Amoeba Music, Hollywood / Photo by John Leverett

In honor of the second annual Record Store Day on April 18, we talked to SPIN contributors and trusted friends around the country to come up with the best general-interest music shops that America has to offer. Because, let's be honest, spending too many hours on the Internet fizzes your brain and dims your eyesight. But devoting hours to a great record store rejuvenates. Ask the opinion of the right people (they’re right there behind the counter), and you can come out enlightened, possibly with new friends, carrying a record you’ve never heard of that might blow your mind, with a big fucking smile on your face. And who doesn't want that?

NOTE: We tried to narrow our list to a Top 10, but were pleasantly surprised to find 15 stores we loved -- plus a group of 15 more worthy of honorable mention. (To keep our list manageable, we excluded stores that specialize in specific genres like jazz and blues.) Read on for the countdown of our Top 15 picks -- plus, testimonials from fans who frequent them.

15. RECORD EXCHANGE

1105 W. Idaho Street, Boise, Idaho

Why It Rocks: Like other large, local institutions in less-populated states, Boise's Record Exchange sells a wide selection of tchotchkes alongside its enormous selection of music and DVDs. The one-stop-shop vibe can make intimacy harder to foster, but when you can buy your sister a birthday present and pick up a few hard-to-find releases without going near the mall, you know that an indie record shop is earning its keep.

Fans Say: "The first time I stopped into the Record Exchange, I was on tour with a band who shall remain nameless, I and fell in love a little bit. They have those wonderful bits of vinyl that you don't realize you absolutely NEED until you hold it in your hand (I picked up In a Priest Driven Ambulance by the Flaming Lips and The Return of Bruno by Bruce Willis), amazing action figures (I got a Biggie toy), and just good vibes in general. The store was wide open so it breathed a lot, and the staff was superfriendly (as most people are the further you get from the Northeast). We were all like kids in candy stores, it was amazing. I was then challenged to eat seven foot-long hot dogs from the cart outside. It was not amazing." -- Michael Venutolo-Mantovani (Matador Direct)

14. TRUE VINE

3544 Hickory Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland

Why It Rocks: Beyond being Baltimore's favorite (and hippest) spot to buy vinyl, True Vine stands out as one of the most staunch champions of the truly unusual, unexpected listening experience. The owners of the small, relatively young shop take great care to keep the 7,000 titles on the floor rich with obscure, avant-garde, and international releases (along with the latest Animal Collective, of course). But don't let that scare you, the place is intimate enough that questions about records are actually less awkward than keeping to yourself.

Fans Say: "What makes this store a major destination spot is its own ethnographic CD-R series of international recordings. Let's face it, the legions of Harry Smiths have pretty much picked through every attic from West Virginia through New Orleans; the 'old weird America' has been discovered and rediscovered. True Vine covers the rest of the globe—quietly putting out nondescript burners of rural folk music from Brazil, Vietnamese percussion jams, traditional acoustic pickings from Sub-Saharan African dating back to the '60s, and so on and on. No fancy packaging or box-set prices. You'd never find this stuff unless you went here. The store's main compiler, Ian Nagoski, who released Black Mirror: Reflections in Global Musics on Dust-to-Digital (2007), has left the store, so the CD-R production has become more sporadic. But the CDs are still there. Just ask." -- Jason Cherkis (senior writer, Washington City Paper)

13. ELECTRIC FETUS

2000 4th Avenue S., Minneapolis, Minnesota

Why It Rocks: Imagine a corporate big-box retailer, the kind with snazzy touch-screen listening stations and a big corner of non-music gifty trappings, but instead of padding their huge racks with dozens of copies of the same Lenny Kravitz CD, they stock them with thousands of LPs and seven-inches, and in-depth jazz, world, and local-music sections. Then add 40 years of experience, a burn-your-own-mix-CD station, and a large staff of devoted employees who would like nothing more than to see your face when you encounter Fela Kuti for the first time. You're looking at the inside of Minneapolis's Electric Fetus.

Fans Say: "I keep coming back to the Fetus because of all the stuff I've discovered there that I never would have heard otherwise. But the most telling thing about them is that they have 12 employees who have been with the store for 25 years or longer. If that doesn't say loyalty and affection, I don't know what does." -- Peter S. Scholtes (writer, City Pages)

CONTINUE THE COUNTDOWN ON PAGE 2