New York, it’s been a while, I’m pretty sure this is my first time back here since 2017. On my previous few visits I only quickly got some record store visits in but this time I'm in town for five days to attend the New Colossus festival and conference, so it at least gives me some solid hours each dy of digging, still not enough time though!
I’m staying in the lower east side of Manhattan so the record shops in that area are where I start. Kicking it off with on of the best, A1 Records is a used vinyl focused store with solid inventory and very good prices, decent pricing was something I wasn’t really expecting in New York. They also have a really diverse range, any vinyl lover should find something that interests them here. The store has somewhat outgrown itself so there is a lot of great stuff in the under racks. Academy Records have a few places across the city, the 12th street location is the better of the two in Manhattan, while I’d say the Brooklyn annex store is probably the best of all of them. All stores are well stocked and well-priced with a focus on used across all genres.
Still in Manhattan and a couple of well curated used focus stores are Limited To 1 and Stranded. They are the kind of stores that are well stocked but you can get through looking at the whole selection in a visit. Limited To 1 has a punk/emo focus but covers all genres while Stranded is a store run by the Super Viaduct label that has a solid selection, if you are on the west coast, you can also find a couple more of their stores in the San Franciso area.
Generation Records is probably the biggest shop in the city that I made it to. Sprawling over two levels it has equal amounts new and used, as well as a lot of CD’s and cassettes, and once again pricing is very fair. Not far away is Village Revival Records, a chaotic store with a lot of stock spread all over the place, if you’re prepared to put in the time, you are sure to find some gold. Once again it is split across new and used vinyl, definitely more on the pricier side but a true record store digging experience.
Across the bridge to Brooklyn and after the first stop at Academy Annex that I mentioned earlier, I head over to Record Exchange, not a huge store but well curated and priced. Next up is Captured Store, operated by the Captured Tracks label, this was a lot bigger than I expected. There is a great and diverse range of used vinyl and some solid new selections, a true record store and not just a label showroom as some label stores are.
Face Records is a well-known shop in Tokyo, a fantastic source for Japanese pressings when in that city and they have a shop in Brooklyn. Specialising in Japanese artists and Japanese pressings of western artists, it is compact but jam-packed store, very much like your classic Japanese store. Pricing is on the high side compared to if you were in Tokyo but it is competitive with other places selling Japanese pressings here in the USA.
I was running out of time as I got further towards Williamsburg, my last stop in Brooklyn, I had hoped to hit a few stores there but only managed to get to Superior Elevation, and spent more time in that shop than expected. A well curated and vast second hand selection had me digging through until close to closing time.
As I mentioned, New York is vast and there are so many shops to visit, there were many recommended to me that I didn’t make it to, so hopefully next year I can return to New Colossus Festival and do a part two on Record Stores of New York!