.thunderpussy.com/

Not in the metro areas of NY or LA but the best record store I have ever been to is Shake It Records in Cincinnati. I lived in Cincy for 14 years and this place has it all. Great 70's, early 80's punk and 60's garage punk selection(not just American garage punk but rare British,Aussie, NZ and Dutch as well) great rockabilly and Americana, jazz, funk and soul and many hard to find "turntable" artists such as DJ Shadow, Cut Chemist, Mr. Dibbs, Qbert etc and even a "difficult listening" section. Lotsa imports as well. These dudes have great taste in music and it shows with their super selection. Great selection of vinyl- all genres. I still do mail order with these guys even though I have relocated to Savannah. They have a website,
shakeitusa.com but I believe their full inventory is not up yet, just their own Shake It label. Sign up for the e-mail list and you will see their great selection.

Close second is Vintage Vinyl in NJ and Criminal Records in Atlanta is pretty strong especially for imports/unusual dvd's as well, but they have no vinyl. Princeton Record Exchange is awesome as well. Schedule a full day in that place to unearth some rare vinyl gems.

In the Chicago area:

Val's Halla Records in Oak Park about 20 miles west of the city
Rolling Stone Records in Chicago

I 2nd the Good Records, in Dallas, TX. It's great to have a Indie record shop w/in walking distance - or is it?

Joe's Records - Rockville, MD
CD Depot - College Park, MD
Record & Tape Traders - Frederick, MD
Orpheus Records - Arlington, VA
Kemp Mill Music - Various locations, usually not very good, I only mention them because they are all closing down soon and their entire stock is 80% off at the moment.

ear x-tacy - louisville, ky

http://www.earx-tacy.com/

Ear Candy Music
624 S. Higgins
Missoula, MT
59801
great people great store the vinyl is always in exceptional shape with reasonable prices.

DCCD in Adams Morgan neighbourhood of DC is a great place to pick up the latest indie discs and 7' vinyl

Olsson's Books and Records (various locations but Dupont is my favourite - since I have worked there and at the now closed Georgetown location)

Smash - in Georgetown

CD Depot - in Georgetown (caters more to used and 'dance' cd's has a good small selection of CD singles)

Everyday music in Portland is a pretty good in town chain. I think they have 3 stores. They have a pretty large selection, but you have to live with the "I'm and indie record store clerk, I'm better than you" attitude from their employees.

These are the only 2 stores I buy my music from (cds). I occasionally go to sam goody just to check if they carry what I am looking for while walking around the mall, they never do, and when I ask them to look it up, they find it and say it will be a couple weeks to special order it, while rasputin or amoeba will have several in stock. I usually buy records from the smaller shops or online.

San Diego, CA:

Off The Record in Hillcrest has a great indie selection.

Lou's Records in Encinitas is better though, if you're willing to make the short drive up north!

My favorite when I was living in Northern VA was Now Music & Fashion. It used to be in Clarendon, but then moved to Old Town Alexandria on King Street. It's original location was across the street from my former job, which was nice. They moved to Old Town after I left the area (and the new store is only a few blocks from my old townhouse, which would've been nice).

In Richmond, VA, it's all about Plan 9 in Carrytown. I always hit that up when I go back to visit the fam.

Plan 9 is really great. They just got a location in Williamsburg, which is even better because it's closer to my home-town.

Rev, before hitting NYC you should stop off at Tunes in Hoboken (assuming you PATH it into the city). Granted the store has moved more mainstream in recent years but they have always stocked a good assortment of non mainstream CDs, mainly in the indie rock genre, though you can find a decent selection of industrial and IDM at times. The other good things is you can get tickets there for the shows at Maxwells in Hoboken, my favorite club to see bands in. I believe that there is one more store in NJ of Tunes, but I don't know for sure.

Arizona -

Stinkweeds - Tempe

Zia Record Exchange - Local Chain - all over

Eastside Records - Tempe