Sound Records opened in 2018 after two local record dealers combined forces to realise the dream of opening a shop. The shop is now solely run by Tom Berry who is committed to selling great records at fair prices across all genres. The shop stocks all the usual classic rock, punk and indie but it is in the more esoteric areas that create its uniqueness with extensive selections of African, Latin and experimental records nestled amongst the jazz, reggae and soul. Not to leave out the DJs, the shop also has a wide range of house, hip hop, drum n bass and techno.
Sound Records pulls in a wide range of people across the local community but increasingly drags people in from further afield. Visitors from Bristol, Reading and London regularly make the trip to get their vinyl fix. The likes of Gilles Peterson, Mr Thing, Tom Ravenscroft and Richard Ayoade have been seen scouring the crates…
A key personality of the shop’s history is Enid the Cat. Owned by the shop’s previous landlady, Enid was often found sat upon the Alt Rock section and has her own hashtag #enidthecat
2022 saw Sound Records move to its third location having already outgrown two previous premises. Overall its been a very successful existence but not without its challenges. On at least one occasion we had a local ‘customer’ ask if he could take some heroin in our back room only to see him being dragged away by the local constabulary 15 minutes later!
2023 sees Sound Records stepping up releases on its own in-house label. Having already released a compilation of local pastoral electronica, their second release sees them putting out an ep from acclaimed Sheffield producer Yarni. The Albers EP comes out in early September.
A few of the records from Proper we’re really looking forward to getting our hands on in the next few weeks are The Yoruba Singers which is on the ever excellent Soundway Records Label who mixed traditional Guyanan music with blues and social protest and the reissue of Gal Costa’s seminal India LP on Mr Bongo – proper Brazillian gear!
Sound Records
Opening Times:
Monday – Saturday: 10am – 5:30pm
Sound Records
23 George Street
Stroud
GL5 3DP
The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made It Happen
Graham Jones is the author of ‘The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made It Happen’ which has features on over 200 independent record shops that he has visited. The book was made in to a film titled ‘The Vinyl Revival’ available on DVD. Both can be ordered from Proper, independent record shops, Amazon and other online retailers.
Read about the book, film and vinyl soundtrack here