About Underground Solu'shn
I’ve been in the ‘ol music game since leaving school doing just about every role from DJ to sound engineer, so finding myself in music retail wasn’t much of a leap! As a self-confessed vinyl hoarder, I’ve always loved trawling music shops and when some friends and DJ pals opened our shop in 1996 it turned out my destiny was to go from regular customer to part-time staff member and eventually to owner in 2006. Not sure how that happened! Some folks probably thought buying a record shop in 2006 was a little crazy that’s for sure.
It’s a bit of an institution and a labour of love so ‘public service’ and ‘keeping out of trouble’ spring to mind. It’s the never-ending musical discovery, plus the joy of sharing that passion with friends and random strangers...pretty much!
The shop started out covering mostly club, hip-hop and electronic releases but since 2006 we’ve not only added sound equipment and Hi-Fi but also just about every style of music right across the spectrum from rock and indie to new age and classical, jazz, metal and beyond. Plus, a constant supply of good local stuff from friends and family as well. The alternative selection we cover and our old town location means we have a great mix of folk passing through, local and international, young and old...the list is endless including:
Local heavyweight producers, DJs and bands...
Other Lands (aka Gavin behind the counter here)
Check Masses (featuring our very own Saleem)
Feena (newest staff member, DJ and EHFM producer)
Rezillos (sometimes featuring myself on Tenor Sax in their horn section)
Proc Fiskal, Callum Easter, Jaisu, Linkwood, George T, Vic Galloway, Sanna, Capital 1212, Stephen Brown, Boots for Dancing, Finiflex, Bell Lungs, Joseph Malik, Malcolm Middleton, Lomond Campbell, Prosumer and many more have played sets in the shop…
Music is such a beacon for interesting stories and characters we have new favourites every day. Being in Edinburgh we have had a good number of famous comedians in the shop as well as writers, musicians, DJs, film-makers, journalists, designers, artists who all have a story to tell, some funnier than others and most not for public consumption.
We did run a ‘crazy questions we’ve been asked’ list for a while including things like ‘do these records play on American turntables?’ and suchlike.
Probably a drum & bass 12” single...Roni Size ‘It’s Jazzy’ or something like that.
‘Do What You Love’ Compilation on Trunk Records was the last record we sold today...and a very good sentiment for anyone curating a musical selection, especially in a record shop.
Being a child of the 70s & 80s, I went to Virgin and HMV for all the new releases every Saturday morning. Then endless walking across town to all the other shops (probably in the rain). Queued for Prince’s 1999 LP on release day maybe picked up the import cassette of Art of Noise, anything John Peel played was also on the radar!
Hard to get time these days but when on the road you can always find gems. Some of the US stores blew me away especially Euclid Records (New Orleans), Record Mania (Stockholm), Disk Union (Tokyo), all for very different reasons but mostly for the amount of amazing music we don’t often see in the UK.
First time in Blackmarket Records, Soho on a busy Saturday afternoon fighting to get to the counter for some banter with the legendary Nicky Blackmarket would be one...no doubt a bunch more.
So many RSDs it’s a bit of a blur, the first 2021 drop was a huge success for us and really helped us get back on our feet. So many happy customers back in the shop made it all worthwhile!
Way too many to pick one sorry!
Fugazi
Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Jeff Buckley
Swans
Nirvana
Herbie Hancock
Tackhead
Iain M Banks - The Hydrogen Sonata
Dune (2021)...just saw it and it might just beat the original Bladerunner
Thurston Moore - Demolished Thoughts
Zakir Hussain - Making Music
Keith Hudson & Family Man - Pick A Dub
Fugazi - Fugazi
John Coltrane - Plays the Blues
Fugazi
Alice Coltrane
King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard
Fela Kuti
DJ Marky
Boards of Canada
Main Source
Headhunters
…that’s a long list!
Too hard to choose!
Computer World
or
My Life In the Bush of Ghosts
Events Coming Up
As always, we'll have ALL the exclusive RSD releases on sale from 8am and then a whole host of local friends and extended family performing in-store from 1pm. Check the line-up...
Live Sets from...
EYES OF OTHERS (Heavenly Recordings)
CALLUM EASTER (Moshi Moshi Records)
THE COUNTESS OF FIFE (Last Night From Glasgow) CAPRICORN ONE (Headset)
DJ Sets from...
LORD OF THE ISLES (Dusk Delay/ESP Institute) REBECCA VASMANT (!K7 Records) MARTYN FLYN (LuckyMe) ALIEN COMMUNICATIONS
Plus more to be announced...
Free Goodies & Tote Bags for the front of the queue crew!
Exclusive refreshments courtesy of Meantime Brewing!
Check the UK release list here - www.recordstoreday.co.uk
We hope you can join us for this worldwide celebration of Record Shop culture and all the folks that make 'em special...that includes you so come on down!
