Records I have bought in DC
schnipper
528 Posts
I am moving out of DC on Monday. I've been here just about four years. I love this city. I was almost 19 when I moved here. I'm a different dude. I was buying the shit out of records before I came here and I am sure I will after. DC is a bizarre city for records, as (before Crooked Beat) there wasn't really a legitimate record store, so I (we) are/we forced to look for stuff in a lot of bizarre places. Below, arranged by place of purchase, find some things I bought in Washington. Some rare, some just kind of chill. I've done all right for a dude without a car. RIP DC
SECOND STORY BOOKS[/b]
About a zillion and a half people I know have worked here. I even worked their flea market thing once for fifty dollars. The employees usually get the trill shit but sometimes they aren't up on stuff or are out sick or some shit. Pretty much every time I went here Fatback was in there.
CAPITAL CITY RECORDS[/b]
A well meaning but poorly run store. First time I went there I bought twenty sick records out of the dollar bin. Last time I was there I went up to the counter with a Cloud One 12" I pulled out of the dollar bin and I was like man I feel bad this shit is a buck but I am still going to buy it. Usually has random piles of records on the floor that you get the evil eye for looking at because they're "not priced yet." I kind of just stopped going here.
CROOKED BEAT RECORDS[/b]
It was so chill when Neal (our DJ Neville C) opened this store up the street from me. Nice Neal let me trade him records constantly, and the flow of nice and reasonably priced records from his store, down the hill and past all the Ethiopian restaurants has been incredible. Hooked me up with a bunch of Brazil shit for prices that would break your heart. YOU'RE MY DUDE NEAL
(SEVEN WAYS TO MAKE YOU JACK)
CD/GAME EXCHANGE[/b]
Really the mother of all DC record stores. This place is like if you do really hard drugs every day and then once a month you get like heroin made by angels that makes you feel like you are at the beach with babes and you are like "why do I even bother doing the drugs the rest of the time I should just wait for that one super high and keep it all pure" except you still do the drugs the other time aka buy that one dollar Fifth Ward Weebie CD. Anyway, most of this was ten cents a piece
(SO SICK)
A LOT OF OTHER RANDOM PLACES[/b]
DC is tight because it makes you look for shit at random places. A few stores I get to every couple of months, yard sales, the flea market, friends, Craigslist dudes named Rod, some dude with a horse farm. I noted where I got shit beneath the record
Bikini Store close to the White House. Having some "life problems" type shit going on, I took a walk and pass a sign outside the Bikini Shop that said "RECORDS AND ALBUMS FOR SALE" so I went in and asked what was up and this bleach blond crazy lady pointed me down the stairs where her husband was selling his collection. Dude really like Irish music first and then anything else ever second.
Flea Market at 14th and V. I was on my flea grind the last year and a half but not so much lately because that shit moved and blows
Franke's apartment that totally did not have a kitchen. He moved to New York. If you shopped at the classical records Academy about a year (?) ago he probably helped you/took your bag. I bought a bunch of his records before he moved.
Flea Market
George Washington University Music Department. They gave away all their records (except ethnic stuff). Went to their office once a week when they put piles out. Then got to go through the card catalog and pull stuff that way and then finally through the records themselves. Why does my school have a copy of some mediocre Funkadelic record? Who cares I sold it to Crooked Beat
Thrift store in Wheaton. What is up with this record? On the same label as Mylatency's Birmingham record. Maybe the same recording as that Motown 12"? Either way, it still blows.
Franke
Joe's Record Paradise. So stoked to find this shit after having the cassette since I was 13.
Joe's
Flea Market
Flea Market
My friend Jacob. I paid for him to go bowling in return for this LP. Also got Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves from him
Franke. Dude had a sick collection. Shit
Flea
This dude Rod's apartment. Went to his house with a friend while dude sat in a chair drinking wine and watching Law and Order. Bought from him three seperate times. Huge Ronnie Spector fan who thought I took his Ronnie Spector autographed record and called me freaking out
Flea. Bought two boxes from this lady one of which had like thirty Cannonball LPs. This is the best one
DJ G Money's apartment. Dude came up to me at a store and asked me what music I liked and if I wanted to buy his records. Noz and I went over there and he told us about playing records at Bar Mitzvahs. He isn't into swearing
GW Music Dept.
Joe's
Franke. Some harsh shit
GW Music Dept.
Roadhouse Oldies. Got a call from a friend that they were having a 50 cent sale and took the bus up to Silver Spring. Got three copies of this LP (all pretty beat up but played all right). I got about 50 LPs/12s that day, tons of doubles. Traded one Clifton LP to a dude on here. Bought a ton of stuff. Been back to this store a decent amount and don't think I bought anything any other time.
Flea
GW Music Dept.
Back of some dude's car on P Street for free
Yard Sale. From the collection of a DJ who died of AIDS
G Money
Roadhouse Oldies
SOME SHIT I BOUGHT TODAY AT VARIOUS PLACES[/b]
DC is super undry. Sick records at good prices from good places. I love this city but it's time to go
(DJ DMD/Lil Keke/Fat Pat - 25 Lighters)
I know Smash got no love but, you know, every time I go there I think it's a better store in theory than practice. Went through thousands of LPs in their back room, once. It was more fun than the records I took home. Best thing I ever got there was Ptah the El Daoud. Super chill record. Went to some dude named Miles' apartment and he apparently had all kinds of sick records but he definitely was selling only trash. Got some vocal jazz crap for 50 cents and then drove to Joe's with my friend. Went to the dude with Throwing Copper on vinyl framed on his wall whose apartment smelled like shit and bought a Tyree 12". The yard sale that happens every weekend on Newton Street in Mount Pleasnt. Got some Incredible String Band shit and a Bobby Jimmy 12". DC is so weird. I love records
SECOND STORY BOOKS[/b]
About a zillion and a half people I know have worked here. I even worked their flea market thing once for fifty dollars. The employees usually get the trill shit but sometimes they aren't up on stuff or are out sick or some shit. Pretty much every time I went here Fatback was in there.
CAPITAL CITY RECORDS[/b]
A well meaning but poorly run store. First time I went there I bought twenty sick records out of the dollar bin. Last time I was there I went up to the counter with a Cloud One 12" I pulled out of the dollar bin and I was like man I feel bad this shit is a buck but I am still going to buy it. Usually has random piles of records on the floor that you get the evil eye for looking at because they're "not priced yet." I kind of just stopped going here.
CROOKED BEAT RECORDS[/b]
It was so chill when Neal (our DJ Neville C) opened this store up the street from me. Nice Neal let me trade him records constantly, and the flow of nice and reasonably priced records from his store, down the hill and past all the Ethiopian restaurants has been incredible. Hooked me up with a bunch of Brazil shit for prices that would break your heart. YOU'RE MY DUDE NEAL
(SEVEN WAYS TO MAKE YOU JACK)
CD/GAME EXCHANGE[/b]
Really the mother of all DC record stores. This place is like if you do really hard drugs every day and then once a month you get like heroin made by angels that makes you feel like you are at the beach with babes and you are like "why do I even bother doing the drugs the rest of the time I should just wait for that one super high and keep it all pure" except you still do the drugs the other time aka buy that one dollar Fifth Ward Weebie CD. Anyway, most of this was ten cents a piece
(SO SICK)
A LOT OF OTHER RANDOM PLACES[/b]
DC is tight because it makes you look for shit at random places. A few stores I get to every couple of months, yard sales, the flea market, friends, Craigslist dudes named Rod, some dude with a horse farm. I noted where I got shit beneath the record
Bikini Store close to the White House. Having some "life problems" type shit going on, I took a walk and pass a sign outside the Bikini Shop that said "RECORDS AND ALBUMS FOR SALE" so I went in and asked what was up and this bleach blond crazy lady pointed me down the stairs where her husband was selling his collection. Dude really like Irish music first and then anything else ever second.
Flea Market at 14th and V. I was on my flea grind the last year and a half but not so much lately because that shit moved and blows
Franke's apartment that totally did not have a kitchen. He moved to New York. If you shopped at the classical records Academy about a year (?) ago he probably helped you/took your bag. I bought a bunch of his records before he moved.
Flea Market
George Washington University Music Department. They gave away all their records (except ethnic stuff). Went to their office once a week when they put piles out. Then got to go through the card catalog and pull stuff that way and then finally through the records themselves. Why does my school have a copy of some mediocre Funkadelic record? Who cares I sold it to Crooked Beat
Thrift store in Wheaton. What is up with this record? On the same label as Mylatency's Birmingham record. Maybe the same recording as that Motown 12"? Either way, it still blows.
Franke
Joe's Record Paradise. So stoked to find this shit after having the cassette since I was 13.
Joe's
Flea Market
Flea Market
My friend Jacob. I paid for him to go bowling in return for this LP. Also got Chrome - Half Machine Lip Moves from him
Franke. Dude had a sick collection. Shit
Flea
This dude Rod's apartment. Went to his house with a friend while dude sat in a chair drinking wine and watching Law and Order. Bought from him three seperate times. Huge Ronnie Spector fan who thought I took his Ronnie Spector autographed record and called me freaking out
Flea. Bought two boxes from this lady one of which had like thirty Cannonball LPs. This is the best one
DJ G Money's apartment. Dude came up to me at a store and asked me what music I liked and if I wanted to buy his records. Noz and I went over there and he told us about playing records at Bar Mitzvahs. He isn't into swearing
GW Music Dept.
Joe's
Franke. Some harsh shit
GW Music Dept.
Roadhouse Oldies. Got a call from a friend that they were having a 50 cent sale and took the bus up to Silver Spring. Got three copies of this LP (all pretty beat up but played all right). I got about 50 LPs/12s that day, tons of doubles. Traded one Clifton LP to a dude on here. Bought a ton of stuff. Been back to this store a decent amount and don't think I bought anything any other time.
Flea
GW Music Dept.
Back of some dude's car on P Street for free
Yard Sale. From the collection of a DJ who died of AIDS
G Money
Roadhouse Oldies
SOME SHIT I BOUGHT TODAY AT VARIOUS PLACES[/b]
DC is super undry. Sick records at good prices from good places. I love this city but it's time to go
(DJ DMD/Lil Keke/Fat Pat - 25 Lighters)
I know Smash got no love but, you know, every time I go there I think it's a better store in theory than practice. Went through thousands of LPs in their back room, once. It was more fun than the records I took home. Best thing I ever got there was Ptah the El Daoud. Super chill record. Went to some dude named Miles' apartment and he apparently had all kinds of sick records but he definitely was selling only trash. Got some vocal jazz crap for 50 cents and then drove to Joe's with my friend. Went to the dude with Throwing Copper on vinyl framed on his wall whose apartment smelled like shit and bought a Tyree 12". The yard sale that happens every weekend on Newton Street in Mount Pleasnt. Got some Incredible String Band shit and a Bobby Jimmy 12". DC is so weird. I love records
Comments
THAT HERCULES 12" IS
nice one on the Sandwiches 12" and the Lyman, too!!!
and you're the only other person other than me and Norm who has the Grey Skies on LP that we know of
no, no records in baltimore or DC Area
cosign
nothing to see here
all gone
looks like schnipper bought it all
don't bother, look else where
nyc has some new hot spots
anything turns up in dc or charm city, i'll let you know
Great fucking title for a record.
-K***n
Yeah, I miss Fatback, and now I am about to miss Schnipper.
2 of the most interesting cats I have met since I hit DC in late '97.
no doubt.
CD/Game being slow = someone got there before you did. Not always, but I picked up something chill there at least once every few weeks.
Frank, I'm moving on Monday. I'm bring my stuff to my parents house, as I haven't gotten a job since I graduated and need to move out of this place. I have an interview in New York I am stoked about and feel like might happen after talking to dude on the phone for a minute, so I might be down there. I have a new found fondness for Philadelphia, so I think if it comes the end of August and I am still jobless, I might pick up and move there. How's Richmond? I haven't been there in years and it made me kind of bummed when I was.
Kevin and Chris, you guys are so chill.
man i miss dc so much. prior to neil's store, it was really one of the harder cities to comfortably buy records in on a regular basis. probably the first two years i lived there i couldn't find anything. i was picking up absolute scraps up at cd game, second story and cap city like "where are all the record stores?". you really have to stay on your grind. if you're doing flea markets you gotta show out at 6 am. if you're doing house calls (something i never really got into hardcore) you gotta be relentless. thrifts, you gotta be there every day. but there are a ton of great records to be bought but it just takes more effort than other places.
CD Game has never really been good for me as far as records go. i've gotten some great tapes and cds there on the cheap cheap. I guess I didn't have the fortune of living two blocks away from it though. once in a while i have fun going and buying like 100 10/$1 shitty 12"s and going through them and if they suck (more often than not they do) throwing them out and keeping the sleeves.
i'm still way jealous about that winley. you pulled much heat from that dude, if i recall. and i got like a scratched 'i ain't trippin' and a black star lp.
One store schnip failed to mention that deserves a serious nod here is Memory Lane. No exaggeration, probably one of the greatest record stores i've ever been in my life in terms of selection and friendliness/atmosphere.
m*** when do you leave the city? i might actually be coming down this weekend.
You will be missed (and not just for your records and business).
yep, and you all had me beat hands down in that area. Man I suck at thriftin'
as far as flea's, please add a disclaimer that "no matter how early you get there, Harry will be there before you."
Agreed, if you get creative with it, there are no limits.
Memory Lane is key with quality selection, but depending on what I was after, prices were a bit steep for me. I def still hit it when I had the chance. There's a real cool guy on here who worked there, been so long since I've been out to say hey. what up DCDigga, you still round the strut?
If I didn't I'd be an idiot as its a block away from my store. That said I found some great records at the thrift store basically across the street from Amoeba in SF so you never know.
people tend to shit on orpheus, but i've had some good luck with crazy rick (or "toenails" as my boy Jo***n so affectionately calls him) in the past. i think he gets a bad rep just because he's crazy. admitedly it's sometimes hard to deal with him. he's got another guy working there a lot now who's a lot friendlier.
i mostly only go out there when i have to go to the mac store around the corner. i got my bohannon stop & go for a very reasonable price and he gets some great jazz shit in there a lot. plus some cheap 12"s (i got most of the studio records catalog sealed there).
Give me Rick any day! That dude is 'friendly', but in the 'Mr-Music-Professor-about-shit-no-one-cares-about'-type of way. Now for my money, Rick is interesting to talk to.
he used to live here in toronto a little while back, I've never heard his music though.
Snap. They had a radio station which dumped all its vinyl in 2000, but an audio archive remained in the Media department with most of the interesting stuff. Is this what they gave away? Last I saw, it was all in the newish building at 21 and H. I managed to pick out some nice things from there over the years, but I knew there was much more to be found.
If this is what they gave away, I know to cease my occasional enquiries into the status of the stash.
Ah, DC. Now who went upstairs at New Wax on RI ave? Used to be serious up there.
I was all suped to go to Eastern Market for the 1st time in years, take my girl there and have a nice afternoon. Eastern Market is wack now. And not just because there aren't any records. I was really, really upset.
Eastern Market is a waste of time for anything but BBQ. Seriously.........the pulled pork inside is on some breathtaking psych trippage, and you get that combo with drink and side for cheap.
Floyd stopped selling on Sunday afternoons at Eastern Market at least 3 years ago, and I haven't seen anything there in a looong time, but now I moved from the Hill to MD, so I don't get up there much.
And New Wax on RI, do you mean the old Wax Unlimited? If so, that has been gone even longer, the owner had a serious illness or stroke, and his family sold most all that stock over a couple of weekends at the Flea, $1 a piece. This was like 3 years or more ago too.
I love this shit. It's all soul covers.
Stereok, I guess you graduated from GW? All the LPs from the music department (housed in the basement of Phillips Hall on H Street) are gone now. There was a lot of really sick shit, some of which I saw go to a professor (Steve Reich - Drumming boxed set, Harry Partch opera box) but I came up pretty well. Definitely had to take the bus home once because I had an armful of fifty or so LPs