Brooklyn Record Riot
I must have had Record Store Day on the brain. Flash: Sunday’s Brooklyn Record Riot commences with early admission at 10 AM ($20) and then regular admission at noon ($3)! So a thousand apologies to everyone who had started to plan out Sunday and now have to switch their brunches/golf games/bike trips around, but this error gives me a chance to provide some info about the awesome and varied dealers of the Brooklyn Record Riot. The following list is by no means complete, but it does give you a taste of Sunday’s event. And you never know who might show up…there are always last-minute mystery dealers. And I’ll be there anyhow, hawking great two dollar records, some more expensive Latin LPs and who knows what else—-back near the food—- always look among the pierogies for the best records. But you knew that already….
** A SNEAK PEEK OF SOME BROOKLYN RECORD RIOT DEALERS:**
Mike from Slipped Disc on Long Island will be at the show with a large selection of 70’s Punk and 80’s New Wave LP’s. He will also have a variety of newly released 2012 Record Store Day titles.
Phil Moffa and Ray West at the Tape Theory/Red Apples 45 table will have vinyl from local NYC labels including the new Kool Keith/Ultramagnetic 7”!
Barry (from the Bronx): Rare Soul 45’s (Northern, Popcorn, Funk) in addition to R&B/Blues, Garage, Group 45’s etc… Also a nice collection of Jazz LP’s featuring some nice original Blue Note, Prestige and Riversides.
“Steven & Sal (from Burning Wood) will have rare soul, R&B, rock and jazz, as well as a ton of $4 LPs.” Steve B will be bringing PROG and psych imports and a recently acquired audiophile collection with some Reference Recordings, Mo-Fi ……
Tim from central Virginia is bringing over 500 reggae singles, 7” + 12”
for $1 each, 70’s-90’s roots and dancehall
Tim from down south is picking up a collection in DC that will have
some nice 70’s prog (Gong, Van Der Graf, Robert Wyatt, etc)
“Lou Cannizzaro of 16tonsmusicandart.com bringing some Mint & Near Mint Punk, New Wave, R&B, Soul, Funk, Jazz, Prog, Reggae, 45s & some record store day collectables too! I don’t know where I’m gonna fit it all but its coming!!!!”
Sal Nunziato: ”Bringing some great old soul and r&b, a nice smattering of reggae, blues and jazz, and of course some solid rock. OH…and a huge bag of dollar 45s.”
Scott from NSP. ” Will be bringing a wide selection of SUPER CLEAN first press 1960’s / 1970’s LP’s & 45’s. British invasion, (including Mono pressings), US West Coast Psych, 1960’s / 70’s UK Prog & Folk, Late 60’s Heavy Rock & Metal, Early 70’s Rock, Mid / Late 70’s Punk / New Wave / DIY / Australian bands (Radio Birdman & the like…) both LP & 45. A variety of 1960’s garage / psych compilations & reissues, as well as 60’s / 70’s Stooges / NY Dolls / Velvets / Glam etc… Also a selection of original 1960’s 45’s, featuring hits, obscurities, picture sleeves both foreign & domestic, some cheap & some not so cheap. A handful of ULTRA OBSCURE MEGA RARITIES will most likely make an appearance. There’ll be a large selection of $10.00 & under LP’s, all in Excellent condition. And possibly a selection of inexpensive CD’s. “
tim from lynchburg va is liquidating his truck driving and bluegrass
records and will be bringing 100+ up to the warsaw
Donald Cleveland a/k/a “BigSoulMan” is a reissue producer (for Universal, Sony, Rhino, Funkytowngrooves, SoulMusic.Com & Razor & Tie), collector and music critic from Brooklyn, NY. I will have half a lifetimes worth of Soul, Jazz and Funk CDs all in NM to Still Sealed condition for you to look through and purchase at 5.00 and 10.00 each. I will also have a very limited selection of box-sets and higher priced collectibles….and maybe if I can carry it- a box of choice & rare Disco Vinyl goodies too. Looking forward to being here among my fellow music lovers.
Neil from PA
I will be bringing a fine selection of top-quality record albums.The categories will be 80’s New Wave and Alternative,80’s Guitar and Hard Rock,Blues, Jazz, R & B and Soul, Country, and Rock.I will have 4 boxes of nice clean $2 albums underneath the table in the Jazz,80’s, Country and Rock genres.
Disco De Facto records from NJ is going to have a ton of 12”s. Disco/electronic/hip hop. Also bringing some funk/jazz/gospel LPs
Phast Phreddie
More than 100 CDs—mostly out of print compilations and reissues of blues, R&B, soul and jazz with some rock About 600 45s—at least a third to a half are fresh, mostly soul, R&B, blues, garage rock, groovy stuff. About 200 LPs—more than half are fresh, mostly rock, psyche, soul, R&B, jazz. Many original pressings and hard to find things. Look for me in a fez & tie!
Paul Aaronson
a hat trick weekend: friday 4/20, sat record store day, sunday warsaw. don’t get any better than that. will have some nice latin flavors at the show. come on down and check ‘em out…
**THE BROOKLYN RECORD RIOT!
This Sunday, April 22nd
Warsaw
261 Driggs Ave
Noon-7 PM
Admission $3
Early Admission at 10 AM $20
Over 60 Dealer Tables!**
Wow, It’s Another Record Store Day! Save Your Spice Girls Vinyl! And More Free Records On Brunswick Street!
Along with green grass, kids playing baseball, and the ubiquitous ice cream truck (complete with that horrible tune), Record Store Day has snuck up on me again. Of course we are looking forward to a wild April 21st (personally I’m excited to hear the newly compiled Lee Hazelwood LP), but we’ve had a primo first quarter without any record store days or anything other than “business as usual”. Honestly, we have an interesting, committed, knowledgeable customer base who visit us from all over the tri-state area and beyond. My sourcing of records just gets better and better, though I must admit that this means driving all over the damn place to keep the place stocked (contacts from being in the business nearly 20 years has helped). The store is so beautiful these days—-spotless really, with less filler than ever before. So there’s less digging involved and for most people, that really rocks (props to the sad diggers—-we know who you are). IrisRecs aims to keep the Jersey City vinyl population LOCAL as folk buy records here rather than paying higher prices (and sales tax) on LPs in Manhattan or Brooklyn. It seems to me that with Madame Claude’s, Another Man’s Treasure, Grove Street Bikes, Lucky 7 and many other cool businesses, Jersey City is so appealing in more and more ways as the months pass.
And so what’s new around here? Record Store Day will again be a blast! We have big (secret) plans for some great refreshments, maybe some live music, plenty of free things for everyone who stops by. I’ll be stocking up on all sorts of new releases and reissues, plus I’m going to break out all sorts of lightly-used new arrivals to celebrate. And I am always amazed at what turns up. I just found one of those wonderful Harry Smith Folk box sets the other day, then a great old Roy Ayers LP, then too many blues records to handle all at once and even some tasty Northern Soul 45s. Records are falling from the sky in giant buckets right now (who knows why), so come grab some while you can. We are now stocking great five dollar CDs of all genres, and will be unveiling some great priced 45s along with our normal dollar fare. I recently bought a large jazz collection, so the two dollar jazz section is quite stocked and a bit undervalued. Cheaper rock records are always arriving.
OK, and more specifics (for those keeping score at home)…
The vinyl LPs that reside near the front counter (in wooden shelves) are now ALWAYS FREE to paying customers. These are sometimes simple older dollar records, genres that we don’t sell well (classical/showtunes for example), things that are either a bit scratchy or have cover problems. Please take as many as you want! There are more good deals in that front counter area than you might think. I have recently bought over 10,000 records and we don’t have room for everything. I predict that the free mish-mosh in the front will only get better and better.
We are increasingly thumbs down on eBay and this can only benefit YOU. It’s long and complicated, and has to do with high fees and sunspots and not enough sales, but we are getting very close to selling NOTHING on eBay and EVERYTHING in the store or at the markets. Wouldn’t that be an awesome slogan? “Iris Records, None Of Our Records Are Ever On Ebay” It’s one of the real sad cries in the vinyl world—-when you realize that your favorite store puts most of their “good stuff” on-line. Not so around here. That means that there might more 30-40-50 dollar records for you to caress and purchase, so keep your eyes peeled. I must admit that I am often surprised at what I find in the store, and I find and price everything!
The Brooklyn Record Riot takes place on Sunday April 22nd at Warsaw, so get ready! If you’ve never been, go go GO. The BRR features over 40 dealers, 55+ tables of stuff, a very cool dollar room, lots of Z beer and pierogies and retro Polish women serving food. The show starts with $20 early admission at 10 am and then regular $3.00 admission starts at noon. There are great live DJs (headed by Phast Phreddie) and the show lasts until 6 PM. We’re very proud of the BRR, especially since I was one of the founders some time back. I’ll be there with a couple of tables of stuff—-so visit Iris on Brunswick Street at noon and then get to Greenpoint in the mid-afternoon. I’m sure that you will end up with way too much vinyl, but isn’t that the point? I’m always happy to see certain dealers: Denis from Montreal, Bob Waddlington from NYC, so many others. Can’t wait.
Recent interesting vinyl LP revelations include the Spice Girls! I didn’t realize that their infamous, full-length album is worth around 40+ dollars (we found a UK pressing). Seems like they were popular at the height of CDs and maybe at the low point of vinyl issuance. Chris has been overdosing on the Troggs recently and reminded me about their powerful influence on so many bands. We’ve also happened upon a “new” (old) band that we dig: Pic-nic, a sweet pop/psych band from Spain…and we even have one of their original LPs in the store! Lovely melodies with female vocals—-this is a record that really sounds great on vinyl. And I’ve had a number of interesting recent conversations with other dealers about the rapidly falling prices of soul/funk/jazz, information gleaned from websites like Popsike and Collectors’ Frenzy. I recently wanted to list an Albert Ayler ESP LP on eBay, thinking that a clean copy should be worth at least 75-100 dollars. I was shocked to see that these LPs now go for as low at 30 dollars in auction. So a recommedation from me: buy low and sell high. Get some funk and jazz at good prices while they last.
That’s it for now. I’ll write more around tax time in April, so in the meantime, stop by Iris Records on Record Store Day or on any Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Or see you at the Grove Street PATH on Fridays. SG
OMG we blog, we blog in 2012!
THE HOLIDAYS ARE OVER! WELCOME TO 2012: IRIS RECORDS HAS MUCHO NEW ARRIVALS, INCLUDING EXTRA SPECIAL QUEBEC STOCK…
I hope that everyone had a great holiday season and are looking forward to a great 2012. Even though January is considered “off-season” for many businesses, the staff of Iris Records has been working double-time to continue bringing in endless quantities of new, pertinent, singular arrivals. I’m just back from a trip to Quebec and procured all sorts of goodies: Quebecois psyche, odd classic rock, bizarre easy listening records, the legendary disco of the “Montreal Sound.” We’ve also purchased a number of new local collections to delight and amaze! Hmm, Iris has too many records now, and this only helps the customer as we keep prices low, low, low. Stop by and check us out when you have a spare moment.
Otherwise, we do stock some new vinyl releases now and choice rock/soul reissues as well. Our two dollar section is now overflowing with quality merchandise, and that includes scads of country, gospel, easy listening, jazz, soul, rock, plus 12” hiphop, dance, freestyle, etc. Iris continues to carry many many oddities, including records from France and Quebec, spoken word discs, comedy, soundtracks, country, oddities and more. And yes, we will buy your collections of records and cds, either if you bring them in or prefer to have us travel to see you. The store is kept a bit more tidy these days by loyal friend and employee Chris Repella, so please don’t make a big ole mess or you’ll get an earful. With listening stations for your pleasure, delicious one dollar waters, the lovely ambiance of Brunswick Street (plenty of free street parking) and a new yellow Ikea children’s stool for sitting and digging, Iris Records is a perfect spot for your vinyl-hunting…
