Good place to shop in LA (Los Angeles)

[russell]

(Couldn't find a thread on this)

I will be in LA for a few days beginning of April on the way through to San Diego for Bal Rendezvous - any recommendations. I saw that there is an Amoeba that is bigger than the one ing SF. I have been to the Haight St Amoeba and that was awesome so planning to set aside a day there (I will send the wife off shopping)
Any other recommendations - esp in downtown LA as that is where we are stopping and we won't have a car.

Thanks,
Russell

[Mr Awesomer]

Any other recommendations - esp in downtown LA as that is where we are stopping and we won't have a car.

Thanks,
Russell

Just so you know, Amoeba isn't in Downtown... it's up in Hollywood.
The shopping Downtown is mainly clothes and jewelry.

Julius would probably know better though. I usually don't venture farther then Pasadena unless I have to.

[Eyeball]

(Couldn't find a thread on this)

I will be in LA for a few days beginning of April on the way through to San Diego for Bal Rendezvous - any recommendations. I saw that there is an Amoeba that is bigger than the one ing SF. I have been to the Haight St Amoeba and that was awesome so planning to set aside a day there (I will send the wife off shopping)
Any other recommendations - esp in downtown LA as that is where we are stopping and we won't have a car.

Thanks,
Russell

Just curious - why are you staying in downtown LA? It is centrally located, but there is very little there to causally do and you will need a car to get anywhere unless you want to take a bus or a taxi.

Downtown LA is largely a business and poverty center.

Stay in Pasadena or over in Universal City...really. You may pay a little less in Pasadena, too.

[russell]

Going to the Cicada Club on the Sunday so thought would stay nearby. Also partaking in history by stopping at the Biltmore.
Isn't there a rail line from downtown to Hollywood?

[zzzzoom]

Rent a car and check out Canterbury Records.

From their website:

Sales to the public at our retail store -
We have hundreds of thousands of titles on hand, including many rarely cataloged big band, vocal, show, jazz & classical titles. Other extensive sections including blues, theatre organ, country, folk, and world music and virtually anything else that you can think of. And, of course, we have all the current hits at discounted prices. Please email or call for information. Retail Store Hours 9-9 M-TH, 9-10F, 9-9 Sat, 10-7 Sun.

Canterbury Records, Inc., 805 East Colorado Boulevard, Pasadena, California 91101 USA
www.canterburyrecords.com mail@canterburyrecords.com Tel (626) 792-7184 Fax (626) 792-0982

I felt like a kid in a candy store when I was there. My only regret is that I didn't have more time and money.

[kitkat]

I felt like a kid without enough money to get more than one piece of candy in Canterbury when I was there in 2004.

Amoeba's got a much better selection of deeply discounted used stuff (I averaged just under $5/disc).

Canterbury was nice if you're looking for harder-to-find stuff like Chronogical Classics, but expect to pay more like $8-18/disc.

[zzzzoom]

I've never been to an Amoeba store so I don't have any comparison.

Guess I will have to check out Amoeba some time . . .

[JesseMiner]

Amoeba is hands-down my favorite music store I have ever visited. Huge selection, especially of used stuff. And great used stuff at that, better than most stores' new selections. I appreciate the quality of their stock. I find that most of their used CDs cost about $7.95. This is where I often find out-of-print stuff that I couldn't buy new somewhere else even if I wanted. I regularly shop at all three locations (San Francisco, Berkeley and Hollywood). I find they are all fairly comparable in size and selection, but the selection is slightly different at each location, so it's worth going to each.

And when you're done looking at the jazz and blues, they've got a killer selection for any other music you might be into (hip hop, metal, reggae, gospel, soul/r&b, you name it).

Jesse

[Eyeball]

Going to the Cicada Club on the Sunday so thought would stay nearby. Also partaking in history by stopping at the Biltmore.
Isn't there a rail line from downtown to Hollywood?

But for the sake of 2 'events', you will be isolating yourself downtown.

A rail line? Maybe. In the downtown area...at certain times...to certain places.

I guess what I am saying is that you are subjecting yourself to a fair amount of general inconvenience.

If money is not an issue, stay downtown, but be prepared to have to make constant 'arrangements' to get anywhere except downtown. Lots more 'work' tha simply staying in Pasadena or Universal City.

[Eyeball]

(Couldn't find a thread on this)

I will be in LA for a few days beginning of April on the way through to San Diego for Bal Rendezvous - any recommendations. I saw that there is an Amoeba that is bigger than the one ing SF. I have been to the Haight St Amoeba and that was awesome so planning to set aside a day there (I will send the wife off shopping)
Any other recommendations - esp in downtown LA as that is where we are stopping and we won't have a car.

Thanks,
Russell

BTW - If you are here for the first Sunday in April, there is a huge flea market/swap meet at Pasadena City College that features it's own record/CD section with dozens of vendors selling only that....alomng with thew hit and miss atraction of a few hundred other vendors who can be selling anything including records and CDs ansall sorts of stuff.

[kitkat]

I did take a subway from downtown to Hollywood when I was there!

However, I'm not sure how close the Hollywood stop where I got off (by the Chinese Theater) is to Amoeba. Heck, if I were on vacation and I had all day to do whatever I want, I'm sure I'd walk from the subway station to Amoeba--can't be more than 3 miles if they're both in a neighborhood with the same name. But most people I met in California would not consider that "walking distance."

[kitkat]

*sigh*

Now I'm all sad about having a job.

I want to do more biking and walking in the middle of the day on weekdays.

[Mr Awesomer]

I did take a subway from downtown to Hollywood when I was there!

Sometimes I forget we actually have some rails, haha.

I looked up the MTA map and he's in luck.
He could get on at the Civic Center station and go North West to the Hollywood/Vine station... or go East, change trains at Union Station and head up to Pasadena and get off at the Lake station.

Amoeba is a short walk from the Hollywood/Vine station.
Canterbury is a New York walk from the Lake station.

http://www.mta.net/riding_metro/imap/in ... e_map.html

Checking out the map, our rail system isn't half bad considering how stread out everything is. I believe I read somewhere they are looking to extend the line that ends at Wilshire/Western out to Santa Monica, and the line that ends at Sierra Madre Villa out to Claremont. Not to shabby.

Anyway, if you want a HUGE selection and want to get the general Hollywood experience, definately go to Hollywood. Prepare to be disappointed though, by everything but Amoeba. HA!

[Swifty]

You can get the Regis CD at Amoeba Hollywood for a steal.

[djstarr]

I had a great time shopping with Julius at the Amoeba store in Hollywood; I was down for Lindy Binge a few years ago; there was a swing dancer who worked at the store and she got us a bunch of cool free stuff - including a sweet canvas bag I use to tote my CDs around.

And CD shopping with Julius is the best, it's always fun to see just how many CDs he can buy at one time!

Last time I was in LA I went to the Petersen Automotive Museum http://www.petersen.org/. Down near all the other museums on Wilshire, just west of Hollywood. Then you can go have lunch at Canter's on Fairfax; one of my favorite places to eat in LA.

Good luck with public transit! You don't really get the full LA experience unless you are driving.