06.03.2020 | How the love of vinyl is lived in Vienna

Die Presse : by (Eva Walisch) | The vinyl festival will take place in Ottakring from Saturday. In the city, this is not the only meeting place for friends of vinyl records. A selection for March.

Vienna. The records are stacked in boxes and the sales tables are leaning against the wall: “There is still a lot to do,” says Till Philippi, while he shows his colleagues where to unload the delivered boxes. Around 4,000 visitors are expected here on Saturday and Sunday in the Ottakringer Brewery: Philippi is organizing the Vinyl & Music Festival for the fourth time.

A new, small vinyl scene has emerged in Vienna since the record boom. But who would have thought that Mistelbach is also an international center for vinyl: Pro-Ject is based in Lower Austria, the world market leader for turntables in the hi-fi sector. “It pays to go there and take a look at the company,” says Philippi. “But of course there are also many in Vienna who swim with the wave.”

The Austrian market share of vinyl is currently leveling between eleven and twelve percent. “It will always remain a niche product,” Philippi estimates. “But the record has been making an incredible comeback, especially among young people, for years.” By the way, Philippi got the first record player himself from his grandmother as a child, he says. “That was where my passion began.”

festival

This passion turned Philippi, who originally worked in advertising, into a profession with the festival. “We wanted to do something that covered several areas of music – just making a record exchange was too boring for us,” says Philippi. At the Vinyl & Music Festival , which takes place in the Ottakringer brewery every Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m., you can buy records, attend workshops and attend concerts (the festival pass for both days costs twelve euros). A warm-up party is already on the program on Friday.

This year there is a focus on smaller indie labels at the festival. And in addition to live concerts, there are also record presentations: “We are trying to rediscover unknowns from the 1970s.” For example, a record by the Austrian artists’ collective Ixthuluh, which was not previously available on vinyl, can be heard for the first time on Saturday.

Coffee shop

One of the exhibitors at the festival is Kay Burki. A year and a half ago, he closed his small LP caféon Erdbergstrasse. Burki sells records on the lower floor, and if you climb the steep stairs you can drink coffee or beer in cozy retro armchairs. There Burki stirs in his cup: “You can take your time to browse through the records and talk shop with other music lovers,” explains the independent sound engineer, explaining his concept. Burki had been haunted by the idea since the 1990s – but then the record was replaced by the CD. When vinyl was revived about five years ago, he decided to put the concept into practice. And how does he explain the new enthusiasm for the record? “I think it’s like books: it feels more valuable to have something in your hand.”

By the way, Burki deliberately wanted to go to the third district: “It didn’t make sense to me to compete with the other shops in the 7th or 8th district. Even if each of these record stores has a specialization. ”Burki has become a trusted repairer for many residents of Grätzel when the turntable is causing problems. “It wasn’t originally planned, but that’s how it developed,” says the Dutchman.

Burki has been in Vienna for six years, and since then the number of vinyl stores has grown noticeably. In his homeland, however, the scene is much larger – the largest vinyl exchange in Europe is located in Utrecht.

Market & party

If you want to expand your record collection, you can also do this at the GÖnyl vinyl market in Elektro Gönner. The market starts on Saturday at 7 p.m. – for the third time. The meeting has been taking place monthly since January, where you can also get to know label owners and DJs. After the market there is also an after party in the Elektro Gönner , curated by the label MSR Distro. Another vinyl flea market will take place on March 29th in Chelsea: Hobby collectors sell vinyl for an afternoon.

library

For three months there has also been a vinyl corner in the main library . “We noticed that there is simply a great need,” it says there. Visitors can listen to an inventory of 260 discs on turntables (with headphones). “But just setting up a turntable would be a thing of the past.” That is why there is a compromise between nostalgia and modernity: the records can be digitized on site and thus also heard on the go.

A declaration of love to the record

The magic of the record remains undamaged even in the digital age. It is precisely the imperfect that makes their appeal to the equally imperfect person.

The Teuchtlers: cult – only without a listening cabin

Die Presse: by (Samir H. Köck) | The Teuchtler record store is a secret symbol of the city. It has attracted collectors and novices since 1948. Recently also Asian women.

Rummage, dig, bull, groan – what happens at Alt & Neu, the Teuchtler family’s sound record store, has many names. Last but not least, all seekers have black fingertips, no matter what they call their actions. Where there’s vinyl, there’s dust. It is a natural law.