washington dc record stores?

Melody in Dupont can be worth a look-through.

CD and Game Exchange is on 18th St., a few doors down from where it crosses Columbia Road. They have another location on Wisconsin Avenue, near the Tenleytown Metro stop.

If you've got a car, CD Cellar in Falls Church is worth the trip. Other than Smash! Records in Georgetown, I don't know where to buy vinyl in the DC area any more.

What happened to that Now Music and Fashion place?

I've been here for only 11 years, but I'm convinced the DC region can't support an independent music store; it has a hard enough time supporting regional chains. If anything has a chance of surviving, it better have a great freakin' location; in the city, near a metro, plenty of foot traffic, low rent...blah blah blah.

CD/Game exchange is all over dc. theres one where DC/CD used to be, and theres on in tenleytown. they buy promos, and pay a lot for used cds, so they're cool in my book.

Olson's in Dupont has a best selection, but it's a little pricey.

there's a new one between the 9:30 club and the black cat thats supposed to be rad. they have only vinyl i hear.

Melody Records in Dupont probably has the biggest selection that I've seen in DC. Revolution Records is small but has some decent stuff (nothing you can't find at CD Warehouse though). Their vinyl section is very small. They do have in-store performances every once in a while though.

The only place I know of for vinyl besides Smash Recorsd is DJ Hut in Dupont, above the Subway on 22nd and P (or around there somewhere). They have mainly rap and house and also some bargain bins.

The place that's near where DCCD used to be sucks. Yoshitoshi used to be in Georgetown but that closed down.

But, yeah- as Collardio said, Soundgarden and Reptilian Records in Baltimore are probably better than anything in DC.

i thought dccd was overpriced and the staff rude (once i bought an lp with a bad warp and they were like "tough")...

two visits ago is when i stopped by Y&T to find it's doors closed. now i learn that they went on-line. yeah, d.c. sucks. always did, and maybe always will.

back in the day i used to work at Kemp Mill Records, which was a total horror show.

That's because Smash bought a lot of Y&T's stock when Y&T closed. But I like the place.

So fuck you, Smash.

Joe's Record Paradise is still around, isn't it?

Still there (but a bitch to get to), and it and Orpheus Records probably have the best vinyl selections in the DC area.

crooked beat is a happy new addition. those guys are indeed great.

As Vincent Furnier might say, welcome to my nightmare. Seriously, though — DC has more opportunity for professional fulfillment than probably any city in the US. And when the life thread is "TS: Professional Fulfillment/Good Record Stores", there's really no contest.

Plus, how much does anybody really depend on a record store nowadays?

I hear that one is able to find lots of new music on this thing called the InterWeb. Bill Bradley invented it.

Or something.

One other thing: There was this incredible record store in NE (or was it just Eastern NW) whose name I forget. It was stacked to the ceiling with old vinyl. You could play records and buy old 45s cheap. I bought all the old funk singles. This was a couple years before the funk reissue boom, so the guy who owned the place, for $25, would tape you every Parliament-Funkadelic record he had. Anybody know this place? I got a haircut in NE a couple years ago and the barber told me it had closed years ago.

I saw John Cale there.

Can't figure out how I managed to miss that place called Joe's, though. I do remember Phantasmagoria. Got Cabaret Voltaire's "Nag Nag Nag" 12" there.

THAT'S A BOOST!

WWW.WMUCRADIO.COM !!!

Well, I travel a lot and have visited many used cd stores. CDepot certainly has the deepest used selection in the immediate DC area. But I would say that the prices are actually on the high end - stuff marked $9.99 that would be $6.99 or $7.99 at most other used stores.

re buying cds, the pickings were pretty slim the last time I was at Cd cellar in Falls Church. Plus kinda pricey for used cds- $ 9.99...

Are these used cds stores collaborating to keep prices high? Maybe I should get soulseek and just download?

Maybe it's just a coincidence some of the area cd stores are all trying to get $9.99 for used cds.

So with Melody RIP as of last week, the District's got SOM, Smash, Red Onion, Crooked Beat and Joint Custody (which I want to check out, but never seems to be open when I do my rounds). I need to visit the new Metro-accessible Joe's Record Paradise, too.

Is there anything else out there? Any must-see flea's or thrift shops?

I think Roadhouse Oldies is still open, it's not far from Joe's Record Paradise. I think dc go-go outlet P.A. Palace still has 2 stores in Maryland in Forestville Mall and Iverson Mall.

roadhouse oldies moved like a block at some point in the last few years, still great tho. when i was 15 or 16 i was buying a copy of superfly on lp there and the dude behind me in line looks me right in the eye and asks, "white boy, what the fuck you know about 'freddie's dead'?"

SOM is good! A few people have mentioned that it was on the pricier side, which I could see, but the selection is good, which is more important to me. I grabbed the Ramones' End of the Century in great condition for $8, which I thought was fair.

I've got to second SOM, really a great store -- maybe pricey on some things, but plenty of deals, too.

Beyond that, sounds like I need to hit Silver Spring one of these weekends for Joe's and Roadhouse Oldies.

I think SOM is way too expensive

But maybe I need to look closer for these deals others have found

dont sleep on cdepot in college park guys

rtx. The record and tape xchange in Fairfax still lives, as does the Cd Cellar in VA

rtx in fairfax is the worst imo -- my friend (red onion dude) finds some stuff at cd cellar occasionally. SOM is expensive for some things, but ive found some really awesome jazz/afro/post-punk/indie records there for mad cheap. also, if you like 7"s, neal has a MILLION that arent very picked over.

nb: "jazz/afro/post-punk/indie" is intended to signify four separate genres here

rtx in Fairfax is pretty picked over with not much new arrivals of stuff, but some vinyl is way cheaper than SOM. SOM afropop stuff the last time I looked was not cheap. You must have grabbed all the deals the last time you were in town.

got a $8 copy of this guy: http://www.discogs.com/Francis-Bebey-Sanza-Nocturne/release/1713180 and a
$15 copy of this guy: http://www.discogs.com/Various-Siya-Hamba-1950s-South-African-Country-And-Small-Town-Sounds/release/2118238 there over the years...

nb: "jazz/afro/post-punk/indie" is intended to signify four separate genres here

:(

Seconding 69 on College Park CDepot - I've gotten some great early 90's house/dance stuff there for super cheap, and a good copy of Bohannon's Insides Out for 25 cents!

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/06/05/red-onion-records-books-closing-in-september/

Ah, hell, I liked that place. Always made a point of stopping by when I was visiting home in MD.

real downer, though i can't blame josh for not keeping on if his heart's not in it anymore. i used to work there and still love checking in when i'm back in dc/md - gonna have to make it up again before he closes.

how's it going z

hey man! it's going pretty well, nc rules (recent political atmosphere aside) and i have a pool in my backyard. how're you?

keep that vinyl away from the pool

hahaha

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2012/08/30/red-onion-records-books-not-closing/

Changed his mind

so where should a record-store addict and vinyl lover be sure to check out in DC these days? bonus points for a good selection of psych/metal/noise/experiment/etc. many thanks in advance.

is this still basically the deal:

So with Melody RIP as of last week, the District's got SOM, Smash, Red Onion, Crooked Beat and Joint Custody (which I want to check out, but never seems to be open when I do my rounds). I need to visit the new Metro-accessible Joe's Record Paradise, too.

pretty much - http://dcrecordmap.tumblr.com/ is a good visual reference. i'd be sure to stop by red onion.

joe's and record exchange in silver spring are both excellent too, though their best sections (imo) are mostly dance/go-go

and actually, for psych/noise stuff, the baltimore recommendations upthread are still pretty much valid. true vine, old guru, celebrated summer...

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/articles/44717/disc-men-kemp-mill-records/

Once a big D.C. area chain, now there is only one Kemp Mills left--in Temple Hills, MD with lots of go-go and rap according to this article

Mostly all on cd

Is CD Depot at College Park walkable from the CP/UofM Metro stop?

Well, it's looking like a No. Quite the trek. Guess I could bus it from the metro.

yep.

http://www.metroweekly.com/2015/01/vinyl-record-stores-in-washington-dc/

A few I don't know, but i don't buy that many records these days...

I'm in the middle of a 5 week work trip to DC and I have to say, the record stores have been incredible. Som, Joint Custody and Red Onion are excellent stores. I'll definitely go back to these three stores but where else should I go?

Crooked Beat maybe, and out to Md for Joes and to Va for CD Cellar and others. Check out that metroweekly link I posted in January.

Joe's Record Paradise in a Silver Spring just for the experience. It's unlike any of the others and massive.

Whoops - er, like curmudgeon said.

Sweet. Thanks for the tips. Think I'll try to hit joes next weekend. Metro accessible?

Yep. Here's your link: https://www.google.com/maps?ll=38.992121,-77.026942&z=15&t=m&hl=en-US&gl=US&mapclient=embed&q=8216+Georgia+Ave+Silver+Spring,+MD+20910+USA

Don't sleep on the Music & Game Exchange 1/2 block north of Joe's -- pulled some good stuff out of the new arrivals and $1 bins there. My boy found a Fairport test pressing in the $1 bin but it got yanked at the register.

Joint Custody has been killing it lately.

Arlington Flea Market starts up again this weekend, might go see what that's all about. I think it is Saturday morning.

Nice tips! I was thinking of making Saturday my big record hunt day so that would be convenient.

but it got yanked at the register.

What do you mean? The clerk just went "whoops - that's mislabeled" or something?

I've never found anything in the Music Exchange vinyl-wise but they have tons of CDs for like .50 cents - I got some great Go-Go discs there.

Record Exchange in Silver Spring is closed until mid-April. They're moving up to the street next to the Fillmore (condos are going up in the current space).

What do you mean? The clerk just went "whoops - that's mislabeled" or something?

yeah, clerk said he'd already seen it and had pulled it to be looked up/marked up, though it was still sitting over by the cheap bins.

Joe's Record Paradise was awesome. Spent 2hrs there but could have easily spent another 2. All the shops in DC have been great. Even Hill & Dale, which I wouldn't go to again, necessarily, but for what it is, where it is, it's good.

In Arlington, most of us are aware of CD Cellar but brief shout out to Blue Groove in Westover.

http://www.bluegroovesoundz.blogspot.com/

http://bandwidth.wamu.org/joes-record-paradise-is-moving-again/

Lee says he found out today that the store’s landlord won’t be renewing its lease come March 2016.

was going to joke that they shd move back to their og space in plaza del mercado and it looks like they are

red onion moving over to u street too

http://patch.com/virginia/oldtownalexandria/record-store-moving-dc-alexandria

Crooked Beat moving (moved?) to Old Town Alexandria.

Joe's Record Paradise will supposedly finally open in new Silver Spring location soon.