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NORTH PORTLAND
Beacon Sound
3636 N Mississippi Ave., wearebeaconsound.com.
Noon-7 pm daily.
With its clean, minimalist design, Beacon Sound has the
air of an art gallery, which might also owe to the fact that it's
connected to one. Either way, it belies the shop's focus, which, while
stocking the usual of-the-moment indie stuff, tilts avant-garde. On a
recent visit, customers milled around the counter discussing Steve Reich
and John Cage while crazy-making free jazz spilled from the store
speakers. No one will judge you for only buying the new Sufjan, though.
Not out loud, anyway.
MATTHEW P. SINGER.
Specialization: Cutting-edge electronic and experimental music.
Find of the day: John Simeone, "Who Do You Love" b/w "Forever," a '70s soul-funk 7-inch worth $300.
Mississippi Records
5202 N Albina Ave., 282-2990. Noon-7 pm daily.
Rightly regarded as one of the truly special record stores on the West Coast, if not the entire country, Mississippi Records piles all manner of curios—mostly of the blues, gospel and folk varieties, a good chunk of which were reissued via owner Eric Isaacson's label of the same name—into a room resembling the den of that eccentric hermit at the end of the street you've been dying to become friends with. MPS.
Specialization: Rare blues, gospel and pre-Beatles rock, as well as punk and garage rock.
Find of the day: A mint-condition original pressing of Atomic Bomb, a 1978 album by recently rediscovered Nigerian funk musician William Onyeabor.
Vinyl Resting Place
8332 N Lombard St., 247-9573, vinylrestingplace.com.
The pun probably worked better back when buying records
seemed like grave-robbing, but even after the medium's resurrection,
Vinyl Resting Place, long one of St. Johns'
best-kept secrets, keeps a
mostly vintage inventory. You won't find any Best New Music selections,
or much new anything, but there is a ton of reasonably priced old folk
and country, plus a world-class jazz section allegedly frequented by
Japanese collectors. MPS.
Specialty: Folk, jazz, country, classic rock.
Find Of The Day: Presenting The Fabulous Ronettes Featuring Veronica, which sits behind glass with a $200 price tag.
NORTHEAST PORTLAND
Anthem Records
2706 NE Sandy Blvd., 963-9000, anthemrecords.bandcamp.com. 3-7 pm Friday, noon-7 pm Saturday or by appointment.
Hidden in a narrow alley just off Sandy, Anthem Records is a small specialty store owned and operated by Jon AD, founder of the electronic music label Lo Dubs. But don't expect to see anything as commercial as, say, the new Disclosure record sitting in the bins of vinyl stacked throughout the sparsely decorated shop. Instead, you'll find a limited-edition orchestral metal album detailing the battle between Gandalf and the Balrog, a few fleetingly popular 3-inch CDs tacked onto a wall or selections of a genre called "Gabber." KAITIE TODD.
Specialization: Electronic and metal.
Find of the day: Bryce Rohde Trio, Turn Right at New South Wales (1979).
Jump Jump Music
7005 NE Prescott St., 284-4828. Noon-5 pm Monday-Friday.
Jump Jump Music is one of the oldest record joints in Portland, with an emphasis on hip-hop, soul and jazz. While the store looks like something out of Hoarders, cluttered with boxes and dusty memorabilia, the records are intensely organized and the owner knows his stuff. ASHLEY JOCZ.
Specialization: Hip-hop, R&B, soul, jazz.
Find of the day: The Baron Von Ohlen Quartet featuring Mary Ann Moss, The Baron, a '70s electronic jazz album of popular pop-song covers.
Little Axe Records
5012 NE 28th Ave., 320-3656. Noon-6 pm Wednesday-Monday.
Tucked inside a quaint Victorian house, Little Axe Records is a hidden gem in the Alberta neighborhood. While the store doesn't boast much square footage, it's got an extensive and in-depth collection of classics, hits, rarities and old Southern gospel. Displaying such records as Mississippi Delta Blues, Vol. 1 and the Endless Summer soundtrack, the store caters to every level of record geek. There's an extensive cassette collection as well. AJ.
Specialization: World, folk and gospel.
Find of the day: MEV/AMM, Live Electronic Music Improvised (1970).
Turn! Turn! Turn!
8 NE Killingsworth St., 284-6019, turnturnturnpdx.com. 4-11 pm Tuesday-Thursday, 3 pm-midnight Friday-Saturday, 3-11 pm Sunday.
Turn! Turn! Turn! is the "renaissance man" of record stores. Not only does it have some of the best country vinyl in town, but it's also a bookstore, a venue, a bar (with a killer craft beer menu), and even has a small vintage clothing selection—basically, everything awesome in one place. AJ.
Specialization: Rare country.
Find of the day: The Dead C, Harsh 70s Reality (1992).
SOUTHEAST PORTLAND
Blythe & Bennett Records
3334 SE Belmont St., 234-6996, blytheandbennett.com. Noon-8 pm daily.
Residing in a small nook once occupied by the Dixie Mattress Co., Blythe & Bennett occupies a perfect niche on Belmont, where it sits next to Sweet Hereafter, Straight From New York Pizza and Stumptown. Riding a booze or caffeine buzz? Blythe & Bennett stays open late (for a record store), so stop in and browse the impressive $2 record bins, where you'll find everything from Fleetwood Mac's self-titled album to Porter Wagoner compilations. The store also has the coolest listening station in town—a record player and pair of headphones inside an old phone booth. MICHAEL MANNHEIMER.
Specialization: Old and new rock with a heavy '90s bent.
Find of the day: A rare copy of P, the self-titled record from the band Butthole Surfers singer Gibby Haynes started with Johnny Depp.
Clinton Street Record and Stereo
2510 SE Clinton St., 235-5323, clintonstreetrecordandstereo.com. 1-7 pm daily.
Part vintage stereo equipment shop, part college-rock boutique, the tiny Clinton Street is a geek-focused shop for collectors and connoisseurs. They can set you up with a turntable (most run about $100) and a $50 copy of Mercury Rev's Yerself Is Steam and even a $60 set of used Polk Audio bookshelf speakers. MARTIN CIZMAR.
Specialization: Vintage college rock, obscure hip-hop and electronic music.
Find of the day: Pearl Jam's No Code (1996) on vinyl, $90.
Crossroads Music
3130 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 232-1767, xro.com. 11 am-6 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-7 pm Friday-Saturday, noon-6 pm Sunday.
A flea market of a record store, Crossroads offers collections from more than 30 individuals on consignment. With so much used vinyl spanning most genres, some digging is required, but the friendly staff will help you find treasure. The shop also sells stereo equipment and boasts an impressive collection of local concert posters. MARK A. STOCK.
Specialization: Classic rock, jazz.
Find of the day: Roky Erickson's The Psychedelic Banjoman, a European release of songs recorded by the 13th Floor Elevators mastermind between 1976 and 1985.
Exiled Records
4628 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 232-0751, exiledrecords.com. 11 am-7 pm Tuesday-Saturday, noon-5 pm Sunday.
A petite but lauded shop known for its collection of rarities, bargain bins, international releases and zines. Sharing a complex with a liquor store and sandwich shop, Exiled feels like an industry secret, a delightful marriage of new and old records with helpful handwritten tags and placers devoted to acts as unsung as Brian Cook. MAS.
Specialization: Psych rock, experimental.
Find of the day: Testify, a 1971 release from local pro wrestler Beauregarde featuring a 17-year-old Greg Sage on guitar.
Future Shock
1914 E Burnside St., 327-8473, futureshockpdx.com. 11 am-9 pm daily.
Between the anime-style vinyl figurines, the weirdly stylish kitsch and handmade skateboards on the walls ($69, unique!), you almost could be in the world's best store for designer kicks. But the weird, low-ceilinged shack by the Burnside Plaid Pantry is all about the kick drums, snares and breaks, at that intersection of geek, toker and cool-kid DJ that describes maybe 30 percent of Portland. MATTHEW KORFHAGE.
Specialization: All things choppable or already chopped: hip-hop, old soul, generation upon generation of Ninja Tune, plus house, techno and electro.
Find of the day: The guy behind the counter was stoked on the new Sven Atterton, a hacked-up wallpaper of Minneapolis-style synth funk. I was sort of excited about a limited-edition Strawberry Shortcake platter for $8.
Green Noise Records
5857 SE Foster Road, 956-3110, greennoiserecords.com. Noon-7 pm Monday-Tuesday and Thursday-
Saturday, noon-5 pm Sunday.
The former location of this shop, which doubles as home base for local garage-rock label Dirtnap Records, got gentrified out of its Woodstock space because of a fancy sandwich shop. Now, it's out on a scrubby stretch of Foster. The selection is large, and the entrance is well-stocked with punk zines. MC.
Specialization: Garage rock and punk.
Find of the day: Pretty much everything Mean Jeans has recorded on vinyl.
Jackpot Records
3574 SE Hawthorne Blvd., 239-7561, jackpotrecords.com. 10 am-8 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-6 pm Sunday.
Jackpot's original Hawthorne location (the larger downtown store closed last year) is as small and charming as an ice-cream parlor. Vintage signs dangle above tidy stacks of mostly contemporary CDs and vinyl. The shop opened in 1997 and has since coined a record label, reissuing work from the likes of Portland punk-rock pioneers the Wipers and Dutch garage experimentalists the Outsiders. MAS.
Specialization: Indie rock.
Find of the day: Grock by Crock, a frenetic prog-rock project from Quasi's Sam Coomes and Hella's Spencer Seim, of which only 500 neon-green vinyl copies were pressed.
Music Millennium
3158 E Burnside St., 862-8826, musicmillenium.com. 10 am-10 pm Monday-Saturday, 11 am-9 pm Sunday.
At 56 years old, the labyrinthine nooks and crevices in Portland's oldest and most storied record store look as if they evolved naturally, like canyons carved into sandstone. They didn't. The store is in heavy rearrangement, with an extra vinyl room in the works because one wall of the current vinyl room will soon have a bar and cafe serving up libations for shoppers and the lookie-loos at Portland's busiest in-store show venue. Next up? Dead fucking Moon on Record Store Day, April 18. MK.
Specialization: Everything is special. Nothing is special.
Find of the day: A first pressing of Led Zeppelin I with turquoise lettering recently sold for $1,000.
SMUT Vintage
7 SE 28th Ave., 235-7688, smutportland.blogspot.com. Noon-7 pm Monday-Friday, 11 am-7 pm Saturday, 11 am-6 pm Sunday.
SMUT is a lot like that remote corner of your dad's weird bachelor friend's basement you snuck glances at while no one was looking: kitschy beer signs and vintage porn galore, as well as a small but eclectic selection of vinyl that coalesces more around facial-hair preferences than genre. The soul and funk section has been raided several times over by local revivalist DJs, but the pool of classic rock and AM gold favorites is as wide as it is deep. PETE COTTELL.
Specialization: Mustachioed 8-track favorites, modern hip-hop.
Find of the day: Iggy Pop's The Idiot (1977), $40.
Sonic Recollections
2701 SE Belmont St., 236-3050, sonicrec.com. Noon-6 pm Tuesday-Saturday.
Sonic Recollections is not of its time. In a neighborhood overrun by new developments, the store—which is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary—is a callback to the record stores of our parents' past, with an eclectic collection of used vinyl that stocks jazz and classical and plenty of classic-rock staples. This place has everything from old Al Jolson 45s and used Tom Petty records to a "soul" section stocked with five 2Pac joints and a copy of St. Louis rapper Chingy's 2004 album, Powerballin', among multiple Temptations greatest-hits collections. MM.
Specialization: Used pop and rock LPs from the '60s to the '90s.
Find of the day: A super-rare copy of early Portland punk band Sado-Nation's 7-inch EP from 1980 that, selling for $300, is less than any listing on Discogs.
SOUTHWEST/NORTHWEST
2nd Avenue Records
400 SW 2nd Ave., 222-3783, 2ndavenuerecords.com. 11 am-8 pm Monday-Friday, 10 am-8 pm Saturday, noon-6 pm Sunday.
A downtown mainstay for more than three decades, 2nd Avenue's impeccably curated embarrassment of vinyl riches caters to just about every taste imaginable. Aging scenesters eye "Cowboy Classics" 78s stacked below the yawning reggae selection. Tattooed tweeners leaf through hardcore 45s probably recorded before they were born. A hyper-disciplined organization of goods dispels any whiff of the flea market and, with enough artist tees hanging from the rafters to fill a dozen Hot Topics, even the music haters among us should leave happy. JAY HORTON.
Specialization: No one in town carries more metal.
Find of the day: Samurai (1971), an exceedingly rare self-titled prog-psych LP from former members of U.K. jazz fusion outfit the Web.
Everyday Music
1313 W Burnside, 274-0961; 1931 NE Sandy Blvd., 239-7610, everydaymusic.com. 9 am-11 pm daily.
Among the vinyl-adorned pillars and magazine-clipping-collaged electrical boxes of Everyday Music's library-style layout—a décor my companion deemed "industrial-meets-dollar store"—you'll find what is likely the largest collection of vinyl in the city. If you uncover a used $2 Stevie Wonder record after staring at the spidery wall decals from an old Of Montreal album, it shouldn't be a surprise. KT.
Specialization: If you need the new Death Cab or Decemberists, they got you.
Find of the day: A mono copy of A Hard Day's Night, $80.
Platinum Records
104 SW 2nd Ave., 222-9166, platinum-records.com. 11 am-7 pm Monday-Saturday, noon-6 pm Sunday.
Although the larger back room of DJ gear and PA systems may now attract the lion's share of business, Platinum Records still boasts a daunting supply of '70s funk, '80s R&B and block-rocking white labels. Give prospective purchases a spin at listening stations set up below signed testimonials from DJ Dan and Mix Master Mike. JH.
Specialization: Dance music.
Find of the day: Test pressing of Candy (1979) by Con Funk Shun.
Landfill Rescue Unit
400 NW Couch St., 679-8579. 11 am-7 pm daily.
Housed within Old Town's Floating World Comics, this teensy record store might appear to be just an outgrowth of four-color wares. But Landfill's separately owned and operated area—soon to have a designated sales associate three to five days a week (and weekends)—catches the eye through graffiti-scrawled, specially constructed wooden dumpsters whose hidden shelves roll outward to reveal vinyl treasures. JH.
Specialization: Punk, hardcore.
Find of the day: Sleep's Dopesmoker (2003), on Tee Pee Records, for $75.
MORE: Record Store Day is Saturday, April 18. For events and deals from participating stores, see wweek.com.
WWeek 2015