As ranked by Paste Magazine...



[Above: Jerry's Records, Pittsburgh]

People are no longer leaving their houses. They are content to wirelessly import digital music straight into nano-engineered storage devices implanted in their grey matter, and the digital revolution is killing brick-and-mortar retail. But, to paraphrase Mark Twain, rumors of the record store’s death have been greatly exaggerated. Just as people of faith need houses of worship in which to commune, music zealots are no less dependent on shrines dedicated to their own decibel-cranked passion. For that reason, Paste hereby celebrates the record store, bestowing superlatives on a few of America’s finest. May they live long and loud!

AMOEBA MUSIC LOS ANGELES
The Best Store in the World. Not Just Music. But Store. Including Target.
Tour posters climb the 50-foot walls, surrounding you as you join the skinny-jeans-wearing bass players and bespectacled screenwriters who listen to an in-store performance from The Bird and the Bee. You can then wander off in search of a red-vinyl Vince Guaraldi album or Tom Jones’ Live at Caesar’s or the latest posthumous Tupac release. Looks like L.A. doesn’t suck after all.
[6400 Sunset Blvd., Amoeba.com]

CRIMINAL RECORDS ATLANTA
Most Likely to Get Arrested for Cramming Too Much Addictive Stuff Into Such a Small Space
Criminal makes the most of its tight square footage, snugly fitting loads of DVDs, books, comics, magazines, toys and stereo accessories, plus multiple listening stations and, of course, its impressive CD-and-vinyl selection—everything from classic Smiths to obscure noise rock. Bonus points for having helpful clerks (not jerks), amazingly diverse in-stores (both Japanese drone-metal band Boris and sweet-voiced gospel singer Charlie Louvin), and for being hugely supportive of the thriving Atlanta music scene.
[466 Moreland Ave. NE, Criminal.com]

OTHER MUSIC NEW YORK CITY
Most Trusted One-Stop For New York Record Dorks
Named partly for the albums the massive Tower Records across the street didn’t carry, New York’s Other Music has now outlived its late, monolithic neighbor. With a staff that birthed Animal Collective, the adventurous buyers aren’t afraid to curate sections classified merely as “In” and “Out.”
[15 E. 4th St., OtherMusic.com]

WATERLOO RECORDS AUSTIN, TEXAS
Best Record Store to Grow Up and Grow Old With
Austin’s Waterloo Records has not only grown up with the Texas college-town/cultural crux, but has also stayed weird over the years. Teens find cool indie-rock 7-inches; college kids pick up Vampire Weekend or Criterion Collection DVDs, while their parents can buy Willie Nelson boxed sets and vintage Stevie Ray Vaughan posters.
[600A North Lamar, WaterlooRecords.com]

AQUARIUS RECORDS SAN FRANCISCO
Best Place to Bankrupt Yourself on Limited-Edition Psychedelic Black Metal Imports
This San Francisco institution specializes in extreme and esoteric recordings—they’ve sold hundreds of copies of a 4-disc set on which wobbly shortwave-radio voices read lists of numbers. The store’s biweekly email blast features lengthy reviews of their latest Latvian black-metal CD-Rs and doom-improv LP reissues.
[1055 Valencia St., AquariusRecords.org]

CAT HEAD DELTA BLUES & FOLK ART CLARKSDALE, MISS.
Best Way To Support The Delta Economy
An essential stop on any Mississippi-blues pilgrimage, Cat Head is one of the most vibrant spots in the decaying Delta, a rustic-chic shrine to handmade art and hardscrabble music. It’s probably the only store on this list to sell face jugs along with Fat Possum vinyl.
[252 Delta Ave., Cathead.biz]

DUSTY GROOVE AMERICA CHICAGO
Best Place To Buy Funk Records No One’s Ever Heard Of
The web store rocks, but nothing beats browsing at this cozy, impeccably curated soul/funk/jazz emporium. The place is especially great for rarities and compilations, which turn at frightening speed from obscurities to must-haves. Close your eyes and grab a stack—every record in your hand will be a keeper.
[1120 N. Ashland Ave., DustyGroove.com]

ERNEST TUBB RECORD SHOP NASHVILLE
Best Opportunity To Purchase Travis Tritt Albums Without Irony or Shame
“So,” you think to yourself when visiting Nashville, “I should probably buy some country music while I’m in town. But where?” Then you see it, amidst the bright, boozy lights of downtown Nashvegas—a 61-year-old shop that’ll send you home with a stash of musical souvenirs, along with some new cowboy boots and a Jack Daniel’s hangover.
[417 Broadway, ETRecordShop.com]

MUSIC MILLENNIUM PORTLAND, ORE.
Best Place to Buy the Latest Shins Disc While Watching Them Play a Live Set Overhead
Owner and Weird Al doppelganger Terry Currier has watched his franchise ebb and flow with the fortunes of the industry, but Music Millennium—founded in 1969—can rightly claim its place as the Pacific Northwest’s longest-running music store. This low-key “place where the music and people still matter” has long provided rabid musos with both impossibly rare finds and in-store appearances from acts ranging from the late Elliott Smith to Randy Newman to Maureen McCormick (whom most people know as “Marcia Brady”).
[3158 E. Burnside, MusicMillennium.com]

SHANGRI-LA RECORDS MEMPHIS, TENN.
Best Place To Pick Up Hot Buttered Soul on Vinyl and Then Walk Two Blocks For Some Hot Barbecue
Kickass music in a building that looks like a country shack: Southern hospitality and vintage Memphis soul, from Stax and Hi to gritty, homegrown garage-rock like The Oblivians and Viva L’American Death Ray Music. Grab a Kreature Komforts Lowlife Guide to Memphis for a hipster’s-eye view of the Bluff City.
[1916 Madison Ave., Shangri.com]

EAR X-TACY LOUISVILLE, KY.
Best Place to Find Cool Bumper Stickers for the Outside of Your Car, and CDs for the Inside
At a time when indie record stores were dropping off the map, John Timmons decided he needed to move into a building big enough to need its own map. Ear X-tacy grew from the 500-square-foot store it was in 1985 into the 10,000-square-foot music wonderland it is today. With countless listening stations and riveting in-store performances, the shop puts a high premium on musical discovery.
[1534 Bardstown Rd., EarX-tacy.com]

LOUISIANA MUSIC FACTORY NEW ORLEANS
Best Place To Run Into A Neville Brother At The Register
A roots-lover’s dream with no Top 40 to be found. Instead, racks and racks of Gulf South blues, gospel, soul, Cajun/zydeco, R&B and swamp pop, plus obscure local bands’ CDs on consignment. Browsing the “New Orleans Music” section, which takes up half the square footage by itself, is equivalent to a graduate-level education on the origins of American music. In true NOLA style, in-stores with free beer most weekends.
[210 Decatur St., LouisianaMusicFactory.com]

NEWBURY COMICS BOSTON
The Most Likely Spot to Find Your Boxing Nun, Motörhead T-Shirt, and Sheila Divine Exclusive Under One Roof
For nearly 30 years, Newbury Comics has tastefully housed an expansive collection of music alongside all the toys, trinkets and über-geeky McFarlane replicas you can shake a lightsaber at. With great local-music compilations and live discs from nearby venues, the store offers an accessible window into the world of indie culture.
[332 Newbury St., NewburyComics.com]

TURNTABLE LAB NEW YORK
Best Record Joint at Which to Score Super-DL Mixes
Mostly stocked with DJ equipment, the storefront also carries a small, extraordinary range of CDs. Get the latest Ghostface mix, or grey-market bootlegs filled with everything from superfans’ multi-disc tributes to Brazilian master Jorge Ben, to DJ Soul Punk’s CD-Rs devoted to Denim, Leather and Breakbeats.
[120 E. 7th St., TurntableLab.com]

GRIMEY’S NEW + PRE-LOVED MUSIC NASHVILLE
Best Place To See Black Rebel Motorcycle Club From Two Feet Away While Sipping A Cold Miller Lite
Grimey’s is a community record store in the truest sense of the word. The Southeast’s premier vinyl emporium regularly brings Nashville together with intimate in-store performances (the likes of BRMC and Matisyahu have graced its tiny alcove stage) and weekly “Beer Thirty” listening parties, all carefully planned by a friendly and approachable staff.
[1604 8th Ave. S., Grimeys.com]

THE ELECTRIC FETUS MINNEAPOLIS
Best Place To Get Staggered By Musical Options And Terrified By The Giant Cardboard Pink Robot Previously Fought By Yoshimi
Smelling of incense, the original Electric Fetus (others exist in Duluth and St. Cloud) at 4th and Franklin Avenues sports a staggering selection and an intense staff to back it up. From a substantial local section to a listening station dedicated solely to metal, the Fetus thoroughly covers every genre imaginable. There’s a reason this place is celebrating 40 years in 2008.
[2000 4th Ave. S., ElectricFetus.com]

JERRY’S RECORDS PITTSBURGH
Best Place To Spot World-Renowned Crate Diggers—And Nab a Bargain At The Same Time
With millions of records in stock (no CDs, thanks), Jerry’s is a must-see on the crate-digger’s itinerary—whether you’re a bedroom sampler or DJ Jazzy Jeff. While you’re filling out your collection of Dirtbombs or R.E.M. albums ($4 each!), someone else is searching for samples or a mint rarity to reissue: Specialty labels like Jazzman and Rhino scour Jerry’s stable for both business and pleasure.
[2136 Murray Ave., JerrysRecords.com]

Hah I know a few in Chicago that would make Dusty groove look really bad. But I will never reveal that

I haven't been to the store since 1995, but Gramaphone in Chicago was pretty neat-o the few times I'd gone.

"The Finest Record Stores" = this is where the numb douches with a music fetish go

Dance said:

Wow!Finally in a good mood!

Well for NYC, you have to include

REBEL REBEL Records on Bleecker Street and without a doubt Record Runner (check them out at http://www.recordrunnerusa.com they both specialize in Imports, new and old, vinyl, new and old and also Record Runner has a great online Reputation and one year in the late 90's broke a million dollars (as reported in Billboard) and thats amazing considering they are not a store that will carry the HOT new chart topper, so dont wander in thinking you are going to get the Lil Wayne cd.

RipHer2Shreds said:

Did you take me to this place?


tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

theAudience said:

Indeed

RipHer2Shreds said:

I thought so.
But you know the memory is the first thing to go with the aged.



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

i've been to at least five of the wrecka stows on the list!

love me some Turntable Lab

All i can say is enjoy them while you can, alot of NYC shops are going

lastdecember said:

it's like a jungle
sometimes it makes me wonder
how they keep from going under

lastdecember said:

i think other music will survive, because you can't find a lot of what they carry on iTunes or as legal retail downloads. they cater to serious musicheads and collectors. as long as they scratch an itch, they'll stick around.

No love for Detroit or Ann Arbor? I would like to hear from anybody familiar with places like Encore, Record Time and Memories & Melodies and compare them to the stuff listed.

What about The Sound Library?

lastdecember said:

is recordrunner still open?

i stopped into rebel rebel a couple of months ago, and while i always have fun digging through stuff in that shop, i was less than overwhelmed with what they had. i even asked to see their special signature box of bowie rarities, and the contents were not that rare.

one wrecka stow in NYC that i really do like is ETHEREA on avenue a. it's always very organized - a very pleasant place to browse for a good long time, and the staff always seems very laid back and non-wrecka-stow-snobby.

http://www.reckless.com/

Damn, that record store has got a computer and a cash register. The used record store in my area is wayyyyy out in the country and is in the building of a former train station (and I do mean former as in probably early 1900s). The lady that owns it has a catalog in which she looks up prices and an adding machine.

Anxiety said:

Record Runner is still there, they are closed on Sundays, and they have been doing the hours of 12-6 for the most part because there main business is done online with customers all over, alot of them have moved from NYC but still shop with them. But that whole Village area is really slowly disappearing, though another Genration Records still is open too, they specialize in "bootlegs" (concerts that is, and dvds and shirts etc) but recently i was walking by where Record Runner is and after coming out of there i turned the corner and gone was "Discorama" which about a week earlier seemed like it was on stable ground, the place was gone , nothing remained. So im saying that alot in nyc because of HIGH RENTS and things like that, evven with the "speciality" sales, they still can keep them open. Virgin megastore on 14th will not be renewed for its lease which is up early 2009.

lastdecember said:

Yeah, I heard about that. Not just Union Square, but both NYC Virgins are slated to close in first quarter 2009. There's talks of a huge liquidation sale towards the end of their lease. Plus, the Virgin in West Hollywood is being razed, too.

Voronado, the group who owns both NY Virgin stores, did so with the explicit intentions of phasing them out and capitalizing on the lands' ultra-high market value.

Too bad. I frequented Union Sq. the most. My import tastes outgrew their stock, but it was always good to have around, at least physically.

vainandy said:

Are you sure that's not some sort of preservation museum? Have you been buying cylinders?

Mara said:

wow, i bought tons of import CDs from the union square virgin megawhore too. i'm tempted to book a special flight to new york just to catch the liquidation sale.

Mara said:

Yeah i heard the same too, its really the end of music retail and i saw it coming long ago, from my years in it. People never really understood what causes these stores to go out, they think its because they are "expensive" well its got nothing to do with it. When i left music retail in early 2006, the average price that a label would charge a store for a cd was 12.25, its now clsoing in on 14.00 per cd purchased by stores from labels. A jump of 1.75 in just 2 years in a time when music isnt selling. Even the big box stores like Best Buy have cut there music sections and stock 30-40%, and have really held back on their 9.99 cd sales for new releases, that is strictly a first week sale, for some titles, but most get 13-14.99 now, and all titles 9.99 go up week 2. Best Buy and others are feeling the crunch now of losing 4 bucks a cd because their "cash cow" of sales, which was computers and electronics and tvs, all those sales are way down, so now they just dont stock the music because its nothing but an expense.

Cinnie said:

Here it is. It's called "The Little Big Store" The record store used to be located here in Jackson for decades but Jackson had become so rough and they were getting broken into. So they moved way out to Raymond a few blocks from a college.

I looked on their website and this damn thing used to be a train depot in 1889.

That definately matches their building.

Glad to see Criminal Records here in Atlanta got a shout out! I usually tend more towards the used vinyl stores since I got a record player. Most of what Criminal has is new stuff and they charge and arm and a leg for it.

vainandy said:

Their Web site hasn't been updated since 2003!