Village Revival Records — Local services in New York

Reading some of these reviews really have me scratching my head in disbelief. This place is literally a gem. It’s been in the neighborhood for over 25 years and I’m glad to see that it’s still here. The first time I ever encountered this place was after a night of drinking at one of the bars around the corner. I was feeling kinda hungry so I went in search for food. While walking on Bleecker, this was the only shop that was open. I was surprised to see a record shop open so late but it was. I walked in and I was in awe with the thousands of records that swallowed the walls. The place looks tiny when you first walk in but when you start walking towards the register it starts to open up and you get to see how big this place really is. Greeting you by the register is Jamal, the owner of the shop. He’s amazing! Super nice, knowledgeable, and man this guy has stories for days. The selection of records he has in the shop is impressive. I was even shocked to find the collection of cassette tapes he has. I don’t know how he’s able to find anything but he does because it’s very well organized. His pricing is really reasonable. I don’t think they’re over priced at all. A lot of what he’s selling are indeed first pressings. If you want bang for you buck then go to urban outfitters for a repressing. This is the REAL DEAL! Support...

The first thing you'll notice when you walk into Village Revival is the overwhelming amount of STUFF. When I say stuff, I mean vinyl, DVDs, CDs, cassettes, et al. If you're a music nerd who loves the hunt, you'll initially be excited by the challenge until you realize that 95% of the stock should be in a landfill. This is not a curated collection of media, this is the same stuff you've seen in every Goodwill and grandparent's garage over and over again. Random classical stuff, religious music, lame watered down 60's standards.

The most egregious thing though is the pricing. It's absolutely out of control. A copy of "Yakety Sax" for $39.99! A 30 Rock DVD for $14! This is .99 cent Goodwill bin stuff being outrageously marked up to take advantage of naive tourists and drunk NYU kids looking to buy an "ironic" Tammy Faye Bakker album as a gag gift.

Oh, and there's some guy whose job is to stand there and watch everyone in the store like you're gonna try and steal their Mozart box sets, so the atmosphere is really welcoming and relaxed.

This city (and this neighborhood in particular) is full of great record stores. Some are even reasonably priced.

If you shop here...

I attended record store day at village revival. Everything was well organized and for such a small space, they have an amazing selection of vinyl, CDs, and cassettes. I was only there to buy record store day titles but I will be returning for other titles. However, I have to dock a star for what was either lying or miscommunication. While waiting in line, an employee told us that everything on the RSD list was there. This was not the case as they did not have any Maya Hawke at all. At least two different parties were told that they somehow had 30-40 of the very limited The 1975 vinyl, and they had exactly one- which frustrated quite a lot of people in the line. There also was a sharp disparity in knowledge level between the owner and the staff- the staff kept directing customers to ask the owner questions, leading me to believe that staff were not properly briefed on stock levels, where items were kept, etc. before the event. Some staff seemed to be overwhelmed by the questions from folks in line- it would’ve helped if the owner ensured his staff were all on the same page. I hope they can do better on communication...