Reminder: Record Store Day Is Tomorrow

I'm a total record whore. It's an illness. The missus and I spent a good portion of last weekend buying a new record rack (I recommned the Expedit from Ikea), assembling it, and re-organizing our records. We got the 5 x 5 thinking it would take a while to outgrow, but it's almost full. You do the math....

Which brings us to tomorrow - Record Store day. If you're a vinyl collector, there's really nothing more immediately satisfying than walking into a record store for your fix. I personally prefer a store with a good mix of used and new. There's usually about one new record on my shopping list and about 40 hard-to-find. If I'm able to cross one or two off of my hard-to-find list, I'm a happy man.

Tomorrow you'll be able to get lots of limited edition vinyl. There's too much to mention, but here's a few: Jesus Lizard 7" box set, My Morning Jacket live EP, Tom Waits' live 7", Iron and Wine live CD, Pavement live LP, Dr. Dog 7", Oasis remix LP, Grizzly Bear 7", Sonic Youth/Beck split, Sonic Youth/Jay Reatard split, Wilco DVD, Neil Young's Sugar Mountain, Silversun Pickups' Pikul on 12" (featuring Mel Kadel's excellent cover artwork).

Local stores that I'm the most familiar with:

Amoeba [Hollywood] - It's one of the best stores in the country with great selection of used and new vinyl, CDs, DVDs, games. The used vinyl gets picked over fast, so you have to go a lot (or get really lucky) to find those hard-to-find records on your list. The largest $1 section too. It takes days to explore everything. I usually visit a couple of times a month. Parking is usually a pain. Not a quick in and out.

Freakbeat [Sherman Oaks] - They carry a good selection of new and used vinyl and CDs and limited DVDs. All around, a very manageable store. You can get through most of it in a few hours. They always have the large indie releases, reissues and a few hard-to-find gems. I try to visit once a month. It's can be a quick in and out, or you can linger. A decent sized $1 bin and a great bi-annual sale.

Fingerprints [Long Beach] - If you're in the Long Beach area, Fingerprints is a fantastic store. They've got new and used vinyl and CDs. It's a bit bigger than Freakbeat and they have great in-stores. I don't make it to Long Beach very often, but if I lived there, it would be my go-to store.

Origami [Echo Park] - Brand spanking new addition to Echo Park. They carry a limited selection of new vinyl (mostly indie with selective reissues in other genres). It's a great place to stop in quick for a new release. You can check out all the merch in 30 minutes.

Vacation Vinyl [Los Feliz] - All vinyl store with a very limited used selection. I haven't actually been in yet, but I hear they're a little more specialized, stocking mostly heavy bands.

Record Surplus [West LA] - Large selection of used vinyl, CDs and DVDs. This store's pretty massive and takes four or five hours to get through. They've got a large selection of collectible vinyl. I always find a couple of records on my hard-to-find list (last week I crossed Ike and Tina's Workin' Together and Sneaky Pete's self-titled record off my list). I hit this up at least once a month. They've got a 2nd store loft with all their $1 releases. If you want to start a good country collection head up there with a $20 bill. They're the record store Rudd goes to in Knocked Up.

Rockaway [Silver Lake] - Good selection of used vinyl and CDs mostly catering to the collector market. I don't go in there all that often because they sell so much of their stuff online. It makes sense from the business' perspective, but kind of turns me off as a customer.

Atomic Records [Burbank] - Decent selection of used vinyl (7" too), CDs and DVDs. I usually find something on my hard-to-find list. They seem to take the Goldmine prices pretty seriously. I stop in a couple of times a year.

Rhino [Claremont] - Pomona, Ontario and Claremont aren't as far as you think. I frequently fly out of Ontario and have a ritual of stopping at this store on my way back into town. They've got a good selection of used and new vinyl, CDs and DVDs. It might not be worth the drive out there just for the store, but if you're ever in the neighborhood, it's well worth checking out.

Poo-Bah [Pasadena] - I associate this place with the Dublab crew. I haven't been in for a while, but I remember them having a smallish selection of used and new vinyl and CDs. They focus attention on underground hip-hop.

Fat Beats [Melrose] - They specialize in hip-hop. Haven't been in for a while.

Don's Music [Eagle Rock] - Don has a decent selection of used vinyl. I haven't stopped in for a while.