Sunday, April 5, 2009

Portland OR Record Stores & The Murder City Devils


Last month Illene and I took a 6 day trip to portland OR. Partially to see The Murder City Devils on tour and Partially because she had always wanted to see and experience portland. I visited 5 record stores while in portland. Green noise record, Jackpot Records, Discourage Records, Mississippi Records, and 2nd Ave Records. Portland is one of the nicest cities i have ever visited. We really had a great time.



Jack Pot Records:

Great Store found in the heart of downtown. This one was about 5 minutes walking distance from my hotel. I was excited when I checked out there wall of rare records. Most of the record stores in Texas seem to always have a rare records wall which is not always the case in other parts of the country. No amazing finds but decent priced records with all of the recent reissues in stock. They have more than 1 location in portland. More mainstream music but a wide selection.
Purchased:
No Age: Teen Creeps 7"
King Kahn and BBQ Show: Animal Party 7" (Comes with 12 page coloring book)



2nd Avenue Records:

A punk and Hardcore record shoppers dream. I wish i could of made more than one visit to this store. So many singles and Out of print stuff. One of the few record stores ive visited that has a wide variety of T-shirts. Friendly staff but kinda crowded. The Punk LP's alone would take at least an hour to browse. They also had a large Ska and Jazz section which could probably be obvious by the stores logo.

Purchased:
Clorox Girls: J´aime Les Filles LP
Weakerthans: Left and Leaving LP
Small Brown Bike: Dead Reckoning LP
Mr. Pink eyes: 7" single


DISCOURAGE RECORDS:

This was the store we had the hardest time finding. Discourage is about a 20 minute bus ride out of the city located in a neighborhood area. Kind of hidden from the public but if you are a serious collector worth the trip. Looking at records here is similar to digging through your buddy's collection in his living room. Cash only, not a ton of records etc... Pricey records but some awesome gems.
Purchased:
Generation X: Live in japan 1977 Bootleg
Animal Crackers: 7"(Ted Leo's Hardcore band)

Green Noise Records:

Hands down one of the best record stores i have ever been to. Ton's of new records lots of old out of print stuff. Great prices on used records. I've been a fan of Dirtnap Records for a long time and to finally visit Ken Dirtnap's store was great. Ken was great to talk to and had a bunch of advice for places to eat and check out while in town. If your ever in the portland area this store is a must. Located about 30 minutes via bus but worth the $1 bus ticket.
Purchased:
Marked Men: Ghost LP
Marked Men: Ghost 7"
Ergs/Teenage Bottlerocket: UTI 7"
Exploding Hearts: Shattered LP
No bunny: Hozac 7"

Mississippi Records:

The one that almost didn't happen. By the 5th record store visit illene couldn't do it. I made this trip solo and it was worth it. Persistance does pay off. Amazing finds for ridicoulus prices. Missisippi was great i only spent an hour or so because it was near closing time. Cash only almost my favorite portland record store.
Purchased:
American Steel: No Hope 7" (For $1)
Atom and his rockage: 7" w/ Eyepatch
Atom and his package: Behold...7"
Smoking Popes: S/T 7"
Jawbox: Tongues 7"
Hot Water Music: You can't the boy out...
Elliot: In transit 7"


Thanks!

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