Atlanta, GA | Atlanta Record Store Owner Says Vinyl Records Are Here To Stay: Record stores have come and gone over the years, but one Atlanta shop is still going strong after three decades. Eric Levin, the owner of Criminal Records, shares why vinyl records are making a come back. Criminal Records is nestled in an Atlanta melting pot called Little Five Points, a popular hang out and shopping spot that draws a lot of foot traffic, and because of the record store, crowds of people buying vinyl records. “My son, he has a record player and he’s into all of this, so he brought us in here,” said Keyshia Porter, a customer shopping for records. The store recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. “I saw that it was the 30th anniversary on TikTok, so I decided to come in and see what they have,” said Matheo Brooks, another customer. “I certainly never thought there’d be a 30th, but I didn’t know if there’d be a first year anniversary,” said Levin.
West Babylon, NY | From records to CDs and back again: Looney Tunes Record Store celebrates 50 years: For as long as Karl Groeger can remember, music has been a major part of his life. He fondly recalls bonding with his father over favorites like a Beatles album, which was easy enough to do, as Groeger has spent most of his life working at his dad’s record store, Looney Tunes. Since 1971, Looney Tunes Record Store has been a staple in the West Babylon community for everyone looking for good music, and the medium of choice these days is a throwback to the store’s beginnings as well. “It’s amazing over the 50 years how much has changed. We use to sell records only in the ’70s and then no records, and now it’s 50 percent of our business again,” said Groeger, who took over the store in the 1990s with his brother, Jamie. “We’re pretty happy that we’ve been able to hold onto our family heritage here for 50 years.” Indeed, what was old is new again at Looney Tunes, which also sells band posters, concert T-shirts, artist biographies, and much more.
Inside Don Letts’ record collection: A journey through sound with The Rebel Dread. Don Letts has shared a new film called Behind The Records, delving into the parts of his vinyl collection that have shaped his forthcoming Late Night Tales compilation, Version Excursion. “A disciple of sound system, raised on reggae n’ bass culture, my go to sound was dub. Besides being spacious and sonically adventurous at the same time, its most appealing aspect was the space it left to put yourself ‘in the mix’ underpinned by Jamaica’s gift to the world – bass. But that’s only half the story as the duality of my existence meant I was also checking what the Caucasian crew were up to not to mention the explosion of Black music coming in from the States. That’s why ‘version excursion’ crosses time space and genre – from The Beach Boys to The Beatles, Nina Simone to Marvin Gaye, The Bee Gees to Kool & The Gang, The Clash to Joy Division, and beyond. You’d think it impossible to draw a line between ’em but not in my world. Fortunately, the ‘cover version’ has played an integral part in the evolution of Jamaican music and dub covers were just a natural extension.”
El Paso, TX | New record store in downtown El Paso brings back the nostalgia: Sound Decay, a new record store near downtown El Paso, is putting a spin on what your regular record shop is supposed to look like. Located at 1314 Magoffin Ave., this nostalgic shop is almost hard to spot as it is set in an old house, making the place a home for all music lovers. Danny Alcantar owns the store with his brother. They’re both local DJs who started their vinyl collections as young children. “Music is a part of our life. And we were, like, constantly surrounded by it, so might as well, maybe, make a living off of it,” said Alcantar. Sound Decay opened in early July, and Alcantar said it is seeing customers of all ages come in and browse their offerings. “There’s a whole new generation, not older people that are into it, but definitely ranges like from teenagers [to people] all the way up into their ’60s, ’70s, but everybody’s into it right now,” he said.
For the Love of Listening: Tracy Wilson’s Courtesy Desk distribution pairs curation and community, providing a new route for hard-to-find music. …Recording artist. Label owner. Deejay. Fan. Buyer. Collector. Record store clerk. There’s hardly a stretch of the pathway from music-making and selling to listening, sharing and playing and booking shows that Tracy Wilson hasn’t traveled during her 30-year career, and she has the uncanny ability to pinpoint where her considerable skill set is needed most. Therein lies the second meaning of Courtesy Desk. Wilson spent nearly a third of those 30 years at Caroline Distribution, where she sold sometimes-reluctant big-box stores on independent, alternative music that proved wildly popular. She’s since moved into distributing spirits, but rising vinyl shipping costs prompted her to offer her assistance.
