[From the Ithaca Times] Change is afoot in Ithaca’s music community. This summer ushered in the opening of a new independent music venture on The Commons: Angry Mom Records. With the recent announcement of a partnership and cohabitation with longtime independent music store Small World Music, the future for local music businesses is promising indeed.
Located in the building of Autumn Leaves Used Books, Angry Mom Records is one of the few vinyl-centric music stores left in Ithaca. With an enviable inventory encompassing country, jazz, classic rock, punk, metal, soul, classical, world music and much more, Angry Mom Records has plenty of appeal and feels accessible to both casual listeners and serious record collectors.
Under the watchful eye of recent NYC transplant and Chicago native George Johann, Angry Mom Records may be more than a vestige of antiquated media — indeed, it feels like it might herald the second coming of vinyl in Ithaca. And with shops like Urban Outfitters and Volume Records selling both used and new turntables, Ithaca has experienced a surge in interest for all things vinyl-related.
Johann, a former manager of the Manhattan-based Midnight Records — one of the largest mail-order record stores in the country — has had decades of experience dealing and sourcing vinyl records. Johann, who is also an accomplished cartoonist and illustrator, eventually began selling and collecting records full time after realizing its potentially lucrative nature. “I’ve always been a voracious digger-through of stuff — antique stores, flea markers, basements, garage sales. Even though I got a decent break in the commercial art world, one winter I realized I was making so much more money selling records than artwork,” recalls Johann. “And when Ebay came along, it was fantastic — I could become a full-time dealer.”
Around 2001, Johann spent several years in Ithaca before permanently moving back earlier this year. “The transition has been interesting, but I really like this town. With things like Ithaca Underground punk shows, there’s a cool scene here,” Johann says.
With the Owl Café occupying the second floor, Angry Mom Records is now the third business to locate in the Autumn Leaves Used Books Building. The entire experience is remarkably holistic — food, drinks, music and literature nestled under one roof — much like the aesthetic match of vintage clothing store Petrune and Volume Records, both located just across The Commons from Autumn Leaves.
But prior to Angry Mom Records, the over 2,000 square-foot basement space was little more than an offshoot of Autumn Leaves, and frequently felt like an afterthought to the ground level. Much of the stock was overflow from The Bop Shop, an independently-owned record store in Rochester that specializes in blues, jazz and American roots music.
The Bop Shop’s owner, Tom Kohn, would send over lesser-grade vinyl and multiple copies of LPs through a consignment agreement that benefited both businesses. Soon, Johann, who had years of experience dealing and selling records in the Upstate New York area — and would visit Ithaca two or three times every year — began exclusively curating the inventive front window display that faces The Commons.
Soon, Joe Wetmore, the longtime owner of Autumn Leaves, began courting Johann with the idea of taking over and transforming the basement into something with a little more personality. “George is a serious, experienced record dealer and collector who knows music and knows records. His decision to open Angry Mom Records and still honor Autumn Leaves’ agreement with the Bop Shop will benefit the Bop Shop by moving more of their records… it benefits Autumn Leaves Used Books by allowing me to focus on my specialty, which is books,” says Wetmore.
Wetmore’s right. Johann is a steadfast devotee to vinyl and cites late-70s punk rock, 60s and 70s-era psychedelic and outsider music — “People who put out 100-200 copies of their record and aren’t connected to the world properly,” Johann explains — rockabilly, pre-war 78s, 45s and much, much more. “I’m such a collector of everything — baseball cards and comics when I was young, records now,” Johann laughs.
Johann remains optimistic that vinyl’s recent resurgence in popularity marks paradigm shift in how audiences want to own and listen to their music. “I’ve been seeing the trend for vinyl grow in the last 10 years, and I hope it keeps going that way. But there’s always a concern that it’s just a fad, or that it might be cyclical,” Johann says.
Since opening Angry Mom earlier this summer, Johann has a lively variety of clientele. “I see a combination of baby boomers that want to connect with their childhood, people who want to buy record players again… I also see a lot of younger kids, and of course, record hunters.” He’s made his own changes, too, including the installation of several record table listening stations and easier-to-navigate shelves.
When Johann moved to Ithaca, he brought with him over 20,000 records. As with many record stores, Johann has found that standard 60s and 70s rock sells the best — Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan. But he offers much more beyond that — including hard-to-find contemporary records by Bauhaus, Whitehouse, Cocteau Twins, Kate Bush, Cluster, obscure 80s punk, free jazz, American noise, Hendrix bootlegs, British folk and South African pop music — and much of it is temptingly affordable. He’s also building his new vinyl collection, much of which are new releases or reissues.
To a certain extent, much of Johann’s inventory depends on what he can scavenge and source on his own. “There is a bit of it being out of my control,” Johann admits. “It’s up to what I can find. I found two really good jazz collections recently, so my jazz stock right now is spectacular. But it might be another year before I find another good stash of jazz, you know?”
Some would question Johann’s motives behind opening a venture as esoteric as Angry Mom Records in the current global economic climate. “This was absolutely a huge gamble. I sold my house, I picked up from an area I loved, I left behind all of my friends,” Johann says. “But Joe has been so supportive and he really understands the vibe behind this place. There have been so many people helping out.”
IT’S A SMALL WORLD
Now that Johann has settled into the space, he’s bringing in CDs. That’s where Stephen Burke, the founder and sole owner of Small World Music, comes in — and their philosophies couldn’t be more perfectly suited for one another. “I knew that I would need someone to come in with CDs — and Steve was the guy that I had in mind the entire time,” Johann says. “He had already built up his business and had a loyal following.”
Burke started Small World about eight years ago, after having been heavily involved in the local music scene through connections at GrassRoots Festival and the State Theatre. “I had this idea to open a retail store that would really be for Ithaca,” Burke says. “There was such a strong music community that felt really unique — most communities aren’t like that. Why is it that people in this town like music from Mali and Zaire, and also zydeco and old time? It felt like a natural business opportunity.”
Soon, Johann came in contact with Burke, whose store was the first that Johann had ever consigned records to. “Vinyl was never a big thing with me,” Burke admits. “I sold George’s records on consignment… and I knew that in order for this to work, we were going to have to trust each other.”
In the past eight years, Burke has found considerable success in the modest space located in an alley near the intersection of West State St. and Route 13. “I have a lot of very dedicated customers,” Burke says. “They’re people that are in love with music, and think about it every single day.”
Now that Burke has a dedicated base of loyal clients, he hopes to pick up the rest of his business through downtown foot traffic that comes with being located on The Commons and word-of-mouth. In the past few weeks, he’s gradually moved his inventory from his former location on 614 West State St. to Autumn Leaves building, and with it, he’ll relinquish some of the heavy responsibility that comes with running a space alone. “The idea of being in a partnership with someone like George — someone I believe to be smart and trustworthy and funny — well, I wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t going to be fun, if it wasn’t going to be a good time,” Burke says.
“What already exists here is really pretty phenomenal,” Burke says. “The used books selection is great, the café is up here, along with different community groups that have office spaces. It’s a great space and I can’t think of anything like it really anywhere else in the world. It feels like the perfect ‘third space’ - you have your home, your work, and your third space. There’s a really good energy here.”
Johann echoes his sentiments. “I can’t think of a person that know Ithaca’s scene better than Steve, and I’m very excited about it.”
Angry Mom Records is open Monday-Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., Thursday-Saturday from 12:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sundays 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.