limited-to-one

NYC getting new record store Limited to One, focusing on rare & collectable vinyl

limited-to-one

With record stores in NYC becoming more scarce, it’s good to hear that there are new ones opening, too. Limited to One is a new store set to open July 29 at 221 East 10th St. in the East Village. Kristian Sorge, who is part of the Recordnerdz podcast, is behind the new store (along with Nichole Porges) that is “specializing in rare and collectible contemporary vinyl and cassettes.” Contemporary is a key word here: If you look at Limited to One’s Instagram you can see some of the 2000 or so records they’ve already acquired for the store, including original copies of Cap’n Jazz – Analphabetapolotholgy, Nas – It Was Written, Jawbreaker – Dear You, plus Japanese pressings of Nirvana’s Bleach and In Utero, and other stuff.

We asked Kristian a few questions about the store via email and you can read that below.

 

With your focus on rare, hard-to-find records, will the store offer anything for the casual vinyl fan who just happens by the store?

Absolutely, just because a record is out of print or limited, doesn’t make it expensive.

Will you carry new records at all? Reissues?

The answer is yes and no. We will be carrying new music, but we are also going to try our best to carry new items that are limited pressings (at reasonable prices.) We are going to work with labels to be the store that will carry the limited pressings of their sold out items. We want to collaborate with labels to release their limited releases in our store and on their website only. We have a few in the works already. We’ll also carry quite a few new artists and labels, such as Community Records, Tiny Engines, Fat Wreck, Revelation Records, Joyful Noise Records, Little Elephant Lathes and a ton more. We are also looking for artists, labels, brands and musicians to collaborate with us on future releases.

In this age of Discogs where you have access to pretty much any record that was ever in print if you’re willing to spend the dough, what advantages are there to having a brick and mortar store (both for you and for record buyers)?

The first one is that our shop is going to carry sought after items for lower than normal prices. We are making it our goal not sell overpriced records.

The second is we can have people come in and check out the records first hand. We’ve all ordered items on Discogs only to find them misgraded or without items listed in the sale. It’s a huge let down.

The last reason is that I have been traveling extensively to find records that aren’t readily available on discogs or in other record stores. We wanted to focus on items that you don’t see often see, such as test pressings, obi strips and tour variants.

Was there a list of records you really wanted to have in the store on the day you opened?

Absolutely! We have been trying to locate tons of original full-length hip hop records such as the full De La Soul catalog, Big L, Tribe, and Black Star. We wanted an original Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie and a few Japanese pressings of The Clash. We’re also going to carry a lot of punk and hardcore that have been out of press for awhile. Such as the first pressing of Black Flag, Bane, Converge, Descendents, early Dischord releases, 90’s midwestern bands like Boys Life, Mineral, etc. We were able to find a copy of Jawbreaker Live, A Japanese pressing of The Smiths Meat Is Murder, original tour pressings of the band Orchid, and a Fugazi test pressing (or two) among many others.

What’s your favorite record store?

I love so many stores. Some of my favorites in the states are definitely Academy Brooklyn, Double Decker in PA, Permanent in Chicago and LA, and Arrow’s Aim in Gainesville. I also love Disk Union and Waltz in Tokyo and Tiny Record Shop in Toronto.

Anything else we should know?

I really just want to stress that we are trying to be as reasonable as possible with our pricing, and we are going to try our best to stock the store with records that the community loves.

I honestly just wanted to open a shop that my friends and I would want to shop at. To have a store that specifically sells records we love and have it be a different experience than the record stores that currently exist. I grew up in Jersey and have been part of the New York vinyl community for a long time.. My personal vinyl collection is roughly around 8,000 LP’s and 45’s. I love what New York has to offer in terms of record stores and I am looking forward to being a part of it.