Edinburgh, UK | New Edinburgh record shop run by music enthusiast opens in Corstorphine: Andy Barbour has been obsessed with records since he was a young child and has now channeled the knowledge and energy he accumulated into creating an environment for record collectors in the west of Edinburgh. A new quirky record shop has opened in the west of Edinburgh in the area of Corstorphine. Almond River Records was started by Andy Barbour, 39, from Cramond, around a year ago but has recently turned into a brick and mortar store with its own physical space. Andy has lived for records since he was a child, confessing that he began to collect them as a child and has even spent as much as £80 on a copy of ‘Ogdens Nut Gone Flake by the Small Faces.’ He started an online record shop on Christmas Eve 2020, but ended up opening a physical shop after a unit became available during lockdown. The store opened in December 2021 and is situated at 253 St. John’s Road, Corstorphine, EH12 7XD.
Burnley, UK | Inside one of the UK’s first independent record shops and a Burnley gem: Burnley’s Electron Records maintains a fiercely loyal fanbase after decades. Electron Records is one of the UK’s oldest independent record shops and is quite literally an Aladdin’s Cave. Akin to an antiques shop bursting to the seams with nooks and crannies to explore, Electron in Burnley is packed with records, tapes and CDs to tempt any music lover through the doors. The shop in Hall Street was opened by James Baxter, the dad of current owner Les, back in 1955 when things in the music industry were very different. “You just have to move along with the times,” Les, who has worked in the shop since he was 16, told LancsLive. “You see lots of changes. Vinyl coming in and then going and then coming back. It’s definitely seen a bit of a revival and people want to own it now. Not just to play but to display it.” With everything from albums to film soundtracks, 12″ singles, pop rock, male vocalists, a special Beatles section, a discount section and much, much more Electron really does have something for everyone.
Jacksonville, FL | Building a Legacy: DJ’s Record Shop in Jacksonville: Jerry West is the owner of DJ’s record Shop in Jacksonville’s Lackawanna area. It’s community staple, having been in business for more than five decades. DJs Record Shop is a Jacksonville staple in the Lackawanna neighborhood that’s been in business for more than five decades. It’s owner, Jerry West, says his shop was the first Black business in the area, and he was met by resistance from people who lived and worked nearby. “When I first moved out here in 74′ every day I came my windows were broken,” West said. “C&C Glass Company used to be out there on Beaver Street. He came and put glass up so much, it seemed like every day I was going there. So I guess on his way if he passed by my glass was broken they would replace the glass for me, and I’d come by on Saturday’s and I’d pay em’ you know.” He recalls vividly a kind gesture from a stranger that gave him encouragement to persevere. “This particular morning as I was sweeping the glass up there was a lady coming by, and I didn’t see her when she came up, but she said ‘baby this all I got’,” West said. “She had 15 cents in her hand. She said don’t let them run you away.”
Dundee, UK | ‘Rock and roll is here to stay’ Groucho’s old guard still delivering to Dundee’s independent music lovers: Thirteen Records rose from the ashes of the legendary Perth Road shop and is welcoming a wide mix of customers again. In the third and final interview with the city’s independent record shops, Dundee Live chats to the trio of bosses at Thirteen Records. The hugely popular Union Street shop is run by Frank Mills, Morag ‘Moog’ Rogers and Lee Scott. The triumverate used to work at the legendary Groucho’s store on the Perth Road. They took the plunge into business themselves when it shut down during the early days of the pandemic. And they stayed open through the lockdown with some imaginative and flexible business ideas. Lee told Dundee Live how Thirteen Records came about. He said: “The three of us who opened the shop all worked in Groucho’s previously. “We lost our jobs after the shop closed during the initial lockdown and decided to set up Thirteen ourselves.
Oshawa, ON | ‘There’s Nothing Like Vinyl’ Says Proprietor Of Oshawa’s Latest Document Retailer: Andre Lessard owns Another Spin, a new record store that recently opened in downtown Oshawa carrying used vinyl records, CDs, books, cassettes and T-shirts. Is it fair to ask someone with a collection of more than 3,000 records what their favorite album is? Not surprisingly, Andre Lessard loves all kinds of music. He’s been collecting Madonna albums for decades (and has more than 380) and listens to jazz, funk, disco, soul, rock, metal and indie. His record collection ranges from Depeche Mode and the Smiths to new artists like Willow Smith and Celeste. This is the kind of stuff Lessard loves to chat about when customers drop by Another Spin Records and More, the new downtown Oshawa record store he co-owns. “I really like to discuss music with customers. It’s the stories. Every customer has their own favorite band, their own favorite record and I like to hear about that,” he says. “Meeting new people through the store has opened my eyes and ears to other music.”
West Lothian, UK | New West Lothian record shop named Store of the Month by leading retailer: Low Port Music in Linlithgow has only been open for six months but is already making a name for itself. A new record shop in Linlithgow has been named January’s ‘Record Store of the month’ by vinyl gift card company, Record Tokens. Low Port Music has only been open for six months, but is already beginning to see a steady stream of locals and visitors alike. Opening in June of 2021, the record store is the only independent shop in West Lothian dedicated entirely to vinyl records. Record tokens serve as a gift card for hundreds of independent record shops around the UK, and the company celebrates independent high street stores with their monthly awards. Linlithgow saw more people buy the Record Tokens than any other participating independent record store in Scotland. The owner of Low Port Music, Chris Corry, attributes it to the town’s reputation as a premiere destination for specialist shops. Chris spoke about running the business on Linlithgow’s High Street, he said: “It’s been great so far – I’ve only been here since June and already I’ve seen so much support from the local community.
Melbourbe, AU | Music Room Is the Dedicated ‘Listening Bar’ Located Within the Arbory Team’s New HER Building: A cocktail bar for the music-lovers, complete with a 3000-strong vinyl collection and DJ Jnett in the role of Music Director. If you’ve been living under a rock for the last few years, you might have missed the news about HER, a four-storey mega-venue in Melbourne’s CBD from the guys behind Arbory and Arbory Afloat. It (finally) opened for business this week. One of those four storeys is Music Room, Melbourne’s first official ‘listening bar.’ What’s a listening bar? Well, it’s like a regular cocktail bar, mixed with a speakeasy, mixed with a recording studio and a vinyl record store, mixed with the cool kids’ table from high school. That’s the best we can do. HER’s Music Director, celebrated local DJ Jnett, puts it this way: “Music Room will present an array of selectors every evening of the week. From legends and collectors to fresh, young newcomers. DJs from near and far, old and new, some famous and some unfamiliar. It’s the first room of its kind in Melbourne, and there’s no doubt your first experience here won’t be your last.”
Mascoutah, MO | Record-playing Loden on a path to becoming record-breaker at Mascoutah: Sophia Loden isn’t playing basketball to set records. Winning games is what most interests the Mascoutah High School junior. Playing records is an entirely different topic. We’re talking vinyl. It might seem strange for a soon-to-be 17-year-old to even recognize such relics, let alone possess an understanding of how they function. Not for Loden. She owns about 40 albums and is on the prowl for more. “Whenever I’m at home, I’m using my record player. I love it. It’s nice and peaceful,” Loden said of a hobby that began two years ago when an aunt presented her with a turntable on her birthday. “My record player is a newer one, but yeah, you pick up (the album) and put it on the player. “I’ve told all my friends about my record player. They all know about it.” That includes junior Katie Schneider, Loden’s teammate. “I think it’s cool,” said Schneider, who hasn’t yet seen Loden’s record player but is eager to learn about it. “She’ll have to teach me how it works.”
Is the CD Revival an Actual Thing? Indie record stores and Gen Z listeners attest: In a small but meaningful way, the silver discs are enjoying a cultural renaissance. …record sellers contacted by Pitchfork maintain that CD sales have indeed been on the rise, and some Gen Z music fans are happy to enthuse about their affection for these once-futuristic pieces of plastic. While there seem to be voguish as well as nostalgic factors driving this interest in CDs among people younger than Napster, the phenomenon is also a reminder of how the original digital-audio medium’s influence has lingered into the streaming era. “The CD made indifference a viable consumer attitude,” wrote the anthropologist Eric Walter Rothenbuhler. CDs, after all, were the first physical format that listeners could practically ignore due to their slim size and near-perfect sound quality, priming audiences for an era of passive, portable consumption.
