Turn It Up

My go-​to spot as soon as I get into Northampton! The vast selection of used CD’s are always on point AND are in excellent condition. I’m hoping they’ll stock up on more vinyl from the 80’s & 90’s (Madonna, Janet Jackson, etc.) Until then, the CD’s I’ve acquired will keep me dancing in the meantime!

I’ve lived in downtown Northampton for 2 years, and I come here every week to check the new arrivals for vinyl. EVERYTHING comes thru the new arrivals bin, from Zappa to early Ministry to Stockhausen to Zeppelin. They really pay attention to quality, scratched up records are sold As Is at reduced price, or else they end up in the dollar bin (which is $ 3 for 5 records, $ 5 for ten records). I’ve gotten lots of crackling and beaten up covers but otherwise decent quality records from that bin– The Clash, Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Miles Davis. Every few months they go thru and reduce price on anything that’s not selling, so on the right day you can find tons of good classical in the dollar bin. The prices are good. the staff is friendly and are happy to look anything up, talk music, etc. I’ve visited record stores across the country and this is one of the best, if only for the magic of that New Arrivals bin and the serendipitous magic of Dollar Bin.

Great staff and constantly changing selection of CDs, LPs and DVDS. Always worth a pop in to check out what they’ve go in stock.

Not hyperboloizing here in the least… I opened a Unilocal account for the express purpose of telling the world how great this place is.
Friendly, helpful staff. They let me bring in my dog, took a picture of my dog for their instagram account, and gave him a treat.
When people tell you to support their local record shop, this place is the reason why!

I love that you can arrive looking for Irish music & leave with that plus Digital Underground!
Great, well-​organized selection of CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, even cassettes. Fun spot to browse though you’ll have to dodge the obligatory oblivious aisle hog! Great staff & pricing too! Get there!

This is the best Turn It Up of the three. You will find Indie music, and obscure metal. The area is rife with several Colleges, peoples of alternative lifestyles, Goth’s Hippy’s. So your chances of finding weird cool music are tops. The record selection can be kind of picked over, but with all those cool cats trading in goods, stock will always be awesome. That said give yourself at least an hour if you are a nerd. Like the other Turn it Up’s prices are fair. The records here are in much better shape than the Keene store as a general statement. They also have a listening station where you can check out any non collectable piece of ephemera. Great selection of movies and live videos too.

Checked out Turn It Up and was pleasantly surprised with what I walked out with today!
The PROS
–good selection of genres
–clean store
–friendly staff
–reasonable/​fair prices
–good used selection
–listening station
The CONS
–parking can be a bit of a pain
This is a pretty cool shop that yielded some nice finds! If you are in the area or traveling and looks to do a little digging I’d suggest checking it out!

After hearing volumes of positive feedback on Turn It Up, I can understand what the hype’s all about. Northampton’s college-​town vibe makes a lot of hippie-​era dads feel cool over the hill in a sea of thick-​rimmed, tight-​jean hipsters and bohemians the town is known for. Turn It Up is just the place to flourish mainly because of this more eclectic clientele. Buried below ground, Turn It Up is one of the more interesting, gritty, cozy music shops that have become hard-​to-​find and often draw a niche market to pilgrimage to Northampton’s center.
For the most part, this shop gets it right where others do it wrong: a stuffed selection of all genres, priced well and even a bargain section right at the entrance of dollar castaway discs found cheaper than thrift stores. While mostly junk, it lives for you to come across a no-​hassle buy, especially at only a $ 1.
I came here to browse the jazz section, which is too often overshadowed by rock and pop, overgeneralized with Davis and Coltrane reprints, not recognizing the batillions of other artists who comprise jazz of the 70’s and beyond. They had a few here and there artists I don’t normally find though they still needed work with some rarer artists typically impossible to find in most music shops like Jean-​Luc Ponty, George Duke and Joe Sample. It’s a shame they don’t have a little more space to flex since their stock since they have so much in so little space. I saw a few discs that were a tad over compared to online prices, some whose conditions were alright for what was being asked and no real multi-​buy discounts, which prevented me from picking up a few on-​the-​fence buys.
The LP section is pretty good and they even have an impressive selection of classical and movie soundtracks. The video game selection ought to be expanded or phased out as they have only scraps. The store is overall a tad claustrophobic, often hoarder-​esque behind the counter, where piles of unstocked discs sit (until priced?). The staff were stoic kind of guys who would help you find something if you needed it. This store is a surefire hit if in the area, definitely earns a visit whenever in the area and much better than the snobs over at Newbury Comics across the street, which also has no jazz section at all. If Turn It Up stocked the jazz a little more and offered some multi-​buy incentives, this place would be a monthly venture.
Due to Unilocal’s limited grading system, I’d like to add that this shop is better than most of the music shops I rated at three stars (ideally I’d give it 3.5 if I could) which includes Redscroll Records (Wallingford, CT), Music Outlet (Enfield, CT) and just about breaks even to Trading Post (Canton, CT).

I am thoroughly impressed.
I’ve been wanting to go to Turn It Up for a while now, and I finally got the chance to today, and I was not disappointed.
First of all, it was clearly a hotspot because it was fairly packed when we first arrived.
And why not when the stock is so great? It’s mostly for general music lovers rather than extreme collectors, but there were a few rare records/​cds/​dvds, so you might just find a gem.
My two favorite things about this store are
1. That it is fairly well-​organized. I walked over to the DVD section and spent about ten seconds looking and I already had Donnie Darko in my hands (love that movie).
2. The prices are extremely reasonable. That Donnie Darko DVD was $ 5. The majority of the records were $ 3. The CDs ranged from about $ 5 to $ 20 depending upon how used they were. Right when you walk in the door there’s a few boxes of $ 1 records, some cheap cassettes, and some nicely stocked racks of $ 3 CDs or 6 for $ 10.
I left the store with 3 CDs: Dance Without The Queen by The Smiths (unopened — $ 10), Sigh No More by Mumford & Sons (gently used — $ 8), and Good News For People Who Love Bad News (gently used — $ 8). Very excited.
Finally, the member of the staff I interacted with was one very friendly guy and he totaled really quickly (tax and all) in his head I think, and it was kind of really impressive.
All good things to say about this place!
(P.S. This place is definitely not wheelchair-​accessible; it’s barely accessible to anyone. I’m a healthy 17-​year-​old able to keep pretty good balance and even I felt like I was going to die on those stairs. Scary steep! But worth it!)

This place is awesome! Great service, awesome selection and prices. A throwback to the great record stores that are almost extinct — as a rabid vinyl collector, it’s paradise for me — also it becomes quite apparent right away that these guys love music just as much as I do — I got a frequent buyer card and I intend on using it many times!

Great source for CD back catalog gems. Remember High Fidelity? Yeah, it’s that good. Fortunate that I don’t live around here, or I’d need a second job.

I didn’t shop here but my husband did. I think he was impressed with all the vinyl and he found a Stereolab cd he didn’t have yet.

Turn It Up is not my favorite record store. The quality of their vinyl is not terrific. I’ve taken them out of their sleeves to inspect (which you always do at ANY used record store) and have been surprised they were not in a dollar bin. Scuffs, scratches and mild abuse were apparent multiple times. To me this means there is no system or ‘ownership’ in rating or accepting incoming stuff. I’ll give the store one more chance before I drop it off my ‘visiting NoHo’ list.
The other thing is (as is the case more so in college towns) is they have a lot of offbeat or indie stuff in their bins. I’m not saying this is good or bad, it just is.
On the other hand they have a large amount of used CD’s and DVD’s (the store is maybe ¼ vinyl.)
As mentioned in other reviews, be careful on the stairs down. If they’re wet or could be icy make sure you have a hand on the railing. Also the aisles are very narrow, if you have bags from shopping at Thornes, a baby carrier, or large body type it will be nearby impossible not to bump into fellow patrons.
Good luck!

Used cds! For cheap! In a rad little basement in Northampton (the most annoyingly trendy place in Massachusetts or even perhaps, New England). I’ll be honest, I don’t care for Northampton. It tries too hard. But I will brave the hell that is parking in Hamp to go to Turn It Up! for good music!

Turn It Up is a competitively visitable* music store in the Northampton area, or even anywhere for that matter. Emerging from its depths in the basement one will immediately see Newbury Comics directly across the street. Why should one go to Turn It Up instead of Newbury Comics?
There are a few reasons if one cares enough. First, the prices across the board at Turn It Up are generally more affordable. While Newbury Comics continues to treat its back stock of CDs as $ 14 – 16 items, Turn It Up generally keeps tunes around the $ 6 – 10 range. There’s a strong assortment of necessary discs for each artist for most sections, though the Soul section was a little short. I imagine that if one cannot find what they’re looking for at Turn It Up they will find a way to get it for you.
Another reason for visiting Turn It Up is the listening station. If the place was bigger it’d be great to have even more listening stations (a la the defunct Virgin Records in NYC), but given where they’re at there’s only one. Still, it’s a great way to check out what to buy before you buy it. I have tended to take leaps of faith with affordably priced music only to regret the $ 10 or so I’ll never get back from a purchased album. Turn It Up gives a little more convenience to the customer.
Finally, I have to say that the staff at Turn It Up edges out the nearby competition. These guys are veterans of the shop and know the music they have within. In my few visits to the store they’ve always been accessible and chatty about people’s purchases. Being laid back also helps (no crack downs on my coffee cup).
As for other aspects of the store, they’ve got modest assortments of games, books and box sets for those interested in something other than singular albums and the like. They also have a large cheap music bin near the entrance that holds a few good ones for the musically adventurous, though one may balk at paying $ 3 or so a disc. There was a Cute Lepers disc in there last time I was there so you should check to see if it’s still there and buy it.
If I lived near Northampton I would easily visit both Turn It Up and Newbury Comics on my music binge sprees. However, I would go to Turn It Up first for the price and atmosphere.
* — Yeah, made this up. I’m setting music store visitation standards, people.

Love this place! Well-​stocked, well-​appointed, and well-​organized analog music store. CDs are the focus, but there are also cassettes, records, DVDs, and the occasional videotape. They’ve got box sets, rarities, and some rock-​and-​roll books. Some local musicians also have their CDs available there, which is a nice thing.
They participate in the big annual sidewalk sale, and the tent sales, and sometimes they have random impromptu tables up on the sidewalk (different from the regular sidewalk sale).
They have good prices, and you can leave requests in their book; they’ll call if your item show up in their new acquisitions. Though it seems like they used to give more money for your old CDs ten years ago, it’s still a decent place to turn your unwanted media into cash (or credit). Don’t be surprised if they don’t take all of your media in trade; they usually take 30−60% of what you bring in, maximum, based on the condition of the media and how many duplicate copies they already have for sale.
The only thing that sucks about this store is that it is in a basement, down the most precipitous stairs ever. It is NOT an accessible location, or space.
Turn It Up! has been a staple of my life for over fifteen years. It’s comforting and pretty much defines «local business» in my mind. It’s a landmark. I’m really happy it’s still around, and hope it ALWAYS will be!

I’m not a hipster but I love this store. I just wanted to get that right out of the way because people are talking about how this is a hipster record shop– not true. I listen to mostly 70s bands and acoustic music and I have always found great CDs for either decent to really cheap prices. It is just a fun place to browse and discover new music. The employees are always really friendly and helpful. They let you listen to any of the albums to hear if it is something you might want to buy.
Seriously watch the stairs going down especially if it is rainy or snowy!
I can’t wait to visit Northampton again and hit up my favorite record store!

Okay, so Turn It Up may not be my favorite record store in the world
This is due mostly to the fact that it’s primarily a used CD store, not a RECORD (as in vinyl records) store, and I’m more of a record collector than a CD buyer.
I’m also not much impressed with their prices on recently released used compact discs, but that’s another story.
I did however find a replacement copy of my 3^rd Bass ‘The Cactus Album’ cassette there for a VERY good price after a tape-​deck ate mine a few years back.
All said, I can’t comprehend how ANYBODY could possibly find this place even remotely «pretentious» or «scene.»
It’s where people go to buy discounted copies of for the most part relatively POPULAR records.
Sure, they also sell a lot of «Indie» stuff, and even carry product from local bands in some instances, but it’s a USED COMPACT DISC STORE in a BASEMENT.
How pretentious and «scene» could it really be?

If you’re a Northampton hipster and dress like one, you’ll love Turn it Up. So many kindred spirits in one place! Also, if you like superficial conversations spoken through the nose, about how much you enjoy that no one is familiar with the band you both love, this is your place.
If you don’t fit the above, you maaay enter the store, realize that you’re in unfamiliar territory to the extremely un-​hip and decide to look else where for the music you’re looking for until its not cool to hang out in record stores.
Note: I love music. All kinds. I hate scenes. A lot.

Turn It Up is the gem of the Valley. It may look unassuming from the street (and be careful on those stairs — they’re a death trap in the winter), but inside many musical treasurers await you.
Stop first at the cheapy bin by the front door — you never know when you’re going to need a $ 3 TLC cd. Then head over to the new arrivals — with five colleges in the area, there are always bound to be some great finds that have just come through the door. If you’re lucky, you’ll get some lightly used new releases. Next, take your time moving through all the genres — they have terrific rock, jazz and soundtrack sections. Finally, take a quick look at the DVD shelf. You never know when you’ll find that special edition Lord of the Rings or Buffy disc!
When you make your purchase (which I challenge you to keep under $ 25), make sure to get a frequent buyer card. You get a punch each time you spend $ 10, and then get $ 10 off when you’ve filled your card. I bet Best Buy doesn’t offer *that* kind of a deal. Or salespeople this bizarre. Or such great prices when you sell used cds. What are you waiting for?