windy city strut, (help a tourist related)
Guantanamo_Jones
177 Posts
I will be in chi next weekend and I will have most of friday to wander around and buy some wax. are there any places that I should look out for other than the obvious (dusty, Jazz Record Mart, Reckless etc).
Comments
kstarke
mr. peabodys
for beverlys and peabodys, you're talking about a trek unless yr staying on either the far south side
how far are those spots from there?
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&ie=UTF8&q=beverly's,&near=Chicago,+IL&fb=1&ll=41.815338,-87.445679&spn=0.461599,1.2854&z=10&iwloc=A&om=1
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=e...mp;near=Chicago,+IL&ie=UTF8&ll=41.883876,-87.632446&spn=0.461105,1.2854&z=10&iwloc=A&om=1
kstarke is further north on western ave
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=e...mp;near=Chicago,+IL&ie=UTF8&ll=41.91122,-87.63279&spn=0.057614,0.160675&z=13&iwloc=A&om=1
but its less of a digging spot and more just a good spot for dance & soul....the owner is a good guy, funny
there's also out of the past, if yr into house music at all
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=l&hl=e...mp;near=Chicago,+IL&ie=UTF8&ll=41.904066,-87.635193&spn=0.115241,0.32135&z=12&iwloc=A&om=1
thats west on madison by pulaski. i wouldnt go wandering in that neighborhood tho as an out-of-towner unless yr with someone who knows it.
edit: i guess you'll have to copy+paste those links
www.hydeparkrecords.net
I live in Pilsen, if you're in the neighborhood, shoot me an email... [email]meatyogre1@aol.com[/email] and I can help you out getting down there.
-Andrew
Dude, Out of the Past for house music???? Have you ever even been in there? You might find scattered crusty DJ International 12s, but theres a lot better places in the city to find house 12s.
And KStarke ain't got shit on HPR for soul,jazz,funk, etc. You need to come in some time Deej, and you'd be crossing alot of these other spots off your list.
Beverly is only worth a damn if you collect 45s... and Peabodys is cool, but expect to drop some serious overpriced coin.
As long as you're in Pilsen, check out Revolver records as well, run by my boy Marlon, who's one of the coolest cats around.. on 18th st. across from Nuevo Leon.
keep in mind as ive said before im not a collector, i was just naming places record dudes ive met namedrop
Saying go to Out of the Past for House Music is like saying check out Dusty Groove for their folk music.
Out of the past is full of 1000s of dirty soul 45s and lps and cassettes... you'd be hard pressed to find much house there at all.
For House you gotta go to Hyde Park Records,Kstarke,Peabodys,Hot Jams,Daves.
Record Breakers on State is highly unreccomendable... haven't been to the new Reckless, but I can't imagine it being too great, and its a pain in the ass to get to unless you're on foot and already downtown.
Of the three Reckless locations, I'd say the one downtown on Madison is the least distinguished (although I did luck out there recently when I found an LP by Jackie Opal, Jamaican soul man, for $5.99 or so).
I've always enjoyed hot jams when dre was there. He would freak out on some disco.
Peabody's isn't bad, but it is way out there for sure.
Gramaphone...haha, j/k.
Good Luck!!
its been awhile since i've been to the 'go but has gramaphone fell off? when i was there that was thee spot for house records and disco classics...
Deej didn't mention it cuz he's sleeeepin on us... I did.
Who was working when you came in Jim?
We get a very steady stream of quality jazz, soul and funk lps coming in... most people in Chicago that collect this stuff snooze on us for some reason, most likely cuz its not the easiest place in the city to get to by public transit. We do get hit pretty hard from overseas dealers though, so depending on when you're there, the pickins can get a little slim. If you're just starting out with soul and jazz, we should definitly be your first stop in Chicago.
K-Starke is one of the nicest people you ever wanna meet, but something about that spur-of-the-moment eBay pricing is just WRONG, as if Rich Rosen got transplanted to Chitown or something. Please price them records before you put them out on the floor so we'll know what to expect, damn! Don't just wait till somebody asks about 'em...
NOTHING DOING.
Things are pretty abysmal in comparison to most places, but you can still ride the wave of the VG northern soul 45 here to good measure.
Dave's used to be a fair place to look for certain genres - like funk commons for half of the going rate, six or seven years ago - but it's been thin for years. You know the spot - some of their high-priced (real world value: $20) Jazz titles have been on the wall for 3 or 4 years. They haven't gotten ANY new 45s in the store for over a year. I'm not at all kidding or trying to divert folks. My guess is that the incoming stuff all gets thrown up on the Bay to keep the overpriced brick-and-mortar afloat. That, or the staff has sticky fingers. The owner can be a real anti-social jerk sometimes, too.
The Clark corridor might have been a pretty good place to find filler records - I suppose - a decade ago.
Reckless records is a great store - the best in Chicago, really - to find used CDs. If you're fine with the format, it's a very nice place to look. It's a good White music store - the movie version of HIgh Fidelity was veritably based on it. Rock vinyl is okay there, but the staff only works there to skim off the top.
This is a great city for records, but it's also a city with an large and well-established community of collectors that canvasses the city daily for gems - including from behind and under the counters before things ever get out to the public. But I suppose that it's the same story in every big city.
Haven't been to your store yet, but im looking forward to it.
And about Grammophone. I certainly agree the staff is nice, but it seemed to go south the past few years. Everytime I go in there I have stacks and stacks, and leave with two records. Maybe my taste has changed? But I'm not feeling them so much. Plus new house music=boring. Thats a whole nother topic.
Anyways good luck searching, and you best post em