Detroit Junkies, Glitch People, Lend Me Your Ears (eyes).
Having just emerged from a 5 or 6 year musical coma brought on by
extraordinary life events, my appetite for good music had swelled to
dam-breaking proportions. During those lean years, I subsisted on the
all too infrequent trips to the local shoppes, mostly after all the good
records had been scarfed up by other djs. My lifeline to 313 and IDM had
been cut when I no longer had time to keep up, and I was feeding at the
trough of pop radio and bad mixtapes.
Suddenly, the sun appeared and I had some free time again. And so, I
re-upped for another round of the usual listservs, supplanted by the
sampling afforded by soulseek. I made a big list, and decided to use any
and all means necessary to turn back the hands of time and score those
vinyl hotcakes wherever, and whenever they were.
What follows is the result of that orgy of record-buying activity - a
review of all the places I did mailorder with in the last few months.
1. Skimo (focus: IDM, www.skimo.com)
PJ has been in the biz for a while and, as someone else on IDM
mentioned, is like the old "mom and pop" techno shop equivalent. Not a
lot of glitz, but he carried lots of all the good stuff that I wanted.
Great experience - he is willing to hold records in your pile and send
them when you want. He sends out a weekly list of all the new stuff
available; they sometimes have consignment sale info as well. No website
yet, but on it's way. A lo-tech experience for now. Selection is usually
available; anotherwords if it's on the list, it's in stock. No
surprises.
Rating: 9 out of 10. The personal service and selection trump the lack
of samples and online ordering process. If you know what you want, and
you are in the US (shipping would be much cheaper, especially on larger
orders), this is a great place to order from. Recommended!
2. Hardwax www.hardwax.com (focus: IDM, Electro, Techno, Detroit Bass,
House, etc)
If only Hardwax was located in the Bay Area. Their selection is quite
large, and they carry stuff I have not seen anywhere else, especially
the German label stuff - but then again, this _is_ a German record
store, so....They had the Ron's Edits stuff when no one else did, along
with Merck material that wasn't even available from the Merck online
shop anymore. They also carry an unusually large selection of Detroit
Bass records and Dub. If you next that extra copy of "Ass n Titties" for
Father's day real quick, this is the place. Very responsive service, but
no samples on the website, so you either find samples at some other
site, or take a chance. They have 1 line reviews of each track - if they
really like it, they write "TIP!!!" or "CHECK!". If you know what you
are looking for, it's fantastic. These guys are great tastemakers.
Shipping can get quite expensive depending on where you are. 3 out 4
items listed were in stock. When you are ready to order, you either have
to call or fax your credit card in.
Rating: 7 out of 10. Add samples and a smooth online payment process and
it would be near perfect.
3. Piccadilly (focus: just about everything, but I focused on IDM, House
and 313)
These folks have a _very_ wide range of musical options (rock, blues,
techno, etc..), and seem to pick all the good stuff out from every
genre. Samples of everything, and spot-on reviews of each track, that
are short, but succinct. Very slick online payment process, probably the
best I encountered. You can add a bunch of stuff to your order, and then
choose to hold the items a certain number of days during which you can
add more items to the order (as the days roll by and they add records to
their website or during which they order records not on hand). Lovely!
IDM-wise, I found records at their site I encountered nowhere else
(STUFF, Marcia Blane, etc...). While they don't carry all the usual 313
stuff, they hit all the obvious points like KDJ, Theo, Planet E, etc..
Shipping was fast (but a tad expensive from the UK to SF). Website is
updated constantly with new stuff.
Rating 8 out of 10.
4. Boomkat www.boomkat.com (focus: IDMish)
While the musical range of the items for sale are tightly focused in the
IDM range, their range within IDM is quite substantive. And they do an
amazing job of focusing on certain labels like vvm, city centre, skam,
etc. Samples of a good chunk of the stock, and almost all of the new
stock. Weekly mailing you can sign up for (with samples links embedded
in the email), and artist alerts you can get signed up for as well (new
release comes in from Joe Artist, you get emailed). Reviews are often
very in-depth and spot on. Online payment process with all the usual
options. Shipping is pretty cheap, but takes a little longer to get to
you as a result. Overall, a very convenient way of shopping and staying
in touch with all the good stuff. Online listings match stock nearly all
the time, and they are pretty good about backordering and then getting
you the tunes.
Rating: 9 out of 10. uk-idm-mail-order-dorks, point your browsers at
Boomkat and fire away. Unless you happen to live in London, or a major
city in the UK with great local shops, this is it. The only thing I
would like to see is the ability to "save" items as part of an online
order over a period of days, or weeks, while additional items can be
added to the order.
5. Formic www.formic.de (house, techno, 313, idm)
Once you get beyond the not-so-intuitive website design, you can find
sooo many good records here. Their selection almost matches hardwax for
sheer range of styles. Someone who loves all these styles is certainly
at the helm. And they hired their 12 year old cousin to design the
website after an HTML crash course at the local kindergarten. You can
sign up for their mailing list (not a weekly, but once in a while) and
even download a catalogue of all the records they are selling. Fast and
not-to-expensive shipping. Online payment via paypal (a nice feature I
think). No samples here.
Rating: 6 out of 10. The lack of samples, distant location from SF
(shipping costs) and relatively unhelpful website design make this a
possibility only for items I could not get anywhere else. And they had a
few of those it must be said. So keep these guys in your mail order
arsenal and use when needed.
6. Nuloop www.nuloop.com (everything!)
Out of all the online Shoppe's, Nuloop topped everyone in samples
available. I think these folks should just aggregate samples and sell
them to other online shoppes for sales use. A huge selection of very
good music in just about every category. The even had the Irobots
compilation waayyy before the Flexx online shop (Flexx are all over the
Ference-inspired italo stuff, so this is a major upset in the italo-dork
musical olympics). They are totally upfront about what is not in stock.
My only beef was the amazingly high price of the vinyl and shipping -
and I don't think it was the exchange rate difference. Online payment
process and quick turnaround.
Rating: 7 out of 10. Add 1 point if you are in Europe since shipping and
exchange rates make this a much better option for online mailorder.
Non-millionaire US buyers keep in pocket for occasional, specific use.
7. Forcefield www.forcedexposure.com (indie, idm, 313, techno, noise,
experimental)
A US-based (Massachusetts) mail order company. They appear to be very
"indie" friendly. Good selection of stuff. No samples. My worst mail
order experience so far. On more than one occasion, I place an order,
wait two weeks while no one gets back to me, finally email them to
inquire about the hot item(s) I ordered on the day they were released
(so, you _know_ they had copies), and then find out the item is no
longer available - sold out. How @##$$@# frustrating. They either ignore
their mail order shop (and did not pull the records right away) or
pulled the records right away and then decided to sell them to someone
else. First time it happens, no big deal, the second and third time
around, it becomes a pain in the ass. Either way, it sucks, and I would
never shop with them again. Not recommended for that sole reason. A
shame since they carry such a wide and varied selection of stuff.
Rating: 3 out of 10. Buyer beware.`
8. Private Label Web Sites (Toytronic, Obliq, n5MD, NonResponse, etc..)
It must be said that one of the most interesting ways of digging up new
music is to simply head to the *label* website, where most of the time,
you can order directly from them (or from a closely associated shop).
They sometimes carry stuff that is not available in the mailorder shops.
I discovered lots of new music this way and would totally recommend
this.
9. Turntable Lab www.turntablelab.com (hip hop, funk, smidgen of IDM,
house, techno)
The Beastie Boys of the online mail order world. The reviews are often
hilarious, and they uncover lots of musical history along the way.
Samples of everything and a very carefully selected plate of music. Not
a lot of new stuff, but good, cherry-picked records from each individual
genre. A slick website and online ordering system. You get to choose the
shipping options (cheap to expensive). Takes a little too long to
process the initial order, but no biggie. Good matchup between online
shoppe and in stock items.
Rating: 6 out of 10. Add two points if you are into funk or hip hop
since they carry so much of that stuff.
10. Tonevendor
http://www.tonevendor.com/ (IDM, Indie, Noise)
They are in Sacramento, I am in Pacifica (a 2 hour drive). I ordered
close to a month ago, but still have no package in my hands. At this
point, I am considering walking there myself to pick up the record.
Interesting selection, online website, paypal payments. If and when I
receive my records, I will have a more complete opinion, but at this
point, the impression is not terrific.
Rating: 4 out of 10 so far. Add 4 points if you live in Sacramento,
where this is probably one of the few (and perhaps only) shops that sell
idmish stuff.
11. Planet X www.planetxusa.com (House, 313, IDM, Techno, etc...)
A NJ-based brick to click (closed record shop to move to online-only)
record shop that has been around for a long time now. Short, one-line
reviews and samples of virtually everything. Online shop requires
registration, but seems zippy. Interesting 3-level rating for
availability that is usually pretty good, but not exactly scientific.
Website is full-featured, but the GUI is a little scattered. Lot's of
ads. Searches are fairly accurate. Online payments via credit card.
Turnaround was very very fast, and shipping price was spot-on.
Rating 7 out of 10. Would be nice to smooth out the web site navigation
and have more in-depth reviews.
Honorable Mentions (places I mail ordered from in the past that are
still around):
1. Sonic Groove (www.sonicgroove.com) - Their online shop is ok, but
doesn't really compare with going to their shop in the Village. You can
find very rare techno here, but often end up paying very high prices for
it. You pay through the nose for those rare older tracks.
2. Submerge (www.submerge.com) - If it's Detroit you crave, then this
should be your starting point for new and backcatalogue stuff. Good
prices, shipping, and samples.
3. Smallfish (www.smallfish.co.uk) - These guys are in the Boomkat and
Skimo class of records shops. Great selection, often carrying new,
undiscovered labels, and samples to boot. Online payment process.
Shipping across the pond is sometimes expensive, but in this case, quite
worthwhile.
4. Flexx (www.flexx.be) - For those into Italo, neo-Italo, Electro, and
Ference, this is easily one of the best. Samples, online payments.
Exchange rates make the records expensive for US buyers, but you can
only get some of this stuff through Flexx, so....
Well, there you have it. That's my personal take. Hope you found it
useful.
Tx, Sasha
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