September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine
September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine
September 2008 (PDF) - Antigravity Magazine
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COVER FEATURELOCAL BUSINESS<br />
STILL SPINNING: AG ROUNDS UP THE<br />
RECORD STORES OF NEW ORLEANS<br />
How’s that iTunes thing working out for you? Getting much out of that? Are you satisfied with your virtual library, your<br />
stream of album covers 72 pixels strong and a song list that looks more like your email account than your book shelf?<br />
Or is there something missing, something Pandora, Limewire, Emusic or any other online “service” can’t really give<br />
you? If you feel that finding music is more like picking produce than using a search engine, than these next few pages<br />
are for you. ANTIGRAVITY took stock of the record stores in New Orleans and found a reason to celebrate: we’re loaded. While<br />
some of you might still be mourning the loss of such fine institutions as the Magic Bus and Rocks Off; or digging even further<br />
back, Underground Sounds and CD Warehouse—there are plenty of fresh, new record shops to cater to your listening pleasure,<br />
as well as a few survivors. We pried our fingers off our keyboards long enough to venture out into the city and find out the stories,<br />
triumphs and philosophies behind these shops, their owners and the neighborhoods they call home.<br />
DOMINO SOUND<br />
It might have been easy to laugh at Matt Knowles, better<br />
known as the reggae-lovin’ DJ Prince Pauper, when he<br />
opened his Domino Sound Record Shack on Bayou Road a<br />
little over a year and a half ago. Stocking only vinyl and cassette<br />
tapes seemed quixotic at best and naive at worst, but Knowles’<br />
stubbornness has paid off. A constantly updated inventory and<br />
a broad selection from African to punk ensures a steady stream<br />
of customers. And although part of the vinyl exclusivity is a<br />
personal choice, it’s also turning out to be a sound business<br />
decision: “We are pretty sure that the CD is going the way of<br />
the 8-track and reel-to-reel in the near future and that vinyl will<br />
most likely be the only current format that lasts as a way to get<br />
music as a piece of art...a viable piece of something that you<br />
can hold and look at and touch,” Knowle told AG in an e-<br />
mail. You could describe the strip of Bayou Road that Domino<br />
resides on in the same way. An Afrocentric bookstore teeming<br />
with interesting titles and a Jamaican restaurant flooding the<br />
streets with sweet-smelling barbecue make for an eye-opening<br />
sensory experience. In the coming months, Domino will be<br />
branching out as a record label in addition to being a physical<br />
shop, with a release by Why Are We Building Such a Big Ship?<br />
slated for October. —Dan Fox; Photo by Dan Fox<br />
Domino Sound Record Shack is located at 2557 Bayou Road in<br />
New Orleans. For more info, call 504.309.0871.<br />
SKULLY’Z<br />
The idea of a new record store on Bourbon Street probably<br />
confused a few people as they tried to picture fighting<br />
that crowd to get to any place they’d want to shop at<br />
regularly. But it turns out that Skully’z Recordz is on one of the<br />
saner blocks, across from the Clover Grill and Mary’s Hardware.<br />
The size of a big closet, Skully’z makes up in selection what it<br />
lacks in personal space. Just beyond a traditional New Orleans<br />
section—a profitable nod to the store’s location—lies a wide<br />
array of contemporary and classic releases of all genres. On a<br />
recent trip I was able to pick up a couple of Kimya Dawson<br />
CDs in addition to Beck’s latest and Saul Williams’ self-titled<br />
album. Owner Scott Wells’ business plan is the same as anyone<br />
running a successful shop: he makes the place one he would<br />
want to visit. Wells is experiencing a steady demand for vinyl,<br />
which he says is actually fueled by people under twenty-five.<br />
Another surprise? How well the new Madonna album, Hard<br />
Candy, is doing on vinyl. It makes an audiophiles’ heart crackle<br />
with hope. —Dan Fox; Photo by Dan Fox<br />
Skully’z Recordz is located at 907 Bourbon St. in New Orleans.<br />
For more info, call 504.592.4666 or go to myspace.com/<br />
skullyzrecordz.<br />
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