kims, other music... and a friend went to one where he picked up the latest Kon & Amir mix CD of rare funk and turkish funk and Amir was working at the counter. i can find out which hole in the wall that is if you like...
on the corner of Essex street and maybe Rivington, or so, in the Lower East Side, is a used record shop with tons of old hip-hop and dancehall 12" singles and such.
on a 2nd hand tip:
I love that store on Essex down by Delancey, it doesn't have a name it just says "records bought" outside. all the records are stacked flat instead of vertically. they guy is called george frm the bronx, he knows the value of hip hop records and records with famous breaks on but most other stuff is a flat 5 bucks, lots of disco, soul, and hip hop plus some rock, new wave, freestyle, a smattering of house etc.
for dub and such, go to Jammy Land, 60 East 3rd Street, near 1st avenue
also dub and reggae, try Deadly Dragon Sound, on Forsyth b/w Grand and Broome
for old vinyl, go to A-1 Records, b/w 1st and A
for old vinyl, also try Gimme Gimme Records, 5th street b/w 1st and 2nd (open friday through sunday only)
for dub and jazz and "world" music, also try Academy Music, 10th street at 4th avenue
for old disco records, try Sound Library at its new location on Orchard beneath Houston
for house music, try Dance Tracks, 3rd street at 1st avenue
again house music, try DiscoRama, west 4th street b/w 6th and 7th avenues
more house and dub music, try Turntable Lab, 7th street b/w 1st and A
for electro, techno, indie music, try Etherea on Avenue A near 5th street
for whatever, Rock and Soul on 35th Street at 7th Ave
and don't forget about stores in Brooklyn . . . .
martin go to VP in queens - you'll love it.
good food on the way down the road, really friendly but just be careful.
i was there last week and dropped about $200 in under an hour!
ther really is nowhere else to go in new york for dancehall - well there is and i'll tell you a couple but this has to be your first stop. i haven't read the thread, but if anyone has suggested jammyland, ignore them completely. it's an awful, awful shop.
a total mess, full of crap and immensely expensive if you do unearth anything worth buying.
othermusic is ok for interesting avant stuff, kim's is better an cheaper for allsorts, rock and soul for hip hop and reggae bits and pieces and beat street on fulton mall for hip-hop reggae, reggaeton, reggae. i love fulton mall because you can also get good nikes here and it's a short walk to nicky's vietnamese sandwich shop on atlantic avenue, which you have to visit if you're in the hood - get a vietnamese sandwich (maybe two - i often do) and a lychee drink. if you're going to be there now it will be blisteringly hot too.