Record Store Day

I feel this whole Record Store day thing is a bit sad. It is, very much like valentine or mothers day, an excuse to soothe our conscience by paying attention to something we have neglected most of the year. If a cause – being it love, your mother or record shops – is really worth something to you it should be part of your day-to-day routine. Visiting your mum, treating you loved one to something he or she likes or buying records should be no effort but a reflex.

Spending an entire day in dusty, hardly illuminated rooms with a bunch of other socially handicapped on one of the first sunny days of the year should be so natural to you it takes your friends to question this behaviour. Something far from extreme for the Onda Sonora soundsystem duo. We’re the guys who go to record stores before checking into our hotel when we visit foreign cities. We even consider daytrips to European cities, even by plane, not that crazy to score some vinyl.

So discovering on April 16th that there are still a few record stores open near you seems a bit ridiculous to us. On the other hand we’re not that unworldly that we haven’t noticed people prefer the convenience of iTunes or Media Markt (not to mention the illegal download). Places that offer the most common and some more, enough to satisfy those that like to buy their music in the short space between grabbing a burger and buying new sneakers. Usually leading to people becoming immensely proud and even a bit cocky about it when they discover a ‘brand new and avant-garde’ artist like Jamie Woon or James Blake. Funny but essentially very sad.

So we’ll keep on doing our bit to counter that. Buy recommending lots or records you won’t find at the spots mentioned above. Buy unearthing dusty slabs of vinyl that have been forgotten but still easily ridicule those brand new hyped up artists. And by pointing you in the direction of the shops we prefer. We update the ‘Where To Buy Music’ section on our site regularly and as a teaser to this record store day we have listed our current favourites. Go pay them a visit. It’s well worth it.

Belgium
Veals & Geeks
Doctor Vinyl
Music Mania
Wally’s Groove World
Record Collector

International
Rush Hour
Vinyl Exchange (just to mention one in Manchester but there are many more)
Mr Peabody’s
Clone
Record Exchange (see the Manchester remark)

A special mention goes out to 2 ‘local’ record stores that have opened recently. An extremely rare feat these days but we’ve found some nice gems there.
Walhalla Records
Eddy’s Record

Do check the Belgian records store day site for special events and more from the local shops.