Music Saves

Okay I give it one star people:(I was looking for real music like for example Marvin Gaye, AL Green, The Isley Brothers so what did I get??? NOTHING:(After the cashier looks at us like we were Martians answering my question with a look of absolute surprise and shock that we had the audacity to step in this cubby hole she says, ‘oh no we only have Rock n Roll, yea. Just Rock n Roll.’ They are not there to do business at least not with Martians. So long little cubby hole one star because after she shook off her shock she did answer me so One Star.

Came all the way from Omaha Nebraska to shop this record store, but the «back in five minutes» sign was up for 20 minutes. Such a drag. Gave our money to Blue Arrow Records, just 4 doors down.

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced any record store employees more ambivalent about their jobs, ever. I don’t know if it’s all the Joy Division the kids like or what, but man, I remember walking in here & talking to the employee and just feeling like nobody gave a fuss about anything, including records they allegedly liked. It had this sad vibe like being in a high-​school girls bedroom after they got dumped right before prom.
As far as selection, here’s a rating system that’s applicable: If I was left alone in this store? Free of accountability? I wouldn’t steal a goddamn thing. There wasn’t one record in this store that I either didn’t already have forever or was an absolute stale piece of mediocrity.

When I moved here from Atlanta I looked for my go-​to stores; my bookstore, my record store, my crazy stuff that I don’t really need but love store; my paper store, my haircut place, my tattoo place, etc. I’m one of those super loyal folks that finds a place and spends her money (limited as it may be) there. It’s kind of a family tradition.
Back in Atlanta I shopped at Wuxtry I will admit that I did cheat on Wuxtry while visiting friends in Gainesville, FL who own a great record shop called Hear Again. Wuxtry will forever by my home base for vinyl. But I gotta have a spot here to pick up something!
I’ve visited and really enjoyed other stores in the area for sure. None really felt like home, though. I wasn’t trying to replace Wuxtry– I wanted to find a place that simply felt right. When I initially moved here I had a difficult time getting to know an older African American AARP volunteer in my former workplace, but; we finally bonded over a shared love of a variety of music. He suggested that I check out Music Saves (after retiring he once called to check in with us while rocking out to WHAM).
He was right– Music Saves was the spot for me. I had a slight incident during my first visit– due to a sinus thing my hearing was a bit off and when introduced to Vinyl I believed her name to be Lionel. I love some Lionel Richie, but; I really should have known her name as she’s a rather famous little lady! I do love a store cat. Or a cat with a store as it may be.
Don’t be fooled by the seemingly smaller size of the shop– not at all! you can find just about anything AND they do an excellent job alphabetizing things (I hate poorly alphabetized things) so you can find what you want. If you can’t find it– ask! They’re SO friendly. The folks at Music Saves aren’t the too cool for school types. They’re are the music loving types who want to help other music lovers. They know the music, they love the music– you can tell by having a brief conversation with them about whatever band’s record you’re buying or looking forward to buying when it’s released.
I think that if I were 15 and asked for a record for my birthday or Christmas my musically challenged mother or grandmother could go to Music Saves and not feel intimidated or like she was not cool enough to be in the store. I feel confident that the staff would help her find what she was looking for and give her some other ideas as well. I really like that.

Don’t go anywhere else if you’re looking for vinyl. Friendly staff and a pretty decent selection will make you go back there now and then.

You know what makes a good record store?
1. Friendly people– ON. LOCK. DOWN.
2. A sense of community. Waterloo corridor is full of it, with the Beachland, Music Saves, Blue Arrow, and other awesome attractions all making the best of it.
3. Affordability. Tons of used LPs to choose from, and the prices on new LPs is tought to beat. They also have loads of cheap and awesome shirts to choose from, and a great bin of 7 inches and sale records to boot.
4. Selection. If they don’t have it in stock, they’ll probably get it in stock and sell it to you. Therefore, if you don’t want to wait a few days to buy something you want, don’t be a prick and complain about their selection. Maybe all the stuff you wanted to buy is WAY too obscure for a store to stock (it can be a financial burden to stock some types of music, go figure. if there isn’t a market for it, ask them to order it for you. Then, everyone is happy. That’s how it works.
5. Awesome events– I’ve seen an amazing slew of bands here, from the Trouble Books to Local Natives, all for free. They have listening parties, record release shows, and lots of other types of events to foster community and a love of music.
Music Saves is a great local business, and I love shopping there whenever I’m in Cleveland.

It’s hard to articulate how frustrating a store like this is. Many towns aren’t lucky enough to even have a decent record store at all! In this case, Cleveland would be better off without something as tasteless and downright goofy as this shop.
They opened a few years ago and instantly sync’ed with the people who gave up trying to form opinions for themselves and decided instead to read
reviews. Probably seemed like a miracle to the pseudo-​hip, faux «indie» rock contingent that Cleveland is unfortunately plagued by. It’s basically
: the storefront.
I refuse to step foot in this place ever again (it’s just too embarrassing) though I do check the website every other month or so just to see if by chance they’ve maybe branched out to carry something maybe they normally wouldn’t, but I should stop checking. Unadventurous isn’t really even the word for this place. It’s just lame and predictable. Depressing. This store exists on the hype of garbage being pushed through corporate channels. There is nothing «indie» (which remember, is derived from the word «independent»,) about a stupid band like Pavement or Neon Indian. You can find this crap anywhere and everywhere. The staff never came off as indie hipster elitists to me because they have no taste or opinion strong enough to be considered «hip.» Most of what they carry is awkward, forgettable and trendy in the most terminally disposable of ways.
I bet this is the kind of store that makes most of it’s money on the retarded «Record Store Day» sale. I’m willing to wager they even made good money on the even more absurd «Black Friday» Record Store Day sale. Score yourself a re-​re-​re-​re issue of some irrelevant record that nobody would buy otherwise unless it was just shoveled to you with the other trash you have no questions about and have no real opinion of. I bet the line is out the door for this bullshit!
Anyway, as a Clevelander and a true record lover, this place is goofball city. Strictly for people who use music as an accessory to their post high school crisis lifestyle before they either dig deeper into real shit or listen to the same old shit forever. Places like this usually come and go, I wish this place would close up shop, because i truly feel that this place does more bad than good for music generally. Sadly, it seems like a fresh wave of nerds come along often enough to keep them afloat.
And what’s with the pathetic «used» section? There’s like 5 used records! Either keep up with used records coming in and out or don’t do it at all. Take a walk over to Blue Arrow and get a good stack of used stuff. Maybe listen to a record nobody told you «you need to hear». Or even better, go to My Mind’s Eye or Bent Crayon. Shit, Half Price Books has better records in if you go often enough.

What’s orange and blue and awesome all over?
Music Saves.
Music Saves should be the definition of Cleveland. It’s in a slightly grittier side of town that’s quickly becoming an go-​to arts destination. It has great people behind the counter and ahem… Rock and Roll, people!
If you have any interest in Indie Music and want to support your local music/​small business scene, check this place out. If you’re not addicted to Pitchfork or didn’t just come back from Coachella, no problem. Someone working there (probably Melanie) has a whole wall of suggestions, a listening station or if you give her a couple of bands you like, she’ll point you in the right direction. In fact, more often than not, if you just stand there long enough you’ll hear something being played in the store that you NEED to buy.
Oh, and I need to mention that they have an amazing supply of Vinyl, local music, used music and even some cool indie-​rock style accessories to buy.
So stop in. Say hi to Vinyl (the cat). Buy an amazing CD and heck… bring Melanie a donut because she deserves it.

These guys are SERIOUS indie hipster elitists. Just read their website and try not to sigh. I almost felt like I was going to get booed out of the place upon entering for not being a monster indie fan.
They are a good indie store, though, have a decent collection and aren’t very expensive. They are in a kind of dirty part of town but it’s not dangerous or anything, just really dirty. They have the token fat cat that lives in the store, too, for those who were wondering.
If you like indie, you should give this place a chance. If not, they will probably have something for you, but it will be slim pickings. Also, there are only two categories — new and used. All genres are mixed together and sorted alphabetically.

As far as I can tell, this is the best indie record store in Cleveland.
It’s pretty small, and Collinwood isn’t exactly the most convenient spot in town (although the store is right off I-​90), but what the store lacks in square footage it makes up for in spades with charm, selection and indie-​cred.
The store stocks mostly new indie releases on CD and vinyl. There are some used records in the back, and you can get your digital fix, but the main attraction here is the wall of new LP’s. Like I said before, this isn’t the biggest store I’ve ever been in, so they’ve obviously had to make some choices as far as which records to stock, but they’ve done it just right. Most of the records I wanted were here, including some that I didn’t know I wanted before I started looking (which is how I buy most of my records. record shopping isn’t about a means to an end for me, it’s the experience).
The best part about this place is that it’s a family-​run business and these people know exactly what they’re doing. They have a cat that lives in the shop, they’re part of a fantastic little neighborhood association (seriously! check out some of the other businesses in this little Waterloo area while you’re there! Beachland Ballroom, Blue Arrow Records, that weird toy store, the yo-​yo club; they’re all winners!) and they have an ear for great tunes. I asked the girl there, Melanie, to suggest something local and after perking up, making a small noise and giving me a look that seemed to mean, «finally! someone asked!» she pointed me to a fantastic LP by a Cleveland band (Cloud Nothings) that I’ve been enjoying ever since!
I would highly recommend this place to anyone who loves music or record stores, local or visitor alike. Go here and to Blue Arrow down the street in the same trip before catching a show at the Beachland. You’ll love it, but your wallet might not.