Tone Deaf Records

Tone Deaf's Portage Park shop connects its record selection with a small-label and live-music life. The catalogue reaches from punk and metal into jazz, ambient music, industrial sounds and reggae, while books, zines and the shop's tape label add other ways to follow those interests. Its seventh-anniversary announcement in 2026 includes FACS and Jim, evidence of an active local programme rather than a history-only description. The Milwaukee Avenue address is much farther northwest than Wicker Park's record cluster, so it should be chosen as a destination. Give the mixed genre selection a proper browse, particularly when an interest in one scene leads toward another. The label and printed material help make those connections more legible.

New and used vinyl, tapes, books, zines and audio-related material. Punk, jazz, experimental, ambient, reggae and metal provide useful entry points.

Tone Deaf buys vinyl collections of any size. Walk-ins and arranged house calls are advertised; contact the shop about a large collection before transporting it.

4356 North Milwaukee Avenue in Portage Park. This is a separate northwest-side trip from the Wicker Park shops on the same avenue.

Check the current event page if a performance is part of the visit. Do not assume the distance between two Milwaukee Avenue addresses is short simply because they share a street.