Cleveland, OH | Mistake By The Lake record shop to open inside West of Venus vintage shop in Cleveland: Mistake By The Lake, a local record label that started over a decade ago, will expand with its own brick-and-mortar record store this fall. Andrew Kirschner, the owner and manager of Mistake By The Lake, plans to open his record store of the same name in November. He’ll sell a variety of hard-to-find experimental records from all over the world, and also a selection of releases by local acts on his label. The store will be located inside the West of Venus vintage shop building, at 10024 Lorain Ave. The name “Mistake By The Lake” might sound like an insult to Clevelanders, but Kirschner said it’s meant to be a positive reference to the city. “It’s not a slight on Cleveland, it’s a shout-out,” he said. “We’re underdogs. As the years go by, people see that Cleveland’s actually an amazing place to be.”
Bangkok, TH | What it takes to run a vinyl shop in Bangkok, according to the owners of Fatblack Records: Vinyl has been through its ups and downs, but in recent years the medium has found some stability in the market. In fact, after slumps brought on by CD sales and eventually steaming platforms, vinyl records have quietly bounced back in a big way. Global vinyl sales have increased by between 12-13-percent over the past two years thanks to collectors looking to deck out their music rooms and hunt for vintage record finds. Bangkok has it’s own budding vinyl scene hunting for that crate-digging fix. Two of the city’s more well-known store owners are Siwakorn Charupongsa and Jitpol Saenrungmuang, who head up Fatblack Records. They sit down with BK to talk about what it’s like to run a vinyl shop in 2019, and a recent collaboration with BMW to release a special vinyl record, BE MY WORLD, exclusively through Fatblack.
Buffalo, NY | Doris Records: Doris Records Inc is not a kitsch record shop riding the vinyl revival wave. This store is a staple that’s survived since the early days of LP and on through 8tracks, CDs, and the Sam Goodys of the world. Slowly expanding over the years from a one room shop off the corner of Jefferson and E. Ferry, to eventually occupying the whole building, Doris’s has not only survived the change in music formats and distribution, but also the fall and ongoing rise of the city around it… To reiterate, Doris Records is the record store Rick James spent his childhood in, and recognized as a major influence in his career. Don’t believe the story? Then head down to Dorris Records, and ask Big Pete for yourself, he’s most likely there.
Margate, UK | Margate arts and record venue Elsewhere celebrates first birthday with packed weekend event: Margate arts’ bar and record store Elsewhere has announced a packed weekend of live music and DJs to mark its first birthday this month. In keeping with the spirit of last year’s opening weekend, the venue’s birthday celebrations will play host to a cast of local musicians and DJs including Self Esteem, Tunng, Babii, Iglooghost (DJ set) Night Works, JAKL, Charlie Hannah, Jack Goldstein, Vanishing Twin (DJ set) and many more across the nights of Friday, September 27 and Saturday, September 28. Speaking of The Centre based venue’s inaugural year, Elsewhere’s head programmer Sammy Clarke said: “It’s been an action packed year of triumphs and learning curves at Elsewhere. Despite a few naysayers and doubters early on, we have managed to persevere with the help of an incredible team who go the extra mile every day and a community of musicians, artists and gig-goers who have a seemingly insatiable appetite for night time antics and freedom of expression.
Brooklyn, NY | James Murphy is opening a new cafe and nightclub in Brooklyn: Featuring a sound system designed by the LCD Soundsystem frontman. James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem is opening his new cafe, Daymoves, this Thursday in Brooklyn. The club section, Nightmoves, is set to open at a later date. The space is located next to Murphy’s established restaurant and wine bar, The Four Horsemen. It has been transformed from an old speakeasy bar to a 70s/80s artist loft vibe. There is a DJ booth, equipped with a Technics SL1200 setup that will be used to play vinyl from Murphy’s personal record collection via a sound system designed by Murphy, powered by McIntosh MC2500 amplifiers. With regards to the sound, Murphy told Grub Street about the unique design of the system: “Usually, because amplifiers are quite expensive, you wind up with things that are just, almost enough to do the job and they’re strained.” But at Daymoves, “there’s no strain. They’re really open and easy sounding.”
Thurston Moore is selling hundreds of vinyl from private collection: Legendary Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore will be flogging over 300 records from his personal collection at London’s World of Echo record store. The sale is set to take place on October 5th at their 128 Columbia Road store. Unfortunately none of the records will be available for purchase online, but you can bet your sweet bippy that there’ll be a few wily cretins popping their purchases up on eBay in days to come. “As would be expected given Moore’s relationship to the underground and lifelong engagement with various music cultures, the selection compromises a broad range of genres,” World of Echo shared on Instagram. “Spanning multiple variants of jazz, noise, hardcore, black metal, ethnographic, punk and post-punk, no-wave, krautrock, ambient, electronic and the avant-garde.” The sale promises “a number of the records are highly collectable or rarely seen.”
The revival of vinyl is celebrated in film by Wiltshire music expert: Vinyl music will be celebrated in October during a screening of a film about the come back story of the record shop on British high streets. Record expert and Chippenham local Graham Jones has spent the last 32 years documenting record shops across the country. He interviewed Philip Selway from Radiohead and Wiltshire local Nick Mason from Pink Floyd for his newest film, ‘The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made it Happen.’ It will be screened at Biddestone Village Hall on October 4 and he will be on hand to give the audience stories from his career in the music industry. “…It is down to the hard work of the independent shops getting that music out there for people to enjoy again. You hear people talking about how they heard Ed Sheeran at a free gig in Sound Knowledge and it has that reputation of really getting the great music acts in that independents have.”
Best turntables under $300 in 2019: It’s worth spending a little extra on the turntable that brings your vinyl collection to life. CNET tests five of the best step-up models. The time is right to get into budget hi-fi. From cheap, amazing speakers to a high-quality turntable, it’s never been more affordable to get a great-sounding system for vinyl records. One of the first questions to ask is: How much should I spend if I want the best turntable? Name a price from $40 or up, and there’s no doubt you’ll find a record player to fit your budget. For example, the Audio Technica LP60 (read the CNET review) is a great little turntable for $100. But there are even better choices for record players out there. I’ve chosen $300 as the sweet spot because it opens up the options for finding the best turntable. These record player models are no longer simple toys but can be considered hi-fi turntables: They offer elevated vinyl sound quality and high-quality components. With analog music — the fact that you’ll be constantly removing records, moving the tonearm and spinning up an actual motor — it’s worth spending a bit more for record players that will last.
Straitjacket Fits To Reissue Classic Album ‘Melt’: Following a triumphant run of Australasian reunion shows and their headline appearance at Tāmaki Makaurau’s The Others Way festival, Straitjacket Fits are reissuing their seminal 1990 album Melt for the very first time on vinyl LP and CD, courtesy of the hardworking team at Flying Nun Records (who also originally released the record) in late September. Capturing the trailblazing Shayne Carter-fronted four piece at arguably the height of their collective powers – as candidly detailed in Carter’s must-read memoir Dead People I Have Known – Melt includes such hands down classics as ‘Bad Note For A Heart’ and the Andrew Brough-sung ‘Down In Splendour’, showcasing the electrifying creative dynamic of Carter and Brough. It might be too much to hope for more SJF shows in the near future, but this’ll do just nicely in the meantime – it looks like a reissue of their debut album Hail (with 1987’s Life In One Chord EP) is on the cards too…
