Atlanta, GA | 5 Amazing Record Stores In Atlanta To Snag New And Classic Vinyl: Checkout these amazing shops to snag some stellar records, CD’s, and collectibles. Yea, it’s true we live in the age of iPhone’s, HomePods, Alexa’s and Sonos’ BUT there is nothing like classic tunes being played over classic devices. Atlanta still has record stores located throughout the city where you can find all kinds of gems and classics. From frank Sinatra to AL Green, Dinah Washington to Kiss there are tons of amazing finds. Newer artist such as Summer Walker and Jhene Aiko have even started creating the record version of their albums, because class never goes out of style. Below are a list of 5 record stores to get your retro fix.
Corvallis, OR | Two Cool Hot Spots To Enjoy The Experience of Vinyl Records: Are you the type of person who visits a new town and immediately asks, “Where’s the record store?” If so, Corvallis has two great options, and they are within walking distance of each other. The owners of each place are avid collectors of vinyl, delighted to guide you to discovering your treasures or ordering obscure back-catalog titles. If you are in town on the third Saturday of April or November’s Black Friday, be sure to be at the stores for their Record Days specials. Record Days is a worldwide event where artists release albums that are only available in local brick-and-mortar record stores.
Green Bay, WI | With Exclusive Co. closed, UFO Museum Gift Shop and Records aims to fill void with Tom Smith, walls of vinyl, ‘all kinds of weird stuff.’ When Pierre Jacque says he’s going to have “all kinds of weird stuff” at his new record store, he doesn’t just mean run-of-the mill weird like the full-size R2-D2 and an “ALF” prop he’s been living with at home. He’s talking Mr. T coloring books, “Jurassic Park” buttons as big as a bagel, a “Full House” board game and a black garbage bag filled with those little rubber alligators from 1984 that were inescapable at fairs of the era. “People are like, ‘Oh my God, I had that alligator!’ I’m like, ‘I have hundreds of them!’” he said. If Jacque sounds like a kid in a candy shop talking about a record shop, it’s because he’s excited his Green Bay UFO Museum Gift Shop and Records is giving him an outlet for ideas that have been rattling around in his head for years.
San Antonio, TX | Where I Work: Del Bravo Record Shop. My parents, Salome and Diamantina Gutierrez, opened Del Bravo Record Shop on San Antonio’s West Side when I was just a kid. One of my earliest memories was of hiding behind the counter and reaching underneath to grab customers’ feet, startling them, and getting scolded by my mother. I got such a kick out of it. But, of course, all my best memories here revolve around music. Musicians my father worked with — like Valerio Longoria, and Santiago and Flaco Jimenez — would come by all the time to hang out in the shop and record in my dad’s studio. I remember my dad would leave for his construction job early in the morning, then come tend to the shop and record in the studio late into the night. Then he’d wake up early and do it all over again. Now that I help run the store, I see how much work it is and I’m amazed by how my parents did it back when my seven siblings and I were young. Now I recognize the saying that behind every great man is a strong woman.
Austin, TX | Megadeth Announces Austin In-Store Signing Session For ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ Album: The members of Megadeth will sign copies of their new album, “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!”, on Thursday, September 1 at Waterloo Records in Austin, Texas. Says the band: “This free event starts at 11:30 p.m. Any other additional items will not be signed.” If attending signing, select curbside pickup as your shipping option. “The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!” will arrive on September 2 via UMe. Featuring twelve new tracks, it will be made available on CD, vinyl, and cassette, as well as digitally through all online partners. There will also be a limited deluxe edition 2LP, 12-track album pressed on 180g black vinyl housed in a numbered gatefold jacket with a 12×24 lyrics/credits insert, a lenticular vinyl lithograph and a bonus seven-inch featuring “We’ll Be Back” and the unreleased B-side “The Conjuring (Live).”
Kyiv, UA | New record shop opens in Kyiv: Located on Kudryavska Street, abo records sells ambient, downtempo, breaks, house, techno and more. Kyiv has a new record shop, abo records. Three friends—Amir Hanani, Borys Stepanenko and Oleh Baranovskyi—opened the shop last month to make up for the absence of music venues, which remain closed due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The store sits in an abandoned liquor factory on Kudryavska Street. It stocks spans ambient, downtempo, breaks, trance, house, techno and more. “The idea to open the store was in our mind for a while,” the founders told Resident Advisor. “Now, while all our clubs remain closed due to war, we took the plunge.” They said the store is “an alternative place” for connecting with DJ friends and Kyiv’s wider electronic music community. “We live in truly dark times, but still try to remain optimistic and are happy to see people visiting us and digging into records for hours,” they added.
San Francisco, CA | There’s a New Temple to Coffee, Records, and Books Opening in SoMa: The former Vega Coffee location will dole out everything from Macau Iced Coffees to indie-punk albums. Raul Sanchez is on a mission to bring a holy trinity, of sorts, to SoMa. He’s raised more than $10,000 via GoFundMe in pursuit of his ambitious project: the perfect balance of records, coffee, and books. Cafe Suspiro, grand opening in October but open for limited service now, is named after Sanchez’s grandfather’s tiny shop (a tiendita) in Colotlan, Mexico, in the state of Jalisco. It translates as a sigh of relief. Sanchez was a barista at Vega Coffee, which doled out espressos in the exact same location, 13 years ago — he was the shop’s first hire. “I want to keep that familiarity with the folks in the neighborhood,” Sanchez says.
MoFi Faces Fraud Lawsuit for Selling Vinyl Reissues as “Purely Analog” While Using Digital Masters: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, long considered an elite reissue label for its all-analog approach, has been under fire in the audiophile community after the company recently admitted to using Direct Stream Technology. Elite reissue label Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab was mired in scandal in recent weeks after the company admitted to revelations that it was no longer using entirely analog practices in its vinyl pressings. In a Washington Post feature, the company confirmed that it has been using Direct Stream Digital (DSD) technology since 2011. It’s this situation that’s resulted in a new proposed class action lawsuit seeking damages and restitution, Billboard reports and documents viewed by Pitchfork confirm. The lawsuit, which includes diagrams outlining the vinyl production chain and MoFi’s specific branding, focuses on records labeled “Original Master Recordings” and “Ultradisc One Step” by MoFi. It argues that the company misrepresented products to consumers by using digital mastering in its production chain.
