And the award for best record store goes to...

by Rob Peters | April 19, 2008 at 12:45 am | 381 views | 4 comments

What exactly makes for a good record store?  Is it a certain elegant insouciance on the part of staff? A deliberately lo-fi yet charming decor? An overwhelming potpourri of dusty record sleeves?

The folks over at CBC 3 have put it to a contest and let democracy decide.

Congratulations to Meow Records, the winner of CBC Radio 3's Searchlight contest and according to the Canadian voting public, the Best Record Store in Canada.

CBC Radio 3's Grant Lawrence announced the winner around 4:15 P.M. ET this afternoon (April 18). The Prince George, BC indie retailer beat out stiff competition from the four other nominees - Back Alley Music (Charlottetown PEI), Backstreet Records (Saint John NB), Sound Connection (Edmonton AB), Taz Records (Halifax NS) - winning by the narrow margin of 26 votes.

When called to inform her of the victory, a surprised Meow owner Bryndis Ogmundson said, “Wow, this is so crazy. I’m shaking. It’s such a great honour... I want to say congratulations to everyone that was nominated, because I think this is such a hard business to be in.”

Ogmundson only just opened the relatively humble Meow 16 months ago in a downtown Prince George basement. But it quickly developed a faithful following. “You know, Prince George has such a bad rap, but people should really come here and see how cool it’s gotten,” she added.

Asked how she'll celebrate, Ogmundson said: "I have a roller derby practice tonight, and then I’ll go party.”

Of course, all of this comes in preparation for the big celebration of tomorrow's now-international Record Store Day. So, go out and support your local independent record shop... and even the major chains too.

Add a comment Comments (4)

meekg1975

Walking up Princess st. at a grueling 45° is exhausting. The pay-off, however, is reaching Backstreet Records on the intersecting Germain st.--right where Princess st., fittingly, corrects itself.

meekg1975 has contributed a photo to this story.

jordan
good stuff:

Wow, the maritimes are heavily represented in this list...

felixdakat

Some people like to visit all the baseball parks. I would love to take a roadtrip to see the best record stores. Funny thing is, there are kids that have never seen a record!

Rocky Raccoon

I’m surprised the Oldest Record Store in the United States did not make this list: George's Song Shop in Johnstown, PA. 5 floors of vinyl. If you collect 45 rpm records you have got to see this place!

http://www.georgessongshop.com/

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April 19, 2008 at 12:45 am by Rob Peters, 381 views, 4 comments

Crowd Power

jordan
First Flagged at 9:54 AM, Apr 19, 2008 by jordan
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