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Video Tue Dec 11 2012
How Records Saved the Record Store
Re-Vinylized a 30-minute documentary by John Boston of Whiskey Bender Productions about independent record stores in Chicago, is now watchable online.
The film was an official selection of the 2012 Chicago International REEL Shorts Festival, and features interviews with the owners of Permanent Records, Record Emporium, Vintage Vinyl, Val's Halla and other shops, as well as music journalists Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis, in a celebration of the culture of independent record stores, the effects of the Internet on the business, and the stores' resurgence with the vinyl record.
Speaking of Val's Halla, the Oak Park music mainstay is on the verge of closure due to mounting bills. There's a "Help Val Keep the Lights On" house party happening this Thursday, Dec. 13; it's sold out, but donations are still being accepted.
lifeat45rpm / December 11, 2012 5:11 PM
Yikes. Kot - whom I've NEVER seen in a record store - and DeRogatis - who sells his overflow promos on eBay, are sharing space in doc with the owner of the four aforementioned stores, one of which has long since closed, another of which in is on the verge of closure, another of which owners' moved to LA because they couldn't stand the weather [though the store they left behind is apparently doing well], and the fourth has an owner whose attitude has long put off shoppers and potential customers. I do agree with their conclusion that vinyl saved record stores, but honestly, couldn't they have come up with better or more involved or successful or likeable examples to support that conclusion?