An Explorer's Guide
PHIL'S RECORD STORE FIELD GUIDE
Forty years. Thousands of crates. One map. Part directory, part diary, all crate-digging.
Forty years. Thousands of crates. One map. Part directory, part diary, all crate-digging.
Forty Years
Among the
Stacks.
For nearly forty years I've been buying music from shops big and small, legendary and long-forgotten.
This field guide is my way of mapping those places: the current neighborhood favorites,
the vanished gems, and the online stores that keep the hunt alive.
Part directory, part diary, all crate-digging.
These aren't just stores. They're maps of a life spent listening.
"The holy grail of soul, jazz, funk, and Latin. I've pulled some of the best finds of my life out of these bins. An essential stop on any Chicago expedition."
I've been buying music since the '80s — records, cassettes, CDs — from shops big and small
across forty years and too many cities to count. This field guide is my personal map:
one collector's account of the stores he loves, the shops he misses, and the records
he found there.
You might also know me from Phil's Phriday Picks,
Phil's Daily Needle Drop, or from behind
the decks as DJ AudioPhil — usually downstairs
from Stardust Records at Brewer's Cask, Baltimore.