Adventures In Alberta
It is truly a testament to the resilience and migratory ability of the hipster as a species that Medicine Hat, Alberta (pop. 63,260) has three whole record stores, all of which I had the chance to check out on a recent visit. On this edition of the Record Store Road Trip, I’ll give you my thoughts on each one – just in case you find yourself in The Hat and hankering for some vinyl.
Pop-Rocks Candy and Vinyl
415 3rd St SE, Medicine Hat Alberta
As the name would suggest, Pop Rocks offers both a selection of records and a selection of unusual, nostalgic, and otherwise novelty candies and treats. It’s a cute little place near the Western end of the one street that constitutes Medicine Hats downtown (I’m almost done with the small-town jokes I promise). The vibes are great, but the vinyl is almost all new pressings with a small used section in the back. If you like new music on an outdated audio format and/or consuming enough sugar to give your dentist night terrors this place is for you. I’m a pretentious hipster, so I prefer vintage vinyl to new pressings, but Pop Rocks is still worth a browse – if only to say hi to their most adorable employee Petunia the pug.
Round Again Records
533 3rd St SE, Medicine Hat Alberta
Located just up Medicine Hat’s single downtown street from Pop-Rocks (okay now I’m done with the small-town jokes), Round Again Records is in my humble opinion the best of The Hat’s vinyl-related destinations. They have a good selection of well-organized used records, a few new pressings, and the best variety of 8-tracks ever seen by my father – AKA the only person alive still purchasing 8-tracks. The records here lean mostly mainstream rock-and-pop with a sprinkling of punk, metal, and folk for a little spice. The owner, Pete Rose, is super knowledgeable and can tell you the backstories of every album he has for sale – including a very cool selection of 70s and 80s Russian pressings of various rock albums. Aside from his walking-encyclopedia status, and being able to casually namedrop knowing the lead singer of Bonham personally, Pete also has the best prices around. Especially if, like me, you hail from the hipster-mecca West Coast with its attendant soaring vinyl prices you’ll want to leave some serious room in your suitcase if you plan a trip out to Round Again because the price difference is almost depressing. As a final bonus, Stationhouse Coffee is only a street over and can provide you with enough sugar and caffeine to fuel some serious crate-flipping.
Big Al’s Record Kingdom
528 2 St SE, Medicine Hat Alberta
I’m mostly including this one for completionism purposes, because I didn’t spend a lot of time here. Big Al’s only sells new pressings, which as I mentioned isn’t really my bag baby, but the prices seemed reasonable and they had a good selection of metal and its subgenres if you’re into that sort of thing. If you are a new-pressings kind of person I would highly recommend supporting a local one-of like this instead of always going to a mega-chain like the ubiquitous Sunrise Records.
UPDATE: Unfortunately Big Al’s is closing its doors as its owner is retiring, so check out it out ASAP before it’s gone.
