Recorded Music

Online Vinyl Record Stores – And More

Vinyl records, even hard to find ones, are now easily searchable in online vinyl record stores and can still be found in physical stores also (yes they still exist). There is a huge world of recorded music choices out there, much like our choices in video. What could we offer that isn’t out there already – probably not much, other than our perspective and recommendations based on (many) years of listening. Here we attempt to offer concise recommendations of old and new vinyl music that we find worthwhile and sometimes important, and some of the best places to get them. In addition, we recommend other resources for your non-vinyl listening pleasure.

Groovy Vinyl

All things vinyl – recommended new releases and classic must-have recordings. Turntable reviews and recommendations. Also online sources for vinyl records – please also see the store locations below if you prefer browsing the retro way.

For links to interesting blog, forum and other related sites, who have much more detailed and complete sites with a lot of great information on the hobby please see the “Resources” section.

Cool Music Stores

A (very) small list of physical music stores that still exist for the person who appreciates the tactile and visual appeal of sorting through bins of albums looking for something new (to them).

Please leave comments in the article if there are store summaries we could add, it would be appreciated – always looking to keep these rare beasts alive and thriving.

The Usual Suspects : Digital

Even for those of us who consider ourselves a tiny bit musically snobbish, there is no denying the online digital world. It’s just too damn convenient sometimes. It is difficult to carry your turntable on an airplane, I find listening to my cell phone easier…

Although probably nobody needs or wants another listing, here is our summary review of the various services available for our listening ease.

Compact Discs Are Dead

Aren’t they? I have boxes of them in storage to make my case – they are worth about 1/16 what I originally paid for them. However – they are easier to maintain than vinyl, don’t degrade like cassettes and songs don’t mysteriously disappear sometimes (looking at you Itunes). I guess you can’t call a $700 million industry completely irrelevant.

Here we have focused on online sources – obviously there are still physical stores like Walmart, Target, Best Buy etc, that carry selections of CDs, the selection is typically small and focused on “popular” music. There are also music focused players like the “cool music stores” above that may carry a big CD selection as well as vinyl.

Online CD Stores:

• • • Used CD Search : resource to compare prices of various sources
    • Amazon : Of course
    • Ebay : Good source of used and special edition CDs
    • Barnes and Noble : And they sell books!
    • The CD Exchange : Used CD / DVDs