Good US alternative to Boomkat?
July 9, 2011 11:21 AM Subscribe
What's a good state-side alternative to Boomkat?
I love Boomkat's selection of vinyl but I don't love the thought of paying in pounds and then paying for shipping to the US on top of that. Are there good state-side alternatives?
I love Boomkat's selection of vinyl but I don't love the thought of paying in pounds and then paying for shipping to the US on top of that. Are there good state-side alternatives?
Depends what you are buying from Boomkat. If it's U.K. and Euro techno-strain music, then as mikeh says Forced Exposure is the sole importer of certain labels, but they are dreadful at representing their stock on their website (even the new beta in my experience, sadly). Their postage rates are great, though.
However, Boomkat is currently heavily flogging the U.S. underground electronic/experimental scene, and a lot of that stuff can be bought in the U.S much cheaper via Mimaroglu Music Sales. They almost never have something listed that is not in stock so I buy from them with essentially 100% confidence.
posted by galaksit at 2:05 PM on July 9, 2011
However, Boomkat is currently heavily flogging the U.S. underground electronic/experimental scene, and a lot of that stuff can be bought in the U.S much cheaper via Mimaroglu Music Sales. They almost never have something listed that is not in stock so I buy from them with essentially 100% confidence.
posted by galaksit at 2:05 PM on July 9, 2011
I've had good experience with Mimaroglu in the past too. Nice to see they're still around. Keith used to work for Forced Exposure too I think.
For more houseelectro//hip-hop/soul, or less experimental stuff in general, you might also try Turntable Lab.
posted by p3t3 at 3:16 PM on July 9, 2011
For more houseelectro//hip-hop/soul, or less experimental stuff in general, you might also try Turntable Lab.
posted by p3t3 at 3:16 PM on July 9, 2011
Also, after looking at your location, I remembered a great little shop that I often bought from about 10 years ago - Bent Crayon. You might already know them; their webshop is not the greatest, but anytime you're around Cleveland it's worth a stop.
posted by p3t3 at 3:28 PM on July 9, 2011
posted by p3t3 at 3:28 PM on July 9, 2011
If you're coming at Boomkat for reissue/archive things like soundtracks, library stuff, Finders Keepers, Trunk Records, etc., you might check out Chicago's Dusty Groove, which specialises in that end of stuff and has a decent online system as well.
Too true about the Bent Crayon web shop. I tried them once in the last couple of years and found that their "submit what you want and we'll contact you" was a 100% failure, because they didn't contact me, but that was only one try to be fair and I can see that they are stocking current material as of 2011 so I guess they are still alive.
Sometimes I've found that Boomkat sells out of stock quite quickly due to its popularity, but you can often find the same things at Norman Records -- they're also in the U.K. but reliable, nice people with slightly less over the top ways of talking about their stock.
You may know all these already of course, but, for the sake of the thread ...
posted by galaksit at 5:14 PM on July 9, 2011
Too true about the Bent Crayon web shop. I tried them once in the last couple of years and found that their "submit what you want and we'll contact you" was a 100% failure, because they didn't contact me, but that was only one try to be fair and I can see that they are stocking current material as of 2011 so I guess they are still alive.
Sometimes I've found that Boomkat sells out of stock quite quickly due to its popularity, but you can often find the same things at Norman Records -- they're also in the U.K. but reliable, nice people with slightly less over the top ways of talking about their stock.
You may know all these already of course, but, for the sake of the thread ...
posted by galaksit at 5:14 PM on July 9, 2011
Sector Shop, Halcyon, Groove Distribution, and Dope Jams come to mind.
posted by mkb at 4:14 AM on July 10, 2011
posted by mkb at 4:14 AM on July 10, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for the response! I'll investigate these.
posted by zennoshinjou at 9:58 AM on July 10, 2011
posted by zennoshinjou at 9:58 AM on July 10, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
I may not be the best source, however, as I'm impatient and Boomkat's site and relentless marketing make me cave to ordering from them way too often.
posted by mikeh at 11:55 AM on July 9, 2011