Brooklyn, NY | Bed-Stuy Record Store Halsey And Lewis Searches For A New Home: “We have survived the pandemic, but alas we cannot survive gentrification,” the shop posted with news a pizza and wine bar will replace it. A record store that has called Bed-Stuy home for more than four years is searching for a new home after losing its storefront on Halsey Street with only a week’s notice, Patch has learned. Halsey & Lewis, which opened on Lewis Avenue in early 2017, announced on Instagram this week that it will be closing to make way for a pizza and wine bar that will take over the storefront. “We have survived the pandemic, but alas we can not survive gentrification,” the business wrote on Sunday. “Our little record shop is being replaced by a pizza and wine bar.” The record store, which also sells books and other handcrafted goods, will be open for the rest of the week until the shop is empty, according to the post. They are hosting a “clearance sale” until the close of the business.
Somerset, UK | The Somerset record shop whose vinyls are the trendiest around: More and more young people are buying vinyl records as the novelty of Spotify wears off: Some of us are old enough to remember that brilliant feeling when you bought a new record. You couldn’t wait to get home to take it out of its sleeve for the first time and listen to it on your record player. It was the best, best feeling and you felt like a million dollars just owning this precious thing. Well those times are coming back, the novelty of Spotify is wearing off and more and more music lovers are returning to vinyl. Raves from the Grave is a fantastic record shop in Frome, the artiest and trendiest town in Somerset, famed for its independent shops and cafes. The record shop is absolutely full of vinyl records new and old, CDs and DVDs, it is a treasure trove and wonderful place to browse, you could spend hours in there.
Barcelona, ES | A new record store has opened in Barcelona: Acting as a community hub – with a radio station, events space, recording studio, and booking agency. A new record shop and multi-purpose community hub, called The Underground Music Network, has opened in Barcelona. Launched by Subwax founder Jimi Disko and Ramon Espinosa, The Underground Music Network will act as a record shop, radio station, booking agency, community hub, event space, and recording studio. The space will also offer a range of courses, with the aim of helping independent artists enter the music industry. “The project has great meaning to me as I want to use my experience to give something back, mainly by helping young producers and DJs get started and also to make the whole Barcelona scene stronger, more versatile and less commercial,” shares Disko.
Christchurch, NZ | Bill Cosby albums and ‘Norman’s rice’: The ‘weird’ record store that works: Christchurch independent record store Ride On Super Sound, aka ROSS, is run by a collective of passionate volunteers and music enthusiasts. Think Black Books but with music, comics and zines. Co-owners Nick White, Michael Daly, Annemieke Montagne, Johnny “Electric” Harris, and Isaac Bennet volunteer their spare time to run a tiny store from a room atop the Smash Palace “bus bar”, selling locally made music and art. “We don’t pay ourselves, we sell on commission and all the funds go back into keeping the store going,” Daly said. It is open Thursday and Friday, from 3pm to 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday, from 12pm to 5pm. In the centre of the High St store is a display pyramid stocked with New Zealand-made zines, comics and music, and small publications by international artists.
Cambridge, UK | Cambridge’s top hidden shops you’ve probably walked right past: There is more to Cambridge than meets the eye – and these hidden gems prove just why: Cambridge is full to the brim with incredible shops to visit. And if you’re a native to the city, then you might think you’ve seen all there is to see of our great city. But, like all urban areas, there are hidden nooks and crannies just out of sight, which are home to some brilliant independent shops. Tourists might spend their time in Cambridge wandering down King’s Parade or walking by the River Cam, and while these are brilliant places to visit, there is more to Cambridge than meets the eye – and these hidden gems prove just why. Relevant Record: Hidden away towards the end of Mill Road, Relevant Record is located underneath a popular local cafe. A beloved haven for music lovers across the city, this record store offers an extensive range of new release and collectable pre-owned vinyls ready for you to buy.
Monona, WI | Open the door to Monona’s newest hidden gem: John Sands has always been a collector. What started as a collection of toys and baseball cards soon morphed into a vinyl record collection, which now sits at his very own record store on Monona Drive. “I’ve done collectibles my whole life,” Sands said. “I had a phase where I was collecting toys, baseball cards, a little bit of everything, and now records… so I know collectibles really well.” Sands opened The Door in June 2020, naming it after the suite’s clandestine location. Hidden down a long hallway sandwiched between four other stores in a strip mall, Sands often jokes that if you blink, you’ll miss it. “The running joke is, the building has four other businesses with really strong retail presence and frontage, but I’m basically the hallway, or door, between two businesses on the north of me and two businesses on the south of me,” said Sands. It often takes a few tries for customers to find ‘the door to The Door,’ as some call it.
Asheville, NC | American Vinyl showcases custom vinyl pressing, live music and new beer bar in South Slope: Cheap beer, live music and records. That’s the promise at American Vinyl Co.’s new South Slope space, which also is home to an audio museum and the company’s main product: custom vinyl record production for professional musicians and the general public. American Vinyl was created in 2016 by Ryan Schilling as a custom vinyl record cutting service. This year, the business moved from a quaint studio to a nearly 5,000 square foot warehouse space on lower Coxe Avenue. The extra space is not wasted, a press release from Schilling said. The location features a newly-built bar made of 1930s radios, behind which you’ll find a rotating selection of local and affordable beers. There’s also a curated selection of used vinyl and an intimate new sound stage, which hosts live music presented by the Lonesome Station Music Series. You can even order up your own custom record while you drink your beer.
Bury, UK | Record shop applies to convert office space into Airbnb apartments: A planning application has been submitted to convert a former office in Bury town centre into two Airbnb apartments. The proposed renovation on the second floor of the listed building at 16 Market Street would see a number of internal alterations together with a new external wrought iron staircase at the rear. The building, which is next to Mill Gate Shopping Centre and opposite The Met, was previously used by the Nationwide Building Society as a branch office before it was relocated. The building is currently occupied by Wax and Beans, Bury’s only independent record store and coffee shop, the owners of which are behind the application. A Design and Access Statement said: “The amount of development proposed is minimal and requires the relocation and reconfiguration of an existing staircase together with facilities for two Airbnb apartments.
Paramore’s ‘Riot!’ Hits Top 10 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales Chart After Vinyl Reissue: Paramore’s 2007 album Riot! reaches the top 10 of Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart for the first time, thanks to a new pressing on silver colored vinyl. The set re-enters the chart dated June 12 at No. 8 with 7,000 copies sold in the U.S. in the week ending June 3 (up 1,380%), according to MRC Data, nearly all from sales of the new vinyl edition. Riot! had previously debuted and peaked at No. 20 on the June 30, 2007-dated chart. The album was issued on silver colored vinyl on May 28 as part of the Fueled by Ramen record label’s ongoing 25th-anniversary festivities. Elsewhere on the new Top Album Sales chart, as earlier reported, Taylor Swift’s Evermore returns to No. 1 (jumping 73-1) with the largest sales week of 2021 (192,000; up 8,307%). Its sales surge is owed to the album’s release on vinyl, Swift-signed CDs and deep discounting on its digital album.
