Harrison is a big fan of vintage vinyl, and Sweet Spot currently carries everything from classical, jazz and R&B to punk, classic rock, metal and more Sweet Spot sells mostly pre-owned vinyl with a limited amount of new releases. Nigel Harrison and his wife Cathy opened Sweet Spot Audio & Records back in 2010 after retiring their current location in Webster has been open for more than a year, and is bigger, nicer and more inviting than the store’s two previous locations. People may buy CDs much less these days, but Soundwaves remains a staple to browse through and find that gem. With mixtapes pressed on CDs and a decent amount of chopped and screwed CDs, Soundwaves has a selection a bit unlike most of the more rock-focused vinyl shops in town. What they can boast is not just breadth, but depth, as a browse through their dance section might reveal European imports, and going through their rap section you may find racks of discs from Houston legends like DJ Screw or Z-Ro. They were a little late to catch on with the vinyl resurgence, but when it comes to CDs, they have the city's second-most thorough selection just behind Cactus. This Montrose mainstay has been a part of the community for decades, and while it's combination of surf & skate-themed clothing with CDs may not be as relevant today as it might have been ten years ago, Soundwaves still boasts one of the more impressive collections in town. 4900 Bissonnet #102, Bellaire, /blackdogrecordstx When the owners are not playing some of their favorite records, including the “Album of the Day” they post on Facebook, Black Dog sometimes hosts live music for your listening pleasure while shopping. Black Dog carries new, popular releases as well as pre-owned vinyl in excellent shape the store has a VPI Record Cleaning Machine it uses on all of their purchases. The place has an impressive selection of music, much of it of the classic rock variety, yet you can find interesting stuff no matter what your favorite genre is. In other words, here are Houston’s ten best record stores.īlack Dog Records has been open for 18 years now, and the current location in Bellaire is more spacious and less cramped than their previous spot Black Dog is well organized, neat and the aisles are wide enough so you won’t bump into fellow customers when you visit. Which is not to say they haven’t tried consider the all but complete disappearance of record stores from malls, unless said shopping center happens to contain an Urban Outfitters. But even as artists and retailers alike struggle to convince a skeptical generation that music is indeed worth paying for, the destabilization of the music industry has been a somewhat unexpected boon for those independent merchants who (unlike shops such as New York’s legendary Other Music, sadly) have managed to remain solvent in today’s unforgiving climate for consumer goods often marketed as disposable but that are, in fact, essential. Therefore the multinationals will never quite be able to package and sell audio recordings quite as fluidly as they can trash bags, wrapping paper, mop heads, school supplies, and other assorted dry goods. Despite the best efforts of the world’s leading entertainment corporations - which in their higher echelons often have very little to do with anything entertaining at all - to convince the public otherwise, music and the players who make it remain unpredictable, unruly, incorrigible, indefatigable, hungry.
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