RECORD STORES IN CENTRAL NJ - TIME SENSITIVE
pjl2000xl
1,795 Posts
Whats good? Im going out digging in the next hour and need some spots i havent hit up yet. I will be around princeton (hit up the record exchange), heard about vintage vinyl, anywhere else? I will be close to Newark, New Brunswick, Princeton, area. Thanks in advance!
Comments
Read about this place in Remix Mag http://21centurymusic.com/ Lyndhurst NJ
Can you give out any spots in the scranton area? My sis lives around there.
avoid 21ST century unless you want to pay top dollar,
mos def get ripped off
and BE treated like shit all in one visit
the "store" is not open to the public-you need an appointment and johnny disco is quite possibly the BIGGEST ASSHOLE KNOW IT ALL HKKKUNT JEFF-JERK OFF ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH
15 dollars for a bongo rock 45?
yeah ok dood
suck a terd from a dead bum's ass
central jersey shops
princeton record exchange
vintage vinyl (sucks these days) in edison
curmudgeon in somerville
i think there are a couple of others, but i've never been
scranton/wilkes barre, pa --
basically i know of 2 shops -- both are located in each towns (semi)respective downtowns.
both are not very good. one in w-b is located off of their main st. and the one in scranton is off of adams ave. --i forget the one in w-b is called, but the one in scranton is called embassy vinyl.
both are ridic overpriced and i think they just do not know how to price things (dollar records priced at 10-20 bucks on average).
but the scranton has a 2 or 3 dollar 12" bin. i've only been there once, but i found a few things from there. not really worth a trip unless you are visiting. there really isn't a good selection in either place.
elsewhere in nepa/epa --
stroudsburg -- (about 45 minutes southeast of scranton off of i-80 in the poconos-- close to north jerz. is main st. jukebox on main st.
decent shop. lots of good stuff can be copped there. good selection. some things are overpriced, some are under--but a lot of it is pretty typically priced. it used to be that things were either under or way over...but the guy there is wising up as how to price. good spot.
allentown, pa. (if in scranton -- about an hour down the tp. or in philly, an hr up. if coming from visiting stroudsburg, about 40-45 minutes.)
double decker -- awesome awesome place. nothing else need be said. best shop in eastern pa. hands down.
main st. bounced back from the fire???? well, thats good news
ive never checked out jamie's shop. i just remember my motivation for going dampened when i realized raj was the resident digger patron.
jaime constantly gets in stuff all the time it seems, so you shouldn't be discouraged. i do great there. i've known jamie since he opened (one of the first customers) and consider him a friend. he's got one fierce beard, true. true.
ps -- moving to atown this week. so i'll be there more than my usual (once a week)--so raj--- take that!!!
some local fleas and thrifts ($0.50-$1.00 related)?
ya'll just blew up raj's spot on some ivy leauge grad on full frontal in times square and shit
dangus
But yeah on the NEPA tip.
These both really suck and I try to stay out of them as much as possible. The guys at the first shop in W-B, Musical Energi, are complete assholes and treat everyone like a thief or your doing them a major disservice buying there shitty records. I cant stand that place. They make me and a few of my black friends take off there jackets when we go and its completely on some profiling shit. Also they over charge and change marked prices right in front of you like dickheads. Not a fan.
Embassy is alright, I know the dude who runs it and hes a good guy. But the inventory is pretty lackluster. I havent been there in a long time though so i really dont know whats up.
I mostly dig at the thrifts in wilkes and scranton. The salvos are okay and i go like twice a week and pick off some decent rares. There are two all year round flea markets though on wyoming ave (rt. 11) in exeter which is close to wilkes which are pretty good. Every sunday. Also on route 11 heading towards berwick and shikshiny there is a drive in movie flea market that is open 7-3 until oct 28th. Found good shit there.
Overall digging out in my neck of the woods sucks cock. If you like country or easy listening bullshit you can get down, but overall its prettttty beat. I usually goto jerz every 2 to 3 weeks and hit up princeton and all the salvos and a few hush hush appointment thrifts. Then once and while, when i got dough, go into NYC.
CURMUDGEON RECORDS right on main street in Somerville NJ 31 West Main St. Somerville, N.J 08876
Those antique stores blow! It's around the block from the one book and record shop with the jaw dropping prices. Those guys don't have a clue, the dudes boss sifts through everything with ebay to price, and does it according to all those web-only-price-jacker-inflation stores at the bottom of every ebay search that're trying to catch a bone, and not really what anyone would actually pay for a god damn record.
Only good thing to do is go browse at what they have in new outta curiousity and love, but they also get sooooo hyped and frustrated when you look through shit he hasn't finished with yet and get choked up and nervous tellin' you it's not for sale. But for example, what the fuck is for sale when just on Friday when I was in Somerville you coulda bought a copy of Freddie Hubbard 'Sky Dive' around the corner in the same shape at Curmudgeon for a $FIVE SPOT$ instead of paying TWENTY which seems to be their rule of thumb for anything Creed Taylor has released. Even the sale-bots on ebay can't be THAT off, but I swear this guy probably thinks those records make good 'coffee table pieces' or something with the nice thick jackets. That should tell you something about their radar, STAY BACK! It is however fun when you drop
For that actually
CURMUDGEON RECORDS right on main street in Somerville NJ 31 West Main St. Somerville, N.J 08876
Vintage is a megastore in some regards it's cool cause it's got the power of best buy but the bite of a lone wolf. It's rough there outside the realm of cds, and sometimes not worth the trip. They keep a pretty
And they usually have kids walking around supposedly to keep the new vinyl and other shit in check because they get a lot of new stock, but a lot of their vinyl ends up slightly warped because the kids don't fix the bins when they walk by.
Also don't want to leave out mentioning,
Izzy's Records & CDs
1107 W. Saint Georges Ave., Linden, NJ 07036
This place is also cool, and not far from Vintage, they put on record shows in the area and are most righteous people.
very cool man. Thanks.
yeah those bookstores and record "shops" suck. I remember a few years ago before that one store moved to that little street with all the other antique shops having problems with dude. He does massive ebay auctions and prices everything overboard, but i did come up on some real good psych and some nice northen soul 45s that must have slipped past his radar.
The last time i went to that street was a month ago and dude was standing in the doorway talking to some lady. When i approached the place he got all kinds of rude and said he wasnt selling any records today. I told him i was only in town for a day and he was like "no your not allowed in the store". I guess his nerdy lame ass was trying to mack it with this nasty chick and my business was a form of cockblocking.I got nasty with him (pause) and left. What a dork.
But yeah man if this shop is cool in s-ville ill hit this shit every time i touch down. I should be there tomorrow like 3 or 4 hopefully if i dont have to do bullshit for my parents. I stay in North Plainfield so its hell of a lot closer then princeton or the nightmare known as route 1 for vintage.
dude is all about disco. i have found some good hip hop 12's in the past but nothing spectacular. i just am short with him like he is to his customers. fuck him.
there is a dope spot in Springfield NJ. its a chain actually. its called Scottys. horrible selection upstairs. but i cleaned up in the basement once. found tons of Prestige shit in minty condition and some nice psych stuff. dude priced by the book but most of the shit i was pulling wasnt in the book and he gave to me for 5 bucks a piece.
i tried to go back and he told me he doesnt want me in the basement again. he said "this is my store and i dont need to let anyone anywhere"
funny thing is on the website the picture of the supposed "vinyl" room is a picture of the basement
false advertisement?
i think all are open but i was under the impression only the Springfield one had wax....but then again im in the Hudson valley and dont like creeping past 78....
too far
i come from the north
287 south past morristown
then i believe youre right
rt 22
springfield exit
and its right on the main strip in town
check yer pms if u can
I didn't know there is a scottie's in Springfield. Summit & Gillette store are
Yeah they are so unwarrantedly sensitive about somebody getting one over on them it's pathetic, it sounds like it isn't any different up at Scotty's, I never been there though, fuck them too!
One night I almost finally lost it at that store, Incognito or whatever, I always get them all confused because they kept moving the shops around and theres so many new antique stores right there. I can never get my bearings, probably why you never found Curmudgeon.
One of his employees was all discreetly phoning him after I handed her stuff to ring up, only because I found some godforsaken shitty Uriah Heap album and a beat up George Harrison 'I'm Krishna now and it's the Morning listen to this stupid droning bell' LP that I shouldn't have even been buying in the first place, and she's like pushing the panic button under the counter getting on the phone with him and shit. "Those are.....something" she says.
All I'm thinking is Frickin' telling her "KEEP THEM! I'm just trying to give you five bucks so I don't just take these 45s from you for 50 cents, you fuckers are such babies crying about this like you're being taken advantage of when it's you Frickin' the rest of the world charging some louse a fortune for a Frickin' board game or a cartoon lunchbox!"
You know, god forbid they get lowballed on that Elvira pinup or someones old Penthouse collection.
That whole scene is so Frickin' retarded they're like the opposite of SYMS: A dumbass is our best consumer. One of the shops is in the old Woolworths. I love Woolworths it was the only department store around me as a kid, not that one, but still- they had all the letters from the sign outside sitting along the wall like it had been since the place shut down beside the door. I asked how much for them because I had some hundreds in my pocket (I dont even have room for huge letters in my apt but am just carefree with $ sometimes like everyone) and they laughed and went "Oh I don't know....thousands" Sure enough it's still sitting there and they haven't found Baron Woolworth or any mysterious international or local moron to make them some fictitious offer that will never come.
Overall digging out in my neck of the woods sucks cock. If you like country or easy listening bullshit you can get down, but overall its prettttty beat. I usually goto jerz every 2 to 3 weeks and hit up princeton and all the salvos and a few hush hush appointment thrifts. Then once and while, when i got dough, go into NYC.
Thanks for the heads up. Sister just moved from NY to Moscow (PA). I knew about that drive in flea from when I went to school out there but didnt remember much but that dude sellin pickled hot dogs in a jar.
went to curmudgeon yesterday and came up on some pretty decent pieces. Guy who runs the place is mad cool, inventory is straight, and prices are below average for everything. and 10 minutes from the parents crib so works for me.
Princeton has great inventory but there pricing is fucked. Some shit i overpaid like crazy and got some shit for cheap thats worth a lot. Weird scale. Also the employees were a bunch of useless dicks with that snobby attitude.
Nice! I'm sure we'll be rubbing elbows (no homo) sometime soon.
Double Decker is great. He is a little too on the ball these days for my tastes. His old lay out was mounds and mounds of unsorted, unpriced stuff that was dirt cheap. Now everything goes through his popsike filter before it is placed on the floor. No sweat. Atleast its a record store that stays in business and doesn't eBay their stock.