[tws]

I don't know why I've been putting this off for so long. Actually, for a while it didn't really hit me. An old friend from Syracuse had a similar list on his site, albeit with a couple of broken links. For those of you who know me, supporting independent record stores is vital and something I'll tell anyone to do. I'm not completely against pirating, but I am against people buying music from juggernauts like Walmart that are already doing enough damage. So, my friends, I proudly present...

The TDC Guide to District-Area Record Shops

ADAMS-MORGAN & UPTOWN

CROOKED BEAT RECORDS
2318 18th St NW / 202.483.BEAT (2328)
Website / MySpace
Bill Daly's the real deal. He has a great selection of new releases, the DC and british specialties, and tons of vinyl. It's located downstairs from some hair salon now, but back in the day, as Henry Rollins once told him, it was THE Madam's Organ, where Bad Brains were the house band and a young Minor Threat cut their teeth. Ask Bill for some of his stories of DC when he was growing up in the 80's, he's the nicest guy. Here's an article I wrote about this place last year.

SMASH!
2314 18th ST NW 2nd Floor / 202.38.SMASH
Website / MySpace
Probably the best resource for punk/hardcore in the district. I loved this place when it was on M St. in Georgetown, but it got squeezed out and now it's right next door to Crooked Beat. Tend to specialize in clothing and styles, but plenty of great punk music on CD and vinyl and DVD. Good used record variety, too. Great audio cassette board, too. Not too easy to come by anymore.

RED ONION RECORDS & BOOKS
1901 18th Street NW / 202.986.2718
Website
Josh Harkavy is pretty much a big time record collector who finally got around to opening up a shop. Tremendous selection of vinyl, and the CD section's not bad. Last time I was in there I saw an original pressing of "Damned Damned Damned" on blue vinyl.

SOM RECORDS
1843 14th Street NW / 202.328.3345
Website / MySpace
> Neil Becton started his own shop after having a fall out with Crooked Beat. Actually, I don't think there was an actual fall-out. But it'd be a more interested story if there was. I don't know how you could ever get angry with him or Bill. Som is a neat little shop with a good amount of specialty stuff. I found a Kid Dynamite/88 Fingers Louie split there, as well as an original Violent Femmes first album pressing.

CAPITAL CITY RECORDS (DJ Specialty)
1020 U St. NW
Website
They'll have cool shows here on occasion, a fine resource for DJs, but it's a little weird considering how much space they have for relatively little merchandise. Still, worth checking out like anything on this list.

REVOLUTION RECORDS
4215 Connecticut Ave. NW
Rest in Peace
Check out Nayan Bhula and Fred Burton in their band Gist.

GEORGETOWN & DUPONT

CD WAREHOUSE
3001 M Street, NW / 202.625.7101
Website / MySpace
Pretty good used gay used CD shop with tons of straight artists populating the shelves. Lots of international dance music. Probably the go-to place for new imports, like the Fabriclive series and so forth. Very good used/new selection all mixed together, the way it should be.

SECOND STORY
BETHESDA (RIP)
DUPONT CIRCLE
2000 P St. NW / 202.659.8884
12160 Parklawn Dr. Rockville, MD 20852 / 301.770.0477
>Website
Great used book store with a ton of used vinyl to dig through, particularly the Bethesda store. That's what I would have been saying a few weeks ago, but I guess the Bethesda one shut down. So, fuck that town. If it squeezes Deja New out of business I'm never going back to that neighborhood. Anyway, you can still hit Second Story up in Dupont and in Rockville.

MELODY RECORDS
1623 Connecticut Ave N.W. / 202.232.4002
Website
I'm don't really like this place much. I've never been amazed by their prices or stock of CDs & DVDs, though I'm sure you can find a good portion of what you're looking for. It doesn't feel like its an independent shop, but I'm not sure why.

DJ HUT Specialty for DJs
2012 P St. NW 2nd Floor / 202.659.2010
Website
I had a resident from Potomac when I was in college who told me to visit this place by all means when I came down here to visit my sister in 2004. The place is still the same, with plenty of random breakbeats, new hip-hop, and mixes. I think they still have big fishtanks, too.

NORTHERN VIRGINIA

STRANGELAND RECORDS
7203 Columbia Pike (Second Floor)
Annandale, VA 22003
703.750.1571 | 1.877.505.3282
Website / MySpace
The first time I went to this place, I walked away with a sealed copy of the Minutemen's 'Punch Line,' The Dead Milkmen's 'Philadelphia in Love' DVD, and a used Darkbuster CD. Places like these make it worth it to keep producing music. They have a lot of industrial and techno, too. They show campy movies on Thursday nights after closing, including some MST3King.

ORPHEUS RECORDS
3173 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA / 703.293.6774
Website
The finest vinyl resource in the whole area, easily. Barefoot Rick and the other guy (who's name I don't know but he knows more about Frank Zappa than Zappa did) are fine curators of the finest in used (and new) vinyl. Rick's got a talon on his right finger that's handy for opening shrinkwrapping or other nuisances.

CD CELLAR
2614 Wilson Blvd. Arlington, VA
709B West Broad St. West FAlls Church, VA
Website / MySpace
A fine local neighborhood used music store. I haven't been to the one in W. Falls Church, but the Arlington one has plenty of great random CDs in their $1-2 clearance section. Both legitimately and ironically great. Good selection of used vinyl and DVDs, too. I never thought I'd find Mineral on vinyl, but who knew?

MARYLAND

CDEPOT
9039 Baltimore Ave. College Park, MD 20740 / 301.982.3472 Website
This place is ridiculous. I don't think I've ever seen so many CDs crammed into one giant room in my life. Prepare to spend a lot of time in this place, even if you aren't just browsing. Highly recommended. They've got a store in Towson, too.

JOE'S RECORD PARADISE
1300 East Gude Drive Rockville, MD 20850 / 301.315.2235
Website
I've never been here, but I should head up there soon. It looks and sounds like a great place to dig through some vinyl. And the cartoon of Joe on their website makes him look like Santa Claus if he got laid a lot more.