Technically speaking, Disc Replay is a chain–I knew this going in, but unlike so many music chains that I’ve experienced, this particular Disc Replay has a large selection of vinyl and is not completely useless the way some such shops seem to be.
Granted, there is an enormous hodgepodge of vinyl on the floor–a major challenge to the knees and spine of any crate digger older than 25–but the rewards are worth the amount of Glucosimine and Chondroitin you’ll be required to take when you’re done abusing those poor old kneecaps. Cue the music for that tired old Billy Joel song and sing along; “Say goodbye to cartilige…”
The good news is, there are plenty of good finds OFF the floor, too. There’s a nice selection of vinyl in varying degrees of quality in a proper bin.
The better quality vinyl is better organzized but a dedicated crate digger knows better than to trust the categorization in any shop–the day you skip the country and western section is the day you miss a Death In June limited edition picture disc misfiled by a bored, gum-popping part timer who thinks YMO is a flavoring agent in Chinese takeout.
Disc Replay dedicates a large amount of space to compact discs, but vinyl junkies will be pleased to note a large number of music books–reference and otherwise–in the collection. It’s great to find more and more record shops that carry used music tomes as well as vinyl–a well-rounded shop is a fun one.
I managed to score a few rarities and fill some holes in my collection including a surprising Legendary Pink Dots title at a reasonable price. Gotta give Disc Replay points for having some eyebrow-raising titles even if my joints suffered accordingly.
In spite of a large number of what I’m starting to think of as Grandpa records (Mark Farner, ZZ Top, every mid-80s Alice Cooper record, Ronnie James Dio and fifty million battered copies of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours album) you can walk out of this shop feeling like you bought indie–and that’s a hard trick to pull off for a store that’s part of a chain.