Leaving aside (at least for the moment) the question of why you should purchase physical media, this set of posts aims to help you decide where to do it by Seattle neighborhood. Each location has a map link in the store name, as well as a brief review, a star-based indication of quality (1 to 4), and an idea of the products they sell. Today: Belltown and Ballard. Coming soon: Capitol Hill, Fremont, West Seattle, etc.
Note: all stores are open at time of writing. If you feel I've missed something, give me a shout.
Enjoy!
T
Belltown:
Probably the best place to go for
obscure punk, goth, hardcore, industrial and psychobilly—basically all the
subgenres that Pitchfork tends to ignore. They have fairly reasonable prices
and a moderately sized selection of both cds and vinyl—definitely worth the
trip to Belltown. The staff were helpful and willing to share their vast
knowledge (and help set me straight about the best and worst 7 Seconds’ records).
☆☆☆
New
and Used Punk, Hardcore, Industrial, etc
Ballard:
I had no
idea that this shop was even here and I’ve been buying vinyl in Ballard for
years! It occupies the second floor of a small house on 15th ave nw
and they sell all sorts of weird house frau garb and other bohemian/vintage
stuff. However, their excellent vinyl selection occupies far and away the most
space (with what I estimate to be several thousand titles of rock, jazz, rock,
punk, etc). While they lack the space of the larger stores, the owner (I
assume) was very helpful and the prices were surprisingly reasonable. This shop has an awesome vibe!
☆☆☆ Used
Vinyl and CDs, Limited Tapes.
Located in the heart of Ballard,
this shop has a sign out front (at present) that quotes the Wall Street Journal
as calling them “One of the five best music stores in America”. Maybe that refers to a previous
location; all I see is a museum filled with inaccessible walls of expensive
merchandise that I could pull out of a discount bin elsewhere. If you don’t
like to dig and you want a specific record right now, then this might be the
place for you, but I’d rather go across the street to Sonic Boom instead.
☆ Used Vinyl
Stellar shop. New and lightly used
vinyl releases and cds with an emphasis on independent and obscure titles. The
shop is always attractive and the staff willing to help you find what you’re
looking for. To be honest, this is usually the first place I turn to for new
music because they’re always on top of release dates and have pretty reasonable
prices. My only complaint is that the “sale” vinyl is not really priced as
such, but their selection of used cds is ample and cheap enough ($5.99 or 6.99
on average) to justify the trip in itself. Also, awesome in-stores on a regular
basis.
☆☆☆☆ New
and Used CDs, Vinyl and Some Tapes
Also:
Goodwill: sometimes you can find a couple of used CDs that are
worthwhile here.
Public Library Branch: lots of good, in-demand titles to sample.
Trust me!
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