Human Head Records – 289 Meserole St., Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York NY 11206 – Open
I’ve frequented Human Head Records often since 2018, first at its original location on Johnson Avenue, and more recently at its bigger, more spacious digs, on Meserole Street in Bushwick. It is crammed with used vinyl, from its $2 and 5 bins to the more pricey collectors’ items that line the walls, and all price points in-between. The records offered cover all genres – rock, jazz, soul, funk, electronic, hip-hop, techno, indie, alternative, psych, metal and Brazilian – lots and lots of Brazilian records. Has ample try before you buy, so you can explore and be sure what’s in your hand should end up in your bag. Prices are reasonable, though they have risen over the years for the higher end stuff as they have all over. Lots and lots and lots of stuff you won’t find elsewhere in a physical store. And it is often refreshed. At approximately 5000 sq. ft., its one of the bigger independent record stores you will find in the City. And if you can’t get there, they sell on Discogs.
So why haven’t I written about it earlier? For selfish reasons, I must confess. Should I share one of the Cities’ best, least picked over collections with you? Particularly its outstanding Brazilian records? Or keep the goodies to myself and those others in the know. Forgive me Father ….
Human Head first opened in 2013. They moved to their present location in 2020. Co-owner Travis Klein met his wife at a record show selling records. Her family is from Brazil, which helps explain some of the great selection of Brazilian records offered at the shop. My wife’s family was from Queens – and all I got was Breakdown when I visited her mother. Not bad, but no Brazil. And no Brazilian records either.
Wanna go? You should. You can find Human Head Records on our Record Stores Map.
See a little Bushwick while you’re here?
And here are pictures of the store at its original location at 168 Johnson Ave. Less records, more heads.
What the Press is Saying
From In Sheep’s Clothing Hi-Fi comes this July 23, 2024 piece Record Stores We Love: Human Head (Bushwick). It’s an extensive interview with store owner Travis Klein about his store and its offerings.
Human Head Records was also named the Best Record Store in New York in a May 23, 2018 piece by Simon Vozick-Levinson for Vinyl Me Please’s series the 50 Best Record Stores in America. This link to the article comes from the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine as it is no longer available on Vinyl Me Please’s website.
Travis was interviewed on January 16, 2023 in this video, which also lets you get an idea of what the store is like in its new, bigger digs. This interview gives you insights from a record store owner perspective on the how-tos of running a record store, which is quite interesting. His thoughts on sourcing and pricing records were particularly insightful. The interviewer was Ken Micallef, who knows his way around a sentence and how to conduct an interview. Worth the 30 minutes or so, if you have the time and inclination.
And a more recent video, from October 2025 of Travis Klein and the store.
And here’s a video, from June 2019, showing what the Human Head was like at its original location at 168 Johnson Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11206.
Curious where their great logo came from? Per Deluxe Newspapers’ article Human Head Records, NY it was designed by Rob Jones of Animal Rummy. Hat tip to him for that.
Cool Vinyl Bought There
Too many to recount. Got the Descendents’ Milo Goes To College, David Bowie’s Space Oddity b/w The Man Who Sold The World. And Gal Costa’s first record on Philips. Amongst many others.
One of the records I bought there was a 45 by the Brazilian band Os Baobas. From 1967, it featured a cover of the Turtles’ Happy Together, backed with a band original Down Down. Down Down is a garage pounder with good lead vocals and harmonies, a hallmark of Spanish/South American garage bands from the ’60s. The band formed in 1966, and named the group after the Baobab tree. Found in Africa, some species of these trees have lived for over 1000 years. Never thought I’d see this in a record store, let alone one in the US. The flip is a competent cover of Happy Together.
I also bought Gal Costa’s first solo record Gal Costa (1969) on Philips. An essential entry in the Tropicalia canon, it features Divino, Maravilhoso. The song was composed by Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who helped with the arrangement too. She initially performed the song on the Brazilian TV show Festival da Musica Popular Brasileira. She recorded it for this album, to great commercial success.
Closing Thoughts
Records before Rent? Reminds me of the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers’ motto – “Dope will get you through times of no money better than money will get you through times of no dope.” And of course, you can always use a portable record player that runs on batteries.
