Cassettes are great and all but let’s face it, nothing beats plonking some vinyl onto a turntable and hearing some Hawaiian luau music crackle to life. On the off-chance you didn’t already blow all your walking-around money on the NYPL’s , you’ll probably want to know that two of the city’s bigger record fairs are coming up.
First, the Brooklyn Flea Record Fair is bringing 50 vendors — including some of those Greenpoint record stores and some of those Greenpoint record labels — to the Williamsburg waterfront on Saturday, October 5. There’ll be some EV/LES vendors like Cake Shop, Kim’s, and Other Music in the mix, too. And some first-timers like Academy Records and L.I.E.S. Admission is blessedly free.
Then from November 22 to 24 is the granpappy of them all: the WFMU Record Fair. This one has a $7 entrance fee (or if you’re really hardcore about raiding the bins, you can pay $25 to get in early on Friday) but, hey, your money is going to a pretty kickass listener-supported, non-commercial radio station (that just released an awesome iPhone app). The list of dealers won’t be released till late October but keep in mind Metropolitan Pavilion (at 125 West 18th Street) boasts 30,000 square feet of shopping grounds, so rest those fingers up and prepare to peruse.