I don’t know about you folks, but when school starts, and I get that refund check in my hot, sweaty, little hands, I turn into an idiot. I know I should spend my money wisely on food and books but I have to buy at least a couple of records. I have been daydreaming about visiting all the record stores I love in Portland.
(Note: this is not a complete list, there are many more record stores in town, and a guide to the independent stores is available at any of these stores.)
2nd Avenue Records
400 S.W. Second Ave., 503-274-2890.
This is the place to go if you freaking love vinyl. If you’re looking for hip-hop or pirated Japanese no-wave hard-core you’ll find it here I swear.
Djangos
1111 S.W. Stark St., 503-227-4381.
Corporately owned chain specializing in making the hard-to-find easy to find in vinyl and CD.
Everyday Music
1313 W. Burnside St., 503-274-0961.
With a massive variety of music in almost every imaginable genre, Everyday will buy CDs too.
360 Vinyl
214 N.W. Couch, 503-224-3688.
Locally owned, well-stocked new and used selections of hip-hop, jungle, house, downtempo and other electronic genres. Hip clothes too.
Platinum Records
104 S.W. Second, 503-222-9166.
Platinum has music and gear for DJs. Similar to 360, with more house, techno and DJ equipment.
Jackpot Records
3736 S.E. Hawthorne, 503-239-7561.
Jackpot is the indie rock headquarters of Portland. It’s a good place to be seen by the people that want to be seen.
Reverb Records
3623 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd, 503-736-9110.
Reverb has a lot of vinyl, new and used, and is a great place to find jazz, international and singer-songwriter stuff.
Sonic Recollections
2701 S.E. Belmont Street, 503-236-3050.
Strange and unusual collectable vinyl.
Music Millennium
801 N.W. (Trendy Third) 23rd Ave, 503-248-0163.
Since 1967 this large, independently owned record store has given you everything from ABBA to Bulgarian folk music.
Q is for Choir
2510 S.W. Clinton, 503-235-9678.
Cool little shop specializing in vinyl. After you buy yourself some cheap, cheap cool-ass records you can go across the street and spend some of that money you saved at Dot’s Restaurant and lounge.
Green Noise
2615 S.E. Clinton, 503-736-0909.
Ryder just moved his record store from Eugene to the cool little Clinton District. He has a lot of vinyl for the indie rock, garage rock, punk rawk types
Viva La Revolution
7227 S.E. Milwaukie Ave., (2 blocks south of Bybee), 503-234-0258.
This store is a bit deep into Southeast Portland but it’s worth the bike ride.