Sound Fix

I was at a party recently on the border of Park Slope, Brooklyn, and
another guest was talking about one of his favorite record stores: Sound
Fix, in my own Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg. I know too well
that getting from Park Slope to Willamsburg via mass transit is not an
especially easy thing; and yet this fellow guest, upon finding the
store, became a regular. I love Sound Fix too, but I didn't know it had
developed such a following. Thinking about the shop, I realized there was
no reason to be surprised.

Owner James Bradley opened Sound Fix in April of 2004. It's not a huge
space, but it doesn't feel cramped; and the red and orange accents and
comfy chairs feel warm and inviting. Employees are extremely
knowlegeable about the music for sale: "You can just say we're music geeks who
have no other life!" one staffer offers.

A great feature here is the listening station (laptops fitted with
headphones), with tracks available from over 100 new albums; customers can
listen in to get a better sense of what an artist or band is up to.
There are also regular, and very popular, in-store appearances by indie
artists with new albums out.

Some used vinyl is available for $1; and you can try your luck with the
$1-CD boxes. Generally, used CDs start at around $4.99 and new ones at
around $9.99 (I spotted a nice best-of collection by the Shangri-Las
for this price). Store-wide, the selection is interesting and smart,
clearly assembled with care. And there's a great crop of harder-to-find
music magazines, including local-turned-national-turned-international
darling the Big Takeover.

Parting tip: You don't have to know it all, music-wise, to fit in here.
Just duck over to the listening station and click on a few bands you've
been meaning to check out (or, hell, bands you've never heard of). Then
feel free to act as if you knew them when they used to practice in
their great-aunt's rec room.