Regina, CA | ‘A luxury’: X-Ray Records set to close its doors after 38 years in Regina: Just minutes after opening, the front door barely closes as customers continuously shuffle into X-Ray Records. Old rock music fills the space while customers browse their favourite vinyls searching for their next find. But that won’t be the reality much longer as the team announced they would be closing on Feb. 28. “There’s not enough foot traffic downtown,” Noah Biegler, the owner of X-Ray Records said. “The costs of keeping the doors open are higher than ever. The cost of records has gone up—some companies by 60 to 75 percent.” X-Ray Records was established in 1987 (initially as a franchise of the Ontario-based Records on Wheels chain) by Manitoba-born music enthusiast and record collector David Kuzenko. In Regina, the store was first located in the Scarth Street Mall, but in 1998 the store went independent and was re-named X-Ray Records.
Springfield, OH | Game Cycle in Springfield turns 10: The arcade and store is popular among collectors. With a vast collection of retro games, films and records alongside a classic arcade, Game Cycle in Springfield is one of the most popular shops for collectors in the Southwest Ohio region. I visited this store recently to see if it lived up to its reputation. After walking past the gaming icons decorating the store’s exterior, I entered the shop and saw the place was filled with interesting items. Personally, I was most excited by a kiosk located near the front desk where guests could play GameCube games. This machine, while worn by decades of usage, bears a striking resemblance to kiosks found in various McDonald’s locations in the late ’90s and early ’00s. While I could not play the Spyro the Dragon game I distinctly remember trying at my local McDonald’s, I could play Super Smash Brothers Melee, which would probably be seen as an improvement to everyone aside from my inner child.
Rhinelander, WI | Crate Diggers brings vinyl nostalgia to the Northwoods: In the era of streaming services, one old musical medium is still attracting the attention of young people. Over the last several years, vinyl records have made a resurgence back into everywhere from big box stores to antique shops. Part of that resurgence can be found at “Crate Diggers Music & More” in Rhinelander. “The whole point of this place was to be a record store kind of like me and my record nerd buddies used to hangout in back in the nineties,” owner Tony Rio said. Rio isn’t just looking to bring the resurgence of vinyl records to the Northwoods. It’s about more, he said, and reflected on his favorite record store as a kid and how he wants Crate Diggers to be the same way. “It was a place where everybody’s always welcome and you can come in and look at stuff and just hangout if you want or buy or, you know…just a nice place to be,” Rio said.
Salisbury, UK | Cross Keys record shop transformed by Boiler Room Records: Boiler Room Records has transformed its Salisbury store, located in the Cross Keys Shopping Centre on the Market Place, introducing an additional 3,500 pre-owned collectible LPs to create a premium destination for vinyl collectors. The store now boasts an unparalleled selection, catering to diverse musical tastes and collectors of all levels. Open seven days a week, the shop welcomes visitors with knowledgeable, helpful, and friendly staff, and both Cross Keys and the shop are fully accessible. …The improvements don’t stop here! Over the next two weeks, additional upgrades to the store layout and branding will further enhance the customer experience. Boiler Room Records remains committed to its core mission: offering an inclusive environment and an incredible array of new LPs alongside our collectible selection.
I would love to be able to say I simply wasn’t into hard rock back then, but I owned albums by Bad Company, UFO (UFO? Me? Inexplicable!), Robin Trower, and Foghat, so that’s sheer bunk. But there’s no point in crying over guilty milk, and it’s never too late to make up for past mistakes, that is unless you’re Lee Harvey Oswald or that chimpanzee (name: Travis) who ripped a woman’s face off in 2009, and I’m neither of those personages.
New York, NY | Rough Trade to expand New York store as music fans seek ‘experiences’, owner says: British record store chain to triple size of Rockefeller Center location with 300-capacity room featuring built-in stage. A mosh pit may seem out of place in Rockefeller Center, better known for its Christmas tree, rinks and hoards of tourists. But a British record store chain wants to change that. Rough Trade is tripling the size of its site at the major shopping center this spring, expanding its downstairs to create space for more vinyl, merchandise and events with artists. Like its stores in the UK, Rough Trade typically teams up with artists around the release of a new album, hosting small concerts for those who purchase an LP from the store. The expanded New York store will take over a space that was once a chain stationery store. The site will include a built-in stage, and enough room to accommodate 300 people – 
Washington, DC | See A Play in A Record Store: This Valentine’s Day, why not set a new sort of record? See an intimate performance at your local record shop, when romantic comedy Love and Vinyl opens at Byrdland Records (1264 Fifth St. NE). The author of Love and Vinyl is Maryland-based playwright and long-time professor of theatre at Bowie State University, Bob Bartlett. He is no stranger to staging his work in unusual locations. A few years ago, Bartlett premiered his time-bending comedy, The Accident Bear, which sold out its five-week run to critical acclaim, at a working coin-operated laundromat in historic downtown Annapolis, Maryland. He staged Lýkos Ánthrōpo at Historic Congressional Cemetery last year. Bartlett wrote Love and Vinyl on a dare from colleagues who challenged him to write a comedy about vinyl lovers who had sword off romance. Like himself. In the play, best friends Bogie and Zane visit their local record store, but “
I was all of eight years old when Klaus Nomi, along with his friend Joey Arias, vocally backed-up and added performance zeal to David Bowie’s appearance on the December 15, 1979 episode of Saturday Night Live. Unsurprisingly, I missed it when aired, but have caught up with “TVC 15” and “The Man Who Sold the World” archived on the internet. Those songs blend nicely with the footage that did serve as my introduction to Nomi’s work, his entry in the 1982 various artist concert film Urgh! A Music War.
She recently published a compilation of issues and her book, Nowhere New York offers a visceral view of the scene through her photographs, writing, and guest essays.
Kingston, UK | Kingston’s Banquet Records among 18 UK record stores crowned ‘the greatest in the world.’ The Financial Times has curated a list of 38 record stores worldwide crowned as the “greatest in the world”, 18 of which are in the UK. Among the 18 in the FT’s list is our very own Banquet Records. But why did Banquet Records make the list? The FT says: “Come for the comprehensive edit of contemporary indie, rock and dance records – stay for the 200 gigs a year the shop puts on, whether in its intimate onsite space, the Pryzm nightclub around the corner or St John’s Church on the outskirts of town. Tickets are not expensive and sometimes free when you buy an album. “While many record stores rightly cherish the past, Banquet feels like it’s got its eye on the future.” Speaking about the store’s recognition in the Financial Times, Banquet Records’ Jon Tolley told KIngston Nub: “
Hexham, UK | Snap Records store, Hexham supports Blue Spirit charity: The proceeds of a vinyl collection were donated to charity. Blue Spirit is a charity established in Hexham that helps young people experiencing mental health challenges, or facing social or economic disadvantage, to experience the freedom of sailing. It was established in memory of Laury Gratiet, who died of a mental illness at 21 years of age. Andy Lees, Laury’s uncle, sold approximately 60 records and a turntable to Snap Records in the town centre and donated the proceeds of £550 to Blue Spirit. Solen said: “This amount is a significant contribution to Blue Spirit and it will allow one young person to go on a five-day group sailing voyage from North Shields or Hartlepool, or will allow 16 young people a half-day dinghy sailing session on the Derwent Reservoir. “These experiences are potentially life-changing, and at the very least give young people the chance to do something that would normally be out of their reach and that will 
