How to not shop at
Record Archive:
1. Don't go on a
Saturday Record Archive is never that
cheap really. Especially not the used cds.
2. Don't enter any store, though
Mt. Hope is the better of the two.
3. Don't walk up the
funky stairs, that just leads to the
overpriced used cds.
4. Don't buy any used cds. I have spent literally hours here, looking for some band I may have
seen a flyer for in the gutter in 1987 or that was mentioned in an interview with a band I might have sort of liked and caught on MTV
when i was 14. No avail.
5. Don't buy things in the middle of the store. The perimeter does house
the good stuff, but the
hip hop is about as good as you'd find in the
gift shop of the
Rochester Geriatric Community off of
Westfall(? 15a certainly).
6 & 7. Don't go down the stairs.
Really, don't.
8. After not listening to me (
thank you, by the way), you find yourself amongst a whole slew of valuable and
utterly worthless records. There are some old
Beatles records,
Ramones records, and other classics, but the only thing that I actually considered paying for was the
$1.25 80's metal records, just to decorate my walls with the sleeves.
9. Ascend the stairs, probably having found not much that you'd
want that much anyway, though it's possible I'd imagine, I just never have.
Smile to the cashiers (who always look at me like they've got a working knowledge of music the size of
John Cusack in
High Fidelity).
10. Leave. Check out posters. Go to sweet concert. This trip was not without its merit.
I've been quite disappointed with record stores since I've
been attending
RIT two years ago. If you're looking for the
Top 40 hits, as well *a lot* more independent music, try
Fantastic Records in
Pittsford, NY, just follow
Monroe Ave. east from the city past
12 Corners. It's across from the
Chase Pitkin parking lot. If you're looking for even *further* underground music, check out
Analog Shock. Arguably one of the best record stores I've been to (
yes, I argue with myself), yet open at weird hours because I suspect the owner is the only cashier. It's not far off of
Rt. 15 just between
Brighton and
Downtown Rochester. Also, Java's downtown (parking at the garage on
East Ave is free after like 8pm or so) has a lot of decent jazz and other bands on various nights, as it's next to one of the best
music schools in the
Eastern US, if you're looking for performances. Across the street is
Milestones which has live music every night, and
some little jazz cafe.
The Bug Jar on Monroe Ave just south of downtown also constantly has live shows, and even
open mic nights.