🎶 Gearing up for Record Store Day

Stories from the archives about record shops [View this email in your browser]( [READER Logo]( Daily Reader | April 17, 2024 I’ve spent the past few weeks calling local record shops. Record Store Day is this Saturday, and I usually put together listings and a map of local brick-and-mortar spots. I usually design these guides to give locals a better sense of where they can buy music locally, and RSD gives me an easy hook to check in on shops in the area. Every year, my map changes—shops open, move, or close. I try to report on all of these changes throughout the year, and RSD gives me a chance to provide readers with a wide-screen view of what it means to buy records locally. I joined the Reader as a staffer in 2012, and I’ve been contributing to these RSD guides in one way or another ever since. About a decade ago, when the music section had its own back cover (the “B Side,” which is still beloved, at least by me), our RSD guides often took up a significant portion of the section; we’d run listings, essays about RSD exclusive titles, and maybe a tangentially related feature (some of which I’m responsible for). What strikes me about this work now is not the comprehensiveness (though that is bewildering), but how my colleagues and I captured the breadth of record-store culture in the city. I look at the [RSD listings for 2013]( and remember all the shops that expanded my sense of music and have since closed. Record stores remain vital to my work and sense of the world. I imagine that’s the case for many of you as well. Below I’ve rounded up some old Reader stories about record shops, or tangentially related to record shops or past RSD coverage. Some shops documented below have since shuttered; if you’re eager to find a place to dig through LPs that are new to you, keep an eye on the Reader’s site for the 2024 RSD guide. [“Farewell to Record Wonderland architect Pat Deasey”]( (April 25, 2023) [“Best place to find vintage music ephemera at reasonable prices”]( (April 5, 2023) [“Farewell to Dave’s Records”]( (January 6, 2023) [“Meteor Gem opens its doors to Chicagoland’s trve metalheads”]( (July 19, 2022) [“Pravda Records goes the distance”]( (June 22, 2022) [“Best rainy Sunday-afternoon activity”]( (March 2, 2022) [“Round Trip Records opens its brick-and-mortar shop after almost two years of pandemic delays”]( (November 24, 2021) [“Beverly Phono Mart works to boost record-store culture on the far south side”]( (August 18, 2021) [“The much-needed affection of Neji the record store dog”]( (March 17, 2021) [“Tone Deaf Records responded to the stay-at-home order with vinyl delivery”]( (March 17, 2021) [“A new record store somehow opens in Evanston”]( (March 2, 2021) [“A Dusty Groove documentary premieres in Chicago”]( (February 24, 2020) [“Interstellar Space brings far-out old records to Lincoln Square”]( (January 15, 2020) [“Remember resale shops this Record Store Day”]( (April 10, 2019) [“A tour of FeelTrip’s brand-new record store, No Requests”]( (February 28, 2019) [“Today Andersonville has a record store again”]( (November 1, 2018) [“Rogers Park gets a new record store”]( (August 8, 2018) [“Chicago’s Wax Trax! Records portrayed as a romance etched in vinyl in new documentary”]( (June 4, 2018) [“Will the music finally stop at one of the state’s oldest record stores?”]( (May 30, 2018) [“Logan Square record store Logan Hardware closes down”]( (May 7, 2018) [“Vic Mensa revisits his vanishing Hyde Park”]( (February 14, 2018) [“What will the closure of Permanent Records’ Chicago store mean for the local music community?”]( (July 25, 2017) [“Record stores for Record Store Day heretics”]( (April 19, 2017) [“Permanent Records manager Dave McCune on celebrating the shop’s tenth anniversary”]( (October 21, 2016) [“Shady Rest Vintage & Vinyl joins Pilsen’s booming record-store strip”]( (July 17, 2016) [“A photo tour of the Numero Group’s new brick-and-mortar shop”]( (July 11, 2016) [“Fans say thank you for the music as Shake Rattle & Read prepares to close”]( (January 19, 2016) [“Pilsen welcomes another new record shop”]( (October 28, 2015) [“Best record store for a musicological dig”]( (June 24, 2015) [“Funk Trunk Records opens in Rogers Park”]( (November 26, 2014) [“​​How do record stores get such great used vinyl?”]( (April 16, 2014) [“Record Breakers turns 25”]( (October 3, 2013) [“Best Sign That People Are Still Buying Records”]( (June 19, 2013) [“Of Paramount’s importance”]( (April 17, 2013) [“Best Place to Get Rare Vinyl and a High Score on BurgerTime”]( (June 20, 2012) [“Still alive at five”]( (September 8, 2011) [“Photo Pit: Record Store Day, April 16”]( (April 21, 2011) [“Record Shopping in Logan Square?”]( (May 27, 2010) [“Start Mourning Metal Haven”]( (February 11, 2010) [“What Are Record Stores For?”]( 6, 2009) [“Browse locally, buy globally”]( (November 26, 2007) [“Dr. Wax hanging in there”]( (August 1, 2007) [“Dusty Groove gets groovier”]( (July 12, 2007) [“Another Record Store Bites the Dust”]( (November 17, 2006) [“Boutique of the Week”]( (November 9, 2006) [“Mourning Tower Records?”]( (October 9, 2006) [“More on Record Stores”]( (July 21, 2006) [“George Daniels Cranks It Up”]( (November 1, 2001) [“Treasures in the Net”]( (December 5, 1996) Hope all this inspires you to dig up some music to obsess over soon. Sincerely, Leor ◈ [“Thursday Ends a 13-Year Break From New Music With a Pointed Song,”]( by Ian Cohen (New York Times) ◈ [“The Life and Death of Hollywood,”]( by Daniel Bessner (Harper’s) ◈ [“Danny’s Tavern Schlitz Sign Appears On West Town Building Years After It Was Reported Stolen,”]( by Quinn Myers (Block Club Chicago) ◈ Billy Joel Jr, [Rubberhose]( ◈ Soft Kill, [Escape Forever]( ◈ Hour, [Ease the Work]( ◈ Bored Lord, [New Moon Ritual To Protect Against Medical Transphobia]( [a group of men standing in front of a car]( [Motel Breakfast celebrate a diverse but cohesive post-lockdown album]( Plus: Rich Jones and ShowYouSuck launch the monthly variety show Dream Blunt Rotation. by [DMB (Debbie-Marie Brown)]( and [Leor Galil]( | [Read more]( → [a woman with long white hair]( [Bnny embrace love’s ups and downs on the new One Million Love Songs]( by [Shea Roney]( | [Read more]( → [Myra Melford comes to town with the best all-woman supergroup in jazz]( by [Bill Meyer]( | [Read more]( → [Chicago alt-Americana group Minor Moon find the comfort in a ruined world]( by [Leor Galil]( | [Read more]( → Lions, music, and the Best of Chicago! [The full entertainment lineup is out now!]( Information about vendors coming soon. FEAUTURING SPEAKERS: My Block, My Hood, My City | Alderperson Andre Vasquez | Chicago Greater Food Depository | Chicago Public Library | Chicago Poetry Foundation [WE’LL SEE YOU AT THE ZOO!]( Get the latest issue of the Chicago Reader Thursday, April 4, 2024 [READ ONLINE: VOL. 53, NO. 13]( [VIEW/DOWNLOAD ISSUE (PDF)]( [Become a member of the Chicago Reader.]( [Facebook icon]( [Instagram icon]( [Twitter icon]( [Website icon]( [YouTube icon]( [LinkedIn icon]( [Logo] You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from the Chicago Reader. Want fewer emails from us? [Click here to choose what you want us to send you](. Or, [unsubscribe from all Reader emails](. We’ll miss you! [Sign up for emails from the Chicago Reader]( | [Forward this e-mail to a friend]( © 2024 Chicago Reader. All rights reserved. Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616