NJ | Stop by one of North Jersey’s local record stores to find your next hidden treasure: While analog copies of music were once thought to be a thing of the past for most, they have experienced a resurgence in recent years. In the age of online shopping, many people are missing out on the excitement that comes along with digging through bins of music to finally find that one hidden treasure and, instead, have grown accustomed to having everything delivered to their front doors. So, whether you’re a seasoned music lover or you’ve just gotten your first turntable and are looking to build your collection, take some time to explore local record stores in our area. Here are nine local record stores where you can browse records, CDs and cassette tapes to your hearts content.
Southport, UK | New Vinyl Finders shop opens in Southport with a vast collection of records and CDs: Had a little saunter down Wesley Street in Southport this week and found a newly-opened gem. It’s Vinyl Finders, located in the shop that many Southport people will know as J A Kelly’s… and it’s a magical emporium for vinyl lovers! It has a vast collection of vinyl and CDs, curated over half a century, and spanning all genres and including rock, jazz, blues, folk, country, soul, Motown, classical and a liberal smattering of favourite power-pop and alternative country. There’s lots of vintage and rare music memorabilia and many of the records are rare titles and pressings. It even has a jukebox! The owner, Paul Darwin, described his background: “Music is my passion. For over 50 years collecting it has been my time, money and space consuming obsession!”
Glasgow, UK | HUGE queue outside Glasgow music store as fans wait to meet MAJOR Scottish band: Dozens of music fans queued outside a Glasgow record shop this evening to meet a popular Scottish band. Punters were spotted waiting in a long line outside Assai Records on Sauchiehall Street where The Snuts are expected to perform live and sign records between 5pm and 7pm. The queue to meet the lads looked to start at the doors of the record shop and continued past the Mackintosh At The Willow, stationed further down the street. It comes as the West Lothian band’s third studio album, Millennials, dropped today. The 10-track record has been released via the band’s newly set up label, Happy Artist Records. It follows their break away from their previous label home, Parlophone.
Kuala Lumpur, MY | Tandang Records a blast from the past for music lovers: There was a time when record shops were a common sight and music lovers listened to albums instead of streaming content. To be fair, there are still some audiophiles around, but they’re almost like members of an exclusive club today, sharing news and secrets about where to find a good collection of LPs, CDs and music cassettes. One of those so-called secrets is Tandang Records Store, located close to the heart of Kuala Lumpur. The walls of the narrow staircase leading up to the store are plastered with posters of famous bands and when you push past the heavy door, that’s where the real magic happens – a treasure trove of cassettes, vinyl records and CDs to feed your nostalgia. This store is co-owned by Wan Hazril Hisham Kadri. “What I love about my store,” he told FMT Lifestyle, “is that I’m able to share my love for music with my customers. We can connect through our mutual love of music, even if our preferences are different.”
Chicago, IL | New Chicago house label GTO Recordings debuts with an in-store at Gramaphone Records: GTO Recordings is a new Chicago house label that just dropped their first 12″ vinyl release, a jack attack called The Penthouse EP from DJ Tommy Starck. On the afternoon of Sunday, February 25 2024 they’ll be kicking off with an in-store show at Chicago’s Gramaphone Records featuring Starck and Mel Hammond from 1 to 4pm. “This is a project thirty years in the making,” Tommy Starck told 5 Mag. “I got my first decks in high school in the mid nineties, went out to Colorado to finish school and used to play events around the front range. “I returned to Chicago in 2003 to pursue a career in financial markets in the commodities futures pits. During this period I held a residency at Betty’s Blue Star Lounge. It was around this time I went back for grad school and I never made the switch to digital DJing. I felt like it was time to put these tracks out on wax.” …The Penthouse EP is being distributed by Groove Distribution and should be available wherever you buy black wax worldwide.
Scotland, UK | I ploughed £2.5million into a ‘dead industry’ – it’s now booming: ‘If anyone had told me we’d be going back to ancient technology and resurrecting it again in 2024, I wouldn’t have believed them.’ The vinyl album phenomenon continues to grow with nearly six million record sales last year alone. But the boom has also hit the right notes within the Scots music industry. Scotland’s first record press Seabass Vinyl—which cost £2.5million to launch—opened at the end of last year while Rockvinyl will become the country’s second plant this spring after a £1.75million crowdfunding campaign. …Vinyl records aren’t just for the middle-aged men trying to recapture their youth—but are now helping indie bands to make tracks in the music industry. That’s according to David Brady, the managing director of Rockvinyl, who will launch a crowd-funding campaign next week—backed by Simple Minds frontman Jim Kerr—to raise £1.75million for Scotland’s latest record press. But while megastars like Beyonce and Taylor Swift have been cashing in on the vinyl album revival for years, he believes it can now help new acts to make their name.
Princeton, WV | Hatter’s Bookshop awarded Princeton Business Works grant: A local bookshop now owned by people with a passion for books became the recipient Friday of the quarterly Princeton Business Works grant. The owners of The Hatter’s Bookshop, Rebekah Snow and her husband, Cody Dillon, were presented the quarterly Princeton Business Works grant during Friday’s meeting of the Rotary Club of Princeton. Snow said they became the bookstore’s new owners in October last year. “Thank you for choosing us for this grant,” Snow said. “We will be using it the best that we possibly can. It’s an honor to speak to you about something we’re really passionate about. Located along Mercer Street in the Grassroots District near the Princeton Public Library, The Hatter’s Bookshop sells books, vintage vinyl records, incense, local art, bookmarks, T-shirts and other merchandise. “We do a little bit more than books, but books are our passion,” Snow said.
Noah Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo to Release Split Edition Single for Record Store Day: The brewing mutual admiration society between Noah Kahan and Olivia Rodrigo has finally born fruit: the two will release a limited edition split 7″ vinyl for Record Store Day, April 20. The two are covering each other’s songs for the release. Side A features Rodrigo’s interpretation of “Stick Season,” from Kahan’s 2022 album of the same name. Side B is Kahan’s version of a Rodrigo deep-cut, “Lacy,” from Guts. Their recording sessions took place separately for BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge. Rodrigo recorded her session at Los Angeles’ Hollywood Forever Cemetery, which is not only a fully functioning cemetery and funeral home but also a cultural arts center, complete with an outdoor film screening series and regular concerts at the Masonic Lodge onsite. Rodrigo’s performance of the tender ballad is a faithful one, though distinguished by her distinct inflections.
St Paul, MN | Rediscovering retro: Why vinyl is coming back: A revival has been in the recording booth for the vinyl industry with record sales reaching chart-topping highs in the 2020s. Despite the digital age bringing consumers copious ways to listen to music with a touch of their fingertips — at a much easier and low-effort degree nonetheless — a renewed attraction persists towards these clunky and vintage things. How did this happen? Why is a new generation discovering a recording medium that was considered dead for over a decade? Vinyl needs participation. With the overwhelming development of technology, our lives have become hot-wired for convenience. For the past generation, music is something that solely existed on a phone or a computer due to streaming services grabbing the music industry by its neck. Vinyl allows for a different experience that many young people have never had. It is not just opening an app and pressing play. You first have to sort through your collection, pick something out, place it onto the turntable, set the needle and then turn it over. It is something that compels you to interact. Listening to a record is a multisensory immersive experience. It is romantic.
