Record-store round up

When it comes to purchasing music, consumers have a variety of options ranging from big-box retail stores to tiny mom-and-pop specialized record stores.

Although a large amount of music can be purchased online, most Portlanders take pride in buying locally which keeps our city’s record store scene buzzing. Here, we have rounded up some of the most popular local and independently-owned record stores in the city.

Mississippi Records
4007 N Mississippi Ave.
Every day, noon to 7 p.m.

Located on North Mississippi Avenue, Mississippi records has a vinyl and tape-only selection of jazz, funk’n’soul, R&B, international, hip-hop, reggae, rock and pop. The joint is much smaller than Music Millennium and Everyday Music, and doesn’t buy or sell CDs.

Owner Eric Isaacson said, “We have been around for over seven years. We have only records and tapes. There is not a single CD in the place and it’s cheap. As cheap as $1 and as much as $50 depending on what it is. But the typical ones are around $10. The selection is all over the place and it changes often too. Sometimes we have more punk records, sometimes jazz, blues, reggae, rock.”

We found some new pressings of old records—Bob Dylan’s Highway 61 Revisited, pressed by Sundazed records, was being sold for $18. Mississippi Records is more likely to be a vinyl lover’s place since there are no CDs.

Peter Epp, a customer at the record store said, “This is the first time I have been here. I have come here looking for more hip-hop records—their hip-hop selection is better than most of the other smaller stores, and their setup here is kind of cool. You might find cheaper stuff at Everyday Music or Music Millennium, but stuff is decently priced here.”

Everyday Music
1931 Northeast Sandy Blvd.
Sun–Sat, 9 a.m. to midnight

Everyday Music boasts of a huge CD, DVD and vinyl collection ranging from jazz, rock and R&B to blues, folk and world music. The new vinyl pressings are priced at about $17–$18, while the used ones go for around $4–$10. The vinyl selection covers punk, metal, rap and hip-hop.

Compared to the other Everyday Music store on West Burnside, this one has a wider range in rock and pop and is much larger than the store in Beaverton. Black Sabbath was being played in the store when we got there.

Ryan Sonkkala, an employee at Everyday Music, said, “This place has been around for 20 years. We sell used CDs, vinyl and DVDs. Our typical prices for used CDs go from $1–$8.50 for a good-condition used CD. I think we have pretty much the best selection in town. We cover basically most of the genres and we have a good vinyl collection too. We get a lot of weird stuff too, and we have people coming here five or six times a week looking for some new arrivals.”

Music Millennium
3158 East Burnside St.
Mon–Sat, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Sun, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Music Millennium has a large selection of blues, soul, folk, bluegrass, classical music CDs, DVDs and vinyls. It boasts of a huge used rock CD collection and bootlegged concert DVDs. It also has a separate store for classical music.

Greg Steward, an accountant from Beaverton said, “I think Music Millennium has more character than the other record stores. It has been around for more than 40 years. Even though I may get a slightly better deal at Everyday Music, I would choose to buy stuff from here.”

Assistant store manager Alex Laskowski said, “This is our 41st year and we sell both used CDs and vinyls. The average prices depend on retail, but the average prices for used CDs range from around $4.50–$7.50. The selection is pretty good but we’ve got a pretty wide catalog in both new and used stuff. We have a dedicated section for classical music. It’s a different store, but the same company. And they sell used stuff as well.”

Jackpot Records
3574 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
Mon–Thur, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.,
Fri–Sat, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
Sun, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Jackpot Records’ CD and vinyl selection mostly consists of the new stuff in rock, jazz, grass, etc. Although smaller than Music Millennium and Everyday Music, one is also likely to find bootlegged concert DVDs here.

Employee Kerby Strom said, “We sell both used and new records and vinyls. The average prices vary between items that are collectible and the more general ones. It’s hard to give an average number. We have rock, rap, grass, cocktail, world music and this year is our 12th year. We are open seven days a week and we love to take a look at any records you would have.”

A customer, Danny Ross said, “Stuff here at Jackpot is cheaper than most other record stores and the staff is very helpful.”

Other places worth mentioning:
SONIC RECOLLECTIONS, 2701 SE Belmont St.
TIMBUKTUNES WORLD MUSIC, 4726 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
GREEN NOISE RECORDS, 2615 SE Clinton St.
ANTHEM RECORDS, ‎23 NW 5th Ave.