Martin Roberts, author of Cornelius’s Fantasma, on the central role that record stores played in his life. Like so many other stories about pop music fandom, this one begins with a record store. In 1995, a tiny record store opened on West 4th Street in Manhattan, literally across the street from Tower Records’ flagship megastore. Issuing a warning to its giant neighbor, Other Music, as it was pointedly named, specialized in musical genres not available at Tower Records, from Krautrock to free jazz to noise music. By the time I…
From the East Village to Shibuya: A Tale of Two Record Stores
