vinyl

Full-blown music junkies recognize their own. Markers of the problem can include the methodical casing of record stores and thrift shops, the willingness to accept lower-paying positions for on-the-job listening rights, and friendships deeply rooted in a shared love of ‘70s post-punk bands from Manchester or musical developments in Jamaica circa 1966. The Valley has a network of independent record stores that keep Phoenix in vinyl.

There’s something beautiful about a shiny, newly-pressed, never-opened record. It’s easier to imagine the sound being pressed into the plastic, the meeting of art and industry... read more

Something visceral stirs inside when I think of Revolver Records. The sections, subdivisions. The boxes of records under boxes of records. The second-hand stereo equipment. I’ve lost days, rent, friends to Revolver Records... read more

The space Hoodlums occupies appears more like a gallery space than a traditional record store. The tastefully select album collection, polished reinforced concrete floors and... read more

Slightly larger than a shoebox yet brimming with possibility for real record aficionados, Eastside Records’ unassuming presence in downtown Tempe stands as a testament to vinyl... read more

Let’s not forget what got us through the dark years before they began issuing albums on vinyl again: thrift stores! It's true. The displacement of records from the mainstream of music-listening America has led to an accelerated rate of social deterioration that will inevitably lead to our downfall… or so I believe. Slowly, we see they are beginning to eek back into our stores and hearts. Thrift stores, however, carried many of us through the days of little vinyl. Today, as ever, they are the true home to crate divers and record junkies. Where else can the answer to one of life’s most important questions include instructions to “go past the blue Budweiser bikini, next to the stack of old copies of Teen People”?