The Best Music Shops in Minneapolis
For a city of its size, the music scene in Minneapolis is remarkably cultivated and sustained. There have been many waves and incarnations. In the 1980s, The Replacements and Husker Du played blistering rock with his funky purple majesty Prince reigning over the charts. The 1990s saw Soul Asylum and Babes in Toyland play Midwestern-tinged alt rock, and today a new, young, diverse group is making waves with the likes of Har Mar Superstar, The Hold Steady, and Atmosphere. Woven throughout the scene is a small collection of indie record stores that provide cohesion, free shows, and day jobs for many of the Twin Cities' best artists. With the shifting landscape of digital music downloads and waning record labels, the future of many of these stores is in doubt. Here are a few of the best.
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Treehouse Records
2557 Lyndale Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55405
Formerly Oar Folkjokeopus, Treehouse Records' taste leans towards beardy folk rock like Iron and Wine or Minnesota native son Bob Dylan. The inventory is a mixture of new … and used, with a small selection of vinyl thrown in. [link]
Land Speed / RoadRunner Records
4304 Nicollet Ave S
Minneapolis, MN 55409
Road Runner is a great neighborhood record shop. The selection is quirky leaning towards indie rock, and the clerks are more than willing to make recommendations and … shoot the shit. Road Runner hearkens back to an earlier pre-Internet era when going to the record store was an adventure. [link]
Fifth Element
2411 Hennepin Ave
Minneapolis, MN 55405
The Fifth Element is a hip-hop record store owned by Minneapolis's Rhymesayers record label that provides a home base for the Midwestern hip-hop scene north of Chicago.. … In addition to graffiti paraphernalia and baggy t-shirts, you can pick up limited edition CDs by the likes of Atmosphere and Brother Ali. The staff is surprisingly friendly and knowledgeable. [link]
Extreme Noise
407 West Lake St. (Lake St. at Grand Ave.) Minneapolis, MN 55408
[link]
