Two of my favourite record shops in Bristol are Wanted Records in St Nicks Market and The Beat Goes On which is just off Whiteladies Road. Both shops are run by enthusiasts who love music and have that wonderful dusty record shop feel which is getting harder to find. Wanted is co-founded by John Stapleton who regularly DJ's at various Bristol shindigs including Blowpop and former Massive Attack owned Tube Bar. Since Rewind and Imperial on Park Street closed (not to mention Bang Bang), vinyl enthusiasts have had to venture a bit further from the beaten track for their fix. These two shops are specialists in 7" disco, soul and funk records. Whenever i'm Bristol bound I try to pop in.
At Beat Goes On there are many crates underneath the cd shelves and second hand dvds to delve through including much of the Philadelphia International back catalogue and classic labels such as Chess. A month back whilst on a short visit I found myself purchasing a £25 rarity from Wanted (the record was The Positive Sounds- Fired Up, in case you were wondering). At Wanted the really good stuff is actually kept under lock and key round the back and you have to ask specially for a small flightcase box of select 7's which are worth too much to keep on the shop floor. Well worth checking out if you can. At times like these I can't help but think of the cover art and story behind DJ Shadow's seminal LP Endtroducing. The album cover is a classic; a homage to the art of crate digging and record shopping in such dens as those I mentioned above. He has an impressive 60,000 records in his collection. That takes alot of time & dedication, not to mention space and money.
Due to the pressure on Indie record shops and downturn in physical sales, there is an initiative to raise awareness and to help the smaller shops called Record Store Day. This is the day when exclusive records from big bands like Blur as well as limited edition records made specifically for that day from other bands, record labels and acts are put on the shelves and queues formed outside. It's a great idea and one that's growing each year in support.
My hope is that record shops stay for a long time to come, they're part of our heritage. As much as I love the accessibility of downloading music from iTunes or Amazon, it just doesn't have the same feel as the experience of venturing into a real independent record shop; I appreciate the authentic music they offer that little bit extra.
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