CapitalBop recently asked Rhome Anderson, aka DJ Stylus, a well-known DMV-area DJ and record collector, to survey D.C.’s under-appreciated landscape of high-quality independent record stores. Below are his picks for the top shops in the area. Photos by Keith Butler.

Washington, D.C. has a strong community of crate-diggers and DJs, and by extension, a network of excellent record shops for us to dig through. My own record collection might seem expansive to the average music fan, but compared to some of my DJ peers on the DMV record scene, I come off looking like a minor player. That’s largely thanks to the quality offerings we all have to pick from at shops across (and outside) the city.

My own vinyl habit was kickstarted long ago in the fully analog era, and followed many paths since — from building core DJ skills to maintaining a working DJ library, to exploring sample sources and traveling to acquire exotic pieces of music that never made it to digital formats. Even as advanced digital DJ tech has transformed the craft, I still haul vinyl out of the house to spin. I find the physical act of DJing keeps my intentionality and narrative instincts sharp when programming a night of music.

D.C. vinyl shops have had a lot to do with building the character of my collection, so I’ve gotten to know them well. As you explore and build (or even start) your own collection, here are my favorite options for area stores worth exploring.

Joe’s Record Paradise

8700 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, MD

Joe’s Record Paradise is a true music archeology outpost. The place you go when your digging adventure doesn’t have a set end time and you’re wearing clothes that won’t suffer from a bit of dust. It’s not really a casual “let me just swing through and see what’s there” spot. Located in a windowless basement of an otherwise nondescript Silver Spring office building, it’s best to embrace the sense of time warping at Joe’s, because you’re going to be digging for a while.

That immersion in the dig is what I look forward to when I decide to head to Joe’s. I’ll get my fingers dirty and walk out with something I wouldn’t find anywhere else that probably wasn’t even on my target list.

This experience has been shared by generations of DMV music obsessives thanks to the dedication of proprietor Joe Lee, who sadly left us in July at age 76. His son Johnson Lee came into the game under his dad’s tutelage and is continuing a legacy that first began in a Takoma Park shop in 1974.

Do they have the jazz? Yes. The jazz is there. But have an adventurous spirit. You’ll see bits of everything from pre-bop big band to small-label contemporary releases scattered throughout. Reward your excavations with some Ethiopian food afterward, because that’s the move for downtown Silver Spring. After a good dig at Joe’s, you’ll be hungry.

Love People

10429 Fawcett St., Kensington, MD

If you’re headed out to Montgomery County to hit Joe’s, you should add Love People to your itinerary. This is likely the most non-standard option on this list, but that doesn’t mean prime pieces can’t be found. Husband-and-wife team Daryl (aka Quartermaine) and Rita Francis found each other on the D.C. music scene, when both worked the late-night beat as DJs all over town. When family life took precedence over nightlife, they refocused their love of music into a record shop, nestled in the quiet antique district of Kensington, Md.

“My father was an entrepreneur and owned a record shop and nightclub in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, when I was growing up,” says Quartermaine. “So the lifestyle was familiar to me.” So he was ready to seize the opportunity when a chance encounter with a friend in Kensington led to a realization that few stores in the ever-popular shopping destination sold used vinyl. An opportune vacancy in the heart of the strip sealed the deal.

Love People does a brisk online business, and their tiny brick-and-mortar spot is more like the basement of a DJ friend with years of gigging and digging experience. Anyone with a traditional hip-hop DJing background will understand what’s stocked there: rap classics, funk, soul, reggae, rock and jazz fusion’s core titles, as well as random surprises that sample-fiends will love and some choice contemporary releases for the living room. The 7-inch bins yield decently priced crate essentials for the working DJ. Rounding out the basement feel is an assemblage of collectibles and ephemera ranging from cassettes to figurines, books, DVDs, magazines and original artwork.

Som Records

1843 14th St. NW, Washington, DC

Imagine, the classic record-store experience: There’s some guy behind the counter who eats, sleeps and breathes vinyl and is eager to chat about his encyclopedic recall of all details related to wax. You’ll probably strike up a conversation immediately, because he’ll be playing something intriguing that you’ve never heard before. Experiences like this were always crucial to record shopping in the pre-internet age — when the experience of discovery was tied to face to face human exchanges.

At Som Records, that experience lives, and that guy behind the counter is Neal Becton, a longtime D.C. DJ and elite digger. He’s the type to hit the flea markets at the crack of dawn and drive miles to be first in line at estate sales. Neal is a great resource to steer you to your new favorite record.

Though you can start with the wall where the rarities are displayed, if you want to tax your pockets less, the bulk of his stock in the bins will yield treats. I particularly find his African, Brazilian and Latin sections to be fruitful. The 7-inch section has interesting local and indie stock, like the catalog of the Electric Cowbell label. And like any great traditional shop, the dollar bins at floor level will feed your hunger for discovery at a bargain.

Does Som have the jazz? Yes. But they are not a jazz specialty shop. It’s a spot for diggers on a broad diet who like to get nerdy about records with one of the biggest record nerds we have in the DMV. I say that affectionately — and in solidarity.

Joint Custody 

1530 U St. NW, Washington, DC

This stylish and modern downstairs shop may have the most varied inventory for a space of its size. Joint Custody is also located on an essential U Street block for eclectic shopping and has its own vintage clothing offerings that complement the wax.

As a place that benefits from a lot of foot traffic from casual music browsers, Joint Custody is smart to keep a solid stock of contemporary releases, from pop chart toppers to core R&B acts like Yaya Bey and Kelela.

But for the shoppers that are looking to take home more than the latest by The Weeknd or Tyler, the Creator, Joint Custody can also sustain a much deeper digging journey. There’s lots of rock across eras and subgenres, from alt to metal, and the shop has a consistently deep selection of punk and indie 7-inches. Jazz heads will be able to go home with something good, as well as analog DJs looking for techno, house and jungle 12-inch singles. You can even scratch your respective itches for folk and country.

Prices-wise, the rares will beat you upside the head (such is the Discogs era) but you can definitely come out of here with some joints without taking out a loan. And when you find a grail, price concerns melt away. For diggers with patience and a strong lower back, the rando floor-level $3 bins are hiding some surprises.

Decibel

626 S St. NW, Washington, DC

Though one of D.C.’s newer record stores, Decibel Music already feels like the shop I’m most likely to hang out at, with a spaciousness, decor and general feng shui that encourages music lovers to engage with each other. As much as I love the archeological experience of an old shop, there’s a different charm for a space that feels like a place to kick it.

Fortunately, Decibel is more than just a pretty face, as befits a business that needs to draw attention to itself in today’s Shaw district. A solidly deep vinyl stock is accompanied by sleek listening stations, and you can immediately tell that true heads run the place. A recent dig yielded a great selection of jazz, funk, disco and soul. My personal big score of the day was a batch of reggae and dancehall 7-inches obviously sourced from a veteran reggae selector parting with their collection. By the time you read this I will likely have run through the rest of them.

Don’t fret, as Decibel has a solid stream of gold flowing through the shop these days; D.C. DJ legend Sixth Sense has been consigning the entirety of his personal collection through Decibel, consisting of crates upon crates of hip-hop and R&B promo LPs and singles going back decades. Every day they move some of that stock onto the floor from that mountain of wax, and I’ve already taken home a few.

HR Records

702 Kennedy St. NW, Washington, DC

HR (that’s Home Rule Records in full) is the most jazz-heavy shop on this list and the place that most feels like old D.C. As someone who lived nearby as a child, HR still feels like that time, even with new buildings starting to go up nearby. HR occupies a fitting market niche for a shop that is actively invested in presenting local musicians in D.C., from its live jazz series on Kennedy Street to the annual Home Rule Music Festival (co-presented with CapitalBop), which has presented all-day outdoor concerts featuring local jazz and go-go acts over the past three years.

You could consider HR Records a jazz specialty store even with its big soul section under the jazz wall. It primarily trades in used stock that was well-loved in a past life before being fastidiously cleaned up and sorted. The small rock section has some prog and psych rarities, with funk and disco nearby as well. This is the shop for jazz traditionalists and home listeners looking to build a solid library leading with jazz. It feels like a store that puts a lot of effort into sifting through private-collection acquisitions.

The stock has the character of the records I’d see in the homes of my family elders, especially with the gospel bin near the front of the shop. The small 7-inch section has some affordable African rares to complement the LPs in the international bin. Scattered about are numerous artifacts and hi-fi components as well as music-themed items available for purchase from local artists.

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