Medicine Hat, AB | Sound Lovers holding grand opening at new location: Sound Lovers Audio Video has a new location with a grand opening coming up next week on Oct. 28 and 29. Manufacturer representatives will be at the store to answer questions and talk to people, and refreshments from King Bagel will be available. For owner, John Foubert, the grand opening is more about where the store is currently at. “I started out at home and then moved to the lower level of the Arcade Plaza,” he said. One record store left and the other, along with Foubert, left a short time later. His new location used to be Adam’s Jewellers, and Audio Excellence was two doors down. “It’s a good location, people remember it.” Foubert says he bought some comfortable chairs for customers to sit in and the walls have absorbent panels and wooden diffusers on them. About 30 per cent of the wall should be covered and it’s trial and error to find a happy balance.
Belmar, NJ | Lofidelic Records hosts groovy shows and offers lo-fi, vintage vinyl: “We love having this shop because we’ve got to meet a whole bunch of people who are into the same hobby that we are,” David Hernandez owner. Whether it’s a vinyl record spinning or an up-and-coming band jamming, when you walk by Lofidelic Records on Main Street you’ll be sure to hear some groovy music coming from the shop. Lofidelic Records, named after lo-fi music quality and ‘delic,’ referring to psychedelic and funkadelic, is a vinyl shop located at 904 Main Street that offers thousands of both new and vintage vinyl records. …David Hernandez, the shop’s owner, said he’d decided to start selling vinyl records after he was fired from his corporate job in 2017. “To be honest I never liked selling records, I had a huge collection in my basement… I only liked buying records,” Hernandez said. “Once I was fired from my job, I was looking around my basement and I started to get the idea of ‘What if I started selling these records?’ And that idea kind of planted the seed and I researched it and researched it, and it took off from there.”
Detroit, MI | Go retro at this record store: Shop in Royal Oak sells vinyl, cassette tapes and more. Albums, 45s, CDs, cassettes, DVDs, VHS tapes and more… If it’s old school, retro media, you are going to find it at Solo Records, a gem of a shop on Woodward Ave. in Royal Oak. Solo Records has been in business for 41 years, according to the shop’s owner Lorna Kuschel. When you walk into the store, you’ll find vintage t-shirts and notice art and posters on the wall, but it’s the music that will catch your eyes and ears. You can rummage through rows of albums and look for vintage finds. Solo Records manager Heath Craig described the shop as having a little bit of everything. The music ranges from The Beatles to Archie Bell & The Drells, Alice Cooper, George Benson, Dave Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, and many others. While appearing on “Live In The D”, Solo Records also showcased an original copy of “Steamin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet.” One customer, Eric, calls Solo Records a “unique place” and always finds something different when he visits.
New York, NY | Razor-n-Tape’s flagship shop opens in Greenpoint: Greenpoint’s music scene is growing yet again — this weekend, Razor-N-Tape is opening at 110 Meserole Ave. This opening marks the first brick-and-mortar space for Razor-N-Tape, a prolific and Brooklyn-rooted dance music label that was founded in 2012 by Jason Kriv and Aaron Dae and features a worldwide roster of artists. The space will be open Fridays through Sundays for buying vinyl, merch, DJ accessories, and more, and will serve as a home base for Razor-N-Tape operations throughout the rest of the week. Starting today, October 21, the shop will feature a weekend of opening events and live music at their boutique DJ booth in-store from 12 to 8 p.m. daily. Jason Kriv, co-owner of Razor-N-Tape and co-founder of Hot Honey Sundays, describes the birth of the new flagship location as something akin to the kind of fate that only seems to happen in Brooklyn.
Leeds/Manchester, UK | New record shop opens on UK canal boat: Rubber Ducky Records boasts a 2000-strong collection of used electronic vinyl. A new record shop opened last week on a canal boat docked between Leeds and Manchester. The brains behind Rubber Ducky Records is Myles Greenwood, who previously worked at the soon-to-be-closed Swiss store Legram Vinyl Garden. He sees his floating shop—which currently sits in the town of Sowerby Bridge—as a creative workaround to skyrocketing rent prices. “During Covid-19 I was looking at renting a shop space in Leeds, but at the time nowhere was available due to the pandemic,” Greenwood told Resident Advisor. “I started chatting with my dad about his mid-life crisis when he bought a boat and then the idea came.” As more and more record shops deal with gentrification and rising costs, Rubber Ducky Records seems like a sensible solution to seemingly intractable problems. The refurbished canal boat is also a way to foment a wider community beyond the restrictions of a brick-and-mortar location.
Toronto, CA | Play De Record was ground zero for Toronto vinyl lovers: Documentary “Drop the Needle” recounts Eugene Tam’s role in developing Canada’s hip-hop and dance music scene through his Toronto store Play De Record. In the 1990s, the Yonge Street strip between Gould and Elm was Record Store Central. There were the two multi-story retailers that everyone knew about — Sam the Record Man and A&A — that sat practically next door to each other, while Cheapies and Sunrise Records were located within spitting distance across the street. If you wanted the latest popular hits from the major record labels, they were the places to go. But if you were a club or radio DJ tastemaker with a hankering for something beyond the mainstream, there was only one destination to get the latest in hip hop, drum and bass, house, techno, funk, Latin, electronic, jazz, soul and other underground dance music offerings: Play De Record at 357A Yonge St.”
Marquette, MI | Records, beer, and nearly a decade of building community with Geoff and Jon: Four days, thousands of records, and two very enthusiastic hosts. Jon Teichman and Geoff Walker have been bringing the party to Ore Dock Brewing Companie’s upper room for nearly a decade, with no signs of slowing down. Happening now multiple times a year, the first record show started with Geoff Walker in 2013 with three tables and 1,500 records. “We weren’t sure if anyone was going to come. At five o’clock they opened the door and a whole bunch of people came in and bought a whole bunch of records. We were pleasantly surprised and it’s really built on that,” said Walker. We met up with Walker and Teichman Wednesday afternoon, as they unloaded box after box, after box of records. Each box containing dozens of pressed vinyl with the hopes of finding a new home.
South Bend, IN | South Bend Record Show set for October 30 at new location: The next South Bend Record Show has been scheduled for October 30 at The Gillespie Conference Center at the Hilton Garden Inn on IN 933. The change in location was prompted by a change in ownership of the previous location and uncertainty regarding future dates. “There were a few turbulent months trying to find the best way forward, but we are thrilled with our new location,” said South Bend resident Jeremy D. Bonfiglio, who organizes the event. “We held our first show at The Gillespie Center in August and heard overwhelmingly positive feedback from customers and vendors. It’s a beautiful, bright space. The staff has been a joy to work with, and we look forward to being here for many years to come.” Vendors from Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana will fill 88 tables with tens of thousands of music items at the Oct. 30 event. Attendees can find pre-loved LPs, new vinyl releases, 45s, CDs, cassettes, posters, memorabilia, vintage stereo gear, record supplies and more.
Rochester, MN | Semi-annual ‘Rochester Record Show’ held at Little Thistle Brewery on Saturday: Saturday was the semi-annual ‘Rochester Record Show’ held at Little Thistle Brewery. It’s the fun of the hunt for many as the market for vintage vinyl and records continues to grow. One of the event’s promoters, Richard Franson, says for many people, it’s about the nostalgia behind it. “People like to see a record – feel it, touch it, hang it on the wall, pull it out when they want it and play it – and a lot of people in general like to hear the original pressings of records because they thing they sound better than the digital remastered copy of a record,” he explains. Franson says people will pay anywhere from a quarter to several hundred dollars for a record depending on its value. Tim Andrews with Remix Record Store says it was his parents that got him into records and it’s become a lifelong passion.
