New York’s best record stores (yes, they’re still around)

Illustration: Ana Beneroya

No matter what state the economy is in, musical gifts are welcome every holiday season. But with behemoths like Tower Records, HMV and Virgin Megastore consigned to history, simply finding the discs and box sets on your shopping list has become a daunting task. Sure, there’s Amazon.com, but half the fun of record shopping is flipping through discs, carrying them around the store, leisurely mulling your purchase, then heading to the checkout counter—with a little reward for your labors tucked under your arm as well. Here, the TONY Music staff spotlights New York’s best remaining record retailers.

Academy Annex
96 North 6th St between Berry St and Wythe Ave, Williamsburg, Brooklyn (718-218-8200)
Located just up the street from the Music Hall of Williamsburg, Academy Records’ Brooklyn outpost—the company has two spots in Manhattan, one offering mainly used CDs and the other vinyl—finds its true niche in acts not yet sufficiently well-known to play at the largish neighboring venue. The Annex actively stocks local music, proclaiming on its website, “If you run a local label, or are in a band with material released on vinyl, we’d love to carry it.” From Woodsist to the Social Registry, the labels on the current New York scene are well represented. And if you need to fatten your wallet, Academy will buy your old LPs and CDs; just make sure they aren’t scratched.—CSJ

Downtown Music Gallery
13 Monroe St between Catherine and Market Sts (212-473-0043)
Many landmarks of the so-called downtown music scene, including Tonic and Tribeca’s Knitting Factory, have shuttered in recent years, but as long as DMG persists, the community will have a sturdy anchor. The shop, which relocated from a plum Bowery spot to a Chinatown basement earlier this year, stocks the city’s—and perhaps the world’s—most impressive selection of avant-garde jazz, contemporary classical, progressive rock and related styles. An entire CD display devoted to John Zorn’s Tzadik imprint illustrates the store’s die-hard devotion—it’s doubtful that even the composer’s apartment contains such an encyclopedic array.—HS

Other Music
15 E 4th St between Broadway and Lafayette St (212-477-8150)
Other Music opened in the shadow of Tower Records in the mid-’90s, a pocket of resistance to corporate music and chain-store tedium. All these years later, the Goliath across the street has been replaced by an empty store; tiny Other Music carries on. Whereas the shop’s mishmash of indie rock, experimental music and stray slabs of rock’s past once seemed adventurous, the curatorial foundation has proved prescient, surfacing in the Wordless Music Series, (Le) Poisson Rouge and even Pitchfork years after the store’s foundation. A word on the employees: The figure of the sneering record-store clerk has become an enduring cliché, for which Other Music once served as ground zero. Yet the typecast reached its expiration date years ago—these people are pussycats.—JR

Permanent Records
181 Franklin St between Green and Huron Sts, Greenpoint, Brooklyn (718-383-4083)
Beyond a broad selection of indie-rock staples and curios, this Greenpoint haven houses an inviting selection of jazz and funk—the store was personally recommended to TONY by the founders of Daptone Records. As well as offering good deals on trade-ins and fairly priced used vinyl and CDs, Permanent Records hosts regular in-store performances (recent highlights include tUnE-YaRdS and Dinosaur Feathers). And crucially, with its wooden floors and cute handmade signs, Permanent Records is a cozy spot—you feel like they actually want you to be there.—SH

Where do I track down…

…the new Rod Stewart CD for Aunt Florence?
J&R Music World 23 Park Row at Beekman St(212-238-9000)
You can find all the top hits at rock-bottom prices at this slightly fusty downtown institution, where Stewart’s Soulbook or similar dross rings up for around 11 clams.—Steve Smith

…the latest Hatebreed CD for that scary dude in the mail room?
Generation Records 210 Thompson St between Bleecker and W 3rd Sts (212-2540-1100)
Extreme-metal fans, hardcore punks and ska enthusiasts are well served by this Village mainstay, which also sells vinyl, used CDs and various collectibles.—SS

…the Carl Craig and Moritz von Oswald 12-inch my DJ nephew wants?
Halcyon 57 Pearl St at Water St, Dumbo, Brooklyn (718-260-9299)
This beautiful (and tiny) Dumbo store exudes a Zen-like calm, but the music sold within—largely electronic house and techno—is anything but mellow.—Bruce Tantum

…Peanut Butter Wolf’s 45 Live mix-CD for my hipster roommate?
Fat Beats 406 Sixth Ave between 8th and 9th Sts, second floor (212-673-3883)
Part of a bicoastal empire that deals in hip-hop for serious heads, Fat Beats stocks the latest CDs, plus ultra-rare vinyl, DJ supplies and other accessories.—SS

…the new box of Martha Argerich’s concerto recordings that Uncle Ned is drooling over?
Barnes & Noble 1972 Broadway at 66th St (212-595-6859)
Classical-music fans are especially tough to shop for now, but Barnes & Noble at Lincoln Triangle offers a deeper selection than most of its fewish rivals.—SS

See more in Music