Only a few record stores across the country have earned elite status. The entire west coast of the United States has maybe three such stores; record shops that not only offer a large and great selection of music but are cultural icons in their own right. Shops as amazing and important as Seattle’s Easy Street Records simply can not be missed by any music fan visiting the Emerald City.
What to Expect at East Street Records
Easy Street Records is more than just a record store, and I mean that literally. It is also a diner, which is worth your time in its own right if you are interested in strong coffee, hashbrowns, omelets, etc. It’s also a bar serving beer, wine and cocktails. It’s also a live music venue that’s hosted some of the biggest names in music over the years like Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and Lana Del Rey as well as Seattle darlings Pearl Jam who recorded Live at Easy Street here in 2005. So, in regards to what to expect, expect a lot.
As far as the actual record shop side of the space, I can’t imagine any collector being disappointed. This shop truly has everything. Records, CDs, posters, equipment, t-shirts, and more are in abundance. Unsurprisingly, this is a very popular store and physically it’s not the biggest space in the world so expect a lot more traffic than you might see at other record stores.
The majority of records available are in the upstairs area of the store, but a few genres and new releases can be found on the ground floor along with the checkout counter, non-vinyl items, and the restaurant.
Selection at Easy Street Records
Unsurprisingly, the selection at Easy Street Records is top-notch. There are some record stores out there that might have a greater total amount of records, but few match the quality of what’s available on a given day. The selection here is going to skew more towards new records. There are plenty of used records to be had of course, but I would say more than half of the vinyl in this store are still sporting their shrink wrap.
Genre-wise, there are pretty much no surprises at all. Rock and pop make up the majority of the records available but every genre section you would expect at a typical record store is present here: Country, Rap, Hip-Hop, Jazz, World, Metal, etc. The genre split here does reflect the city of Seattle’s musical history, so the hip-hop and rap sections are a little on the small side considering how well-stocked this store is. One of the standouts here is a very impressive selection of 7” records, something many stores ignore entirely. I can’t actually think of a record store that has a larger selection of singles available.
In regards to makes this store unique, it comes down to two things. The first is the store’s connection with the city of Seattle. There are massive sections of bins dedicated to bands from Seattle. I’m guessing this is partly because this shop is a bit of a tourist destination, even amongst non-collectors. So if you’re a tourist in Seattle and pop into a record store and have no idea what to buy, there’s a good chance you are going to be walking out of there with a Nirvana record. Speaking of, this might be the most unique section I’ve ever seen at a record store: this shop actually has a section for each Nirvana album, rather than just a section for Nirvana. That being said, if there is any Nirvana record missing from your collection, rest assured Easy Street will have about 20 copies available.
Rare records are also a fairly big thing here, this rare pressing of Bleach was available on my visit.
Bottom line: New records, used records, rare records, singles, they have it all.
Pricing at Easy Street Records
The day I was shopping at Easy Street Records I also visited 4 other record stores in Seattle, so I was able to compare prices really easily. Of those 5 record stores I went to, Easy Street had the best prices. Records that were priced $22-24 at other stores were available for $18-20 here. New records were priced as low as they possibly could be, and used records were all priced more than fair from what I saw. It would be really easy for a shop this famous to overcharge unsuspecting customers, but that is not the case here.
My Take on Easy Street Records
Easy Street Records is a top 10 record store in the country, hell it might be top 3. The selection, the vibe, the history, this is everything you could ever want in a record store. This is a destination, pilgrimage-worthy record store. It’s just that good.
Records Purchased
Address: 4559 California Ave SW, Seattle, WA 98116