SIDE A Cheltenham
“When you live your life through records, the records are a record of your life.” Ahmir ‘?uestlove’ Thompson (of The Roots)
Badlands Cheltenham First stop - Badlands records in my hometown, Cheltenham. Unfortunately the size of the record store inside is about that of the average household bath, the queue was ridiculously big and I knew there was no chance of getting into the store without a very long wait, they’re also very hit and miss with their stock so I wasn’t desperate to get in there and was much more looking forward to Bristol’s Rise Records. I had a quick and uneventful dig in the crates outside and then itwas off to see if anything was happening at Vinyl Vault.
Vinyl Vault Cheltenham
Do you get involved with Record Store Day? VV: We thought about getting involved a few years back but we only stock second hand records you see. We would need to stock new records which is something we very rarely do, we tend to leave the new stuff to Badlands just down the way. We feel we make a decent enough amount of money from our second hand sales that we don’t need to stock new releases, you also have to pay upfront for all the stock from RSD and there is a no returns policy, we would have stuff lying around for years that would never sell. There would obviously be a handful of releases that would fly off the shelf but we would rather stick to what we do. We also don’t really have the space to accommodate the number of customers, Badlands have many customers now due to Rise Cheltenham closing last year which makes it the only record store stocking new releases in Gloucestershire apart from Worcester and a small place in Stroud. So you have no plans to take part in RSD anytime soon? VV: We are going to keep selling second hand records, it’s what we love.
SIDE B Bristol
“I never met someone with a lot of records who wasn’t at least interesting.” Henry Rollins
Rise Bristol Rise has been one of my favourite record shops for a long time. There used to be another Rise store in Cheltenham which was like a church to me, I would go regularly and buy and discover releases, new and old. Unfortunately it closed down due to John Lewis buying the building they were based in. I now regularly make trips to Bristol to pick up records from the Bristol store. The store was busy and hectic due to it not being very big and they had an in house DJ dropping some great tunes - it was a good vibe. I dug through every section of the store prioritising very sought after items due to my small budget on this occasion. I managed to pick up a Studio One Rockers record, a compilation of early reggae and the legendary Isaac Hayes’ debut record Hot Buttered Soul. I couldn’t stay for long due to extreme overcrowding and ear piercingly loud PA System, but I was glad to experience the store and support one of my favourite places to buy music.
Bristol
What was the first record you ever bought and where did you buy it from? JL: It was really obscure, Startled Insects - Curse of the Pheromones from Trading Post in Stroud because I liked the artwork. It’s like a bunch of photo negatives but it has a second sleeve with coloured films which make the pictures look coloured depending on how you move it around. Why vinyl over other formats? JL: I like vinyl because it’s kind of a connection to the music having to keep it clean and maintain the hardware, physically change sides and obviously the sound quality is a plus. I also like the artwork/ free booklets people include it just feels more premium than a CD or a download.
What is your favourite record in your collection?
What are your thoughts on Record Store Day as a whole?
JL: Probably an album called A Constant State of Ohio - Lincoln, it’s cool because he’s a friend I’ve followed musically for about a year an a half and too see him go from covering bands on Youtube to getting signed and putting out a record also being one of the first to get a copy was a really cool experience and really motivating as a musician to keep working towards an end goal.
JL: Record Store Day is really cool, it really helps the industry a lot by pushing sales, also gives artists and fans a chance to try new stuff with split releases between bands, live performances in stores, limited releases, it really creates a sense of unity amongst music fans which is cool to have such a large group of people with the same interest in the same place at the same time.
What did you pick up today in this years Record Store Day?
-- James Lapidge, long time friend and fellow music enthusiast.
JL: I picked up Pavements Crooked Rain - Crooked Rain, an album I’ve been fond of for a long time and felt would really fit well into my collection.