Phonoluxe Records

Decent selection of vinyl. Price avg to higher than online but always good to support local. First time there and I found several albums I haven’t seen in other stores in the region. If I lived here this would definitely be a regular stop.

Great selection of music,. Found two Art Garfunkel albums in excellent condition. My only complaint is the guy working the register seemed annoyed that he had to stop eating his cookies and ring up my friend and I.

I only had a little bit of time to explore this shop before my flight back and walked out with only one record…
The PROS
–parking lot
–lots of genres to dig through
–listening station
–record I’ve been looking for I found there
The CONS
–way overpriced… especially stuff you could find at thrift stores going for $ 4 – 8
–condition of many records priced over $ 8 were in bad shape, with deep scratches in several I pulled out
–guy at the register wasn’t friendly in the slightest
All in all, I went to several shops in Nashville on my visit and Phonoluxe was the last and least favorite shop. If you want to pop in and browse cool, but if you expect stuff to be priced fairly go elsewhere like The Groove or The Great Escape.
I still think it’s worth a look if you love vinyl.

The prices here are a joke, right? Everything is 3 to 4 times the price of Grimey’s, The Great Escape, The Groove, or Fond Object. There’s some cool records, but they are really just to look at unless you don’t value your money. It is well organized but I’m sure it’s easy to keep up with stock when nothing sells. If you are dim enough to spend $ 20 for a record worth $ 5 or $ 20 for a CD that’s a penny on Amazon, Phonodeluxe is the store for you.

A lot to look through! A large selection, mostly older records. But, check this place out if you have the time to look through everything, you might just find something hidden in the stacks! Nice staff too.

Very good overall. Nice selection of old records. Just take time and take a look around, chances are you’ll find something that makes you go «cool! I gotta have it». Wondering where all those VHS movies went? They’re at Phonoluxe. Wondering where all the Suzanne Summers videos are? They’re at Phonoluxe.

This place could be so awesome they could expand their hours back again but the employees and owners will blame everything on the economy. I have been going here since I was 14 years old and I’m 30 now… the employees will never change. They are potentially the biggest snobs in Nashville. You’d think they invented music the way they act. They’ve been like this for years. To the reviewer that mentioned the snooty-​ness she’d heard about well if you didn’t ask for a particular item or make small talk at the checkout, you would never know. The only awesome thing that ever happened to me there was one cool employee who I had never seen before dug some records I was looking for out of the back. I spent 60 bucks because of him. Jesus Christ who would’ve thought customer service would equal higher profits!!! If you want to add this to your list of record store rounds, awesome just don’t talk to the staff.

Phonoluxe is a really good store for people looking for used music and movies. I usually go there looking for cd’s, dvd’s, and blu-​ray discs. The selection is very good and I usually find something that I want. However, they have a habit of charging outrageous prices for product that is no longer in print. They even do this for local bands that were never popular outside of the Nashville area! In those cases, I go to another store or buy it much cheaper on
. That is the only thing that really annoys me about Phonoluxe though. The staff is great and its easy to navigate around the store. I usually don’t take anything to trade their because they are pretty chintzy about what they offer you. They have a huge vinyl collection so it would be a great place to look for used vinyl records if you are interested.

Not being from Nashville and only being familiar with Downtown and West End /​Broadway area, it took a little bit of work for me to find this gem.
What I found was a nice large collection of Funk, Disco, Boogie & Soul in good cond. The prices were average… no crazy deals, but not a lot of expensive prices either. Most of those were on the wall. I think the most expensive record I dug out was $ 20. I did see a few more that cost more, but not many. There were bins underneath the regular bins that are 3 for $ 5, but I assumed the cond would not be up to standard for me so to safe time I stuck to the top bins. You may find otherwise so be sure and check those bins out if you’re price conscious.
Staff is very friendlily and knowledgeable. No record store snobbery here! I brought a portable record player in and they set up in a fun little booth out of the way to go thru my huge stack of records, so that was really cool of them! Walked out with a nice box of gems in the above mentioned genres. Will def be back next time I’m in Nashville.
— Large selection
— Turntable listening station (just one)
— Friendly staff

Phonoluxe filled the void that the Great Escape left when it moved out of midtown. If you like soul and motown, Phonoluxe is the place for you! It’s on Nolensville next to La Hacienda. Perfect if I’m craving some Mexican. Last time I went in I bought about 7 albums for around $ 30. I went nuts. Everything was used but in good condition. If you are looking for newer vinyl Phonoluxe may not be the place for you. They are now only open on the weekends but it’s worth a stop in. (Note I’m only there for the vinyl so I can’t speak of anything else.)

When I was young and thought all my money needed to be blown as soon as I got my check, this is where I went. You could get brand new CDs for $ 8 or $ 10, and just about every old CD you could think of. They also had plenty of other things there to check out as well. I am not a vinyl guy, but it seems like they have a big selection. Have a friend that told me the other day that she had the receipt from the first time I took her there years ago. She got Radiohead’s Pablo Honey I believe. Lots of great memories blowing money I wish I had now here.

Preloved vinyl and CDs (and wait for it… cassettes). Loved the vibe of the location, the store, the selection, the organization (compared to Grimey’s used selection in the back room) and staff were awesome. I did not have to interact with them, but saw others doing so and they were friendly. Found some nice advance rare records there. I will go back for sure!

Last weekend, I blew off the «snooty» accusations I read in online reviews and went anyway. No regrets. I found some rare Hendrix on CD and the clerk struck up a nice conversation about what I bought, and we ended up chatting a few minutes about all the great rare Hendrix floating out there, what we’ve both heard and own/​owned, how often he sees stuff come through, etc. Anybody who feels like the record store clerk is «judging» you probably has their own insecurities to deal with first before projecting them on other people. (Sorry for the dimestore psychobabble but I experienced nothing of the sort when I visited the store.) My biggest problem with Phonoluxe was that there was literally too much stuff to look at, and I couldn’t stay long enough to dig through everything. One day I’ll go back when I have a whole afternoon to kill in that vinyl room. And maybe I’ll take my tax refund to blow on music. There are worse things to blow your money on, and as far as independent record shops, this is one of the best I’ve ever seen — right up there with Bill’s Records in Dallas and Amoeba in San Francisco. High praise, yes, but well deserved.

This is my favorite record/​used music store! If you like vinyl (especially from the 60’s and 70’s) it is EASILY the best in town. All the employees have always been very nice. The prices are super affordable. I don’t think I have ever gone in and not found something I wanted!

Some good records in the racks, good selection of rockabilly, but at 15 – 20 a disc it’s a little pricey. Maybe that’s a Nashville thing though. You’d think records would be cheaper here, not pricier.

I’ve always been curious about Phonoluxe since reading a lot about how ‘snooty’ their employees were. I’ve never had that experience since I’ve been, I’m not really sure how or why but a lot of people mentioned getting glares from the employees and other rudeness of that nature. My visits have been perfectly lovely. Sure they don’t come up to you every 5 minutes asking if you need help but they also don’t follow you around the store like you’ve got sticky fingers. Personally I enjoy that. I tend to spend a lot of time wandering around record stores and find it rather bothersome to have someone bugging me while I’m making serious decisions about what awesome musical item to purchase.
Due to my roommates recent quest to find cassette tapes, I know for a fact they’re the only place in town with any sort of selection. That probably is not of interest to too many people but I find it pretty cool. Their inventory overwhelms you as you walk through the door, the very definition of sensory overload. The main room is crammed almost floor to ceiling with cds, various vinyl and cassettes. New and used, local and favorites from current artists to classics in every genre, you name it they’ve got it. The second, larger room is crammed mostly with vinyl but they also have dvds and a small selection of video games. I spend at least an hour when I go and could easily spend longer but I end up having to leave in order to keep me from buying way more than my budget can afford.
They are located in a sketchier side of town on Nolensville Road off 440, so a visit out there can be a little bit of a trip but it’s definitely worth the drive.

Phonoluxe is my kind of record store: balding music nerds behind the counter chatting it up with the regulars, shelves of cheap used records and CDs as far as the eye can see. In fact, the entire inventory is used, and they have a huge collection of VHS tapes ($ 2 each or 3 for $ 3) and cassettes along with their CDs and DVDs. But I do feel a little guilty about buying used music, ‘since the artist doesn’t get paid…
In addition to the usual rock, hip hop, and jazz sections, Phonoluxe has pretty substantial gospel, Christian, and Latin sections. Among the interesting items I found were two Nick Cave albums, about eight Bjork CDs ($ 5-​$ 8 each), and a few records of Dylan Thomas and Shel Silverstein reading their work (around $ 15 each). I went with Bjork’s «Selmasongs,» which plays perfectly.
Phonoluxe also sells old music posters, mounted and covered in plastic wrap, for $ 10-​$ 15, and they have a bunch of signed or rare, out of print albums behind the counter.

I shouldn’t go in here, because I always find something I want to spend money on. I find this store much more easy to navigate than Great Escape. I don’t know why really, because it’s not any less crowded, but their layout seems to make more sense. I think their selection of vinyl is less picked over, so maybe that’s why they seem to have more quality unusual stuff.
There are several sections to go through with a fine tooth comb, especially if you’re looking for deals. The $ 1 and $ 2 record bins often contain gems, but be sure to look at the records before you buy them because they could be hopelessly scratched.
The kids’ record section is artfully hidden underneath the ‘50s LP section and because it is so out of the way, often has some rare albums. I recently saw a Best of Disney LP I had when I was a kid, and a friend bought a rare Mr. Rogers LP for $ 2.
The rock n’ roll section is along the back wall, and has records prices from $ 3 to about $ 10. Some of them I find kind of high priced, and their pricing system seems a little schizophrenic. There is also a rare record section in the middle, which is very dangerous to look through. It seems like in this section, Phonoluxe knows what they have and what it’s really worth. You won’t find great deals here, but if there’s a record you’ve been dying to find for years, you might find it here.
I’m focusing on the vinyl room, but I do need to mention that they also have an entire room of CDs, including an impressive selection of box sets.

Phonoluxe is a moderately sized record store, but I’m not sure what they’ll do in ten or fifteen years when their collection of new and used CDs, vinyl and DVDs reaches (even more) epic proportions. Right now, their vast collection of music and films covers every wall, counter, cabinet and crawl space in the joint… it literally looks as though the place could explode at any minute, sending thousands of exceptional disks and cassettes cascading upon the Nolensville Road area.
The staff at Phonoluxe is pretty kind and helpful, but like most indie record stores, it’s more fun to peruse their vast assortment of music solo. Phonoluxe sort of reminds me of a small Amoeba or other comparable west coast record store, and their collection of vinyl ranges from blues and country to hip-​hop, glam and more. Just today I purchased an out-​of-​print Best of Bowie, and, while it was $ 20, I doubt I could find it for much cheaper elsewhere.
In addition to their scores and scores of vinyl and CDs, Phonoluxe also has a pretty impressive selection of foreign and domestic films. They’ve shelved most of them on the walls, but, like their other items, they’re kind of stuck wherever room is available. Though Grimey’s is certainly my favorite record shop in town, Phonoluxe is probably number two.

Phonoluxe is the black sheep of the Nashville record store family. You’ve got the Ernest Tubb Record Shop downtown (and the tourist hole annex at Opry Mills) which is recognized, because of its tourist appeal, as the patriarch of the whole family. Then there’s the Great Escape, the matriarch of the family, with its flourishing and oft-​times overbearing store down on Broadway and all its children spread out across the Southeast living their own lives but never straying too far from home. She means well, but sometimes she can really get up your ass. Grimey’s is the cool aunt. Ya know, the one who comes to family functions wearing a leather jacket and proceeds to drink too much wine, then steals you and a few of your cooler cousins away to tell you stories about how she used to hang out with the Ramones and Patti Smith in NYC. But Phonoluxe, well, the family tries not to mention him. He’s the uncle that time forgot, the weird one, that one that you weren’t really allowed to hang out with when you were a kid. But then you got a little older, out from under the protection of mom’s skirts, and you found out that Uncle Phonoluxe was, well, he was kind of awesome.
So you’d sneak over there with a little money and a few beers that you managed to steal from your dad’s fridge, you know, back in the early days of your Kerouac stage, and you’d just sit and listen to Uncle Phonoluxe for hours. He’d tell you stories of big legged women who were loose with their charms and who would whisper the secrets of the universe to you as you drifted off to sleep in their arms. Or stories of keen eyed road warriors whose world was built of leather and chrome and rock and roll. Or maybe he’d let you in on the world of the juke joints, with their ribald men and women, howling like a pack of wild, hungry dogs into the great gaping night of the world, wanting like nothing else to be heard above the roar of evil and despair and ignorance. Uncle Phonoluxe was shabby and wild-​eyed, and it wasn’t always easy to be around him when things got rough, but the things he taught you were the things that would save your life on all those dark, wicked nights that you would encounter throughout your nomadic twenties.
Dad may have provided for the family, mom may have shepherded you through the days of your childhood, and cool aunt Grimey may be the family member you speak to the most, but there’s not a day goes by that you don’t think about Uncle Phonoluxe, and everything he showed you.