Georgetown Records boasts the most dazzling wall of vinyl rarities in the city. Owner Martin Imbach must have a secret channel to top European collectors because nobody else in town deals the quantity of mega-bucks heat that he does. Records by super-obscure prog and psych artists from the Continent about which you’ve only read in zines or dusty corners of the internet occupy the upper reaches of said wall. Even if you’ve immersed yourself in subterranean music for decades, you will still see titles you’ve never heard of; for example, Karlheinz Stockhausen’s Illimité and Pierre Henry’s Maléfices. This is not where you go to score the latest buzz band or pop sensation, although GR does have some releases by current artists. Rather, this venerable establishment is mainly geared to seasoned collectors with epicurean tastes and serious disposable income. Some rabid fan of Tacoma garage-rock legends the Fabulous Wailers dumped their most valuable LPs here, and the cabinet under the register housed lustrous box sets by Jimi Hendrix, Faust, and Nick Drake. That being said, a Funko Pop! figure of Metallica‘s James Hetfield incongruously sat on the counter.
A First-Timer’s Guide to Record Shops in Seattle 🛍
It was difficult for us to narrow this guide to a few shops, but you can’t go wrong by starting at these places.
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