In the last post, I extolled the virtues of vinyl records but neglected to say where you could find actual music to spin. My apologies.

Of course, the first thing you need is a record player. I got my record player from my Grandma. It seems to be from the early 90’s, and still had it’s protective plastic on it when she gave it to me. So the first avenue to check is family and friends. See if you can do them a “favor” by taking an old turntable off their hands. They might have some old records to give you, too.

The next place to look is local thrift stores. I have seen many record players at places like D.I. (Deseret Industries) and Savers. Sometimes they are in horrendous condition, but half the fun of thrift shopping is to find the diamond in the rough.  These kind of stores also carry records, but usually the selection is limited to titles like Sing Along with Mitch and the best of Barbara Streisand.  However, every now and then a real music afficionado dies and the local thrift gets flooded with excellent titles. This happened to me recently at the Brigham City D.I.

Then there is the option of buying a turntable from a reputable outfit like Target or Amazon. My friend got this one recently (it stacks 6 records at a time):

But say you want to listen to music you actually like on vinyl. That’s when you need to find a real music store. For those of you who live in the Wasatch Front area of Utah, here are a few options:

1. Graywhale Music

This is my favorite music store. They have seven locations in Utah, and if they don’t have what you are looking for, chances are that one of their other stores does and they can get it in a couple of days. They carry lots of used CDs and vinyls, as well as new releases. And if you have a Killerwhale membership, you get a dollar off of every CD you buy.

2. Slowtrain records

As far as new releases on vinyl, Slowtrain is the best. They carry most newer indie music although the size of the store is much smaller than Graywhale. They also sell tickets to most concerts with a verysmall service fee. Definitely worth checking out when you are in downtown Salt Lake City.

3. Randy’s Records

The reason this store is notable is mostly because they have a good selection, and also they have a discount section where once a month it is $1 Record Day. You can find some treasures if you are willing to search.

Good luck in your search for good music. If you really can’t find what you want, you can usually find it for pretty cheap on Amazon.com. But always go local first.