Must visit record shops in SF or Palo Alto?

[lexicondevil]

I have such mixed feelings about the record stores around here. I usually don't find what I"m looking for, which is a wide range of things. I would say that of all mentioned, Amoeba in SF has the most potential. They have pretty high turnover and I usually find something there. It's even better than the original in Berkeley. If you do hit Amoeba, you need to get a a slice of potato pesto pizza from Escape from New York. Then walk over to Murio's Trophy Room for a nice cold beer, sometimes they have Pliny the Elder, and a place to use the bathroom. Sounds strange, but public bathrooms are hard to find on Haight St.

Depending on when you're going to be here, there's a pretty cool little record swap happening at Lost and Found in Oakland on the 10th or 11th? I sold there last time with my buddy. I won't be there this time, but he will have a ton of 70's prog and psych and other strange shit. Dealers flock towards his stand because everything is near mint and fairly priced.

Last tip, go to Smuggler's Cove for well made cocktails and cool decor. Go a little before opening if you can. I always mention this place because it's one of the only things, besides concerts, that gets me to drive into the City.

http://www.smugglerscovesf.com/

[jaypeap]

^ and if you like pinball, check out "Free Gold Watch" that's on the street behind Amoeba.

they also have a bathroom. it's another good place to wash your dirty record hands before you go to Escape from New York. 

[Dunc]

3 hours ago, lexicondevil said:

I have such mixed feelings about the record stores around here. I usually don't find what I"m looking for, which is a wide range of things. I would say that of all mentioned, Amoeba in SF has the most potential. They have pretty high turnover and I usually find something there. It's even better than the original in Berkeley. If you do hit Amoeba, you need to get a a slice of potato pesto pizza from Escape from New York. Then walk over to Murio's Trophy Room for a nice cold beer, sometimes they have Pliny the Elder, and a place to use the bathroom. Sounds strange, but public bathrooms are hard to find on Haight St.

Depending on when you're going to be here, there's a pretty cool little record swap happening at Lost and Found in Oakland on the 10th or 11th? I sold there last time with my buddy. I won't be there this time, but he will have a ton of 70's prog and psych and other strange shit. Dealers flock towards his stand because everything is near mint and fairly priced.

Last tip, go to Smuggler's Cove for well made cocktails and cool decor. Go a little before opening if you can. I always mention this place because it's one of the only things, besides concerts, that gets me to drive into the City.

http://www.smugglerscovesf.com/

I love smugglers cove. And thanks for posting the record swap info.

[skycriesmary]

Thanks to all who made recommendations. Amoeba blew my mind. I felt like I was in Disney World. Walked out empty handed, but still a great experience.  Record man was also something else. It's organized fairly well, and a huge selection. Unfortunately, 99% of it is flea market quality. 

[Dunc]

On 5/27/2017 at 9:11 AM, lexicondevil said:

I have such mixed feelings about the record stores around here. I usually don't find what I"m looking for, which is a wide range of things. I would say that of all mentioned, Amoeba in SF has the most potential. They have pretty high turnover and I usually find something there. It's even better than the original in Berkeley. If you do hit Amoeba, you need to get a a slice of potato pesto pizza from Escape from New York. Then walk over to Murio's Trophy Room for a nice cold beer, sometimes they have Pliny the Elder, and a place to use the bathroom. Sounds strange, but public bathrooms are hard to find on Haight St.

Got bored and did just this yesterday. Picked up a couple records at amoeba, grabbed a Pliny, then a potato pesto for the walk to Bart. That thing was loaded with garlic. Great slice. My only let down was how many tabs amoeba has with no records from that artist. I got excited a few times thinking I found something I had been looking for.

[thenameisluigi]

Was just in San Francisco. Wish I knew about Thrill House. Would've loved to have checked that out. Both 1234 Go shops were where I ended up spending most of my time and money. Checked out both Amoeba's, as well as Rasputen in Berkeley. Cool stores but didn't pick up as much from those. Did get a pretty cool Sigur Ros 7" from the Haight Amoeba.

[piratesprayer]

On 5/25/2017 at 1:58 PM, skycriesmary said:

I searched a few pages in the record store thread, but didn't see any mentions of stores in the area. Any recommendations? Mostly looking for OOP and rare releases from the 1970's to present.  Rock/alternative being the main genre. TIA...

You might like "Stranded records" on Valencia. They mainly deal in the hard to find. I was just in there last week. Its a super clean well organized store with all types of music.