Here’s an interesting blog post from Akoustik Anarkhy (splendid Manchester Record Label and Gig Promoters..check out their wares here if you haven’t already)

It seems they’ve found their way to a place of  Manchester legend, and succeeded where many have tried and failed…they got inside the semi-legendary-not-really-a-record-shop Pandemonium Records, and they have pictures to prove it.

For those who don’t know, Pandemonium was a record shop formerly on Oxford Road (a few doors down from Johnny Roadhouse) which, following concerns that the sheer weight of Vinyl was going to come crashing through to the floor below, relocated to a warehouse on an anonymous industrial area of Newton Heath.

It was, for a time, still operating as a shop of sorts. However, over the years it has gradually just become a place where the owner, Mr Davenport, stores the vast collection of records that he has accumulated both as a collector and a dealer. From what we can gather, he isn’t particularly keen to sell anything these days although you can apparently make an appointment to go and have a look around.

Sadly, what the aA guys found seems pretty tragic. The warehouse is ankle deep in water, damp and some of the stock of records is already damaged beyond salvage. It would appear that Pandemonium is still facing eviction from the place, but there is literally nowhere for these records to go. Read the article to find out more….

Friend of the site Graham Jones, author of the splendid book  ‘Last Shop Standing’ has contacted us regarding a new project: A 60 minute documentary based on the book of the same name featuring musicians, industry insiders and of course the real heroes of the piece, those unsung heroes behind the counters of the Record Shops we celebrate here.

Sounds great, and if you ask me is the sort of thing a channel like  BBC4 would snap up in an instant and would be a great thing to promote the good cause of Vinyl vendors . Only trouble is, it hasn’t been filmed yet so Graham and his team need a few quid to get it off the ground. That’s where you come in. Remember how ‘Life of Brian’ only got made because George Harrison really wanted to see it, so he bankrolled it (and as Eric Idle recalls..the most anyone has paid for a cinema ticket). Now, you don’t need to remortgage your Mansion like George did. Think of it as buying a DVD in advance, and depending on how much you fancy chipping in you could even get your name in the credits, and  invites to a swanky Premiere and you get to to call yourself a movie mogul because you are one. So, if you’d like this film to exist then click here:    http://www.indiegogo.com/Last-Shop-Standing-Whatever-Happened-to-Record-Shops

Just in time for the Xmas shopping season, our friends at the lovely Wah Wah Records  have asked us to let you know they have a rather special December Sale on running for a limited time from now until Christmas.

They’ve got many collectable Vinyl LPs at 50% off, plus there is also a 4 for £10 deal on selected Vinyl and CDs.

Sounds pretty darn good to us,  so get down there and get stuck in before we do..and tell Chris we sent you!

You know how Manchester Record Shops like to occasionally move around the city just to keep us on our toes?. You’ll remember Beatin’ Rhythm have moved down the street to 108 Tib Street a while back? Well it’s been brought to our attention by one of our readers (not by the shop of course!) that Manchester’s legendary Eastern Bloc records have moved house too. They’ve drawn the iron curtain over their Oldham Street home where they’ve lived since 1990, and are moving into new premises just around the corner on 5A Stevenson Square, which is fast becoming a super cool extension of the Northern Quarter what with it’s Soup Kitchen and the Kraak Gallery and all that. I sound like an Estate Agent…or should that be an 808 Estate Agent. Ho ho!

Not sure of the exact date of re-opening but I wandered past and noticed a couple of iconic red letters ‘EB’ in the window so I guess any day now they will be back to serve dancefloor Vinyl that’s so cutting edge it can only be handled with industrial strength protective gloves, and so fresh it’s still wet!  Long Live Eastern Bloc!

In case you weren’t aware, a fire started during this weeks London riots destroyed the Sony/PIAS warehouse in Enfield which housed the stock and back catalogue of a huge number of UK Indie Labels of all shapes and sizes. This will have a serious impact on many small Indie labels and Record Shops across the country and could push some out of business.

There are all sorts of ways you can help, see below:

http://cognitivedissonancerecords.com/labellove/

http://tinyurl.com/3z6kmbt

If you’ve been on Market Street recently dodging the charity muggers and the tone deaf accordion players you may have noticed a new Music Shop.  ‘Thats Entertainment’ has emerged from the ashes of what was once Music Zone, the (actually quite splendid) budget priced music chain that ate MVC..went bust, and was then eaten by Fopp…who quickly went bust themselves. The people behind Music Zone reappeared as online service ‘Music Magpie’ which specialises in buying CDs in bulk, often at prices so low you may as well give them to Oxfam. They pay 30p for your bog standard chart CD, a bit more if it’s something more desirable or rare. Nevertheless they seem to have made some sort of business out of it, and have amassed enough stock to open a chain of retail stores. ‘That’s Entertainment’ basically sell second hand CDs, DVDs and games..or as they call it ‘Replay’. The electronic games industry has sold ‘pre-owned’ games in mainstream stores for years but this is first time I recall seeing second hand music sold in a High Street chain store.
What is interesting is that they have rather cheekily opened up directly across the road from troubled HMV’s flagship Manchester store, and are undercutting their prices massively albeit with used product. CDs are priced from 99p to £3.99. The pricing can be summed up by their David Bowie selection. ‘Never Let Me Down’ is 99p. ‘Earthling’ and ‘Pin Ups’ is £1.99. ‘Hunky Dory’, ‘Low’ and ‘Scary Monsters’ = £3.99. You get the picture.

Vinyl lovers will be disappointed, this is entirely CDs but it’s a huge selection over two floors and I’m pretty sure there is more music in here than in the much larger HMV shop over the road. You won’t find many sought after gems, and there is awful lot of mass produced late 90s/early 00s stuff from the last days of the CD boom…stacks of Oasis ‘Be Here Now’, Toploader, Robbie Williams and Dance compilations but if you have some time to spare there are definitely bargains to be had. I picked up the deleted (and unlikely to be re-released) Orb Live ’93 double set for £1.99..ten pounds less than iTunes are charging for it, and the Beatles at the BBC for £5. These were good as new but worth checking the merchandise before you buy as some of the inlays and discs have seen better days. Given the overwhelming ‘mainstream’ feel to the stock and the complete lack of Vinyl I don’t think the independent second hand record shops like Vinyl Exchange, Clampdown and Vinyl Revival should be too worried about the new competition, but nevertheless, if you’re after a hard copy of something not too obscure it’s worth a visit.

An interesting development. Word reaches us that Fopp are now buying second hand CDs, not sure if their big brother HMV is planning on doing the same…

Check this out. It’s a new book called  ‘Mancunians and Music: Tales of the Underground, The Internet and the Manchester Music Scene’ by Raquel Morán. It’s her take on the Manchester music scene, post-Oasis, and she finds out how whether there is still such thing as a Manchester ‘scene’, and if so, how is it coping in an age when the business model of the traditional music business has all but collapsed into a confused, flailing heap. Raquel has sought the opinions of an impressive array of movers, shakers and hugely enthusiastic music people to find out what’s going on. We’re chuffed to be quoted a few times with our, ahem, words of wisdom rubbing shoulders with the likes of Graeme Park, John Cooper Clarke, Jon Dasilva, Jon Ronson, Martin Moscrop and many more. Cool or what?

Get it here:

It was a very nice surprise to have the BBC ring me earlier in the week for some views on the whole Record Store Day thing and where music retail is heading, and we’re name checked in the subsequent article. Check it out here:

Interestingly it also mentions the new ‘That’s Entertainment’ chain which if I’m not mistaken has risen from the ashes of Music Zone and has a few branches opening up mainly in retail parks or towns which don’t have much else in the way of Record Shops. (Nearest one to here is Macclesfield).  They’re mainly doing refurbished second hand CDs (along with DVDs and Games) which they refer to as ‘Replay’ although they do also carry some new stuff. Not much interest to you Vinyl fans but certainly one to watch as HMV continues to please neither its shareholders or serious music lovers.

It goes without saying that Record Store Day 2011 was a roaring success again. It did what it set out to do again, it sold lots of records, it created a bit of a Christmas rush in April and most importantly it once again brought Record Shops into the spotlight with lots of articles in the mainstream media and Twitter and Blogs alight and buzzing with Record Shop talk.  I hear 800 queued at Rough Trade East, and according to Piccadilly Records they had people outside the shop from 12am onwards!

According to Spencer Hickman at Rough Trade, sales of physical singles through Indie stores were more than double last years figure, sales of albums were up 20% and almost all of the physical single and Vinyl album sales in the charts this week are RSD exclusives.

As we’ve said in the past I hope this translates into some increased footfall for Record Shops generally, and perhaps record companies (both large, small and operating out of back bedrooms) will remember that there is a great network of shops still around and give them more exclusives all year round and not just on Record Store Day. Grass roots is where it’s at.

Interestingly, I’ve heard from several folk over the weekend some confusion about the fact that nearly all the RSD exclusives were Vinyl. These are people who still buy CD, but increasingly buy from Amazon or Play because HMV simply doesn’t have the ‘deep catalogue’ or Independent releases it once had. I surprised these people by telling them about the fact that, for example,  it’s not uncommon for new releases to be available in Piccadilly Records for £8-£10 which isn’t much more than Amazon, or indeed an iTunes download (new releases are typically £7.49). There is clearly a market there which HMV (other than via Fopp) are increasingly disinterested in, who are happy to come out to Record Shops. It’s clearly time for the independent sector across the country to start connecting with people who think there is no alternative to Amazon.

Er..thanks Ozzy! As we’re keen to point out, it’s Record Store Day every day around these parts but nevertheless it’s that time of year once again when record shops get to showcase what they do best and remind people that music doesn’t just arrive in cardboard cartons from Amazon or down your broadband.

Once again there is a huge list of exclusive collectable items and rarities that will only be available in participating stores on the day. The list is here in full on the Record Store Day website
http://www.recordstoreday.co.uk/exclusive-product.aspx

This year four local shops are taking part, Piccadilly Records, Eastern Bloc, X Records in Bolton and Beatin’ Rhythm so there will be plenty of queues to join to get your hands on some of the exclusive goodies. The queues at Piccadilly in particular were right round the block last year so get there early if you want to bag your desired items. Remember to check with the individual shops to find out which items they’ll be offering.
If you’re coming to Manchester specially for the day don’t forget to check out some of our other fab record stores while you’re in town.