Flat Black & Circular

Great selection of records of all sorts and even good records for beginning collectors due to their low prices.

Love this store!

An almost perfect record store. Great selection, prices are good to great. Staff is friendly and the amount of well curated 45s alone is swoon-​worthy.
However, my caveat — they have this horrible, unjustifiable habit of putting price stickers directly on the album covers. Most of the time, big whoop– but every once in a while said stickers don’t come off cleanly. Now I have a goopy mess on a record I paid good money for. It’s irritating to say the least.
So I’ll keep going back for all of the obvious reasons, but the fifth star remains absent until they fix the picture sleeve on my New Pornographers 7″. I hate to be a stickler, but they’re so close to perfect…

Great selection, good prices, good dudes behind the counter, and a go-​to for me every single time I’m in E.L.

My review will be more partial to my pockets than the availability of the items I was searching for.
Nestled in Spartanville this place was easy to spot on the road but interesting to get to after parking. It’s easier to access from the main front door than the rear.
The setup was neat, organized and enough room to move around. They offered more than just your dusty wax. The décor was great. There were series of new shows on DVD, new and old movies on DVD, cassette tapes and CD’s I liked the feel. It was like a super garage sale find room. The staff on hand were classic alternative and cool. No pressure but very welcoming. They knew their stuff too. Very knowledgeable about what I knew and they were ready to help me explore something new. I’m new to vinyl more infantile in my search and know whats good and bad. This place made me feel comfortable and not like an amateur in a connoisseurs house.
I didn’t find the two Adderley zodiac digs (Cannonball and Nat) but I found a rare newly pressed Dilla and something new for my ear. The used records were quality and clean.
My only issue is that I found no basement bargain prices. I must say the quality was great but everything was at least $ 5. There may have been a few $ 2 or $ 3 finds but I believe they take advantage of their niche and the wealth of college campus demographic.
I’ll be back but I know I’ll have to spend at least $ 30 to leave happy.

Providing a remarkable selection of CDs, records, ‘zines, and general paraphernalia, Flat Black & Circular is the undisputed premier music store of East Lansing.
The selection of records and CDs is immense, and I often stumble upon rare and elusive discs every time I return. Prices are usually fair, but some products are rather pricey. It’s hard to complain, though, because FB&C has so much to offer.
This place is fun to peruse, scour, or simply glance. Introduce a friend to Flat Black & Circular and help them stay awesome.

Fantastic «hole in the wall» type place with every nook and cranny filled with some sort of curiosity or oddity. People here are complaining of the prices but I don’t know what they’re talking about. Most DVD’s are in the $ 5.00 range, everything else seems reasonable too.
But the main reason I give them 5 stars is their fairness when buying. Surprised I don’t see more people talking about this. When I need some cash, I go thru my CD’s, vinyl and DVD’s and walk in there, set them down, give them time to look at them while I browse, then come back and they have piles of what they want according to price. Take it or leave it. Granted, they have an overflowing inventory and aren’t going to shell out for things they have duplicates of, or know won’t sell. So you can take back what you feel is priced too low and unload what is priced right.
I always feel their offers are very fair and usually walk out with some cash in my hand.
Often times I even give them old stuff I no longer want.

A blast from the past – snagged a DVD of the 1933 King Kong film to show to my architecture high school group on the bus home. For only $ 5. Fantastic!

Last visit ~ ¹⁄₂₀₁₃
Number of visits ~ 4
In my opinion, this is one of the best (if not the best) shops in downtown East Lansing. The music selection is very expansive and you can easily spend a long time just browsing through all of the choices. My favorite part is they have a dedicated metal section, as this is my favorite genre of music. If you’re looking for used records/​cds, this is the place to go.

Great local place.
Great selection! The guys who run this place are nothing short of amazing and helpful.

Flat, Black & Circular is a great place for vintage vinyl, the like of which you are only going to find in a hip, urban location or a college town (like East Lansing is). My husband and father, both music enthusiasts and fans of non-​mainstream artists, make periodic pilgrimages to FB&C to stock up on used records. I like to tag along just to see who gets the bigger stack of albums, and to look for new offerings (FB&C does stock some new releases). This place is a gem.
Consider where you will park. This is important. If you are going to walk out with a big box of albums, you may not want to walk too far. We usually use the parking garage just a block away. Go one block west on Grand River, then turn right on the side street. There is not a lot of parking in this area because it is right across the street from campus.

Back in my Spartan Hay Days I used to spend hours in the Campus Town Mall! Does anyone remember the crazy hippie shop with the mystical woman with the dread locks, how about the pet store Heavy Petting (man my parents freaked when they saw that on their credit card bill), what about the business that you could buy all your lecture notes (not that I would EVER)…ahh, all defunct now… EXCEPT FBC-​as the cool kids called it.
They used to have plastic bins chock full of FREE records, cds, cassettes, posters, samples, demos… hey, I was a broke college kid-​I dug it.
Inside the guys who ran the shop were true music aficinados… little Einsteins of musical history and obscure genres.
You could find a NKOTB record for the simpletons but you could also find rare vinyl treasures.
This was THE place for vinyl… but they also have a bevy of cds as well… used mostly, some new… plus, they would buy your music so you can afford a keg stand later on that eve. I loved that you could listen before you buy…
This was not the place for bootlegs… all the deadheads knew, inFlight was the place for that… I think they even had a lawsuit to prove it!
This place is a MSU gem and institution… generations upon generations adore FBC!

FBC started when vinyl was king, the Pioneer Supertuner was the way to listen to cassettes in your car and 8-​tracks were on their way out. Today, they have a great mix of vinyl and CDs and the range of music is astounding.
I estimate about half of my record collection came from FBC. If you want to get educated about what went on in music before and what’s going on right now, spend some time here.

This is a good record store. You should check it out.

Although a bit on the small side, FBC is a great store. They don’t have everything, but they have something for everyone. The staff is great, and very helpful. I have not been in the store a single time when they weren’t playing great music; music I liked. It is one of the few record stores in Michigan with a very good international section; especially African and Reggae. Visit this place, it will not be a waste of time.

FBC (as known by East Lansingers) is one of the most complete and amazing place to buy rare and popular records, cds, dvds, etc. They also have plenty of back issues of music related magazines, which is great for über nerds that rave about collecting. This place is just an experience. You must go.

FBC is the best record store you’ll find outside of a major city. The selection is top notch and John, the manager, knows everything about everything.
The prices are on-​par with any other store you’ll find. I mostly buy new vinyl there (mostly reissues and compilations) and when I want something, there’s a very good chance they will have it. And if they don’t have it, they’ll get it for you. And if they can’t get it, it means its out-​of-​print and you’ll have to hit up eBay to overpay for it.
They keep all the CDs behind the desk, which is weird if you’re a CD buyer. But who buys CDs anymore, anyway?

I don’t know to what extent I can give an objective review of this place, this is where I began going to when I realized there was more to listen to out there than the nasally whining of Billy Corgan. I bought some great CD’s here, I got my first record player here, and I found some amazing records as well (Modern Lovers first LP on Bezerkley, Joy Division’s «Unknown Pleasures»).
It’s not the biggest record store I’ve been in, but it is by far my favorite. They fill their space up with some great music and cut out a lot of the filler, and the prices are fairly reasonable (I can really appreciate it now, after living in NY for three years). The guys that work there are helpful, friendly and not even remotely condescending. I haven’t been back to East Lansing in about 4 years now, but when I do return I hope to God FBC will still be there.

This place is great if you want to feel pretentious, discover new music (that you have to gamble on), or find that perfect cd or record. I like to do all of those things, so I usually stop in if I’m in the area, despite most of my music coming from torrents these days. The used bins contain some real older gems at a price so cheap I’m actually willing to spend money on them.
The downside? Yeah, it’s pricier than Best Buy. And, I once tried to buy an Of Montréal cd but it actually contained an Of Montréal ep. They let me trade it in, however, which was neat since I’d already ripped the ep. Thanks FBC!

What an awesome used record store this is. C., her brother, and I stopped by while we were in town for Thanksgiving — do you detect a theme to this string of reviews? — and we all left loaded down with LPs, CDs, and such. I found a High Strung — Williamsburg by way of Michigan — CD, as well as stuff by Weasel Walter and Railroad Jerk for cheap. And C. and Neil also found music to their liking.
There’s only one CD player that’s a listening station. Another patron hogged it for most of the time we were there, but when she was done, I could check out a Katherine Whalen disc (post-​Zippers and –Jazz Squad) and decide I didn’t need it. Someone had spilled a cup of soft serve on top, and it appeared to have been there awhile.
Extra bonus: The little mall area in which the shop is located — upstairs — sports a public restroom that accessible without entering any of the shops or offices. If you’re walking around downtown and need to use the facilities, it’s easy in, easy out.
I’ll be back.