Record Shop Reviews

Every town deserves a record store. Even if that town already has a record store and is really more of a suburb of a city that has a boatload of record stores. B-Sides Records and Vintage in Milwaukie is the newest record store to open in PDX and is a great addition to a scene…

Ahh, the salty sea breeze and cold drizzle of the Oregon Coast make me want to throw on a flannel and some slippers, and listen to an old album on an outdated medium. Thankfully, Off the Record in North Bend was there to help me satisfy that itch on my recent trip to the cute…

It sometimes seems like an impossible task to keep track of every single record store in Portland, Oregon. As soon as I think I’ve got a good grasp on all the big players in town, a shop like Mint Gallery Records opens up. It’s gotten to the point that when I am walking down a…

It might surprise you to learn that among the charred ruins of downtown Portland, just a block from the ANTIFA headquarters and the free fentanyl vending machine is a damn great record store. 2nd Avenue Records is one of many Portland musical institutions that survived the pandemic and the many disasters Fox News believes have…

Record stores should offer insight into the store’s owner and the people who work there. The music that shaped them, influenced them, that convinced them to invest thousands of dollars into a business that sells an outdated form of media. To me, that’s what makes record stores so very special. Sharing the music that’s important…

Getting all the way up to Seattle from Portland can be a little bit of a bitch. It’s right in that sweetspot distance where I can’t justify getting a hotel on most visits since I only live 2-3 hours away. So, every time I go, I end up like an explorer searching for the city…

There are few record stores in the world as committed to promoting independent music and exposing people to new artists as Portland’s Mississippi Records. Part record store, part record label, this incredible shop in North Portland is one of the best in the city. With a small but mighty selection, Mississippi Records is one of…

The city of record stores never fails to impress me. That really is the best way to describe Portland, Oregon. I’ve talked about my visits to more than 10 record stores in Portland, which isn’t even half of the stores in the city limits. If you include the suburbs, there’s easily another half dozen more….

Another day another fantastic Portland record store, today we are looking at Tomorrow Records in Southeast Portland. This record store can be overlooked by the dozen other record stores that are within a 10-minute drive but this shop can hold its own against just about every other store in the city slinging vinyl to the…