Archive for the 'In & Around Our Store' Category
Just arrived: over 300 electronic/avant-garde/ 20thCentury LPs
Today we are pleased to talk about one of the most unique LP collections we have had in years. It comes from a professor of music who is down-sizing. For several decades he collected some of the most unusual, cutting edge records made. From the early 60’s on, there are fine examples of all sorts of electronic/ avant-garde: microtonal, fluxus-related, 20thcentury classical, experimental, drone, noise, minimal synth, gallery editions, and more.
This collection has many imports, primarily German and U.K., and quite a few private editions featuring many of the most sought-after artists in these genres. There is more Stockhausen then we’ve ever had at one time, and recordings by pioneering musicians like Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, John Cage, Glenn Branca, John Zorn, Alvin Lucier, Globe Unity, and many others. Read the rest of this entry »
read comments (0)New at PREX: The Great Afternoon & Hair Rocket
Author: Kerri O'Malley
Hair Rocket's Punishment Cookie and The Great Afternoon's Self-Titled EP
Now on consignment at the Princeton Record Exchange are two exciting new projects from local bands, Hair Rocket and The Great Afternoon. Hair Rocket, from Lumberville, Pennsylvania, recently released their first full-length album, the upbeat, edgy Punishment Cookie, and Lambertville’s The Great Afternoon just released their first official, and extremely folksy, self-titled EP.
First, let’s start off with Hair Rocket, whose Punishment Cookie is surprisingly rewarding. Pop-punk in the best possible way, Hair Rocket shoot through their first full-length with a witty, high-energy, yet irreverent sound, playing rough and fast while managing to pull off the polish. Read the rest of this entry »
Just Arrived: Over 800 Jazz LPs!
This collection has a great selection of the standard repertoire from the classic bop/post-bop era of the late 50’s through the late 60’s; from East Coast giants like Miles to West Coast artists like Art Pepper and Gerry Mulligan.
However, before you serious collectors get too excited, please be aware that these titles are almost all later reissues. Most of these records were pressed from the mid 70’s to the early 80’s. There are about 60 Blue Notes, mostly the all-blue label with some Liberty blue/white and UA blue/white 70’s pressings. Also many blue label Prestiges, later pressing of Savoy, Contemporary, Impulse and other major labels, and a couple dozen Japanese pressings. Lots of “two-fers”; double LP repackages of classic records on Blue Note, Prestige, Milestone, Impulse, etc.
Record Store Day 2011 at Princeton Record Exchange
Author: Andre Veloux
Editor’s note: we are happy to add Andre to our blogging roster. Below is his first-hand account of RSD 2011 as a customer. We look forward to seeing what he comes up with next! So….here’s Andre…
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I’m on a bandwagon, I admit it. Like many others I recently got back into vinyl a few months ago. In fact after setting up my turntable, it was on a rainy trip to Prex in February that I bought my first new vinyl LP in more than twenty years. The thrill of flicking through the covers in the store was too much, I was eighteen again and I was hooked yet again.
So when I discovered Record Store Day was coming up, I got pretty excited. Thinking it would be a relatively low key event, I rather foolishly went for breakfast in Small World Coffee beforehand, and by the time I lined up at ten to ten, the line was stretching all the way down Tulane Street and I was round the corner outside the Italian deli! Note to self, next year I’ll eat my breakfast in line. Read the rest of this entry »
We are still putting together the complete list of titles that are being issued for Record Store Day, but enough of you are asking, so we thought you’d want to see this list.
For those of you who don’t know, Record Store Day (RSD) is a celebration of the unique culture surrounding over 700 independently owned record stores in the USA.
On this day, the third Saturday in April, hundreds of limied edition titles are allotted only to independent record stores (no chain or “big box” locations). The quantities of many of these pieces are extremely limited, so we’re not making any promises about stock levels. We have ordered heavily on the titles we expect to be in high-demand, and our distibutors do like us, so keep your fingers crossed 
These items will be available on in-store on April 16, first come first served. Please do not call us to ask for something to be held…we want to be fair to everybody. Along those lines, please note that we will be limiting purchases to 2 of each title per person (on the first day…after that whatever we have left over is fair game!). Read the rest of this entry »
Hank Mobley Blue Note records BLP-1568. 1957 pressing, 47 W.63rd address, deep groove, RVG stamp, “ear”, VG+ condition $1,800!
We have, of course, many rare records, of all types, flowing through here on a regular basis, but this is about as rare as it gets even by our standards
For over 30 years, Princeton Record Exchange has been one of the leading record stores in the U.S. Collectors and dealers visit us from around the country, and the world, to shop our fine selection of vinyl.
Jazz is one of our specialties here at Princeton Record Exchange, and it is a pleasure to feature one of these fine early rarities.This Hank Mobley record is a spectacular example of the reason they keep coming back!.
Please note that we are a bricks-and-mortar, walk-in store only. Sorry, no mail order.
Princeton Record Exchange
20 S.Tulane St., Princeton, NJ, 08542
http://www.prex.com
info@prex.com
http://www.prex.com/sell-jazz-cds.html
Happy New Year!
Author: jon
Happy New Year from all of us here at Prex! Thanks to all of you for making this a great 30th anniversary.
We’re open today until 4:00 pm, closed tomorrow, and will re-open at 11:00 am Sunday.
As a final look back, below are some staff picks for the best of 2010. We hope you’ve all had as much fun as we have exploring …those sounds that move mankind 
So…it’s been an interesting year for music. We tried asking you folks what the best albums were but there was no real consensus; out of 40 or so comments, you guys named 40 or so different choices!
So….instead, here are some of our favorites of the year (in no particular order).
1. Arcade Fire – Suburbs
2. Bastard Noise – Culture of Monsters
3. Crystal Castles s/t
4. Dark Throne – Circle the Wagons
5. Dungen – Skit I Allt
6. Jonsi – Go
7. Joanna Newsom – Have One on Me
8. Puffy Areolas – In the Army 1981
9. Quasi – American Gong
10. The Roots – How I Got Over
11. Sun City Girls – Funeral Mariachi
12. Margaret Tan – She Herself Alone
Top Selling CDs for 2010 here at Princeton Record Exchange!
It’s the time of year for looking back, so….Big winner for the year…Vampire Weekend, closely followed by Mumford & Sons and Arcade Fire.
Hope you all had as much fun as we did listening to great music old or new!
New CDs:
1) Vampire Weekend – Contra
2) Mumford & Sons – Sigh No More
3) Arcade Fire – Suburbs
4) Black Keys – Brothers
5) The National – High Violet
6) Jimi Hendrix – Valleys of Neptune
7) The XX -XX
Joanna Newsom – Have One On Me
9) Belle & Sebastian – Write About Love
10) LCD Soundsystem – This is Happening
Used CDs:
1) Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
2) The Beatles – White Album
3) The Beatles – Rubber Soul
4) The Beatles – Sgt Peppers
5) The Beatles – Abbey Road
6) The Beatles – Revolver
7) Colbie Caillat – Breakthrough
The Beatles – Let It Be
9) Creedence Clearwater Revival – Chronicle
10) The Beatles – Beatles 1
We have just purchased a diverse collection of over 2,000 CDs: World, Folk, Avant & other Esoterica!
It includes a huge assortment of world music from all over, some fairly common like the Rough Guides compilations, but also many imported obscurities from all over the world. There is a huge amount of Indian and Nordic folk music (not together!); tango, with many Astor Piazzolla; Sublime Frequency compilations; a few heavy/stoner Japanese CDs, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
We hope this season finds you all safe, happy and having fun!
Please check out our video for some gift ideas for the music and movie lovers in your life.
The staff here at Prex wishes you all happy holidays !
Princeton Record Exchange
20 S.Tulane St.
Princeton, NJ, 08542
Black Friday = Record Store Day Pt.2!
Author: jon
On Fri. Nov. 26, a large slate of titles are being released only to independent record stores. For that hard-to-shop-for music lover, there are singles by Dylan and Springsteen, Hendrix green vinyl 10″, new Metallica live LP, and much more. See notes below. Sorry, did not get any U2, Soundgarden…, or Slayer. Hope you get a chance to visit…Happy Thanksgiving!
Below is a partial listing of the indie-only titles slated to be released on Black Friday, Nov.26, 2010
Please note that while we have ordered heavily on most of these, many of these items are very limited, and we won’t know what we get until we get ‘em. Read the rest of this entry »
3 Day Customer Appreciation Sale!
Author: jon
5% off all store merchandise this Friday, Saturday and Sunday!
Did you shop here this last summer? If so, you may have noticed that the store was uncomfortably warm. Due to a series of escalating problems with our power supply, we were essentially without air-conditioning for around six weeks.
We try hard to make your experiences here pleasurable and feel badly that some of your visits this summer were made less so by this problem. We worked unceasingly to correct the situation, but there was much that was out of our control, and it took an unhappily long time to fix. Thankfully everything has now been repaired.
To reward those who suffered through the heat, and to entice back those who ran away, we are holding one of our very rare sales this weekend, Fri. Nov. 5 – Sun. Nov. 7, 2010.
We will take 5% off your entire in-store purchase; no quantity limit. Every new or used CD, DVD, LP, 45, laser disc, t-shirt, turntable, video game, accessory, etc. is on sale!*.
Many of you have been shopping with us for years, and we are happy to offer this sale as a way of saying thanks for your patience with us and your loyal support.
Hope to see you this weekend!
Princeton Record Exchange
20 S Tulane St.
Princeton, NJ, 08542
www.prex.com
*Not valid on the purchase of gift cards. May not be combined with any other additional discount.
New Rock and Jazz LP Arrivals
Author: jon
We have just put out two large collections; one of mostly rock vinyl totaling over 2,500 titles and another of around 1,000 jazz LPs. We have been almost overwhelmed with a steady stream of fine quality collections in the last couple of weeks and the store is packed! Read the rest of this entry »
Prex in Rolling Stone’s top 25 Record Stores!
Author: jon
The Best Record Stores in the USA: The top 25 spots for unique vinyl and CDs, from San Francisco to Boston
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/28431/201795/13
PRINCETON RECORD EXCHANGE RANKED IN ROLLING STONE’S “BEST RECORD STORES IN THE USA!”
It is an honor to be in league with those other fine establishments.
Thanks to all you folks for keeping us humming along!
New Jazz LP Arrivals
Author: jon
Hello from Princeton Record Exchange
You jazz lovers out there might have noticed that it’s been a little while since we had a large jazz collection come in. Today we are pleased to announce a beauty of over 2,100 titles. Read the rest of this entry »
New Arrivals-Classical CDs
Author: jon
New Arrivals: Over 10,000 Classical and Opera CDs!
Just when we were starting to get caught up with the huge 9,000 piece classical collection from a couple of months ago, we have been graced with two more very large collections totaling over 10,000 titles! In the last two weeks, amongst many other smaller, we have purchased one of around 3,000 and another of over 7,000 CDs. Read the rest of this entry »
Princeton Record Exchange kicks off their 30th anniversary celebration on Record Store Day!
2010 marks the 30th year of the Princeton Record Exchange, one of the leading independent music and movie stores in the USA. We are happy to invite our fans, friends and families to join us in a weeklong celebration including live music, raffles with prizes awarded every day, scores of freebies and a huge amount of limited edition merchandise. The party begins on Saturday April 17 with the 3rd annual Record Store Day, and continues through the week, culminating on Saturday April 24 at Princeton’s Communiversity festival. Read the rest of this entry »
New Arrivals: 9,000 Classical and Opera CDs
Author: jon
We always enjoy purchasing large classical CD collections and are pleased to have an enormous one to talk about today. Almost all of this 9,000 piece collection is vocal-oriented, either full-length operas or vocal recitals. As you can imagine with a collection of this size, just about every opera composer is well-represented. There are dozens (hundreds?) each from Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Wagner, etc., but also many titles from somewhat less-common composers such as Janacek, Adam, Thomas, Rameau, Cavalli, and Meyerbeer just to name a few. Also featured is a healthy dose of early 20th Century operas. Read the rest of this entry »
New Arrivals
Author: jon
Just arrived: 2,000 Jazz CDs!
Just a quick note today; we’re hard at work processing many thousands of new arrivals. However, because it’s been a while since we’ve had a large jazz CD collection, we thought we’d take a moment to let you folks know that we’ve just purchased around 2,000 bop and post-bop era titles.
This collection is comprised of classic recordings from the late 50’s through the 70’s (virtually no Big-Band titles). It contains hundreds of great titles, many out-of-print, on Prestige, Blue Note, Riverside, Impulse, Contemporary, Hat Art, Verve, and many others labels. Most of the jazz giants, Coltrane, Miles, Mingus, etc. are well-represented.
Around half of these titles have been priced at $4.99 or less, are already out in our cheap/budget bins, and are selling briskly. The rest are priced in the $5.99 to $9.99 range, and are being processed as you read this. Hundreds are in-stock already (most in the new arrival bins, some filed), and the rest should be out by tomorrow.
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Also, as always, please keep in mind that we are interested in buying your music and movies. If you have any unwanted CDs, DVDs, or LPs gathering dust in your home, bring them in for cash or store credit. No appointment needed for collections less than two hundred pieces. For some basic info please see our web pages www.prex.com/sell-cds.html for CDs and DVDs and www.prex.com/sell-records.html for LPs. Feel free to call us if you have any questions about selling your merchandise or email info@prex.com.
Hope to see you soon.
Hello from Princeton Record Exchange,
Recently arrived: two collections totaling over 2,000 LPs and 3,000 CDs comprised mostly of Oldies, Blues, Soul and Country.
We have just purchased a great assortment of less common titles. The two collections were remarkably similar in that they both contain a large amount of very clean, mostly reissued LPs and very thorough assortments of CDs; the first predominantly Oldies and 60’s soul, the second Blues, Country and some Folk.
Continuing our visual experiment, we have uploaded a short video about them. You can watch this video by clicking on the image above.
The records are mostly reissues pressed in the 70’s and 80’s with very few originals. They are, almost without exception, in excellent shape; the covers are crisp and clean and the vinyl is pristine. Some of the labels featured are Ace, Charley, Krazy Kat, Bear Family, Relic, Official, Crystal Ball, and many others. While mainly domestic, there is a healthy dose of British and Japanese imports as well.
Most are priced from $1.99 to $4.99 with a few higher. We have sorted out the bulk of the Oldies, Soul, and Blues and created separate new arrival sections for them in the back of the store; the Country and Folk is mixed in with the regular new arrivals.
The CD portion of these collections includes one of most thorough Oldies/Doo-Wop/Vocal Group selections we have ever seen. Over 2,000 are out now and priced cheap at $1.99 to $4.99(as always, we need to make room!). As well as the common artists from that era, there are a LOT of unusual and obscure artists and many long out-of-print, small-run compilations. The Cheap Blues section has also been very beefed up with over 700 new titles.
On a completely unrelated note, we have also just put out over 1,000 Laser Discs! There are tons of great movies here, including some rare Criterion Collection on an archaic, but actually very high-quality medium. Ok, so there not for everybody, but it does go to show just what a diverse store we are and that you just never know what will come in the door!
Please note if you are not familiar with our store…we are a bricks-and-mortar walk-in store only. We do not ship.
Hope to see you soon.
Princeton Record Exchange
20 S. Tulane St.
Princeton, NJ, 08542
609-921-0881
www.prex.com