Kyle S.
Yelp
After moving to Chicago and frequenting a few great record stores here, I can still say with confidence that Shake It! is my favorite store - period - anywhere. The vinyl selection itself isn't as extensive as a place like Everybody's but it's solid, with lots of great indie, metal, jazz and a room dedicated to Americana, if that's your thing. The downstairs area, where most of the vinyl resides, is cool and calm, providing for hours of digging to your heart's content if you want to spend the afternoon in the bargain bins. After a few visits I have picked up that the clerks here tend to prefer sludge and heavy music in the vein of Boris, Earth and bands like Swans, which suits Northside imo and is a-ok by me.
But calling Shake It! a "record store" doesn't really do it justice and the vinyl is only a part of why it's my favorite store. They have a handful of zines and comics, the sort of stuff I wouldn't know where to find anywhere else in the city, interesting new books as well as indie/punk/alt mags, cool-kid toys and collectibles, black metal coffee table books, etc. Concert DVDs, t-shirts, postcards... this place is packed to the wall with pure cool. The creaky hardwood floors, the marquee, the surrounding hood of Northside, all of it really make Shake It! the optimal music spot in Cincy.
Shake It, l luv u