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New York: Brooklyn: Park Slope
Last updated September 1, 1997
Sound Track
119 7th Avenue
(718) 622-1888
There is an unsettling haphazardness to Park Slope's number-two record store, Sound Track, located in the heart of the rollerblade/minidog/oversized-perambulator district of Brooklyn. Perhaps it is out of place in Park Slope: it is neither cool nor quaint. Or maybe it's the strange juxtaposition of reasonably priced, newly released CD's (very limited selection) with extinct turntable parts (a pleasant surprise) and 12˛ vinyl dance singles (very limited selection). Avoiding any attempt at getting to the heart of this matter, it passes certain tests and fails others. I suggest a casual patronage if on the quest for a stylus replacement, disc (vinyl) cleaning system, or the new Radiohead CD for Tower-top-twenty-sale prices. Beyond the bag check (enigmatically unavoidable for such a dense cloud of employees at work in such a small space), some walls of cassettes and more CD's; all in all, no rare finds here. Lastly, hidden underneath CD shelves are sealed LPšs, multiple copies of decade-old unspectacular A-Ha and Mike and the Mechanics records at blowout prices. My search through the record stacks was cut short by a weird omission: I asked one of the bag check guys where G continued. He said letters A through G werenšt there. They failed the Duran Duran test. I made no purchases that day.
Holy Cow
442 Ninth Street
Corner of 7th Avenue
(718) 788-3631
7 days, 11-8.
Holy Cow is the pleasingly eclectic number-one Park Slope record store. Records literally spill over in Archimedian abundance (sound is more important than meaning). The store is built atop mountains of records, like towns that rise over landfill to expand their borders. But a quick search through the stacks of used vinyl will reveal that they are surprisingly lacking in trash. And, analogous to their massive quantity of records, Holy Cow houses a myriad assortment of genres. Examine EZ Listening recordings (section cleverly indicated by Martini icon) alongside mid-80's Manchester classics, across from the Big Band bin, nestled between Jazz and Jazz vocals. Complete your Beach Boy collections and your New Order collections while sampling Ms. William Carlos, and don't ignore the endless boxes of 12˛ dance singles, adjacent to the classical CD's. A visit to Holy Cow would legitimize any afternoon's respite from Manhattan, and, chances are Holy Cow's friendly staff (do not be intimidated) would clue one in on secret treasures hidden from the eyes of casual browsers, and maybe even round down to the nearest dollar. My purchases: Eno's Apollo soundtrack, a hard to find Mouse on Mars double LP, and Chris & Cosey's Techno Primitiv LP, which I heard for the first time on the conveniently existing Holy Cow record player located in the back. Total price = $24. For the analog-impaired: Holy Cow also offers a large selection of reasonably-priced new and used CD's. This you would probably not have deduced from this slanted profile: CD''s are in front, vinyl in back. For this reason, I must equalize.
Fifth Avenue Record & Tape Center
439 5th Avenue
(718) 499-8483
Surprising variety of oddball delights along with a mess of outright junk. Mostly vinyl LPs and singles. Hunters and collectors will enjoy digging. Owner's specialty is music of the fifties.
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