BEST CD STORE 2007 | Stinkweeds | Shopping & Services | Phoenix
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BEST CD STORE

Stinkweeds

Kimber Lanning continues to run our favorite CD shop in Phoenix. No, you probably won't find Barry Manilow's greatest hits in this small outpost of indie music. That's what Borders is for. Or even, dare we breathe it, amazon.com. Stinkweeds is where you go if you want to stretch your taste, and Lanning and her staff are up to the task, offering an edgy selection of rock, pop, hip-hop, freak folk, and more (check out the listening stations to hear what's hot). The latest by The New Pornographers? Now that, we bet they have. It's probably playing in the store right now.

BEST CD STORE ON A BUDGET

Bookmans Entertainment Exchange

Our music collection is taking over our home ever since we discovered Bookmans. The mammoth store is just as cozy as our favorite ma-and-pa bookshops, thanks to friendly, little reading-and-relaxing nooks scattered all over the store, but we find ourselves lately heading straight for the colossal CD department, where gently used music of every stripe can be found, sampled, and (much to the chagrin of our groaning CD shelves at home) purchased.

Prices range from $3 to $10 on most single discs from a full range of musical styles. We snagged a CD reissue of Dean Martin's Christmas with Dino, the new Skinny Puppy, and a collection of Sesame Street songs covered by rock singers, all for less than $20. Listening stations make for no-risk shopping, and free Wi-Fi access means that, while we're scouting out that B-52's box set, we won't have to miss a single incoming e-mail.

We usually sneak over to the DVD and special-purchase collectible music sections while we're at Bookmans, because they, too, are overflowing with amazing finds at incredible prices. Probably, we should take advantage of Bookmans' generous trade-in policy by swapping some of our less-favorite CDs, but with prices like these, we'd just as soon hand over a handful of dimes for a lot of cool music.

BEST RECORD STORE FOR OUT-OF-PRINT AND RARE RECORDS

Memory Lane Records

Forget eBay. Vinyl junkies who want that rare record — in mint condition and at a fair price — need to stroll down Memory Lane.

Looking for a quadraphonic, 180-gram vinyl pressing of Johnny Cash Sings Hank Williams for your cowboy cousin? It's here. Gotta get that double-LP picture-disc import of Iron Maiden's Matter of Life and Death for your metalhead man? They've got it.

Need a copy of ex-model Twiggy's 1971 LP The Boy Friend for, uh, some reason? They've got that, too.

Memory Lane's stock is 100,000 records strong, encompassing every genre, including sports and punk (big cred for carrying an Italian import picture-disc of influential U.K. hardcore punks Discharge's 1981 Never Again EP). But discerning collectors will really appreciate the store's grading system, which is informed and accurate, unlike many sellers on eBay.

Memory Lane's grade scale for the condition of its records ranges from G ("Good," which means there is audible damage to the record) to M ("Mint," which means the record is still factory-sealed), and the grades are honest — if there's a tear or a promo stamp on the cover, they say so.

And the prices can be criminally low ($14 for a mint condition, German import of Led Zeppelin's In Through the Out Door; $15 for a mint condition, red vinyl Italian import of garage greats the 13th Floor Elevators' Easter Everywhere).

With its comprehensive stock, detailed grading system, and bargain prices, it's no wonder Memory Lane's been in business more than 22 years.

BEST VINYL ON SUNDAYS

Rock Zone Records

It's not easy for vinyl-focused shops to stay afloat these digital days. Just look at Mesa's mainstay Rockaway Records, which closed up shop after 22 years. No worries, because Rockaway's longtime owner simply sold the inventory to new management, who, in early 2007, quietly reopened the store in south Tempe.

The significantly larger space boasts an expanded inventory of vinyl goodness, including rock, pop, jazz, blues, collectibles and a section devoted to local music.

A number of Rockaway's familiar faces are happy to help you navigate the stacks of used CDs, DVDs, and video games, and when you buy any used CD, a staff member will run the disc through an industrial-strength cleaner that removes all dust and most scratches, thus guaranteeing a skip-free ride home.

Our favorite day to shop at Rock Zone? Sunday.

Vinyl Sundays features 15 percent off any record as well as $1 records slashed to a measly 75 cents.

BEST TRAVELING RECORD STORE

Gilgongo Traveling Record Store + Distro

Attention, vinyl nerds and compact disc geeks. You now have another outlet for your music-collecting obsession whenever musician James Fella performs a music space or a house gig in downtown Phoenix and Tempe. Fella, a member of Soft Shoulder, Tent/City and various solo and group noise projects, sells hand-picked LPs, seven-inch records, cassette tapes, and CDs wherever he plays. The selection ranges from the mainstream, such as Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa and Pink Floyd, to the experimental, like Iowa noise rockers Raccoo-oo-oon, The Flying Luttenbachers avant-garde project, and NYC-based hardcore jazz ensemble Zs. Fella also stays busy as founder of independent label Gilgongo Records, which specializing in releasing creative, improvisational music to the masses. You can also shoot Fella a line to reserve desired albums online.

BEST BOOKSTORE

Changing Hands

In an era when brick-and-mortar bookstores are considered quaint and sort of inconvenient, we're gratified that Changing Hands continues the tradition of wonderful old book shops of yore. Really, you know us — we don't give a hoot about what anyone else thinks. But we were happy earlier this year when Publishers Weekly named Changing Hands Bookseller of the Year.

About time, we say. Now the rest of the world knows what we've known for years.

Besides offering the best in new and used titles, our favorite bookstore has created an entire community around authors, booksellers, and readers that truly feeds the souls of those of us who care about good writing and good reading. Besides the many cozy nooks for getting to know a book before you buy it, Changing Hands offers book groups, writer's workshops, and readings from authors both local and national. Groovy gift items like candles, stationery, and book lights and the adjacent Wildflower Bread Company are two more in a long list of reasons why we're glad to keep "visit Changing Hands" on our "to do" list.

Our only complaint — again: When're you opening your downtown Phoenix location? Huh? Huh?

BEST USED BOOKSTORE

Toys, Books & Treasures

It says something about us all that a store that sells the contents of abandoned storage units has so many books. But they were cherished once, and the folks at Toys, Books & Treasures make sure they'll be cherished again. Pick your way past the porch full of furniture, the racks of old cassette tapes, and shelves crammed with vintage toys and sad, personalized mugs, and you'll find what we think of as VNSA training camp.

Did your neighbor move to Fresno with your favorite bathroom trivia book? There's probably a copy here. Do you have an in-law with an esoteric hobby or pursuit? Grab a year's worth of gifts for that weirdo — yes, the books are sorted by subject. Ooh, a Little Golden Book for the kids. (Yeah, right, the kids.) And while your selections are rung up at the counter, try to resist that rare collectible tree ornament. Just try.

BEST RARE BOOKSTORE

Alcuin Books

First printings of novels penned by the late, great Kurt Vonnegut and Samuel Beckett are just some of the treasures you'll find inside the clean and inviting Alcuin Books. Friendly and knowledgeable bookworm Richard Murian and other welcoming staff members are more than willing to intellectually dish about their inventory and general history topics like the rise and fall of France's Bonaparte dynasty.

Other choice collectibles include a Frank Sinatra photo signed by Ol' Blue Eyes himself during "a bleak time in his career" and a pristine dust jacket from the Photoplay film mag spotlighting Lillian Gish. There are plenty of affordable first printings and rarities available, so plop down in a comfy chair and thumb through some rare and unusual tomes.

BEST PLACE TO BUY BOOKS ABOUT POLYGAMY

Agreka Books

There are good (read: marketable) authors and bad (read: unpublishable) authors. Scottsdale-based Agreka mines the middle ground, specializing in "niche" authors — scribes with specialized tales to tell but not too many people to tell them to. Take polygamy. The Agreka bigwigs must be either jack Mormons or full-blown excommunicates because about half of the house's inventory casts a dim view on Polygs and Creekers. A few of the titles you'll find are Murder of a Prophet: The Dark Side of Utah Polygamy; A Teenager's Tears: When Parents Convert to Polygamy; Polygamy's Rape of Rachael Strong; Colorado City Polygamists: An Inside Look for the Outsider; Polygamy Under Attack: From Tom Green to Brian David Mitchell; and The Correlation of Muslim Doctrine & Latter-Day Saint Doctrine.

Whew! That ought to keep us busy for a couple of months. Agreka also offers a varied line of non-polygamy fare, and it's a good bet you won't find these titles at your neighborhood Borders, either: Sleeping With Angels: A Veterinarian's Sacred Bond of Animal Companionship; Liberalitis: A Thinking Disorder Destroying America; The Blood Axe: A Story of Viking Kings; Help! There's a Tigress in the House: When a Husband Retires & Other Diversions; and Art Puzzles by Number: From Easy to Mind Bending.

BEST COMIC BOOK STORE

Samurai Comics

Being a dork isn't easy. The looks of pity while standing in line for nine hours to see Star Wars: Episode III. The snickers and snide comments just for dressing up as hunky Final Fantasy hero Cloud. So what if it wasn't Halloween? At Samurai Comics in Phoenix, you're not alone. Magic: the Gathering is a lifestyle, not just a card game, and movie-accurate stormtrooper costumes are chic. It's a geek's wet dream, especially considering the buxom babes populating the covers of Lady Death, Kabuki and teenybopper rags like Bomb Queen III that line the walls. But parents needn't be concerned. Owners Moryha and Mike Banks also stock tons of classic Superman, Spidey and X-Men back issues from the time before Rogue's double D's and Storm's cleavage-bearing wetsuit.

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