The Smile, Mitski, Jack White, Rina Sawayama, and More Releasing Rough Trade Exclusive Vinyl Records: Angel Olsen, Black Midi, Weyes Blood, Yeule, and others are also issuing special-edition records. …“We want to thank Rough Trade (NYC) for considering us for Vinyl Album of the Year, it means a lot,” the Smile said in a statement. “Independent record stores and labels remain islands under threat, but are absolutely essential to finding new music, music that exists away from homogenous clean universe of infinite repeat that we are subjected to without being asked. We rely on independent music stores as much as others to find inspiration, to be challenged and to remain excited and surprised by music. Music will be nothing without such independence – rendered meaningless fodder, cheap disposable furniture in a store that nobody notices and nobody cares about.”
Chicago, IL | Dave’s Records goes out in a blaze of glory: Last week, beloved Lincoln Park vinyl shop Dave’s Records announced some sad news: after 20 years, it’s closing for good. Store owner Dave Crain tells Gossip Wolf the last day will be in December, but he hasn’t confirmed an exact date. Crain opened Dave’s Records in 2002 in a former 2nd Hand Tunes location, and about a year and a half ago the whole building was sold. The new owners have told Crain they intend to knock down and replace the building, so even though he renewed the shop’s lease last year, he knows that the writing is on the wall. “Selling it didn’t seem like an option to me,” Crain says. “Starting at a new location, I thought about—but I’ve seen people move, and it takes a while till people figure out that you didn’t just close up. And then there was option three, which is the option I’m taking—which is to go out in a blaze of glory and get the records in the hands of all our fans.”
Portland, OR | Shopping mall fills empty stores with indie shops and pop-ups: On a recent Saturday afternoon, a mall in Portland, Oregon, hosted a bustling pop-up art market from inside a vacant storeroom with dozens of participating vendors. Lloyd Center mall was near foreclosure last year and is now renting to small businesses and shops. “I’ve heard from a lot of customers coming in and just saying, ‘Thanks, I haven’t been here in years, and this is a great excuse to check it out again,’” said Tony Remple, who runs record store Musique Plastique inside a former Spencer’s. As the pandemic turned the economy on its head, retail took a hit. Consumers went online and dozens of retail companies filed for bankruptcy. Shopping malls that were already hurting before the pandemic started emptying out. But Lloyd Center is pivoting. The mall has new leases with a gallery, a hand-printed clothing company and a tattoo parlor. Jason Leivian, who owns comic book store Floating World Comics, is hoping more will come.
Montreal, CA | 8 Of Montreal’s Most-Loved Record Stores & Where To Find Them: If we left out your favourite, let us know! Spotify and Tidal plays simply don’t hit the same as a crisp vinyl according to many, especially Montreal hipsters (and legitimately cool people). Montreal’s thriving music scene includes a network of local record stores responsible for hosting, amplifying and spreading indie music throughout the city. Many of these stores have also served as community hubs for musically interested Montrealers, and eight of them can be found right here for your viewing — and then, listening — pleasure. If your favourite spot isn’t on this list, then a) feel cool, go ahead, and b) let us know!
30 years ago: Record store clerk’s fake grunge slang becomes real: By late 1992, grunge had become more than a zeitgeist-shifting musical phenomenon, as Seattle’s distinctive fashion sensibilities spread nationwide. A curious editor at The New York Times decided to get out in front of the trend by assigning a reporter to learn more. That’s when things entered a harsh realm. Rick Marin called Sub Pop Records, a Seattle-based label that had signed central figures in the burgeoning grunge movement like Nirvana, Mudhoney and Soundgarden. He was specifically curious if the trend included any hip new slang – and Megan Jasper, the “totally overcaffeinated” 25-year-old employee who answered the phone, was happy to oblige. “I was like, ‘Really?'” Jasper remembered years later. “I thought, ‘Sure, but there really wasn’t a secret language. It seemed like a rather bizarre request.”
The Rolling Stones in Mono / 16LP coloured vinyl box set repress: Now officially confirmed. Back in July, SDE informed you of a forthcoming vinyl repress of The Rolling Stones in Mono from ABKCO Records. It all went a bit quiet and this was never officially confirmed, although now it finally is and there’s a surprise bonus to boot! This 16LP vinyl box set of The Rolling Stones‘ albums from 1963 to 1969 will now be reissued in January next year, and unlike the original vinyl box, first issued back in 2016, this repress will offer 16 coloured vinyl records. This long out-of-print collection (Discogs prices start at over £600) brings together 14 studio albums plus Stray Cats, a compilation of songs from singles and EPs issued in the 1960s. In total, The Rolling Stones in Mono delivers 186 tracks, 56 of which, when issued in 2016, “had never before been heard in mono since the advent of the digital age.”
Why emo endures: the comforting nostalgia of emo on vinyl: Over the last 20 years, emo has moved from the margins of mainstream music to near its centre. But beyond this, why has emo endured and experienced a renaissance during times of crisis? Francesca Sobande reflects on the rising popularity of emo vinyl releases and considers what has prompted peak emo nostalgia. In the early 2000s, you would be hard-pressed to find many record stores with a section dedicated to emo, yet the genre now has a powerful presence in the vinyl world. The blossoming relationship between vinyl and emo has led to reissues of albums like Paramore’s Riot! for label Fueled By Ramen’s 25th anniversary and the recently announced 2oth anniversary repressing of Thrice’s The Illusion of Safety. However, vinyl and emo haven’t always been a perfect pairing.
