Local music shops provide a plethora of rare selections

Like most college towns, Ann Arbor possesses a student body with myriad interests: Football, Homer Simpson, beer and nachos, just to name a few - not necessarily independent - loves. Unique to this fair city, however, is the abundance of local and national options students face when deciding to purchase music.

For out-of-state students venturing to Ann Arbor for the first time, one particular record store may be a welcome sign of familiarity: Tower Records at 1214 S. University Ave. Located on the upper floor of the Galleria Mall, Tower is an all-encompassing store - in addition to its extensive selection of music, Tower has a large magazine section, as well as books, blank tapes, a Ticketmaster counter, sheet music, videos and (gasp!) clothing. One nice touch at the store is the abundance of listening stations, which enables potential buyers to hear how worthy or not those CDs are. Tower's prices are also pretty reasonable, especially for many newer releases.

Just down the street from Tower sits Wherehouse Records at 1140 S. University Ave. Wherehouse's perks include numerous releases by local artists, cool posters and T-shirts, and an extensive selection of imported discs.

Furthermore, Wherehouse's prices are usually a tad lower than Tower's, and the line for concert tickets for big events is a little smaller than Tower's (and a lot smaller than the Michigan Union's).

Across the Diag sits Discount Records at 300 S. State St. Although it is not nearly so large as Tower or Wherehouse, Discount's selection of CDs and tapes is nothing to scoff at, and the store routinely allows people to pre-order new releases at a discount. On top of that, if somebody reserves a copy in advance, he or she will receive it at precisely midnight on Monday nights, just before the rest of the music-buying public gets a shot. In other words, not only will Joe Shmoe have saved some money, he can rub it in his friends' faces that he got Bush's Greatest Hits (or whatever) first.

Rounding the corner onto Liberty Street, one encounters the enormous brick facade of Borders Books and Music on 612 E. Liberty St. In addition to its vast magazine selection - probably even bigger than Tower's - Borders has a large section devoted to music books, including tons on blues and jazz masters. And although its prices are rather high for CDs, Borders possesses more listening stations than any other store in town.

Across the street from Borders is Schoolkids Records, at 523 E. Liberty St. Not only does the well-respected store sell music in its three adjacent branches (indie rock, popular and classical), but Schoolkids has its own record label and Web site, which spread the gospel of the independent store to the world outside of Ann Arbor. The main branch sells everything from Sun Ra and Medeski, Martin and Wood to U2 and John Lee Hooker. The indie store, known as "the annex," has a fabulous selection of ambient, trip-hop and British bands obscure to the mainstream's eye, as well as a decent amount of used CDs, but its prices can be steep.

Speaking of second-hand music, Ann Arbor has a few stores that specialize in low-budget alternatives to new releases. Less than a block from Schoolkids is Encore Records on 417 E. Liberty St. Upon entering the store, one is quickly impressed with the amount of CDs and vinyl albums that seemingly spill onto the floor. Bargain hunters will be amazed at what they come home with, especially as the friendly staff has been known to occasionally knock dollars off the marked prices.

Located up a steep flight of stairs is Wazoo Records, at 336 1/2 S. State St. Once the 23 steps are conquered, however, one will be glad to be there. Like Encore, Wazoo has a commendable array of used discs and albums, and sports competitive prices. The store also (like Encore) pays top dollar for used discs.

09-08-98