Gunnar Haslam names the best shops to buy records in New York
Particle physicist-turned-producer and DJ, Gunnar Haslam is also a New Yorker who spends much of his time rifling through the various record shops that his native Big Apple boasts.
Ahead of his appearance at Poland’s Instytut festival this June, where he’ll be headlining alongside the likes of Andy Stott, Donato Dozzy and Ancient Methods, the man behind dozens of elegantly-crafted techno bangers lists his favourite places to drop his cash on records in his home city.
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“A1 will always top my list of record stores – a constant and fixed focal point on my psycho-geographic map of New York. It’s always been that place to meet up with a friend, to go for a solitary dig on your day off, and to meet and shoot the shit with strangers. The selection is deep and constantly changing – it’s always worth swinging by A1 even if you did a couple days ago. And as my tastes change over the years, A1 is still there for digging and learning. House, hip-hop, jazz, calypso, reggae, weird shit – they’ve always got something new to discover.”
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“The last store standing near the city line in the Bronx… White Plains Road up here was one of the major strips for reggae in New York – Brad’s, Wackie’s, and Moodies were all hubs for reggae and dub music. Many of the Brooklyn shops in Crown Heights and Flatbush are long gone, ground over by condos and cafes. But something of the past is still kicking up in the Bronx, even if at first glance Moodies looks like just another CD/DVD shop.”
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“Nice shop in Brooklyn with a great selection and good turnover rate. Like most shops they know what they have, so don’t expect to luck out getting some rare record for pennies. But what they get in is often in really good shape and of high quality across the board – jazz, reggae, house and techno.”
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“Great shop in Greenpoint stocking plenty of new experimental music, reissues of weird Italian records – whatever you’re on the lookout for, and records you didn’t know you were on the lookout for. Good place to discover some new music.”
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“Another shop specialising in contemporary music – this one in Bushwick and skewing in a more punk and noise direction. Have always found something new and interesting here – talk to the staff, they know their stuff!”
Gunnar Haslam headlines Poland’s Instytut festival in June 2019 – find tickets here.
