I'm going to be in NYC today through Monday, and while I have a lot on my plate, my girlfriend and I are going to be doing a bit of shopping. It'll be pretty easy to find places for her to shop at, but the only thing I'm really interested in is finding some cool vinyl. Does anyone have any suggestions? As most of you probably know I'm into rock music, focusing mainly on early 90's Seattle. I also like a good Nat King Cole album, though. That guy sounds fantastic on vinyl (well, he sounds fantastic in any medium). So basically I'm looking for "grunge" records (anything by the Screaming Trees), as well as Nat Cole and Gerry Mulligan albums.

So far I found this list of stores:

* kim's underground, bleecker st. and laguardia st. in greenwich village: mostly new stuff, mostly cd's and 7"s although they're starting to get some vinyl. lots of indie here, so bring your cash! (this used to be my favorite record store in the city, but see below...)

* other music, 4th st. between broadway and lafayette in greenwich village: this store is cool if only because it faces the evil corporate entity of tower! this store was started pretty recently by some people from kim's underground and has *lots* of good indie stuff, both new and used. this store is also my new favorite record store in nyc; because of the cool ex-kim's folks who work there they stock fabulous amounts of indiepop pop pop!!! also they have instore performances. and now (NEW for fall '98!) they have a website: http://www.othermusic.com/!

* generations records, thompson st. between bleecker and 3rd sts. in greenwich village: mostly new cd's and 7"s and used records, although they have some used cd's. lots of bootlegs (both cd and video) if that is your thing. good prices but kind of hit and miss, although the plus side is that, as my friend mike said once, since it's kind of a punker store they don't know the value of indiepop, and therefore tend to price it fairly low!

* venus records, st. mark's st. (which is really 8th st.) between 2nd and 3rd aves. in the east village: lots of used cd's and records. can be hit and miss but you can occasionally get good things there for really cheap. has new stuff too and some zines.

* kim's west, bleecker and west 10th sts. in the west village: not as big of a selection as kim's underground but has used stuff where kim's underground does not, but otherwise they're fairly similar.

* there is also a newer kim's called mondo kim's on st. mark's (really 8th st.) between 3rd and 2nd aves. in the east village: it's big and really not all that impressive. not a must-miss, but not a must-see either! also they buy all sorts of cds, even the ones you're too embarassed to admit you own!

* tower records, 4th st. and broadway in greenwich village: just like tower anywhere else - massive and huge, sometimes has good stuff, sometimes has good sales. i prefer the smaller stores though, as tower can have wicked lines and tends to be pricey when their stuff isn't on sale.

* tower clearance outlet, 4th st, and lafayette in greenwich village: massively discounted stuff from the whole tower conglomerate: records, books and video. hit or miss but sometimes you can find a gem!

* downstairs records, west 43rd st. in midtown: this recommendation was sent to me by will from the indiepop list, and here's what he has to say about it: "it is superb, with 7"s upon 7"s all around the store, and has lots of old guys in sitting in comfy chairs." so there you have it! i will check it out myself when i get a chance.

A friend of mine's been to Generation Records. If I only had time to go to two stores, which stores in the whole city should I go to?

ps-if anyone wants to meet up, shoot me an email at dignan17 at the gmail dot com. Rob R, you're in the NYC area, right?

I'm assuming you're a victim of this fued?

Ah...I read that wrong then...

I thought you meant that your email service was shot, as in "not working".

What I now think you meant was that you shot him an email.

Disregard previous post.

I'm in NY until Monday (in Warwick on 54th at the moment), PM me if you have anything arranged 'cos we are out drinking most nights anyway! My travelling partners (boss and his friend) have taken me to Jimmy's off Times Square and I liked that.

My friends are at U2 in MSG tonight, thinking about going to a movie, any recommendations of a cinema in the area?

Gareth

Out of the lot, I'd prolly try generations and venus. I mondo kims and venus are on the same block, and generations is a short walk away from those two. I've always had the best luck at venus, but YMMV. Tower records is a chain record store, only larger than your average mall one. Nothing special.

Unfortunately I'm not available for meeting up as I've been quite busy with kicking the SO out and buying a business and other such BS. Besides, I'm in a rather hostile mood lately, so unless you're looking to get arrested, I mght be a bad choice. However, notes about the area you'll be in:

If you're hungry, I'd suggest 7A (7th st and Ave A, 2 blocks east and 1 south of venus) it's one of my favorite restaurants in the city, and cheap too. Open 24 hours. I'd also suggest checking out whoever's at CBGB , as it's most likely not gonna be there for much longer (not profit taxpayer funded groups can be greedy jackasses too!!), if only to see their famous, grimy, nasty bathrooms.

Sorry, New Yorkers. I would love a northeastern empeg meetup sometime, but we have been so busy this weekend and it looks like all of Sunday will be full. We're here because since my dad has a convention here, we're mooching off his company for a nice room and some amazing dinners. We ate at a Lincoln Center jazz function last night, and tonight was dinner in the hotel, but that's a nice dinner when the hotel is the Marriott Marquis. We've got a suite on the 44th floor overlooking Times Square. This morning we saw the keynote speaker for the convention, Rudy Giuliani, which was pretty good. His speech was somewhat like stringing together a bunch of motivational posters, but he had some interesting things to say.

Oh, and we saw Spamalot today. It was pretty funny. We see Avenue Q tomorrow.

Like I said, I'd love to meet you all some time, especially now that I have a job with paid leave

Thanks for the recommendations, Heather. I know about Tower, I just thought this was some other type of store. Generations is actually the one that was suggested by a friend of mine. I'll try that and the other's you recommend. Thanks! And I think we'd get along just fine