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best record shops in Southern California?


decade03
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For whomever lives out in southern California, what's your go-to record store? I think what appeals to most is a reasonable price with a good selection. I'll list some below that i've been to and hopefully you'all can add a few


Standards Record Store- Vista, CA - My favorite thus far. Great punk selection amongst the new and used releases, always reasonably priced, most of the times under priced. Found used but pristine still shrink wrapped Dylan, Stones, Dolls, Reatard, Cohen etc for a few bucks. Bought most of my Beastie Boys records there as well.

Rhino Records- Claremont, CA - Always a solid place to go, broad selection of vinyl, movies, books, trinkets, shit you probably don't need. Got a few rarities behind the counter. Prices are OK, maybe a bit over that what you would find at Amazon. Nice location 

Glass House Record Store - Pomona, CA. Aside from their overpriced records this is probably where you would hit your best finds. I believe they play shows there as well.

Spin Records- Carlsbad, CA- Gotta check this place out. Its a mini amoeba records, dictating the overpriced but very very good selections. 

 

Canterbury Records- Pasadena, CA. Nice selection of alternative and indie/folk. Great prices, just not the broadest of selections. Probably will only appeal to a small bunch, but the prices are legit.

Amoeba- Los Angeles, CA- What to say about this place. It has everything. Expensive and cheap. Let's not even delve into Amoeba if you've never seen it in person.

 

 

etc etc, sorry I didn't give examples of some good finds I've had at these places, but i'd be here all night. Interested in what you guys have to say

 

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If you like digging through bins and bins of used stuff, Record Recycler in Torrance is a fun place to kill an hour or three. The owner has always been cool with me but apparently he can be a little cranky sometimes, which leads to some funny Yelp reviews and even funnier replies: http://www.yelp.com/biz/record-recycler-torrance

 

I'm moving from LA to Garden Grove next week so definitely interested in any suggestions down that way. I checked out the Greater Orange County Record Show last month, kind of overwhelming but I'm eager to go back now that I have an idea of which vendors to check out and which to skip.

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I love:

 

The Glasshouse Record Store - Pomona, CA - Sometimes they can be a bit pricey, but I've found some fairly rare and out-of-print sealed LPs in the bins before. They carry a decent stock of all kinda of stuff. The wall-hangers are fairly cool usually, too. The Glasshouse venue is attached, and this is a great time-killer when waiting for a show.

 

Puke N Vomit/Radiation Records - Fullerton, CA - Overflowing with punk records. Bootlegs galore. Basically anything punk you'd want is here. They carry a lot of shirts, too, which I believe they print in-house.

 

Rhino Records (Claremont) and The Mad Platter (Riverside) are basically the same store, except Rhino has more books/equipment/weird stuff. Good variety, lots of bargain bins, carry a lot of new releases AND give out free tickets to local shows with the purchase of a new release pretty regularly.

 

Dr. Strange - Alta Loma, CA - Old school punk super-store. While Radiation is a giant mess, this place is very organized and clean. Doc has his own label and release all kinds of cool/weird stuff, and carries a lot of smaller, local labels. 

 

Zoinks! Records - Pomona, CA - A hole in the wall literally around the corner from Glasshouse. A good chunk of emo, pop punk, and post-hardcore releases among rap and country records. They also sell vintage audio equipment. Some of their stuff has been sitting a while, and I've found long out of print records there before.

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I love:

 

The Glasshouse Record Store - Pomona, CA - Sometimes they can be a bit pricey, but I've found some fairly rare and out-of-print sealed LPs in the bins before. They carry a decent stock of all kinda of stuff. The wall-hangers are fairly cool usually, too. The Glasshouse venue is attached, and this is a great time-killer when waiting for a show.

 

Puke N Vomit/Radiation Records - Fullerton, CA - Overflowing with punk records. Bootlegs galore. Basically anything punk you'd want is here. They carry a lot of shirts, too, which I believe they print in-house.

 

Rhino Records (Claremont) and The Mad Platter (Riverside) are basically the same store, except Rhino has more books/equipment/weird stuff. Good variety, lots of bargain bins, carry a lot of new releases AND give out free tickets to local shows with the purchase of a new release pretty regularly.

 

Dr. Strange - Alta Loma, CA - Old school punk super-store. While Radiation is a giant mess, this place is very organized and clean. Doc has his own label and release all kinds of cool/weird stuff, and carries a lot of smaller, local labels. 

 

Zoinks! Records - Pomona, CA - A hole in the wall literally around the corner from Glasshouse. A good chunk of emo, pop punk, and post-hardcore releases among rap and country records. They also sell vintage audio equipment. Some of their stuff has been sitting a while, and I've found long out of print records there before.

 

I second Dr. Strange Records.  Bill is great and so is the selection of rare punk music.

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I wouldn't waste your time going to Vinyl Solution. This store was pretty amazing in the 90s when I started collecting records but now it's pretty pathetic. Mostly just shirts, stickers and patches now with very few records. I'm pretty amazed they are still in business.

 

If you're heading to Long Beach, there's 4 shops worth checking out in about a 2 mile radius.

 

Start at Third Eye Records. They're about 1/2 new 1/2 used records and specialize in eclectic rock, psych, experimental stuff but carry a bit of everything.

 

About 1/2 a mile from there on the same street is an antique shop call Inretrospect. They have a couple rows of records in the back that are accurately priced and/or a bit on the high side. Used records of all varieties but mostly have 60/70s rock & R&B records but are usually in really good/clean condition and like I said, priced accordingly.

 

About 1/2 a mile from that heading downtown, on 3rd/Atlantic is Bagatelle Records. This is a no-frills record store. There is nothing there but records and some CDs and the owner who is probably in his late 50s/early 60s.  He does have an older little troll for a co-hort that can be a bit of a dick. They are cash only. All records are used and they specialize in older rock & jazz but have a large selection of dance & international music. The have a soundtrack section as well. I love this store and even found a mint promo copy of UGK's Too Hard Too Swallow for 8 bucks. The owner will let you in the back to check out records he hasn't priced yet as long as you aren't a jack ass and visit frequently. Stretch first prior to entering the store cuz you'll be doing a lot of squatting, leaning and bending if you plan on looking at everything. Their records are very clean.

 

About a 1/2 mile from that heading towards downtown back on 4th is Fingerprints as mentioned in a post above. It's a pretty cool store w/ mostly new records of the indie/electronic/pop variety but nothing really obscure.. You'll hear "we can order that for you" a lot whenever you ask about pretty much anything. I almost never go there but it's worth visiting if you're in the area.

 

There's also a shop called Dizzy On Vinyl on 7th that is in this same 2 mile radius but I've never bought a record from there that didn't skip and it's a pretty poor store w/ mostly bargain bin/garage sale looking records.

 

Bionic Records in Buena Park is worth mentioning just because Bill Ward frequents there and they have a decent metal section.

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If you like digging through bins and bins of used stuff, Record Recycler in Torrance is a fun place to kill an hour or three. The owner has always been cool with me but apparently he can be a little cranky sometimes, which leads to some funny Yelp reviews and even funnier replies: http://www.yelp.com/biz/record-recycler-torrance

 

I'm moving from LA to Garden Grove next week so definitely interested in any suggestions down that way. I checked out the Greater Orange County Record Show last month, kind of overwhelming but I'm eager to go back now that I have an idea of which vendors to check out and which to skip.

 

I grew up in Garden Grove. The good news is you'll be about 9 miles from Long Beach.

And yeah, my head almost exploded the first time I went to the OC record fair.

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Amoeba (I can't tell you the amount of ridiculously low priced rare records I've purchased here over the years.)

Vacation Vinyl (Best place for noise/experimental in LA)

Rockaway Records (Label people like to drop off rare/promo stuff here all the time)

Freakbeat Records (Devendra Banhart's favorite record store... psych heaven)

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i'll second bionic records.  that was the first record shop i went to when i was 19 and they still had a location in huntington beach.  so i've basically been shopping there for the last 16 years.

 

there's port of sound in costa mesa that someone on here complained about once, but i thought they were ok.  it seemed pricey at first, but after looking up the same titles on discogs, it actually compared well and i got a RVIVR record used for pretty cheap there.  it's also pretty well organized which i liked.

 

i'll also second that vinyl solution in HB is really not worth the time.  lots of overpriced records, completely unplayable ones in the dollar bin and i get sketchy vibes from them re: RSD.  to their credit though, i did find a sense field RSD press of killed for less for a decent price but i'm sure it's because there wasn't giant demand for it...

 

lou's records in encinitas was really rad when they had 2 trailers.  last time i went they'd downsized their location to just 1 trailer and selection was a lot slimmer, but that was a few years ago.  no idea how it is now.

 

amoeba is a given whenever i'm in the area.

 

thanks for this thread, it's interesting to see what else is out there.

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Start at Third Eye Records. They're about 1/2 new 1/2 used records and specialize in eclectic rock, psych, experimental stuff but carry a bit of everything.

 

This sounds right up my alley, thanks for the rec.

 

Forgot to mention Record Surplus on the west side of LA. Only visited a couple times but there are some great used finds to be had. New stuff is a little on the pricey side if I recall, but they carry Mondo and Light in the Attic stuff and had some OOP titles last time I was in.

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I grew up in Garden Grove. The good news is you'll be about 9 miles from Long Beach.

And yeah, my head almost exploded the first time I went to the OC record fair.

Also grew up in Garden Grove... weird. Near Valley View/Lampson. And agreed on both points. The record show is awesome, but I can't do it every month. It's overwhelming!

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Lmao the opposite of this

Amoeba owns because there are so many people pricing that stuff falls through the cracks ALL the time

Vacation is ALL overpriced although the owner is cool 

Yeah Amoeba is great when they price anything rare twice what it goes for on ebay lol

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How has no one mentioned Factory Records in Costa Mesa? Dave a is a really solid guy who used to own noise noise noise, also left of the dial in Santa Ana may be worth some time, rockaway records in Hollywood is a bit overpriced but worth it for the promos and hard to find 90's LP's but prepare for premium pricing. Also I'm the guy that complained about port of sound pricing, it's my go to place for sleeves and I agree with the organization but if you have 10 copies of random access memories and any other popular title then don't sell them for close to twice market value, TKO records is a personal favorite of mine for a plethora of hard to find punk and metal titles and the shop is very clean, these are some real gems I'm dropping, do what you will with these :)

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I used to work at Lou's Records in Encinitas. They used to have a larger selection, but they've had to downsize a whole lot.

 

But there's some decently priced stuff if you dig for it. More new than used, but some offbeat used stuff. Also really really cheap cds and dvds. They've also got some laser discs, haha.

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