Every trip I make to a new city is inevitably anchored by a visit to that city’s record shops. Glasgow was no different. Mono or Monorail was our destination last Sunday as I accompanied Aoife on her food trip to Glasgow courtesy of Visit Scotland (extensively covered at her food blog – my god what bulging waistlines we have).
With the recent closure of Road Records in Dublin, music shops have been at the forefront of my mind and when you visit a new city, it’s often a barometer of what that city would have to offer if you lived there. Amongst all the arbroath smokies, fancy fish and chips, rabbit terrine, mackerel, venison haggis consumed we made a visit to Mono and as a record store and space it’s an example of what Dublin lacks.
Saving the record store as a concept is something that has been talked about for the last ten years; ever since Tower Records closed down in the US, ever since music became available digitally, ever since our own Road Records was in trouble. There is no doubt that to serious music fans, the loss of a physical place to purchase records and CDs is under threat. This is natural. As Olan from All-City remarked at a Banter discussion to Jim Carroll last year: “running a record store is like running an angling shop these days: the customers are all middle-aged men”. Record stores are like any other business. If people aren’t buying from them, they are simply not going to exist anymore. This is basic economics regardless of the affinity and rose-tinted glasses we don when the announcement of our favourite record shop closing occurs.
Now, I don’t know the financial ins and outs of Mono’s store in Glasgow but it looks like the owners are doing the right things. Firstly, the fundamentals. It’s a kickass record shop that has been open since 2002. For someone like me, who absolutely will never buy CDs ever again (they are cheap, plastic and ultimately crap), Mono is my kind of store. It serves a great selection of CDs too but the vinyl section feels like it’s tailor made for my tastes. A catalogue taking in new releases, indie, dance, dubstep, electronic, bargain 7″s, second-hand records and a comprehensive compilation section taking in African, South American, blues, soundtracks, oddities and obscurities, it has it all. I had no trouble finding purchases which is something that I cannot always say about Dublin. In the end, Aoife and I plucked for a varied selection: Best Coast – Crazy for You (Mono’s album of the month), a pretty import of Washed Out’s Life Of Leisure, a Factory Floor 12″ (I had an enthusiastic conversation with the guy behind the counter about their live show – supposedly exceptional), Iron and Wine’s Our Endless Numbered Days, Prince’s Purple Rain / 1999 12″ and some dirt-cheap 99p 7″s taking in Beck, El Guincho, Still Flyin’ and The Drums’ ‘Let’s Go Surfing’ (a song I’ve wanted on vinyl for a while).
Secondly, Mono is not only a record store. It’s also a cafe, a bar, a free-exchange bookshop and a live venue housed across the road from another similarly awesome venue/cafe/bar called The Thirteenth Note. The cafe is veggie-friendly (menu) – we opted for hummous with pitta and and while we were there a clutch of locals were sat outside, soaking in the sun drinking from the taps provided by the in-house micro-brewery there. There was also a Mono ginger beer – always a winner in my book. There’s a stage in the building which last Tuesday saw Steve Mason ex-Beta Band perform there. Recently, Malcolm Middleton launched his album there to a full house. I should mention that the building has a glass dome in the centre which gives the whole floor light, far from a dank and dark typical record shop.
It’s an example of what Dublin sorely lacks. Maybe Road would still be around had it moved its premises and joined up with a cafe or bar? Plug’d in Cork announced plans to re-open in conjunction with Triskel Arts Centre in the city, giving further opportunities for the store to curate gigs and events in the space. Maybe, it won’t be economically feasible but just imagine how awesome it would be to have a place in Dublin city centre that houses a record shop, a cafe and a bar. Or even comics, a book shop, or a place that shows films. Tower is the best we’ve got at the moment and for an independently run large-scale record shop it does a great job but it’s not really a place to hang out and certainly you couldn’t have a Sunday brunch there. After visiting Mono though, a boy can dream. Dublin is a city I love but a Mono-style multi-purpose building would give this city a cultural place I think it deserves. If you’re ever in Glasgow, do visit.
[nggallery id=13]
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
Would never ever work in Dublin, imagine the rental on a place that size.
Can I not dream? 🙁
Oh the memories from when I used to live there. Mono had just opened but Ubiquitous Chip has always been amazing for food. Sigh.
It would be the best but I think they prefer buildings as rotten corpses rather than thriving spaces that stop us thinking about how sunk this country is for 5 minutes.
I like this. Let’s open one.
Warning: hand grenade. Just ’cause.
Niall, don’t sites like yours make cool record shops less important?
Awhhh love Mono! I saw Jens Lekman there a few years back and got some wonderful records. Magical little place!
Good article, it would be great if Dublin if had somewhere like Mono, or I’d even settle for somewhere like one of its sisters – Stereo (cafe, bar and live music venue http://www.stereocafebar.com/ ) and The 78 (restaurant & bar http://www.the78cafebar.com/ ) oh and a minor point about the menu in Mono, it is not merely veggie-friendly but entirely vegan, as are Stereo and The 78. The equally awesome 13th Note is veggie. For a real clue as to why this won’t work in Dublin (currently), did you go to the toilets in Mono?
The whole corridor is covered in flyers for gigs and club nights, most of which are small scale and indigenous. This is what Dublin really needs – a thriving DIY music and art scene that will support record shops like the late lamented Road Records, or an equivalent of Mono and Monorail and the other plethora of record shops like Love Music (formerly Avalanche), and small bar / club venues like Mono, Stereo, 13th Note, the Flying Duck, The Captain’s Rest, The Admiral or Sleazy’s (among many others) or clubs like The Arches or the Sub Club with proper club nights like Optimo, Death Disco or OctoPussy.
Start doing cool things people and cool things will happen.
I want to go there……now!
I don’t think so. The people who run these blogs are highlighting music you should hear and buy, not to be confused with full album blogs. This blog has always encouraged people to buy the music. However, I can’t be held responsible for how other people feel it’s best to buy music. That’s a cultural thing. If someone wants to buy digital-only then fine. If someone else buys CDs and vinyl, then also fine. I can only speak for myself and I like record shops, hence my post.
Wow that really looks like an amazing place! Glasgow added to list of “must-visit”s. Closer to home Plugd Records re-opens this Saturday!!!! Temporarily in the ESB substation before moving to the newly renovated Triskel Arts Centre in 2011
Good article, it would be great if Dublin if had somewhere like Mono, or I’d even settle for somewhere like one of its sisters – Stereo (cafe, bar and live music venue http://www.stereocafebar.com/ ) and The 78 (restaurant & bar http://www.the78cafebar.com/ ) oh and a minor point about the menu in Mono, it is not merely veggie-friendly but entirely vegan, as are Stereo and The 78. The equally awesome 13th Note is veggie. For a real clue as to why this won’t work in Dublin (currently), did you go to the toilets in Mono?
The whole corridor is covered in flyers for gigs and club nights, most of which are small scale and indigenous. This is what Dublin really needs – a thriving DIY music and art scene that will support record shops like the late lamented Road Records, or an equivalent of Mono and Monorail and the other plethora of record shops like Love Music (formerly Avalanche), and small bar / club venues like Mono, Stereo, 13th Note, the Flying Duck, The Captain’s Rest, The Admiral or Sleazy’s (among many others) or clubs like The Arches or the Sub Club with proper club nights like Optimo, Death Disco or OctoPussy.
Start doing cool things people and cool things will happen.
Looks amazing!
Just back from Edinburgh where picked up a triple Vinyl release of Leftism in Unknown Pleasures – delighted with myself 🙂
Nice little record shop with a great selection
It would be amazing to have something like this in Dublin – and I await the reopening of Plugd with a level of excitement similar to that of Christmas Day – and I think the naysayers are displaying that typical ‘Irish begrudgery’ we hold so dear here.
Why on earth would people talk down something immediately, saying ‘it won’t work in Dublin’ without presenting one good reason why? Yes, Road closed. Yes, Plugd had to close too. But Plugd is reopening, in, no less, an arts space with extra room to expand its merchandise and to even hold gigs in.
There is a thriving DIY scene in Dublin, there are thriving scenes all around the country. This year has been one of the best in recent memory for great gigs and great bands. It seems like every week there’s another amazing local band that I hear about.
The thing is, record shops can’t just be ‘record shops’ anymore. As Mono proves, record shops have to be so much more. And the more they offer, the greater the amount of people it appeals to; the bigger its audience, the more money it could make. There definitely is potential for something like this in Dublin, it’s just a matter of people having the funds (the tricky bit) and the passion to put it together.
And as for music blogs having some role in the end of record stores….what, blogs like this that encourage people to buy new music and go to gigs? Please…
One thing I can’t help but notice as a parent is that the café has plenty of buggy space. While many record shops are/were nice, I wouldn’t be able to get my daughter’s buggy in there.
vinyl IS plastic
Yeh, thanks. But it’s not shit and the case doesn’t rip or break.
Wow I wanna go there. Funnily enough I was thinking at the weekend that it’s a shame the bar known as Pygmalion doesn’t do something like this, it has so much space and great street-shopping centre access points. People might be put off by the poshness but the location seems great.
It really is a shame that record shops have to adapt to change into all-inclusive outlets rather than just music retail sites but I have to admit a place like that would be a great focal point for music in Dublin where people could hang out and browse/relax with their purchases. We don’t really have anywhere informal like that at all now. I suppose we’ll have to wait a few years before such a venture becomes financially viable but it would certainly make good business sense to me if it combined a number of interests rather than one specialist provider for music.
That looks like a really, really great place. It’s exactly the kind of thing that’s been in my head, and the head of a few friends, for a couple of years now. We’ll see what happens when we make it out of college, Dublin does need it badly. I love the free book exchange idea though I would have to insist upon meat on the menu!
was there last weekend too – really good selection of records, loved it
Fair point, fair point. (BTW I think we’re on a slightly different wave length though — just to clarify: I wasn’t suggesting not buying music.)
I think there are two issues at play here though. The vinyl or MP3 thing, that’s a personal choice. A cultural thing, as you say yourself. In any case that choice has (pretty much) nothing to do with nialler9.com.
More relevant is how I hear about music. I like-a my new music. I used to make use of the “Staff Picks” stand, or simply ask the shop assistant in Secret Books/Tower/Road/Freebird/whatever. You wouldn’t get that service from the kid in HMV.
The internet now provides those recommendations e.g. your good self, keep up the good work! And as there’s no profit motive I more confident you’re not going recommend a crap CD in a “just to sell those spare copies off” way.
So although there’s the cultural thing of vinyl vs MP3, at least one use of cool record shops (the recommendations) has imho become less relevant/important as sites like this have become more common. In a strange way, now you’re the record store guy. What’s left after is the question of how/where to purchase this music and, for me (a poor student) it’s mostly a case of “I know what I’m buying, who’s selling it cheapest?”
I was sad to see RR close. Don’t get me wrong – I like cool record shops. But I still think that one of their functions is better served by other means these days and so they’re less important than they used to be.
Oh ok. The record shop guy has become less important as, like me, he’s just another filter. That’s all this website is – a filter to help you decide music you may like. I’m guessing your taste is similar to mine so you use my site as a recommendation tool. I would hope that existing shops have equally enthusiastic clerks to do the same still. I’ve met some of them so I know that’s true.
I’ve been there before and really liked the set up, but who buys vinyl other than musos, djs, bloggers and other musicians? Glasgow in general has way more of a music orientated city culture than Dublin has to begin with too. There aren’t many buggy whip shops left in Dublin either these days. Times change.
Just been over to UK visiting my hometown, and one of the pubs there hosted a night where the punters could bring along their own vinyls to get played out into the pub – any kind of music was accepted and it ended up being a really enjoyable night. It also had me looking out for vinyls to take along even though I don’t usually buy vinyl (not being a musician, DJ, Blogger, muso as Agronaut suggests are the only people who buy their music in this format). I’m not sure how this night would work in larger venues (this was a in a small venue in a smallish town), but it could fit quite nicely into a Mono-style venue and could act as a way of encouraging people to buy more vinyl.