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Come prepared to dig through rows upon rows of new and used vinyl, carefully selected by the audiophiles who run the locally owned record shop. Keep an eye on their schedule for live performances, in-store artist signing events, listening parties, and, of course, Record Store Day deals every April and Black Friday.
The oldest record store in the Pacific Northwest, Music Millennium stocks a huge selection of new and used music in every possible category, including local punk groups. The store also hosts a number of in-store performances, often by top-name artists, which have included Lucinda Williams, Richard Thompson, Sheryl Crow, and Randy Newman.
This renowned pop-culture store carries vinyl, CDs, DVDs, novelty tees, quirky gifts, and an especially good lineup of independent pressings. You'll find another location inside Faneuil Hall Marketplace.
This funky record shop is stocked with LPs from local brass bands and bounce artists, classics and obscure selections from all over the world, and fun music-theme merch, like band-style tees with a New Orleans twist. They also give DJ and music production lessons for kids. Walls are reserved for 20 or so pieces that make up the Museum of Mediocre Art, a humorous dedication to oft-ignored thrift store paintings and more outsider art.
This spot within the Old Town School of Folk Music has a solid selection of kids' instruments, plus all manner of instruments for rent. There's a sibling store in Lincoln Square (4544 N. Lincoln Avenue).
Vinyl records and music memorabilia abound in this hip yet modest record store/music lover magnet. A visit here is usually a multi-hour affair that involves browsing through display cases, digging through wooden carts of used vinyls, CDs, and cassettes, and then playing your picks at the listening station.
With a rich assortment of handmade guitars alongside vintage classics, this shop is a treat even for those who don't play music. Dozens of guitars varying in size, shape, and color hang from the walls and stand against the polished wood floor. There's an organized beauty to the layout and a comforting sense of musical harmony. You may even enjoy an impromptu concert or workshop.
If punk rock still means more to you than an anarchy patch on a Target hoodie, this place deserves a pilgrimage. The shop specializes in punk and its offshoots, everything from hardcore to ska, on both CD and vinyl, but you’ll also find a solid selection of rockabilly, indie rock, and hip-hop.
For a timeless version of an old-fashioned favorite, visit Sweat Records, one of Miami's last remaining record stores. Sweat sells a wide range of music—rock, pop, punk, electronic, hip-hop, and Latino—as well as turntables and vinyl accessories; there's also Miami's only vegan, organic coffee shop on the premises.
A converted Craftsman house in a mixed residential and business area of South Park, Vinyl Junkies Record Shack is easy to spot, due to its bright orange walls inside and colorful murals outside. Spun off of a seasonal pop-up record swap event, Vinyl Junkies' brick-and-mortar shop is an appealing visit for both diehard record collectors and casual browsers alike. Its selection is well curated, and its walls are lined with an impressive array of eye candy, from classic show posters to vintage record players. DJs regularly spin during shopping hours, and on weekends the store hosts live performances outside.
Spend a little time in the adjacent Digger's Den, where every record is priced $5 or under.
If you're on the hunt for Japanese avant-rock on LP, antiwar spoken word, spiritual reggae with Afro-jazz undertones, or old screen-printed show posters, you've found the place. They carry new and used CDs and LPs of all sorts, specializing in the kinds of things you probably won't find anywhere else.
This store is for the music lover who enjoys shopping for movies and tunes the old-fashioned way—thumbing through physical copies of albums, CDs, and DVDs. As streaming pummels compact discs into extinction, Zia's vinyl selection has reemerged to claim at least an equal amount of floor space. With DVDs and Blu-rays also on life support, Zia—which bills itself as "The Last Record Store"—now devotes more of its huge floor to games, books, comics, T-shirts, and novelties; not unlike a bigger, hipper Spencer Gifts. The Phoenix-based enterprise has a second, more compact west Las Vegas location ( 1216 S. Rainbow Blvd.).
