Comments (0) Best Record Store - 2010

Radio-Active Records

Whether music is literally your hot, hot sex (Cansei de Ser Sexy — go ahead and Google it) or you're the one trying to remember that one band with that one song, it's almost impossible to walk out of Radio-Active Records empty-handed. Crate-diggers and collectors belong in the enormous backroom, where there awaits a surprisingly undusty stock of wax nostalgia that includes rock, jazz, R&B, salsa, and a Nancy Sinatra platter on the wall that'll make eyes with you every damned time. There's a stage back there too that props up an eclectic roster of local and national acts. Up front, find newer vinyl offerings from labels like Stones Throw, Matador, and Sub Pop and friendly staffers ready to hip you to it. For the obsessives, special orders are a cinch. But heck, if payday's too far away, just buy a cold soda and fulminate about the new MGMT album with someone who actually knows what you're on about. You can't hug that Joanna Newsom MP3, people!