Deep Ellum, TX | Dallas music veteran to open record store and gear shop in Deep Ellum: For over two decades, creative entrepreneur and arts impressario Mike Ziemer has worn several hats in Dallas-Fort Worth’s music scene: From organizing indie punk pop shows at the Plano Event Center to promoting shows at venues in Deep Ellum to creating the So What?! Festival. In August, he plans to champion Deep Ellum’s rich musical history with the opening of Corner Store Records, a new record store that will open at 2952 Commerce St. in the space previously occupied by Dope Ellum. Having spent much of his younger years in record stores like Virgin Megastore and Tower Records, Ziemer has always dreamt of opening a record store of his own. “I’ve actually been collecting vinyl since I was like, 17 or 18,” he says. “My favorite movie of all time is High Fidelity. And even though [Rob Gordon, played by John Cusack] is kind of a miserable record store owner, I’ve always wanted to do that.”
Salisbury, UK | Boiler Room Records relocates Poole store to Salisbury: Boiler Room Records has relocated its Kingland Crescent store in Poole to a new home in Salisbury’s Cross Keys Shopping Centre. The grand opening took place on Friday, 5th July 2024, in collaboration with Vinyl Collectors & Sellers, who previously ran the record store in that location. This exciting move introduces a London-style record shop to Salisbury, offering new and collectable vinyl, CDs, and accessories. Boiler Room Records, established 40 years ago, is known for its extensive collection of music and its dedication to the vinyl community. The original shop at 27 High Street, Old Town, Poole, which has been a staple for 35 years, will remain open, continuing to serve great music to the people of Poole. Boiler Room Records owner Mark Northey stated, “We loved our time at Kingland, especially the support from Legal & General, who have been leading the way with innovative ideas in modern retail.”
Danbury, CT | Online record shop, Trash American Style, is moving out of CT after 38 years: Online record shop Trash American Style, which once operated a Danbury storefront, is ending operations in Connecticut this month after nearly 40 years in the state. Co-founder and owner Malcolm Tent told Hearst Connecticut Media he’s moving to North Carolina to be a full-time member of the band, ANTiSeen. “(I’m leaving) all my friends and customers and people who I’ve been hanging out with here in Connecticut since 1986. My destiny awaits in the sunny south,” the 59-year-old Danbury resident said. Tent and his former business partner Kathy Kelly ran the new and used record shop from 1986-2007, before transitioning it to an online store and organizing pop-up shops across the state. Trash American Style sells vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, videos and rock ‘n’ roll memorabilia. Tent will continue operating the online store, but he’s always found the in-person sales component to be the core of the business, he said.
Chicago, IL | Torn Light Records Bringing Jazz, Post Punk And More To Bucktown’s Milwaukee Avenue: The record store operated in Cincinnati and nearby Newport, Kentucky, for over a decade before making the move to Chicago. A record store with an emphasis on jazz, post punk, experimental music and many other genres sourced from lesser-known labels and bands is now open in Bucktown. Torn Light Records opened late last month at 1855 N. Milwaukee Ave. While it’s new to Chicago, the store is actually in its 11th year in business: Co-owners Alex York and Dan Buckley started it more than a decade ago in Kentucky before moving to Cincinnati. After many years in Ohio, York and Buckley realized they were spending more and more time in Chicago. They started looking for spaces here in early 2023 and decided to move their operation — which includes releasing records and tapes of their own and consulting on other projects — to the city. Earlier this year, the duo took over the former home of the Chicago Teachers, Inc. store, which has been vacant for several years. They’ve spent the past few months prepping to build out the space and reopen.
Richmond, VA | Dig to discover: A field guide to building your record collection w/Vinyl Conflict: Collecting vinyl is a total experience, a lifestyle that connects many things into a singular space. For some, it is a way to connect past to present; for others, it is a way to support your favorite bands and artists. And for others still, it is about the hunt. Finding that one elusive record is like digging for lost treasure, revealing itself at exactly the right moment. Building a record collection is not only a prism that reflects your identity but also cuts to the core of how you connect to the world around you. As with all things, taking that first step is always the hardest part, especially when the sonic universe is as vast as it is limitless. Because of this, walking into a record store with the intention of starting a record collection is not as easy as it may seem. Whether you’re into rap, punk, soul, or metal, one record inevitably leads to a hundred more—each waiting to find their forever home.
Benton Harbor, MI | Introducing Phaseshifter Records in the Benton Harbor Arts District: Joe Davis is a record collector’s dream. He appreciates music, knows the value of good music, and is willing to share what he knows. He’s a published musician and enjoys virtually all genres. He’s passionate about sharing the backstory of the inspiration behind the music and worked at some of the world’s most iconic music outlets. Now, Joe is looking forward to bringing his life’s passion to music lovers in Southwest Michigan through his newly acquired music store, Phaseshifter Records in the Benton Harbor Arts District. Davis is the new owner of the soon-to-be former 3 Pillars Music store in Benton Harbor. Ready for retirement, lifelong area resident Tom Ives sold his store to Davis this month. Besides a side gig of selling collectable records online, Ives is getting out of the record store game. Enter Joe Davis.
New Bedford, CT | New Bedford record shop gets surprise visit from ‘Bob’s Burgers’ star: When you own a record shop, you never know who is going to walk through the doors. It may even be a real live cartoon. That’s what happened at Purchase Street Records on Pope’s Island in New Bedford on Sunday, when Bob’s Burgers star Eugene Mirman stopped in to do a little shopping. Purchase Street Records owner Roger Chouinard told WBSM that Mirman, who voices the character of Gene Belcher, was visiting New Bedford and drove by the shop and decided to stop in. “He was with his family,” Chouinard said. “He didn’t say who he was, but his wife said, ‘Look, your records are here, you should sign them.” Chouinard had both the soundtrack album to The Bob’s Burgers Movie and The Bob’s Burgers Music Album Vol. 2 in the shop, and Mirman signed them while showing off his signature wit. “He said they’d probably be worth less unopened,” Chouinard said. Mirman grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts from the time he was four years old (he was born in Moscow, Russia) and attended Hampshire College.
Cocteau Twins and Harold Budd’s ‘The Moon and the Melodies’ Is Being Reissued on Vinyl: The reissue of the 1986 LP was mastered by Robin Guthrie himself. The Cocteau Twins and composer Harold Budd joined forces in 1986 to put out a collaborative studio album entitled The Moon and the Melodies. Nearly forty years later, the project is receiving a vinyl repressing. Ethereal and dreamy, the LP converges the minimalist and improvised compositions of Budd, who passed away in 2020, with Elizabeth Fraser’s floating vocals on four songs, while another four favor the composer’s meandering, poem-like style. The Cocteau Twins are also credited on the LP not by their band name but rather individually as Fraser, Robin Guthrie and Simon Raymonde. Guthrie has remastered the original tapes from The Moon and the Melodies recording sessions, which took place over a few weeks at the band’s home studio in West London. Reflecting on the album’s origins, Raymonde recalled that their group’s recording process was “always about making something that’s pleasurable, capturing a moment in time between friends that are enjoying making music together.”
