Piranha is both an old standby and an under-the-radar choice for area record-buyers, probably because it’s in Round Rock. It has an extensive selection of old new and used vinyl records as well as CDs, DVDs, clothing, and incense, and specializes in local rap and Down-South apparel, according to its website.

You can incorporate your visit to the aptly named Groovers Paradise with a trip to Lake Travis—Hippie Hollow, specifically, if you want to go full-bore with the store’s “old Austin vibe” theme. (Old-timer’s tip: Stop by on the way home, lest your records melt in the car.)

The venerable vintage store on Burnet Road is a family shop that offers a wide array of items that includes vintage rock posters from Texas and California, other rock memorabilia, and, of course, vintage vinyl—including lots of Texas music and hard-to-find recordings in all genres.

It’s always good to remember that amid Room Service’s epic and legendary collection of vintage furniture, clothing, fixtures, jewelry, decor, and knickknacks are some equally delight-inducing used records for sale—not to mention posters, music memorabilia, and cool things to play them on and store them in.

Exploded Records is a collaboration between Exploded Drawing cofounder Andrew P. Brown and Matt Shook, creator of Juiceland. It stocks new and used vinyl—and cassettes!

Located across the street from one of the former locations of legendary blues club Antone’s, the record shop was once a hangout for performers and club-goers and since 1987 has offered one of the largest selections of used vinyl in central Texas. For obvious reasons, the stock is heavy on blues and Texas artists, often with stories to go with it if you hang around and eavesdrop long enough.

Whetstone is primarily a music-equipment store that specializes in preowned and vintage “hi-fi” pieces, as the site puts it, but it also has a small selection of collectible and quirky vinyl for sale.

BLK is kind of the new kid in town, but it offers a selection that represents a lifetime of fandom and collecting on the part of its three owners (whose initials make up the shop’s name). It specializes in used and collectible records, particularly in the genres of 1960s and 70s pop, psych, garage, and prog. There’s also a good-sized selection of jazz and R&B records. And guitar lessons!

Switched On is primarily a storefront, repair shop, and paradise for devotees of the synthesizer and other music electronica. They also sell vinyl records at the store and have what we are told is a collection that is “surprisingly good for its size.”

End of an Ear caters like no other record store in town to those with a taste for the idiosyncratic, experimental, and obscure—without (and this is major) being a-holes about it. Its offerings don't end there, either; ask for most anything in any genre you want, and, if it's in print, they will find it. It’s hands-down the favorite of true vinyl geeks and diehard popular/unpopular-music fanatics.

Sound Gallery sells a good selection of records, but it also serves as an outpost for the analog purist, selling not only new and restored audio gear, but also typewriters, telephones, and other bygone/eternally hip machines. And if that’s not enough (though how could it not be?), it also has an espresso bar.

Since priced-out musicians and music-industry workers have been moving to Lockhart in droves lately, it makes sense that the place would need a great record store. Enter recently opened Bluebonnet Records, which aficionados attest is the real deal.