Vancouver, BC | Red Cat Records’ Hastings-Sunrise store closes permanently: Red Cat Records’ second location, on East Hastings Street, has closed permanently. The popular independent retailer, which opened at 2447 East Hastings Street in September 2016, sold new and used vinyl records and related merchandise, as well as local concert tickets. In a notice posted on its Instagram account on May 2, the store blamed the coronavirus-pandemic closure and the end of its lease at that location for the shuttering. “It’s with a heavy heart that we have to announce our decision to close our second location at Hastings & Nanaimo,” the note reads. “It’s been a great five years, but given current events & that our lease is ending we need to consolidate to just one store.” Red Cat opened its original store at 4332 Main Street in 2002. The decision to open another location was a bit of a gamble at the time, as no Vancouver independent record store had ever successfully expanded since the glory days of downtown retail record sales on and around Seymour Street, known then as Record Row.
Minneapolis, MN | Kingfield record shop hits the road: Roadrunner Records is leaving its longtime home, but it won’t be hard for regulars to find. The store, which opened at 43rd & Nicollet in 1986, will relocate two blocks south to 4534 Nicollet Ave. Ideally, the store will open for business around June 1, though with the coronavirus pandemic it’s hard to say for sure, according to shop owner John Beggs. “The best thing for us is it was affordable and close,” he said. Beggs bought Roadrunner Records in 1999 from original owner Todd Adams. The shop grew and shrunk over the years with trends in the economy and the record business. The situation at 4304 Nicollet Ave. was always a bit informal, and often Roadrunner had no official lease and an affordable rent. The building, which also housed recently closed Midwest Cycle Supply, was sold last summer and Beggs began to look for a new space. “I never considered this place mine,” he said. The new location will be. The Beggs family bought the building at 45th & Nicollet and are in the process of renovating it. The Minneapolis Planning Commission approved a zoning change allowing the store to operate there last month.
Melbourne, AU | New record store drama series, Mint Condition, streaming from today: If you’ve already burned through all the music-related stuff on Netflix and Stan during lockdown, boy do we have news for you. Mint Condition, a new short Aussie drama series set in a Fitzroy record store, is available to stream from today. The show stars Sibylla Budd (The Secret Life of Us) as Audrey, a single mum who opens a record store. Mint Condition follows Audrey as she navigates dysfunctional family life, washed-up rocker Vince Taylor and her love for vinyl. The series co-stars Gary Sweet (House Husbands), Bernard Curry (Wentworth), Damien Richardson (Neighbours) and newcomer Grace Champion. Best of all, Mint Condition features original music from a handful of Melbourne’s best indie bands. The soundtrack includes #1 Dads, Romeo Moon, Cold Gold, Astral Skulls and many more. “We want the audience to really love the diversity of these great songs and get a good feel for the live music scene and the music community that we have in Melbourne,” co-producer and music supervisor, Lyndelle Wilkinson, said in a statement.
Wales, UK | What it’s like to run your own business in the middle of lockdown: Business owners from across Wales have spoken of the impact coronavirus has had on them. …Matt Davies, 39, shut his three record shops shortly before the Government lockdown – just having just opened a new shop in Swansea. The business owner from Barry said: “Obviously the immediate impact is the shops are shut and that’s 80% of my revenue but I have carried on doing stuff online. Unfortunately my website isn’t active as a shop but I’m trying to get up to speed with that. I didn’t initially ship out online because I wasn’t comfortable putting post workers at risk, I love records but I don’t believe they are classed as essential products but orders started backing up so I started posting out. “I have got a little bit of income and I’ve received some support from the rates based grant so I can pay my suppliers. I’ve furloughed my staff so they’re given 80% of their wages so they’re being kept with some income. “The shop was in reasonable health when I went into it so once the stock is paid I shouldn’t be too bad. To be honest I’ve been using the time I wouldn’t usually get to do things at home and with the business. I have been posting more content online and trying to engage people and I’ve learned to adapt really and trying to draw more people in.
Pitchfork Staffers Recommend 16 Great Indie Record Stores You Can Support Online: Like so many other businesses in the pandemic, record stores have had to move online. This isn’t necessarily a new move: Discogs, eBay, and other sites have been hubs for vinyl for years. But for the independent shops that have long held onto their brick-and-mortar locations, their spirit of discovery and generosity—and the warm communities for music lovers they have built—are translating online, too. If you’re going to buy records, buy them from these stores now so you can enjoy them in person later.
Peter Gabriel’s Rated PG album set for general release: Originally launched as a limited edition picture disc for Record Store Day 2019, Peter Gabriel’s Rated PG will go on general release later this year. Last year a collection of Peter Gabriel’s songs that were either written for or appeared in films was released to mark Record Store Day 2019. The album titled Rated PG launched a year ago as a limited edition picture disc – and it was the first time all Gabriel’s movie tracks had been collected in one volume. It’s now been announced that Rated PG will go on general release on June 12 on black vinyl and on CD. Rated PG includes a total of 10 tracks including Taboo featuring Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan from Natural Born Killers, Nocturnal from Les Morsures de l’Aube, Down To Earth from Wall-E and Everybird from Birds Like Us.
Las Vegas, NV | Learn about vinyl’s origins, and how to join its musical re-revolution: Classic and beloved as the output from vinyl’s 1960s and ’70s heyday might be, the era we’re living in now might actually be the best one for listening to music on vinyl. In a year when life has been anything but ordinary, playing music on a turntable has brought normalcy for many, helping us pass the time while connecting our present to the past. Whether you’re a new collector or considering becoming one, dive into this beginner’s guide to vinyl.
