vancouver b.c.
rain103
476 Posts
i have a trip planned to 'couver next week. any good spots to find soul 45's?thanks in advance.j
Comments
yea i know about that place. the prices are beyond ridiculous they're just stupid.
gastown is one of the best parts of town. yeah, hastings gets ill too. pigeon park is as nasty and crusty and cracked out as it gets! check out stanley park and their black squirels!
vinyl records is stupid expensive and the dude who owns it will recognize that you're looking for breaks or soul stuff and start piling up records for you to check out. obnoxious. i've never found any 45s in vancouver, but there must be some somewhere.... i love vancouver.
agreed on both points. gastown is ill - just a neat vibe and feels like you're far removed from the states (I live in Seattle).
and yeah, that guy there is pretty obnoxious. but i've found some cool stuff there.
there used to be that shop bassix and the dude that owned that was cool, but they didn't really have that much selection.
anyhow, good luck to dude looking for the 45s. Let us know how it went - my guess is that if you find something worthwhile, it'll be off the beaten path and nowhere near the usual spots in the couv.
You will love it there. hit me on the PM's if you want a line on some good rentals in that neighbourhood, there is one i am thinking of that may be perfect for you, one bedroom, ocean view, literally steps from the beach and probably in the 1300-1500 range. i miss vancouver.
you do not want to live in gastown, aka cracktown, under any circumstances. it's skid row for blocks.
the condo scene is pretty out of control, that's a completely different conversation.
that's david love jones, one of the biggest record assholes ever to walk the earth. the only people who shop there are japanese tourist chicks who don't know any better than dropping $25.00 on some rinked queen record. i am told he is reasonable with his "friends" and name-Dj's like coldcut.
there are plenty of other great shops (beat street, apollo, dandelion, neptoon, etc. etc.) and there are plenty of records to be had. handful of very cool private dealers. i never came up as good as i did when i lived there.
Ive been only peripherally following the scene but I've heard that the housing market has gotten so horrendously overpriced that they have allowed each freehold property to have THREE separate residences, allowing for a basement apartment as well as a 'lane way suite'. When I googled what that could possibly be I discovered that it was the 'generation Y' kiddults wandering home to their parents and tearing down the garage and building a two-storey apartment. Sounds pretty fucking grim. I guess those architecture diplomas gotta get used somehow.
i will say that it struck me as ridgedly utopian. Buildings are all strictly zoned to resemble one-another, no one jaywalks, and bartenders measure every ounce of liquor in drinks. The crackheads there are abundant, but as a resident of many a crack-filled community, they are way less sketchy. I mean, a junkie is a junkie, but I'll take one from BC over one from Baltimore any day.
There used to be this old guy that lived in a warehouse with his dog that had millions of 45s. Not sure if he's still around.
Crabmonger is the MAYOR of that shit.
hey tom, thanks for the tip o the hat. you are right that there is some degree of disney-fication there, especially in the commercial part of downtown.
brian is still doing the warehouse thing with that big ass dog hamish. i have his number if anyone needs. most of the best stuff was stripped long ago and he is bitter about it so now everything is 10-15 no matter what the title and i know of a least 2 guys who have gone thorugh the entire warehouse. dee rock and them got there early on in the game, those guys must have pulled ridiculous heat simply based on what they decided to leave behind.
I have never wasted too much time record shopping there, and it has been to many years since I have been there.
One time I came up was at the flea market, where a guy named Tad or something like that, had great records and reasonable prices. Sadly he died back in the 90s.
Crabmonger, didn't know you moved, where did you go and when did you leave?
There are 2 great buildings in Vancouver, the Anthropology Museum out at the U and the Central Library. The museum has some of the best NW Coast art you will ever see.
Mount Pleasant WHAT UP!
that was tigh, he died in the early 2000's. i used to buy off him at the flea market but the real deal was apparently going on back at his home were he would smoke his guests under the table and hook them with all kinds of heat (sometimes on spec). he is remember as being one of the kindest, most reasonable and helpful dealers around. he was, in many ways, the opposite of the vinyl dude, david.
the warehouse is spent, if you ask me, but if you want the deets then PM me. honestly, you can do better but is pretty cool to see millions of records in one spot. he also sells old publications, posters, ephemera, etc. are you checking out the shops on main and in nether regions of the city like crazy bob's or whatever he calls himself and apollo? the thrifts were almost always pretty grim as i recall.
what flea markets are still running?
any shows to check out?
i'll take any advice! thanks.
Hopefully be able to check some stuff out before heading to Seattle, but my 3 year old might have different ideas!
http://hapaizakaya.com/