Little Axe Records

Local boys open dope as hell record shop! This is the definition of shopping local! You haven’t checked out the new location Patti Smith’s old place you must! They are really cool and they’re willing to share that coolness with you! selling you records ya can’t find anywhere else & telling you about the latest shows in Portland.

For a small place, they have a lot of variety, very helpful staff and a great vibe. I spent a long time digging through their collection and listening to records. The prices are very reasonable, and I only encountered one or two records that weren’t in top notch shape.

Nice small shop! A bit too hipster for me. I buy mainly Rap, hip hop, and R&B. Most of the music was stuff I have never heard of, but I got some great delas in the $ 1 area.

I have to say — I just walked out of Little Axe and had to put back almost as much as I bought. For such a small footprint, it was impressive the variety and depth of what was available. Not only was there a good selection, but the pricing made sense… not just top eBay dollar. The in-​store environment was very positive and the staff person quite helpful. I’ll be back for sure. The only reason I can not give 5 stars is that Little Axe can’t compete with EM or 2^nd ave for selection simply based on square footage, but that is not to say it is not worthwhile. Just less fluff to pass over

Little Axe is heaven! After years of buying stuff through their online distro, I finally got to Portland and had the chance to go in person. I thought their online offerings were great, but I was not expecting the in-​store collection to be so much better. If you’re the kind of record enthusiast who wants to dig through hundreds of crates to find that copy of that Lynyrd Skynyrd album you love, Little Axe might not be for you. If, however, you want to browse one of the absolute best collections of weird, experimental, abstract, noisy, ambient, or drone music, AND stuff from Africa and old American folk and gospel (in large part courtesy of the Mississippi Records shop/​label located relatively nearby), Little Axe is as good as it gets. I found stuff there that’s been out of print for years from labels like Type, Digitalis, Blackest Rainbow, and more. I could easily have spent a couple hundred dollars, and that was just from a cursory run-​through of their records — I definitely didn’t see everything they had in stock. Jed and Warren, who run the store, are really nice guys (when I mentioned to Jed I liked one of the bands he was in, he gave me a bunch of their records for free) and are obviously really enthusiastic about maintaining an impeccable collection for the store. Better still, the prices are excellent. I found several mint condition records that would sell for $ 50 or more on discogs or ebay for $ 10 – 15. Little Axe is a treasure trove, a gold mine, a weird-​music Mecca. If you’re even remotely interested in contemporary experimental music, it’s an essential place to visit (just be sure to bring cash — they don’t take cards, and you’ll likely want to spend far more money than you planned on going in).

Recently, I stopped at Little Axe Records after having lunch on Alberta Street. The store is not your typical, dingy, cramped used record store. The aisles are wide, the atmosphere is open and clean and the proprietor is friendly and knowledgeable. At first I didn’t understand how the LPs were organized but the owner showed me where to find the prog/​psych albums. The prices were very good and the quality was very good+. I found a few import gems too. Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the neighborhood.

A very small space near Tonalli’s Donuts and Cream I stumbled upon this space and came away with mixed feelings largely because although the setting and staff were great, the selection was quite limited and the quality of the vinyl was average at best. In many cities this would be a nice shop but in a city with a collection of music stores like Portland I’m not really sure this place stacks up to the competition.