Nags Head, NC | Couple, who met in a store CD aisle, brings record store back to the Outer Banks: In 2020, Surf Sound Records inside Radio Shack in Nags Head closed after 42 years, leaving the Outer Banks without an old-school record shop. But last May, wife-and-husband Abbi and Jordan Siler hit the rewind button, quietly launching Sudden Light Records, located on the second level of Jockey’s Ridge Crossing at milepost 12 on the U.S. 158 Bypass in Nags Head. “It’s not a massive store,” said Jordan Silver, 35. “But we still cover a lot of bases.” When recorded music started moving to the “cloud” over the last couple of decades, the byproduct was record stores started dropping like mosquitoes after a hard freeze. So, places where folks could flip through albums and CDs, socialize and have philosophical discussions about music – what’s the greatest album by The Beatles? or was Van Halen better with David Lee Roth or Sammy Hagar as lead singer? – became more difficult to find.
Dumfries, UK | Dumfries record shop finally reopens following December floods: Rab Smith lost £120,000 of stock but has been very busy since reopening. Domino Records shop has re-opened following the floods. The popular store was forced to shut after the latest flooding struck Dumfries at the festive period. Owner Rab Smith, 71, said: “I lost a total of £120,000 of stock and, like so many other people here, there is no insurance to cover it. “But since re-opening it is probably one of the busiest times I have ever had. “A lot of people supported the business and came in to say they hoped I would not be closing. I got a lot of sympathy. “And I even had about 15 donations of records from people for nothing. “They gave me records by the bundle and I got 10 LPs from one person and 100 LPs from another. “People were so nice and just wanted to see me get back on my feet.”
Munich, DE | Munich record shop Public Possession forced to relocate: The revered store has been operating out of the Klenzestrasse premises since 2013. Munich record shop Public Possession is being evicted by its landlord. The beloved store broke the news in a joint Instagram post with SooHotRightNow, a neighbouring skateboard shop that is also being evicted. “With sadness, we have to announce that after ten amazing years our time at Klenzestrasse 16 will be over by the end of March,” the post read. “Through a change of landlord, we’re both being forced out of the building. We want to express our gratitude to all those who have given us support over the past years. We had fun!” The post signed off with “this is not the end, just a new beginning,” which suggests the shop will reopen in a new location. The Public Possession brand was founded by Valentino Betz and Marvin Schuhmann in 2012. The following year, they launched the physical store and record label, which has released music from the likes of Baba Stiltz, Andrásand Lipelis.
San Antonio, TX | Austin firm buys Southtown Vinyl retail strip on South St. Mary’s Street: The Austin firm Ironwood Real Estate has made its second major purchase in Southtown over the last year, buying two buildings on South St. Mary’s Street, including a 1920s-era office building and the retail strip that’s home to the Southtown Vinyl record shop. A partnership linked with the firm purchased the two adjacent properties — totalling 0.46 acres, at 1112 and 1114 S. St. Mary’s St., across the street from The Good Kind restaurant — on Feb. 14 from the local brokerage JJ Real Co., county deed records show. The sale price was not disclosed; the Bexar Appraisal District valued the properties at a total of $1.3 million last year. …The Southtown Vinyl retail strip, at 1112 S. St. Mary’s, dates to the 1940s and includes about 2,880 square feet of space, according to the Bexar Appraisal District. Tommy Newman, the owner of Southtown Vinyl, said in an email that there are no plans to move the shop. It has been in the strip since 2021 after being founded in 2016 in retail space in The 1010 South Flores Apartments, he said.
Stanford, CA | University receives vast Black music collection — what does this mean for Stanford? An enormous collection of records was donated to Stanford by UC San Diego Professor Emeritus Bram Dijkstra and literary agent Sandra Dijkstra. Amassed over six decades, these recordings encompass a wide range of musical works with Black historical roots, spanning jazz, reggae, blues, soul and other genres. Though initially bound for San Diego State University, cost disputes led the Dijkstras to seek another home for the collection. Once Stanford’s Music Library catalogs the collection, which includes multiple rare and irreplaceable recordings, it will be available for students, faculty and researchers at the Archive of Recorded Sound in Braun Music Center. On February 13, Stanford’s Libraries and the Department of Music hosted an event in Green Library’s Bender Room celebrating the donation of over 8,000 vinyl records. Bram Dijkstra joined the reception through Zoom, describing how he grew up in the Netherlands and began collecting imported American records as a teenager.
Stourbridge, UK | Music lovers flock to Stourbridge for record and music fair: Music lovers flocked to Stourbridge this weekend for the town’s first record fair for three years. The Stourbridge Record and Music Fair at the Town Hall on Saturday attracted more than 650 people to peruse thousands of records whilst enjoying music and craft ale. Organiser Lee Newman, who runs Record Culture in the town, said: “There has not been a record fair in Stourbridge since before Covid so there was a lot of anticipation for this one. “We had 25 stall owners and thousands of records, more than 650 people came through the doors throughout the day so it was pretty busy.” The 37-year-old added: “This was our first ever event so we are pleased, we’ve got the record store so we have got a decent following. “We have already got another date for the next record fair, which is September 30. Vinyl is so popular at the moment and its great to see so many people interested in music.”
Tom Waits Announces 50th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue of Debut Album ‘Closing Time’ Tom Waits has announced a 50th-anniversary vinyl reissue in honour of his debut album Closing Time. The album celebrated its 50th birthday on Monday, 6th March 2023. The double vinyl LP (cut at 45 RPM) will hit shelves on Friday, 2nd June, and is available to pre-order through Waits’ record label ANTI-. It’s the latest in a number of vinyl reissues for Waits, who celebrated the 20th anniversary of his albums Alice and Blood Money in 2022 in the same fashion. Closing Time remains a highlight of Waits’ extensive back catalogue. Recorded at Sunset Sound studios in LA and released on Asylum Records in 1973, it contained two of his most recognisable songs in “Martha” and “Ol’ ’55”. “Ol’ ’55” was covered by The Eagles a few years after it was released – a cover that Waits openly disliked. “I frankly was not that particularly crazy about their rendition of it,” Waits told radio station WAMU in 1975.
