What's the deal with Record Recycler, Record Surplus, House of Records, etc out there? Are those guys still around? And I heard about mad spots out in the suburbs like Long Beach and Inland Empire...
we have never heard of any of those stores and have no idea what your talking about....Los Angeles is dry...Long Beach and Inland Empire are make believe cities..they do not exist
You need to go out to the westside of LA then. I'm surprised you never heard of Record Surplus out on Pico right where the 405 cuts across, that was like THE west LA spot. And House of Records used to be right down the street - used to have a plastic RCA dog statue out front.
Record Rover used to be the shit too, but I heard it's closed. Used to be on Sunset near Vermont around the corner from the old Fat Beats location.
And there was another spot on La Cienega just below Pico on the west side of the street. Never knew the name of it, but remember they had a shit ton of 45s.
He makes a big deal about it, plays 30 seconds of it and then switches it back to whatever he was listening to before.
Stereotypical snobby record clerk. I never understood that shit at all.
Hell, you're lucky if I'll do that... and nobody else who works at my store would give you 30 seconds... I'll be damned if I'm going to subject myself or the unwitting customers to some shitty four-on-floor or slickass jazzfusion for longer than that... (I once had a dude go all tourettes on me L13-style cuz I wouldn't play an entire Sylvester track for him (only the intro) at noon on a Sunday)
I'll occasionally bust Big Bird out of the car though and have a very happy customer bring home a big stack of Spyro Gyra and Deodato records with MAD SAMPLEZ YO
Ive been a staunch supporter for years even when people talked trash about the place. But its gone to shit.
The past 3 times Ive been in there they shut the listening station down while im digging for records. Then its closed for the whole night. I buy shit there EVERY time. I dont want any special treatment or anything, but its like the listening station is the last good thing the store has.
The vinyl selection went to hell after they hired 8 million underground goober herbs that make me listen to wack aceyalone albums at top volume and put anything with black people on the cover in their personal hold pile.
Then the same wack employees sit there listening to shit while they tell me the stations are closed to customers. Weak.
The worst part is they all have some idea that they are some kind of digger store with wax poetics up on the wall and Stupid black jazz slipmats and some random employee picks endcap with like a blackbyrds record or something. The holier than though attitude reminds me of academy back in the day except WITHOUT ANY RECORDS.
L.A. is really lacking a quality record store. I mean one like paycheck's or TSL or something. I would GLADly fork over the extra dough for dope shit, if I could Listen to it.
SHit makes me want to be an mp3 digger.
I hear you man for real. I used to walk out with piles (30-40 records at a time) leaving Aron's - but now I roll up and walk out with like 3-4 pieces. The staff - I completely agree is wack on some straightup dumb-shit acting like it takes a rocket science to man a f*cking listening station. I agree that there are NO stores in LA - I've never been a big Amoeba fan - just go there for some hip hop and electronic/downtempo pieces and thats it. I'm surely I'm missing out but I just can't get with it. I'd rather go to places like Aron's or something similar. I live about 40 minutes south of LA and now I just don't even go anymore...
Man, I think a whole lot of us in LA are just waaaay too spoiled. I mean we got massive musicstore stocks, with really cheap prices and we complain that we can't listen to the LP's inside the stor during particular hours?
Dudes like Magnetic and other out of country peoples wish they could have the same complaints we have. There must be at least 20 worthwhile stores in the LA area to check out, selection is fickle but thats not so much the stores fault as much as it matters what collections walk through the door.
Bsides:[/b] you know me too well and yeah I got a soft spot for Arons, I ain't found worthwhile stuff in there lately but they are cheap, they sometimes hook me up nice, and I'm sure if others were friendly with some of the in-store staff they may get the same treatment. I love the fact that some of the employees there consider themselves deep diggers, in my situation that helps me more, once in a while I'll hip some folks in there to a record with a fat loop or heavy drums and continue to get good service. You can't help but record store snob attitude in any spot with a twenty-somethings behind the counter but you can earn their respect with constant business or friendly attitude.
PS they may close their listening stations but they are cool with people bringing in portables so technically you can listen to anything in the store at almost any time of day (minus sealed LP's)
Man, I think a whole lot of us in LA are just waaaay too spoiled. I mean we got massive musicstore stocks, with really cheap prices and we complain that we can't listen to the LP's inside the stor during particular hours?
Dudes like Magnetic and other out of country peoples wish they could have the same complaints we have. There must be at least 20 worthwhile stores in the LA area to check out, selection is fickle but thats not so much the stores fault as much as it matters what collections walk through the door.
I do and don't agree A*am. I'm sure you've been to more spots than I have but I have also seen many close up shop (LA and OC and SD for that matter). To me spots are decreasing, not only in the amount of stores but the selection as well. Remember, I ain't no "big dude" and certainly don't spend more than $30 on a record - I go crazy finding something that was part of the UBB series or a part of Kudu. But since I've been going to Aron's for X amount of years I've just seen it go down a level and agree with Bsides on this. Let me also point out that I think this has occurred lately (as in the last 6-9 months) and gradually.
Damn dude. I dont know what you guys are talking about really. But K knows his shit with reggae, so im gonna ride with him here.
Youre welcome to all these authentic artifacts(big ups to hcrink on this usage of the word) we have here, if they all look and play as if they were used as doorstops.The day i see a record in a good condition downhere is the day i will die from shock.
Mid city - LaBrea/Pico two blocks down from Roscoe's
OH SHIT! DO YOU HAVE SPICE GIRLS RECORDS? BECAUSE I HAVE A GOOD CUSTOMER FOR YOU.
Nah for real though congrats dude, I want to hear all about it. King that shit! Big dudes (nosoulstrut) have been telling me they are very disappointed with LA's store situation. Ripe opportunity.
Man, I think a whole lot of us in LA are just waaaay too spoiled. I mean we got massive musicstore stocks, with really cheap prices and we complain that we can't listen to the LP's inside the stor during particular hours?
Dudes like Magnetic and other out of country peoples wish they could have the same complaints we have. There must be at least 20 worthwhile stores in the LA area to check out, selection is fickle but thats not so much the stores fault as much as it matters what collections walk through the door.
He makes a big deal about it, plays 30 seconds of it and then switches it back to whatever he was listening to before.
Stereotypical snobby record clerk. I never understood that shit at all.
Hell, you're lucky if I'll do that... and nobody else who works at my store would give you 30 seconds... I'll be damned if I'm going to subject myself or the unwitting customers to some shitty four-on-floor or slickass jazzfusion for longer than that... (I once had a dude go all tourettes on me L13-style cuz I wouldn't play an entire Sylvester track for him (only the intro) at noon on a Sunday)
I'll occasionally bust Big Bird out of the car though and have a very happy customer bring home a big stack of Spyro Gyra and Deodato records with MAD SAMPLEZ YO
That's weak sauce. I have a shop out in Oakland I go to where dude almost forces me to listen to records.
Youre welcome to all these authentic artifacts(big ups to hcrink on this usage of the word) we have here, if they all look and play as if they were used as doorstops.The day i see a record in a good condition downhere is the day i will die from shock.
As K mentioned, that guys grading is crazy ... he'll call something 'VG++' when you can clearly see in the pic thats it completely destroyed... yes he consistently gets HUGE money
Youre welcome to all these authentic artifacts(big ups to hcrink on this usage of the word) we have here, if they all look and play as if they were used as doorstops.The day i see a record in a good condition downhere is the day i will die from shock.
As K mentioned, that guys grading is crazy ... he'll call something 'VG++' when you can clearly see in the pic thats it completely destroyed... yes he consistently gets HUGE money
Yes this is true because people are enamoured with idea of owning the "authentic artifact"
does anyone know anything about a record store in downtown near pico just off of one of the metrorail stops? a friend told me he happened across it one day and said it was mad decent. anyone been there?
shit what am i doing sitting here, i should just go look for it myself.
Yo check this out. I was visiting down in LA this one time with PT and we went down with the hommie to Arons. Shit was mad comedy. I was kinda just diggin around lookin at the hip hop shit cause I was looking for some underground joints to take back to Seattle. PT was checkin out some videos or some other shit. The other other hommie we were staying with was ducked down between the rows. Now I wasn't really peepin what he was up to cause I was in diggin mode. You know how it goes. Well this is were it gets straight into comedy. While he was down there he lifted like 200 dancehall 45's and put them in his bag. The thing is that they kinda had like a don't bring your bag into the store policy. This is were hommie killed it. This sucka duck store clerk came up to him and was like you can't have bags in the store. He all slick like pulled out a stack of his records and was like, "I wanna put these on consignment". They were like word, so after he got done handling bizness they politely asked him if he could please put his bag out in the car. He was like no problem with a smile on his face. Walked out with 200 45's with them thanking him on his way out. My and PT, was like damn!!!!!!! Watchin the whole thing. It was hard not fallin out laughing when I was payin for the few records I grabbed. Pure comedy. So I guess you could say that Arons was fucked that day. We laughed about that shit all the way down to Diego.
I'd like to add that me personally wouldn't jack records cause I believe in Karma,(unless you were a complete asshole, then I might have to gank a crate or something you know just to balance out the universe.) But shit was still comedy like a motherfucker. Right up there with the infamous coat up here in the 206, you know the one with the pocket sewn into the inside just the right size to slide a twelve inch into.
.... cause I believe in Karma,(unless you were a complete asshole, then I might have to gank a crate or something you know just to balance out the universe.)
I'd like to add that me personally wouldn't jack records cause I believe in Karma,(unless you were a complete asshole, then I might have to gank a crate or something you know just to balance out the universe.)
that story was fucked up on homie's part, but to comment on the rest, i've always wanted to fucking ransack "the record collector" on melrose, AKA the fat miserable bastid, just on general principle.
i once walked in there a few years back, and the fat dude wasn't there, just his assistant. so i asked about a few records, and he pulled out a ladder and started snatching out some stuff i was looking for above the bins (which by the way is odd that this motherfucker has some real good records above the bins that he doesn't even let people go through. but that's another story...). so the assistant tells me i can use the ladder and go through the top of the bins shelf. i'm told i have to wait for ya mans chase saunders miserable-ass to get there, so he can give me prices. when i'm ready to pay (or should i say, ask for prices) for the records i found after chase gets there, he proceeds to REALLY yell at his assistant for letting me go through the top shelf, and also quotes me some fucking UNBELIEVABLY high prices for the lp's, at which point he tries to engage me in an argument and i just walk out that bitch. i fucking hate that place and would love to pull a huge scheme on it one day, although i'm not the type to do some shit like that.
anyways... back to the topic. i agree with b-sides. i've always been a big fan of aron's, and even up till like 2 years ago you could still find some heat every once in a while. but the few times i've been there this year, it has been utter crap. and i mean crap. and far as listening stations, they are real funny with that shit for some reason, but fortunately i know one of the managers who always lets me listen to shit even when they have the "closed" sign on.
LA does suck right now, far as rekkids. amoeba is . you can find one or two nice pieces every once in a while, but for the most part it's littered with common-ass dollar binners priced at $7.99. fuck that shit.
Comments
You need to go out to the westside of LA then. I'm surprised you never heard of Record Surplus out on Pico right where the 405 cuts across, that was like THE west LA spot. And House of Records used to be right down the street - used to have a plastic RCA dog statue out front.
Record Rover used to be the shit too, but I heard it's closed. Used to be on Sunset near Vermont around the corner from the old Fat Beats location.
And there was another spot on La Cienega just below Pico on the west side of the street. Never knew the name of it, but remember they had a shit ton of 45s.
I figured that on the Long Beach and inland empire stuff...
Hell, you're lucky if I'll do that... and nobody else who works at my store would give you 30 seconds... I'll be damned if I'm going to subject myself or the unwitting customers to some shitty four-on-floor or slickass jazzfusion for longer than that... (I once had a dude go all tourettes on me L13-style cuz I wouldn't play an entire Sylvester track for him (only the intro) at noon on a Sunday)
I'll occasionally bust Big Bird out of the car though and have a very happy customer bring home a big stack of Spyro Gyra and Deodato records with MAD SAMPLEZ YO
I hear you man for real. I used to walk out with piles (30-40 records at a time) leaving Aron's - but now I roll up and walk out with like 3-4 pieces. The staff - I completely agree is wack on some straightup dumb-shit acting like it takes a rocket science to man a f*cking listening station. I agree that there are NO stores in LA - I've never been a big Amoeba fan - just go there for some hip hop and electronic/downtempo pieces and thats it. I'm surely I'm missing out but I just can't get with it. I'd rather go to places like Aron's or something similar. I live about 40 minutes south of LA and now I just don't even go anymore...
Dudes like Magnetic and other out of country peoples wish they could have the same complaints we have. There must be at least 20 worthwhile stores in the LA area to check out, selection is fickle but thats not so much the stores fault as much as it matters what collections walk through the door.
Bsides:[/b] you know me too well and yeah I got a soft spot for Arons, I ain't found worthwhile stuff in there lately but they are cheap, they sometimes hook me up nice, and I'm sure if others were friendly with some of the in-store staff they may get the same treatment. I love the fact that some of the employees there consider themselves deep diggers, in my situation that helps me more, once in a while I'll hip some folks in there to a record with a fat loop or heavy drums and continue to get good service. You can't help but record store snob attitude in any spot with a twenty-somethings behind the counter but you can earn their respect with constant business or friendly attitude.
PS they may close their listening stations but they are cool with people bringing in portables so technically you can listen to anything in the store at almost any time of day (minus sealed LP's)
I do and don't agree A*am. I'm sure you've been to more spots than I have but I have also seen many close up shop (LA and OC and SD for that matter). To me spots are decreasing, not only in the amount of stores but the selection as well. Remember, I ain't no "big dude" and certainly don't spend more than $30 on a record - I go crazy finding something that was part of the UBB series or a part of Kudu. But since I've been going to Aron's for X amount of years I've just seen it go down a level and agree with Bsides on this. Let me also point out that I think this has occurred lately (as in the last 6-9 months) and gradually.
Mmmmmmmm....... Roscoe's
Good food and records = a damn good day
Youre welcome to all these authentic artifacts(big ups to hcrink on this usage of the word) we have here, if they all look and play as if they were used as doorstops.The day i see a record in a good condition downhere is the day i will die from shock.
OH SHIT! DO YOU HAVE SPICE GIRLS RECORDS? BECAUSE I HAVE A GOOD CUSTOMER FOR YOU.
Nah for real though congrats dude, I want to hear all about it. King that shit! Big dudes (nosoulstrut) have been telling me they are very disappointed with LA's store situation. Ripe opportunity.
That's weak sauce. I have a shop out in Oakland I go to where dude almost forces me to listen to records.
As K mentioned, that guys grading is crazy
Yes this is true because people are enamoured with idea of owning the "authentic artifact"
shit what am i doing sitting here, i should just go look for it myself.
Is martin's still there?
There's a reggae shop right there. Don't know what it's called.
Martin's will be there...
I'd like to add that me personally wouldn't jack records cause I believe in Karma,(unless you were a complete asshole, then I might have to gank a crate or something you know just to balance out the universe.) But shit was still comedy like a motherfucker. Right up there with the infamous coat up here in the 206, you know the one with the pocket sewn into the inside just the right size to slide a twelve inch into.
yes
i once walked in there a few years back, and the fat dude wasn't there, just his assistant. so i asked about a few records, and he pulled out a ladder and started snatching out some stuff i was looking for above the bins (which by the way is odd that this motherfucker has some real good records above the bins that he doesn't even let people go through. but that's another story...). so the assistant tells me i can use the ladder and go through the top of the bins shelf. i'm told i have to wait for ya mans chase saunders miserable-ass to get there, so he can give me prices. when i'm ready to pay (or should i say, ask for prices) for the records i found after chase gets there, he proceeds to REALLY yell at his assistant for letting me go through the top shelf, and also quotes me some fucking UNBELIEVABLY high prices for the lp's, at which point he tries to engage me in an argument and i just walk out that bitch. i fucking hate that place and would love to pull a huge scheme on it one day, although i'm not the type to do some shit like that.
anyways... back to the topic. i agree with b-sides. i've always been a big fan of aron's, and even up till like 2 years ago you could still find some heat every once in a while. but the few times i've been there this year, it has been utter crap. and i mean crap. and far as listening stations, they are real funny with that shit for some reason, but fortunately i know one of the managers who always lets me listen to shit even when they have the "closed" sign on.
LA does suck right now, far as rekkids. amoeba is
let me re-interpret this so that no one argues about this
stealing the means in which someone makes a living for your own petty enjoyment is for fucking idiots.
we good now?