Our trip down to Portland in early September for Music Fest Northwest was admittedly just as much a trip for the record stores as it was for the live music. They are all over. Mississippi Records in North Portland’s Mississippi district was probably the most interesting place to us with a varied selection that doesn’t match, or much overlap, any other store’ inventory. With each flip of the record you’re likely to encounter something you never knew existed, oddities and unheralded classics that shouldn’t languish in a bin to be passed up time-and-again. New records are not this place’s bag, unless they’re the records that Mississippi Records prints itself. But then even those records are actually old records dusted off to be reprinted again for today. In short, this small nook of a shop seems to favor history like few others, and we like that. So we had to visit twice. Here’s a bit of what we came across.

1. The Dwarves - Blood Guts & Pussy (pink vinyl)
How Much: $7

Slowly but surely I’ve been exploring the local musical history of the early nineties over the past year or so and as a part of that has been collecting the various albums Sub Pop was putting out in those days. Released in 1990, some have hailed SP67 a punk classic. I think it’s mostly just fifteen minutes a side (if that) of unhinged teenage anger. As Sub Pop has been all about colored vinyl from the their beginnings, I didn’t think much of the pink marble vinyl initially. It’s something that’s an expected marker of a legit first edition. On later perusal of the web, this particularly rare (no one seems to know how rare) pink vinyl version of the record has auctioned for something like $300 online in past years. The record with naked ladies covered in bloody is not the record I would have ever pinned as leading the top shelf in my admittedly young and paltry collection. How punk am I? Will I display this new find with pride? Would I display a tasteless book on my bookshelf? Probably not. It’s an interesting artifact of an era nonetheless. - josh

2. Mudhoney - Superfuzz Big Muff 2001 Sub Pop Reissue
How Much: $12

Mudhoney remains the heart of rock and roll in Seattle 23-plus years on from this time-defining debut EP. This record will never go out of style, so you’ll never find it in a Seattle bin for long, so I was quite surprised to see an older version of it at Mississippi. And finding it cheaper than the new stuff these days? I’ll take it. Any early Sub Pop is marked up a few bucks it seems in Seattle. I’ll play the hell out of this one and if I can find an original copy, that will go into any actual “collection.” -josh

3. The Gories - You Little Nothing 7”
How Much: $4

When people harken back to the good ole days anyone who mentions the Gories outta Detroit gets extra points from me. When digging through bins I always go to the G section first looking for Gories 7-inches. No lie. They are my definition of “good” rock and roll. This roach ad/record cover fronts one of their final 7 inches issued in 1995 that pulls tracks from 1990 and 1991 in their early days. “Casting My Spell” is one of my favorite songs of all time, and this 3 song 45′ features the original mix of the song with Mick’s guitar turned up that didn’t end up appearing on their first LP. And I think I might like this version better. Since this was actually my first encounter with a Gories anything I no doubt would have paid bank, so $4 was a very reasonable price. -josh

See the rest of our Mississippi Record Store Scores

4. Been Here All My Days
How Much: $10

While this wasn’t a used copy of Mississippi Records’ own release of Been Here All My Days a collection of songs recorded in the American South by George Mitchell in the ’60s and ’70s, it was considerably cheaper to buy at the store … especially without sales tax. Truth is, after listening to Been Here All My Days and wanting to listen to little else after, this album is a worthy pick-up whatever the price. If you’re a fan of Mississippi’s better known re-issues of Alan Lomax’s Southern Journey, Been Here All My Days is a must have. Its like the best mix tape of the blues, folk and gospel you’ve ever heard. It is an album perfect in its imperfections, the recordings are rough, the vocals gritty, some of the playing, basic. But it is human in the best way, like you’re sitting right there on the porch swing or stoop next to the person playing it all those decades ago. -Abbey

5. The Dutchess and The Duke - She’s the Dutchess, He’s The Duke
How Much: $7

Picking up She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke on vinyl, I realized this was the fourth different format I’d purchased the album on. My Dad often jokes about how many times and ways he’s bought The Beatles catalog: on vinyl, on 8-track, on cassette, on CD, on digitally remastered CD, on re-done mono vinyl — and holding that Dutchess and the Duke record in my hand, I understood. I’ve now purchased it on: mp3, CD, cassette and used vinyl … twice. That’s right, I came home from Mississippi Records, where I kept myself on a strict budget and passed up records I thought I had, only to come home and discover I already owned She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke on vinyl. Which meant Josh got his very own copy for free and I have another valid excuse to roadtrip to Mississippi for that Fred McDowell vinyl I put down sooner rather than later. -Abbey

Our Other Great Mississippi Records Scores:

Numero Group: Eccentric Soul - The Deep City Label ($15)
Charles Bradley - The World is Going Up in Flames 7” ($5)
The Gories - House Rockin’ (reissue) ($12)