Vinyl revolution: How shops in Belgium will be celebrating Record Store Day

More than 80 shops selling vinyl in Belgium will be hosting events this Saturday, 16 April, for Record Store Day (RSD), an international event celebrating the humble neighbourhood record shop.

Shops participating with special vinyl releases, concerts or other treats include Vynilla and Wool-E-Shop in Ghent, The Vinyl Touch in Mechelen and Coffee & Vinyl in Antwerp. Cultural centre Vooruit in Ghent devotes an entire day of concerts to the cause, and many of Flanders’ fave bands can be found there and elsewhere, including Mauro Pawlowski, Admiral Freebee, Kiss The Anus Of a Black Cat and Amatorski.

The frontmen for RSD in Belgium are Thomas Coucke and Diederik Decroix. The latter doesn’t work for a record store, but spends a lot of time in them. “I am a collector,” explains Decroix, “and I love finding out about new, unknown stuff. The passion of independent record store staff should be central on Record Store Day. Collectors want this knowledge and enthusiasm.”

Close support comes from Karel Van Audenaerde, who launched RSD in Belgium in 2009 and is co-owner of Music Mania in Ghent.

Another traditional element are RSD-only vinyl releases featuring local artists. This year finds releases from K’s Choice, Brzzvl, 30,000 Monkies, Kaptain Korsakov and The Spectors, among others.

RSD also has to accommodate global major labels that have seized on it and the vinyl boom as a way of increasing profits from their back catalogues. But these are dismissed by most fans. “A lot of big labels are just releasing stuff that doesn’t have any value for the real collector,” says Decroix.

Record Store Day still remains the high point of the year for Decroix and lovers of vinyl and independent shops everywhere. Although, for him, he admits: “Every day is record store day!”

Our selection of events

In downtown Brussels, eight record stores are working together, with a savings card scheme. As you buy at each store, you receive a stamp, which eventually entitles customers to freebies such as drinks and T-shirts. At Bonnefooi (Rue des Pierres 8), the celebrations begin at 16.00.

Elektrocution, down the road at Rue des Pierres 37, sells both vinyl and CDs, new and second-hand, mainly focusing on electro goth, industrial, neo-folk, heavy and thrash metal. 72 Records (Rue du Midi 72) has a variety of second-hand genres including rock, funk, soul, jazz, wave, punk and metal. Hors Serie, just over the road at number 67, has a wide selection of jazz vinyl and CDs, in addition to a DVD selection, comic books and art books.

The other Brussels stores participating in the joint celebration are Arlequin Records (Rue du Chêne 7), Veals N. Geeks (Rue des Grands Carmes 8), Kozmic Music (Rue du Marché au Charbon 57) and the famous Doctor Vinyl (Rue de la Grande Ile 1)

In Mechelen, Vinyl Touch record store will have a day-long series of performances from bands including Admiral Freebee and Bent van Looy, the Das Pop frontman who has just brought out his second solo album.

The Whispering Sons, winners of this year's Humo's Rock Rally - the number one competition for Belgian rock and pop bands, will be playing at 17.00 at the Wool-E-Shop in Ghent, a store which focuses mainly on variations of “wave” such as dark-wave, cold-wave and electro, as well as some indie music. The Whispering Sons will be playing at several other stores throughout the day, as this year's Rock Rally winners, including the CD&Vinyl Shop in Heusden, Limburg province.

Pêle-Mêle in Waterloo be providing a selection of special and limited edition vinyl that are only available as part of RSD, as well as sale prices on all their other stock, DJ sets and a live jazz concert from 15.00.

For the full list of celebrations this Saturday, see www.recordstoreday.be/events