best record stores in/around los angeles

Permanent Records in Eagle Rock is skippable. It's a good store, but nothing to really separate it from the others I mentioned.

I forgot to mention atomic records in Burbank. I have mixed feelings about that place; definitely reeks of record collector scum attitude but they also have a lot of good records and a large, often surprisingly cheap jazz section. Good, fair priced selection of mainstream 70s and 80s rock. Folk and world music sections are mediocre.

lots of folks like the vv large record section at the last bookstore in DTLA and I recommend going but only for the books. Skip the vinyl, it's overpriced and kind of shoddy. rockaway records in silver lake has been around forever but they're not pricing their shit to move, is all ill say. If you happen to drive past, maybe stop in. Otherwise it's a pass imo.

atomic is cool; go there and then go get a cuban sandwich at porto's.

shoutout to rockaway records in silver lake.

never mind, al leong already mentioned rockaway.

I still miss the old Rockaway when it was quadruple the size and the staff didn't really know anything that wasn't a Goldmine magazine regular.

i was a little harsh on rockaway. it's ok. you can find decent shit. their rarer lps are fairly priced, it's the more common ones that are a little expensive. i was actually at permanent records today. better than i remembered and i think their new vinyl is a buck or two cheaper than amoeba. but it's not an absolutely essential stop, as ET stated.

If you're here on the first Sunday of a month the Pasadena City College swap meet has a record/CD section you might like. That area is in the upper floors of the parking garage. Other areas in town also have record swap meets but I'm not familiar with them.

I'm only out there occasionally and am strictly a CD buyer, but Amoeba, Fingerprints, and Freakbeat are my stops.

Any word on Wombleton or Vacation? Haven't been record shopping in LA for ten+ years, and these places have me curious.

Wombleton is pricey and a small selection. But I enjoyed its British bias. They have a lot of 80s and early 90s finds, and their crate diggers box is updated as often as it is raided by Anglophiles.

wombleton is solid, I like it. Good selection, def a quality spot, def on the pricier side of things.

vacation is cool, they get some good experimental and metal product in. last thing I bought there was a used and minty fresh copy of the Lena Hughes LP for $10.

Quiet as kept, Record Jungle in Montebello is the shit.

go to that hilarious record store near lax

Record Surplus is my go-to store – vinyl is clearly their priority, and they have tons of stuff ranging from dollar bin up through awesome (if expensive) collectibles. Not sure how good their non-rock/classical selection is, I will take a look tomorrow (I just shop there for CDs, their dollar bin is inconsistent but occasionally amazing).

Vacation is awesome, or at least I loved it. If metal/punk/experimental/noise is yr thing, I think it's a must-stop. Super nice dudes, too.

I also love Fingerprints in Long Beach, though I haven't been there since I switched to buying vinyl. I used to get mad cheap CDs there.

Amoeba is the only record store in the world where I feel overwhelmed and it's almost not fun. "Almost" being the key word. I mean, don't get me wrong I can still spend 4 hours and $200 there, but part of that time I just wander around staring into space. Last time in L.A., I decided I should shift my focus from Amoeba to some of the smaller spots. Bookmarking this thread.

go to that hilarious record store near lax

Wait, which one is this?

Freakbeat on Ventura Bl. should definitely get another plug on this thread. I consistently find great stuff there.

Permanent Records in Eagle Rock is skippable. It's a good store, but nothing to really separate it from the others I mentioned.

That's disappointing to hear. This is a branch of the Permanent Records here in Chicago and that store if fantastic. The couple that runs it is super friendly and I've always found it a joy to shop there. I guess their selection is a little limited compared to the bigger shops, but I feel like they specialize quite well.

they did have a lot of really, really good stuff there when i went in. i shd have bought a couple things but didn't.

Love Liz and Lance.

That's disappointing to hear. This is a branch of the Permanent Records here in Chicago and that store if fantastic.

It's not a disappointing store - if anything I've been there more often than Amoeba because it's close by, but if you're spree shopping and going to six shops beforehand... enhhhh maybe skip it.

I should probably reemphasize the cd trader mention only bc it sounds generic bc of the name but they have a deep vinyl selection.

go to that hilarious record store near lax

Wait, which one is this?

― Walter Galt, Tuesday, June 4, 2013 5:22 AM (14 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

soundstations, I think I've posted abt it on here b4

why is it hilarious? in a good or bad way? never heard of this place but now I want to check it out.

yeah, i use to work at around LAX and Soundstations is right off Sepulveda Blvd. it is a couple lights up on La Tijera Blvd. and make a right, so like five minutes away.

and that is their newer location, they moved like two years ago around the corner.

touch vinyl and origami vinyl sucked. 90% new vinyl of the most obvious stuff, 10% poorly-curated used vinyl. touch in particular was pretty worthless. when the vinyl bubble bursts these places will be out of business.

Make a trip over to the Westside and check out Record Surplus.

i'm going there in a few minutes, actually!

and head over to the Valley for Freakbeat

Updates, anyone? I know Vacation, Amoeba and Origami, would like to check out others this time, though I'm probably not going to make it out to Freakbeat/CD Trader.

I'm most interested in newer releases (as opposed to digging for decades-old stuff), with a focus on metal, punk, psych and/or experimental stuff. But whatever, really. I like to look at records.

Anyone know if Wombleton is open on Mondays right now? The website says no, but also touts "summer hours" in effect "till September"...

Mount Analog is good for experimental and international psych stuff- climbmountanalog.com

And don't skip Amoeba! ;)

this might not help alpine static, but record parlour in hollywood is good for used vinyl and they often have dollar-bin blowouts -- follow their fb page for updates.

blargh, i looked at Mount Analog and would like to hit it, but think i'm stuck making my record store run tomorrow (Monday), when it appears to be closed.

i could bump to Tuesday but hate to spend the last day of my visit w/ family ... y'know, not with family. :)

time for my annual thread bump!

last year, Permanent Records on York was my best stop. will probably check out their new spot at the old Origami, too.

Amoeba and Vacation are musts for me.

gonna hit Mount Analog this year.

any good new shops open up in the past year?

I live three blocks from a store called Hi Fidelity, but it's not very good. Possibly a blessing in disguise, I'd be there all the time otherwise. I've bought a couple things there (no store is that bad) but don't bother going if you see it come up in search results.

Mono Records on Glendale Blvd in Echo Park is pretty solid, I mentioned it up yonder. Priced fair, and with listening stations. My caveat about condition still applies. Lots of these places you can get a sense for via their Facebook page, mono updates regularly with new arrival pics.

Touch Vinyl on Sawtelle is cool. It's also sandwiched between two incredible used bookstores, an excellent Arabic food joint and Cinefile Video, the best place to get obscure/rare films in the city

annual thread bump!

this year, my trip coincides w/ RSD. i love RSD but am not interested in spending my whole day in line outside record stores.

i don't mind a crowded shop, but don't wanna do the whole lottery-style one-in-one-out walk-up-to-the-counter-and-tell-them-what-you-want thing.

so the question is: is RSD a clusterfuck at *every* (or at least the majority of) LA record stores? or is it more like Amoeba is a shitshow and everything else is fairly mellow?

i'm guessing the former but hoping for the latter.

fwiw, i'm a Vacation / Permanent / Gimme Gimme / Mt. Analog guy (as opposed to a old dusty used records crate-digger guy).

which of these places in LA is the place to go for inexpensive CDs no one wants like 90s ECM and Steve Roach and shit? I'm 80% CDs these days..

I think Record Surplus has some reasonably priced ECM CD's

Amoeba is still the best single location for CDs and vinyl, and probably for any genre you could name.

Thanks! Will definitely check Record Surplus.

Been to Amoeba a bunch but often get so overwhelmed I leave with nothing. I find I need to take a list in there and just be strategic about what I'm looking for, otherwise I just can't process what is basically an amazing record store the size of Target

have heard of cd trader, not sure if they're still in business and not sure if they have 90s ecm

also if you're driving/not too far from highland park try mount analog (mostly records and tapes) for weird stuff

i never go to a record store on rsd so i wouldn't know but i'm guessing there are peak hours so avoid them at those times i guess

CD Trader is still there, still a startlingly good vinyl selection. it's better than their cd selection tbh.

i do think amoeba has some cheap ECM and a lotta roach.

i've found that la amoeba is really lax on some of the more outsider stuff. classic rock and the sort of indie / punk / alt canon is clearly their bread and butter.

i've walked out of there with frank wright lps, derek bailey, etc. for really fair, even cheap prices. the kind of free jazz that they put on the walls (sun ra, ornette coleman) is going to be expensive, but if you go digging through the jazz bins you might be surprised!

That's good to know. Thanks! Will refer back to this thread when I'm out there. Good stuff.

PooBah's in Pasadena used to be good for small-label avant jazz (esp local stuff) on CD, but I think their CD section in all areas is pretty meager now. LPs will be better but I think you want CDs.

tbh i have a fairly high bar for what record stores are of use to me these days. L.A. has a ton of them but i really only regularly check in at Amoeba, Atomic, Mono, and Freakbeat. I like Mount Analog but it's priced a bit beyond my level these days. it's not them, it's me. CD Trader is way too far for me to go to beyond occasional stop ins when I happen to be near there. Same deal with Record Surplus.

Gimme Gimme, Permanent (two locations now, one where Origami used to be), and Vacation are all cool but I never find much there OR the prices are a bit above market. So I never go to those spots.

I live real close to Rockaway, it's occasionally got some bargains and actually the used CDs are super reasonably priced.

Have no use for Jackknife (overpriced), Record Parlour (overpriced, lots of LPs in dodgy shape), Counterpoint Books and Records (overpriced), Poobah (last time I was there was a big letdown), Touch (nothing selection), or The Last Bookstore (overpriced).

Yelp reviews on these places aren't much help, record buying is such an amateur hour proposition these days that a lot of people around here actually rated the VNYL brick and mortar location kinda highly because they don't know any better.

Yeah, I like Rockaway, though it's depressing too when I remember how big it used to be. And PooBah is even more depressing when I think back on it.

i rarely buy records in person

i usually buy them off the internet/discogs

actually i had no idea origami went bust?

highland park and the valley are both quite a ways from me

I still go to Fingerprints in Long Beach even though I'm up near Pasadena now.

This was posted yesterday FWIW, http://la.curbed.com/maps/best-record-stores-los-angeles-amoeba-permanent

I had a great haul at Mount Analog last time in town. Pricing was not cut-rate but generally competitive/in the ballpark.

i'm in Orange County and zipping into L.A. tomorrow to hit as many record stores as humanly possible in one day.

Priorities for me are Amoeba, Permanent, Vacation and Mount Analog. As I've said a couple times above, I'm much more of a "willing to pay full price for weird new records" guy than a "dig thru dusty crates looking for a gem from the '70s" guy.

So ... anywhere new I need to check out? Should I do Pop Obscure? Freakbeat? Anything else?

Thanks in advance.

Mount Analog is in the process of moving, so I'd call to make sure that they're open.

I like Freakbeat, if you're willing to go to the Valley.

Stop at Fingerprints in Long Beach on the way up or back!!
http://fingerprintsmusic.com

Man I used to hit Fingerprints every trip. Haven't been in a few years now. I should try to make it back. Love that place.

Mount Analog isn't open right now. they say they're reopening in fall.

More later.

If you’re looking for weird new records I’ll re-emphasize CD Trader and their vinyl selection/prices. It’s a good 20-30 min up the 101 from Hollywood though.

CD Trader's vinyl prices skyrocketed at some point during the pandemic, but there are still some bargains to be found in the bins. You just have to dig, and prepare to be disappointed. The CD prices are still the best around for the most part.

Record Parlour remains p awful, it's basically an Instagram thirst trap for vinyl tourists.

Record Surplus still has some deals in the mix, though their prices have also gone up b

There's a new spot in the valley called Deadly Wax, which isn't low priced but has a lot of good stuff.

There's also a new place in Burbank called Runout Groove, which I didn't find to be particularly cheap but it was a friendly spot.

The best go-tos for me outside of Amoeba are Atomic and Freakbeat. Mono I think closed their brick and mortar location, Rockaway is now appointment only.

highland park has a whole bunch of shops now, some of which just opened in the past few years:

On Maritime (mostly used records, great selection of disco/house singles)
estuario (thoughtfully curated if somewhat pricey selection of international records, owners are super nice)
Arroyo Records (new and used records, solid soul/jazz selection)
Gimme Gimme Records (former NYC shop that relocated here in the 2010s, haven't spent a lot of time here tbh)
Artform Studio (hybrid record store/hair salon, not actually been here yet)

Commune Records just opened up in old town Pasadena too
https://www.communerecordsla.com