Hi this is a question to all US fans - in what sort of stores can I get some records like the us editions of get yourself high, the charlatans uk vs. the chemical brothers and american ep? Are they even in stock anymore? Also am I likely to find these sorts of releases in big shops that tend to sell cds (like WalMart/Virgin?) or am I far better off looking for specialist record stores? I am also looking to get Beck's Guero and some other stuff. Please excuse my general ignorance - I am a UK fan about to go on holiday to the US ;-) .

I picked up US version of Get Yourself High at Best Buy, and recall seeing American EP as well last time I was in the cultural sinkhole they call North Dakota. Neither of those are very rare, in my experience. Chems v. Charlatans used to be very tough for me to track down, but I've seen it around a few times even up here, so I wouldn't expect it to be too difficult to find at, say, Tower Records or Virgin. Walmart will be absolutely useless for anything except Singles 93-03, DYOH, or Surrender.

http://www.amoebamus...ba_Home&op=home



Amoeba music is the last good music store in the US



the downside is they only have 3 locations.

Thanks, so apart from Tower records and Virgin are there any other nationwide record stores I can get my stuff from? Am I very likely to find a branch in any shopping mall etc?

beatrobot, where in the States are you going?



Out here in Southern California there's a record/video store chain called FYE that's located in some shopping malls. I don't know if FYE is national or how many stores they have in total. There's also a very large bookstore chain called Barnes & Noble, and some stores will have a small record store within - these bookstores are usually found in suburban strip malls but there are some Barnes & Nobles located in some of the larger more updated malls. Still another option is Borders Books and Music. Don't know if there's any of these stores in large shopping malls, though but since it's a fairly large chain I think there's a good chance that somewhere, there is a Borders in a shopping mall. There's also another chain, don't know how big it is that's called Hear Music. Hot Topic is a clothing store chain found in shopping malls that carry music, but their selection isn't all that hot. There's Best Buy and Circuit City (both stores sell electronics/tv's/stereos etc and usually found near shopping malls or in strip malls) and because of the large overhead they have from all these big screen tv's and stuff, Best Buy and Circuit City can sell their music for below cost.



^ but that's pretty much the small and short of highly visibile music retailers outside of larger chains Tower and Virgin. The thing with these record store chains is that they are pricey compared to companies like Best Buy and Circuit City. But because I work at Tower and hear all kinds of testimony from customers - Tower does have a very good selection, something that a lot of major chains are sorely lacking - I swear to god I think having selection is the only thing that's kept them in business through being in financial dire straits and a bankruptcy. Selection there is comparable to Virgin, if not better. Well, my store at least. ;)



There are actually quite a few, very selective, and independent record stores around (there's one called Sound Spectrum in Laguna Beach that sells all kinds of music but has a strong reggae selection) but accessibility to these stores (meaning, you have to have a car to get there) can be a problem. Unless you're in New York. New York City has some awesome independent record stores, all you gotta do is walk around! Last time I was there 14 years ago, there were so many record stores of all kinds but as time would have it my memory has faded a little and I can't remember any store names.



'stash mentioned Amoeba records and this place has the most awesome selection of stuff *although* a good portion of their business is in used records. Fine by me! Never had a problem with buying faulty stuff at Amoeba. They are cheap and reasonable and their staff are very knowledgable. The product moves and changes hands at a very fast rate, I've gone 2 and 3 weekends in a row, and the selection changes greatly. I have found all kinds of gems there for a good price, totally worth the drive up to Los Angeles for me.



And hey if you're coming out to Southern California, Orange County in particular, feel free to stop in the Tower where I work. I love getting visitors!

Thanks for the in-depth post whirly, I had a feeling you'd have some good advice! I am going to orlando, florida tomorrow, so not long now.



So it seems I should either try and find Virgin/Tower for their selection or Best Buy/Circuit City for better prices? The important thing for me is to find somewhere easy to access with a good selection, so these larger stores maybe the best for me. I understand they may be a bit pricey, but that might be alright considering they may have some of the us exclusive cds I've been waiting so patiently for.



The stuff I really want to own (and which I'll feel quite disappointed if I don't get) are Guero by Beck, gyh ep, charlatans vs. chems, sympathy for the devil sacd (rolling stones) and better living through chemistry (fbs).



In a way I wish I was going to ny like I did two years ago, I know so much more about music than I did then and there are far more records I want to get! X-D

beatrobot, enjoy your trip to Orlando! I've been to Tampa but never Orlando - I wish I could give you good advice on where to go!



You should be able to find the Beck one as well as the Get Yourself High - however your best bet to find these items is at Tower or Virgin.



The Charlies vs. the Chems is gonna be a tougher find. I've only been able to get ahold of that a few months ago when I went up to the Amoeba Records store in Los Angeles. And even then it was a used cd (not that I care, I love adopting records) You might be better off searching for that one at a used shop if you can get around to finding one.



Anyway, again enjoy your holiday and have a safe trip!

Cheers! 8)

I had a great holiday, the weather was ace, I had a nice relaxing break and I'm really impressed with the whole place.



I visited two fye's, a 'music for less' (which I think should be renamed to 'music for more' considering some of the prices ) and a massive virgin megastore. I managed to get deluxe guero (which has not left my hi-fi since I got back, I love the boards of canada and royksopp remixes), americanep (surprised that all the stores I visited had a few copies, so was not that rare), elektrobank (really surprised about this, the virgin megastore had quite a few old singles), the rolling stones sympathy for the devil single (I've been playing that often), brothers gonna work it out (another great purchase, can't stop listening to when drugstore mixes into the micronauts mix of brb, it's just this intense wall of noise, it sounds like my speakers are about to explode 8O and I also love the everything must go remix) and fatboy slim's better living album. Did not find gyh ep anywhere which was a shame because I really wanted it (really good tracklist) :(.



The other thing I noticed was how all cds are sealed in plastic, it's quite good because you can tell if something is brand new or not (and old cds stay in excellent condition). It's also a bit annoying too 'cos you have to carefully remove the sticker across the top, otherwise you get all this glue left behind. Here in the UK singles/albums are rarely sealed, and there's usually one or two scuffs/scratches on the case if the cd you're buying wasn't recently released. Sometimes they also butcher the case with many sales stickers :x.



I also didn't seem to find many good radio stations in orlando (only had a quick scan through once, didn't have much time to listen to the radio). I kept on hearing lite rock and I think one hip-hop station. Needless to say the Americans really like their rock!

Cool, beatrobot, glad you enjoyed your time in the States. And I'm glad you visited some of the record stores - I hope it wasn't too much trouble finding them. Record stores at least out here in Southern California where I live have been becoming fewer and farther between.



Oh, and there is a certain trick to getting the annoying plastic and sticker off the cd's. I see people constantly struggling with this all the time, you should see how agitated people get when they can't rip open the cd case with ease because the top sticker gets all over the place! X-D Anyway, you can break the seal on the plastic covering by running the bottom edge of the cd lengthwise across a hard edge (like a counter top.) Once the plastic is off, the only thing standing in your way is the top sticker. Don't use the annoying peel tab on the top sticker. Instead, lift up the spine of the cd by running your fingernail under the bottom left hand side of the casing. The case will open up and you can flip the cover up horizontally - then with a sort of tearing motion (between top and bottom part of the case) you peel the sticker off without having to use your fingers.



Bah. What I wrote probably doesn't make any sense!! Wish I could film these instructions. It saves a lot of heartache!

whirlygirl Escribi�:

Cool, beatrobot, glad you enjoyed your time in the States. And I'm glad you visited some of the record stores - I hope it wasn't too much trouble finding them. Record stores at least out here in Southern California where I live have been becoming fewer and farther between.



Oh, and there is a certain trick to getting the annoying plastic and sticker off the cd's. I see people constantly struggling with this all the time, you should see how agitated people get when they can't rip open the cd case with ease because the top sticker gets all over the place! X-D Anyway, you can break the seal on the plastic covering by running the bottom edge of the cd lengthwise across a hard edge (like a counter top.) Once the plastic is off, the only thing standing in your way is the top sticker. Don't use the annoying peel tab on the top sticker. Instead, lift up the spine of the cd by running your fingernail under the bottom left hand side of the casing. The case will open up and you can flip the cover up horizontally - then with a sort of tearing motion (between top and bottom part of the case) you peel the sticker off without having to use your fingers.



Bah. What I wrote probably doesn't make any sense!! Wish I could film these instructions. It saves a lot of heartache!

Hey, I get it! You effectively loosen the case into its two parts to easily remove the sticker. Clever :D. I'll try that next time. I always used the 'peel' sticker, but it's always stuck down, they should make it like some sort of paper tab or something. Opening Brothers gonna was fine, but for elektrobank the sticker left all this awful glue (I think 'cos the cd's a bit old), I had to remove it using a hairdryer and some sellotape.

Record Time in Ferndal Michigan was really good to me back in the day





i think they have a website still





google it

My only luck has been FYE. It's the only place I could find the Galvanize single, for krikey's sake. Eons ago, Best Buy had a SLEW of the original astralwerk (the old OLD logo) and JBO cd's and i bought them all up. but that was like '98 or '99 .. now they barely carry ANYTHING chem related.