Shop Of The Month:
Rarekind Records – Brighton
Many collectors rate Brighton as one of the UK’S key locations for record hunting. Full of all kinds of music, new and pre-owned, Ewan Hood’s Rarekind Records is a fine example of the city’s diverse record shops. Long-term collector Ewan tells Steve Burniston how it all happens.
Tell us about the shop and the kind of music you sell.
Rarekind is a smallish shop in Brighton. We’ve been going in various forms for nearly 20 years selling new and second-hand records. The stock’s about half and half, new and used. We have all sorts from rare records on the wall to cheap crates for diggers on the floor. We cover pretty much all genres of music. If we specialise in anything it would be hip-hop, funk, soul, jazz, reggae and world music. We have a semiseparate shop on the top floor of our building which is part of Rarekind but called RK Bass that specialises in dance music, drum’n’bass, jungle, house, techno etc.
What was the reasoning behind opening a record shop in Brighton?
I grew up in Brighton and have been collecting records since I was a teenager. Brighton has an area of independent shops called the North Laine and I used to work in a comic shop in the area as a kid. I’ve always loved records and record shops – opening one in this part of Brighton seemed like a logical progression.
What have been the in-demand genres at the shop in the last couple of years? Those genres I mentioned as our specialities would be our biggest sellers, but we also sell a lot of second-hand rock and pop. I guess that’s still what a lot of people are after in the UK. We sell a lot of 45s, too.
Tell us about three notable rare records you’ve sold at the shop.
The rarest thing we’ve probably ever sold would be The Stranglers’ Peaches promo 45 with the alternative cover. We got 10+ copies of a great hard-to-find 70s soul 45 (We Did It Baby) by General Lee in a collection a couple of years ago, not an insanely rare record but getting so many was pretty cool. We also had a few sealed copies of Main Source’s debut single, Think / Atom, years ago that were found in a basement in Toronto which is where the group started out.
What is your view about the overall quality of vinyl releases, both new and reissues? There’s an incredible amount of stuff being pressed at the moment. It’s great to see so much new music get a vinyl release and a lot of great reissues, too. I’m into reissues of rare or hard-tofind stuff. If I had a gripe about new records in general it would be the ever-increasing price of them, especially reissues of classic titles on major labels.
Name one rare record you would love to get. I need a copy of the original US promo version of Diamond And The Psychotic Neurotics – Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop.