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| From | "Stewart Mason" <craigtorso@verizon.net> |
| Subject | Re: Boston |
| Date | Mon, 09 Jan 2006 01:01:44 -0500 |
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Jason Damas" <jason.damas@gmail.com>
> Sadly it seems Boston has had a lot of great little indie stores
> come and go over the years--in addition to this one, there was a
> really cool little one in Jamaica Plain that I used to enjoy (and
> the name of which I cannot place) and of course the much-missed Disc
> Diggers in Davis Square. There's a store I've made some good finds
> in (I found a copy of Sparks' "Introducing Sparks"--on vinyl
> obviously, since it was never issued on CD)--there in December 2003)
> but I'm not sure if it's there or not anymore, and I don't remember
> the name. It's in a weird place, on Mass Ave about halfway between
> Harvard and Central Squares, in a basement.
I'm almost certain you mean Second Coming, which was next door to the
equally gone and just as lamented Johnny's, the closing of which has
left Harvard Square without a single decent breakfast spot. It closed
about a year ago, replaced almost immediately by a very good
hip-hop-oriented store that has a lot of cool underground turntablist
stuff for those who like that sort of thing. I saw a VERY cool two-LP
set there a while ago that included all of the songs that DJ Shadow
and Cut Chemist used in their BRAINFREEZE mix.
> Similarly, while they're not the best stores in the world, Boston
> has a chain of mostly-used shops called CD Spins with stores in
> (assuming all are still open) Davis/Somerville, Harvard Sq, Jamaica
> Plain, Back Bay/Newbury Street, and Downtown Crossing. I've made
> many good finds over the years, and found that the staff is often
> surprisingly knowledgeable. Definitely a bit more in a chainy mold
> (think CD Warehouse, who doesn't have stores here) but due to their
> locations being exclusively in urban neighborhoods, they get good
> stuff.
The CD Spins in Harvard Square (Church Street, across the street from
Bob Slate and just down from Border Cafe, which is where Charity and I
go for mediocre Mexican food at those times when mediocre Mexican food
is just what we want) is still open, but under a different name. As
far as I know, the others are still around. I second this: CD Spins
is a place where you can get a good obscurity for about $4.99.
> Also, this isn't a Boston retailer exactly, but there's a chain that
> exists exclusively in NH-Maine called Bull Moose Music that's very
> similar to Newbury, but definitely still trends more towards the
> indie. How they survive is beyond me, but by all accounts they
> actually do quite well. About two years ago they opened a 10,000
> flagship warehouse/store hybrid on Maine Mall Road in South
> Portland, which is (I believe) the single largest indie record store
> in New England.
There's a Bull Moose across the street from my favorite restaurant in
Portsmouth NH, the almighty Friendly Toast. (I can't recommend this
place enough, especially the Green Eggs and Ham -- Charity and I have
genuinely driven the hour up to Portsmouth, had breakfast there,
turned around and driven home.) I recommend them as well: excellent
cheap bins, for one thing. I found a Ray Mason Band record I'd never
heard of there last time.
Closest one I know of to Boston is in Salem NH, which is like 35 miles
from my house.
S
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