Niagara Falls, NY | New business gives Falls a different spin: …I’m 49. As a teenager, as CDs started to settle in as the preferred medium for listening to music, I snapped up all of my sisters’ records that they were planning to drop off at the local Goodwill. I’ve had them ever since and acquired other people’s collections over the years in a similar fashion. What I love about those records now is that I curated them long enough for them to be part of the vinyl renaissance. If you haven’t heard, vinyl is all the way back from the dark days of burning disco albums. These days, a person my age or older is as likely to be listening to music on a record as any teenager or young adult. As for the city’s new record lounge and store, in case you missed it, Niagara Street — yes, Niagara Street — will soon be home to Daredevil Records.
San Francisco, CA | Dark Entries is opening a record store in San Francisco: The store kicks off with a launch party on December 10. Dark Entries Records is set to open a brick-and-mortar store in San Francisco on December 10. Located at 910 Larkin Street, San Francisco, the store will host a special launch event on opening day with DJ sets by Carlos Souffront, Topazu and Jeremy Castillo from 6-9pm. Founded in 2009 by Josh Cheon, Dark Entries’ aim is to release out-of-print and unreleased underground music and contemporary bands. Since then, the label has put out 100 releases from Severed Heads, Crash Course In Science, Patrick Cowley and more.
Preston, UK | “He will always be missed”: Legend of Preston’s Action Records, Allan Atkinson, dies: A legend of the Preston music scene has sadly passed away, with many tributes since coming in for the “large character” who “will always be missed.” Allan Atkinson passed away on Saturday, November 26 following a short illness, and leaves behind his wife, Pat, and children. Allan was instrumental to the launch of Preston’s staple record store Action Records, which first began life on a stall in Blackpool in 1979 but after a move to Church Street in Preston, soon became one of the county’s must legendary music stores, staying in the city ever since. …”I first met Allan around 1973 when we were waiting for a bus back from a Hawkwind gig in Blackburn and our friendship has continued ever since. It was with his help and knowledge of music that I managed to set up Action Records and keep it going all these years. His large character was and will always be part of the shop. He will always be missed by us.”
Dallas, TX | Ladylove coming to Bishop Arts: ‘the Viper Room, without the heroin.’ The owners of Spinster Records will take over the former Grilled Cheese Co. space at 310 W. 7th and build a local-friendly, vinyl-record centric sound lounge, David Grover says. The Jim Lake-owned center houses Oddfellows and a future bakery/brewery that the Revelers Hall owners are planning, Grover tells us. His new place, Ladylove, is nestled in the corner suite and backs up to a an alley, for which he also has plans. His business partner Kate Siamro will run Ladylove, which they will co-own, he says. Music-wise the offerings will complement their aforementioned neighbors Revelers Hall, where one might find jazz and big band acts. We can expect more Latin-inspired music, hip hop and a variety of other genres at Ladylove. The venture combines their love of drinking, records, hosting shows, late-night munchies and their Oak Cliff neighborhood.
Rochester, NY | Adam Interviews Bop Shop Records owner: Tom Kohn wanted to do something to special to celebrate 40 years in business. Bop Shop Records opened in 1982 and remained a Village Gate staple until it moved to its current spot on Monroe Ave. There, he’s continued to sell vinyl while also bringing in artists and offering live music. This year, he committed himself to putting on 40 shows to mark Bop Shop’s milestone anniversary.
Brooklyn, NY | Tower Records has opened a new space in Brooklyn but details are scarce: The iconic record store chain has come to Brooklyn — in a new format as “Tower Labs,” according to early reports. Tower Records’ ongoing comeback has taken its iconic brand to Brooklyn — but don’t expect a return of the flashy red and yellow signage or the hundreds of record shelves just yet. The company, resurrected by new ownership, opened its first new physical space in 16 years in Williamsburg earlier this month. The location, called Tower Labs, is far from a traditional record store: The small space plans to host intimate concerts, pop-up sales (through a window opening onto the street), artist interviews, and album releases and signings. No specifics about the events — or the space’s exact address on Kent Avenue — are listed publicly yet. Purchases of vinyl records and certain, uh, NFTs will get buyers into exclusive events, such as one series called “Industry Nights,” according to the company’s Twitter account.
Bendable Sound: Exploring the often forgotten, but resurfacing niche of collecting Flexi-discs: Used as promotional items, or inexpensive ways bands released their music, Flexi-discs rule a sub-culture in music collecting all their own. I love Flexi-discs. One of the most memorable events in my earliest phase of taking collecting music media seriously (and believe me when I say I was just a kid), was discovering a Flexi-disc for the very first time. Sometime in the early-mid ‘80s, I’d been looking through a box of 7-inch 45 rpm singles, that my ‘collector father’ kept separate from the rest of his collection, full of ‘special’ records that he and my mother collected together (for the most part) before marriage, when they were high school sweethearts. In that box I found a bendable piece of plastic that looked like a record, complete with a white paper picture sleeve, and it read—“RADIO – The ‘30s & ‘40s”—containing old time radio programs from the past.
UK | elasticStage CEO Steve Rhodes shares the start-up’s vision to supercharge the vinyl revival: Billed as the first on-demand vinyl manufacturer and service provider, elasticStage recently raised £3.5 million to support the roll-out of its innovative solution for artists. The company has now got even more industry attention with a key appointment as COO – Raoul Chatterjee, former SoundCloud vice president, content partnerships & operations. Chatterjee is a label and digital platform veteran who clearly sees a major opportunity in the marketplace for on-demand vinyl. As well as helping the many new and emerging artists, as well as those with a niche audience, the company is targeting record companies looking to increase income from the further reaches of their extensive archive. It comes at a time of challenges for the vinyl market with production capacity. Following six years of development, elasticStage is readying the launch of its service to manufacture and distribute vinyl which the company says is both sustainable and ethical.
