Food & Drink
3 Seattle Record Store Owners Wax About Their Favorite Albums
In honor of Record Store Day, store owners from Silver Platters, Beats and Bohos and Sonic Boom dig their favorite LPs out of the crate
By Gwendolyn Elliott April 3, 2018
This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the April 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Saturday, April 21 marks the 11th annual celebration of Record Store Day, the retail event credited with single-handedly saving the independent record store and reviving demand for vinyl (according to Billboard, “2017 marks the 12th straight year of growth in vinyl album sales,” and last year, for the first time, vinyl outperformed digital music downloads).
In celebration, a few local record store owners weigh in on their favorite albums.
Mike Batt, Silver Platters
Various locations; silverplatters.com
“The first is Ken Nordine’s Word Jazz, from my parents’ record collection. He has been called ‘the voice of God.’ It’s just this spoken word over a bed of jazz, intellectual, but humorous. It was the first record that got me thinking about recorded sound, and listening on different levels. The second is Five Leaves Left by Nick Drake. No matter which mood I’m in, it always puts me in the right place, and brings me right back to where I’m supposed to be.”
Omaima Wolf, Beats and Bohos
Greenwood, 7200 Greenwood Ave. N; 206.395.4468; Facebook, “Beats and Bohos”
“There’s just so many. I love Can, Velvet Underground, Patti Smith, Soft Machine, early proto-punk music. Good music is good music. There’s something about The Feelies’ first album, Crazy Rhythms, that I really like. It’s different than all their other albums. I heard they were drinking chlorophyll when they made it.”
Mike Pitts, Sonic Boom
Ballard, 2209 NW Market St.; 206.297.2666; sonicboomrecords.com
Iron Maiden: Live After Death. “It was the first record I ever owned, the first I ever loved. I didn’t know about [collecting] etiquette at the time; I used it as a poster for years, [the cover] is a pretty elaborate painting, with the band’s gross zombie mascot on it. It’s not hanging up at home now, but I still have it.”
Find information about participating local stores and specials at recordstoreday.com.
Follow Us
Seattle Author Wins Pulitzer Prize
Tessa Hulls wins for Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir
Seattle author Tessa Hulls has added a Pulitzer Prize to her growing list of accolades for Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir. The 2025 Pulitzers were announced May 5. Feeding Ghosts won in the “Memoir or Autobiography” category. As Seattle magazine wrote in a profile of Hulls last year, Feeding Ghosts “braids together the narratives of…
These Cultural Landmarks Honor Seattle’s AANHPI Community
Here’s an overview of some notable spots and happenings
The first Asian American immigrants landed in Seattle in the 1860s, just a decade after the city’s founding in 1852. Seattle is plentiful with sites that tell crucial stories about Seattle’s Asian American community, whether you choose to learn about historic neighborhoods and buildings in the International District or browse sculptures and paintings at the…
Book Excerpt: Old White Man Writing
Seattle resident Joshua Gidding examines his own white privilege
In his book, Old White Man Writing, Seattle resident Joshua Gidding attempts to come to terms with his privilege. Gidding grapples with the rapidly changing cultural norms in 21st-century America while examining his own racial biases and prejudices. As Manhattan Book Review notes: “Old White Man Writing is an introspective deep dive into an eventful life…
Glacial Expressions
Local scientist and painter Jill Pelto spotlights climate change in a multi-artist show at Slip Gallery
The divide between the arts and sciences is long-fostered and well-documented. From elementary school onward, children are often singled out for their penchant for math or artistic ability and guided toward classes — and later careers — that align with their right or left brain tendencies. For Jill Pelto — a local climate scientist, painter,…