Since I'm a poor and cheap b#stard with too much time on my hands I've come
to frequent an assortment of thrift shops and odd places in my search for
music. This has to be the most pleasurable and rewarding (not to say cheap)
way of finding music. Thrift shops have been combed through for vinyl, but
you just never know what you'll find. I payed a total of $12 at a GoodWill
for four CDs yesterday: 'New Africa 3' (Celluloid), Soulstance 'Truth,
Somplicity and Love', TJ Rehmi's 'Invisible Rain', and a Sulphur records
sampler.
I like to buy new stuff too but I salivate over a good find for a great
price. Since I don't live in NYC anymore I can talk about a few places I
used to haunt for bargains, some of which are obvious some not. For latin
music, head up to 181st street and hit the goodwill or walk around and look
for street sales (do the same in the Lower E. Side or E. Village). I've
found huge caches of old salsa and disco this way. And if you really want to
get adventurous go to City Island in the Bronx to MoonCurser (or Cruiser)
records. This place stocks at least 20,000 LPs. More on the pricey side but
the place is a trip. Also, check out the main Salvation Army branch on the
west side around 47th Street. For a while I scored a lot of salsa, funk and
disco here and it was also a dumping ground for some rich person's CD
collection. You just never know when you'll hit the jackpot.
For great used product and $2 promos you must go to Academy Music off 5th
Ave at 17th Street (or thereabouts). I bought at least 10 copies of MJ
Cole's 'Sincere' there for $2 a pop (yeah, I sold'em on Amazon). I've bought
everything from 'Psycho on da Bus' to Zero 7 for as little as a buck.
Housing Works in Chelsea sometimes has a good selection and there's a
Salvation on 8th Ave. that's hit and miss (which is true of all Salvations).
In the E. Village there's the obvious: St. Marks. Can't go wrong there.
Joe's is always worth a visit. I only lived in Brooklyn for a little while
but I did find an entire collection of funk and soul (mint Roy Ayers, Gil
Scott Heron, Parliament) at a thrift shop on 5th Avenue in Park Slope.
There's also a Salvation Army where I found a lot of Haitain and African
material. There's another Salvation on Atlantic Ave. near Smith St. that can
sometimes deliver the goods.
Obviously I had a lot of time on my hands to search out these places but
finding the stuff was half the fun. I ended up selling all the vinyl in the
E. Village cause I was broke but now that I'm down south I'll be digging
deep again. Anyone know some good spots in North Carolina or Georgia?
Peace & respect to y'all!
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Thu Apr 04 2002 - 16:31:57 CEST