The ongoing pandemic and lockdowns have led to a long list of cancellations of cultural events like concerts, festivals and art performances. Despite the unfortunate intermission, renowned independent concert promoters HAVE YOU HEARD? want people to stay connected to music by launching HAVE YOU HEARD? Records (hyhrecords.com), the latest music shopping destination, starting on Sept 1. The new online music store will feature a vast collection of vinyl, CDs, cassettes and cool band merchandise along with an interactive map and content that inspires you the same way live concerts do.
In today's world where people are forced to stay at home and computer algorithms have taken over, online streaming embeds itself into the vault of music culture. More and more people of the new generation are familiar with the proposition of having new discoveries fed to them by machines. It has become a primal source responsible for sending new artists our way based on an arcane formula that supposedly reacts to our previous behaviour. While technology makes our lives easier and more convenient, what's missing is the magic of discovering new music on your own.
"Just like what our aim is with organising concerts and festivals, we wanted to build a community based on a shared love of music and to provide a space for people with similar interests to meet and be inspired. And that is where the idea of our record store came in," said the two founders of HAVE YOU HEARD? Pimporn "Pang" Metchanun and Kiratra "Ki" Promsaka Na Sakolnakorn. "While embracing new technologies, we also wanted to keep the spirit of the old tradition of record stores where musical discoveries were a human endeavour, from digging, chatting, reading and good old-fashioned listening."
Under the slogan "We Pick, And You Dig", visitors can browse for new or classic music titles the store has personally handpicked from their wide selection of new LPs, CDs, cassettes and exclusives from all kinds of genres such as rock, blues, soul, jazz, to indie and alternative to hip-hop, electronic, and world music. There is also a wide variety of rare, private press or out of print records from African funk and German electronic to Japanese jazz.
Enjoy a selection of imported music from nearly a hundred like-minded labels and some of the best independent music distributors from around the globe, namely 4AD, Bayonet, Big Crown, Captured Tracks, Carpark, Heavenly, Jagjaguwar, Merge, Matador, Rough Trade, Warner Music and XL-Recordings to name just a few. The online store will also feature articles on music, history, weekly recommendations, and a listening booth to "try before you buy". The offering will expand during the first week of store launch with free shipping for all orders and a fun online activity with many special DJ guests taking turns spinning great music. The store will keep everyone posted via HAVE YOU HEARD?'s official Facebook page.
