I'm going to give High-Fidelity four stars because I love that it exists, even if I never use it. Everything about the place screams for hipster validation, from the window mannequin dressed for Coachella to the brand new sign that emits a calculated flicker onto Hillhurst.
High-Fidelity is a record store, almost all vinyl with a small selection of CDs. It's been a storied Los Feliz establishment for all of six months. It seems to have been opened on a bet - are there enough vinyl enthusiasts in Los Feliz/Silver Lake/Echo Park to keep a dedicated brick and mortar in business? So far, the answer must be yes.
I fall more on the yuppie end of the Los Feliz yipster spectrum, but I find High-Fidelity amusing enough that it earn its right on the block. It certainly lends flavor to the neighborhood. I pass by the place a couple times a day, and it fits in on Hillhurst. (Case in point - when I finally went in, Lucifer's Pizza next door was playing Built to Spill's twenty minute live cover of Cortez the Killer.)
I decided to take my 22-year-old brother when he visited my new place, and I was happy to throw High-Fidelity a little business while I took a peek around. The interior, which is entirely visible from the outside, was neatly done, with a lot of records on display and a turntable behind the register. There was a little performance space too that wasn't being used at the time. The records were well organized, and there was a decent selection of both new and used vinyl.
I was surprised to see that the records leaned more rare/classic than you've-probably-never-heard-of-them. This might have been a product of the medium - not a lot of used vinyl coming out of the underground indie music scene. Even the CD selection, though, was relatively mainstream, with the indie contingent represented by such unknown acts as Modest Mouse. I wonder if High-Fidelity gets a lot of business from the überhipster demographic. For the record, this is not a criticism - the selection is way cooler than I am.
My brother ended up buying a Venom album for $25. This was one of the pricier vinyls I saw - I imagine if I were into this kind of thing I'd be thrilled to see all the albums priced under $10.
The service was great. I expected High-Fidelity to be run by thirty-somethings in tight pants, but we were helped by a couple of middle-aged men who were probably hipsters before you'd ever heard of hipsters. They were cool and not ridiculous, and they made good small talk and put music they liked on the record player.
I may not be High-Fidelity's target audience, but I'll give the place a thumbs up. Obviously, there's demand for a vinyl store in 2012 Los Angeles, and the storefront perks up the neighborhood. The other week, I saw a man on the Westside wearing a High-Fidelity T-shirt and felt a glimmer of Los Feliz pride. There are worse things to represent a zip code than an overabundance of vinyl. read more