DJ ALEX KAYNE’S RECORD STORE RAID:ROAMIN’ AROUND NORTH CAROLINA & CALIFORNIA

PROLOGUE: Let me start by saying that I have been a professional DJ and record collector for nearly half a century. I have been to a metric ton of record stores over the last few decades. I’ve seen older record shops close, and newer ones open. So if I sound a bit jaded, it’s probably justified, apologies in advance. A girlfriend broke up with me because I had “too many records”. That should be some indication of the amout of wax I have acquired over the years. There is no such thing as “too many records”. Not in my universe. Fairly recently, I roamed around North Carolina and then Hollywood and as I always do when I am away from home, I hit as many local record stores in one day that I can. So here is a recap of my metal wax store-raiding adventure…

North Carolina

LUNCHBOX RECORDS:

825 Central Ave, Charlotte, NC 28204 (704) 331-0788

A cool, quirky place, fairly big selection, quite crowded and buzzing. When I asked after digging through all their new stuff, the staff was very friendly and pointed me towards the used metal section (about 1 and a half bin rows) where I plucked out 4 or 5 very cool pieces. Reasonable prices, Lots of brand new metal, a lot of rock and a lot of various other genres. The crowd of various ages was eagerly digging and all seemed to be enjoying themselves. Excellent shop atmosphere. Loud, annyoing seemingly obscure music that shop owners or employees play in order to impress people or make a sale. On the off-chance someone asks what it is, they get to say “Oh, that’s the Reach Around Rodeo Clown’s new single “Don’t Touch Me There”. I can put up with annoying music if the selection is worth it, and it is here. Lunchbox also sells turntables, CDs, apparel, and other cool stuff. I will be back!

Rating: 5/5