The Top 10 Records Sold Last Week at Academy Records in Brooklyn

In 2009, the traditional practice of exchanging physical copies of records for money is a trade that might best be called quixotic. But New Yorkers are stubborn people, and the record store is not dead. Below, the top ten records that actually sold in the last week at a store near you.

Academy Records, Williamsburg Annex. Pic via.

When we phoned the Academy Records Annex in Williamsburg, 32-year-old employee Caleb Eraaten was listening to Peter Ivers Band's bizzare 1969 LP Knight of the Blue Commununion. "A very strange record," Eraaten told us. "A weird melding of all sorts of ridiculous genres. Classical and jazz and psychedelic rock." The massive used- and hard-to-find LP haven opened five years ago as a larger sister to its original East Village store. Since then, the location has hosted in-store appearances by everyone from crazy psychedelic quartet the Black Lips to Folkway Records legend Michael Hurley. The Annex keeps with the times via a blog, and its website allows you to search the stores catalog of '45s, with genres including folk, psych, country, and reggae. Unlike many floundering music outlets, Academy's vinyl focus has kept business alive. "I'm sure it has something to do with downloading to mp3s and CDs becoming unnecessary," Eraaten says.

The Top 10 Records Sold for the week ending October 16, 2009 at Academy Records in Williamsburg:

1. Moon Duo: Killing Time EP
2. Michael Hurley: Parsnip snips
3. The Mantles: Self Titled
4. Vivian Girls: Everything Goes Wrong
5. Om: God is Good
5. Girls: Album
6. The Factums: Flowers
7. German Miesels: Wild EP
8. James Ferraro: Citrac
9. Gary War: Horribles Parade

Academy Records is located at 96 N.6th Street in Williamsburg. It is open Mondays through Thursdays 12 p.m. to 8 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Sundays 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.