Crate diggers rejoice! While Brewerytown Beats will close its Bailey Street location in North Philly this winter, owner Max Ochester has started a new popup shop, LOVE Records, inside Radio Kismet on 34th Street in West Philly for the holiday season. The popup will operate every Thursday through Saturday until the new year, from 11 a.m. until Radio Kismet’s podcast studios close at 4 p.m., with Ochester himself filling in to add evening hours when possible (check their Instagram for special hours).
Ochester pulled all Philly-related stock from Brewerytown Beats to fill these new shelves at LOVE Records, including new and old vinyl from local labels likeRuffhouse Records, Philly Jazz, Pop Art, Alpha International, and Universal Love. He’ll also sell some unique Philly items hardly available in stores, likeA Philly Special Christmas Special, the second holiday benefit album recorded by Eagles players Jason Kelce, Jordan Mailata and Lane Johnson, arranged by Charlie Hall of The War on Drugs. On a visit last week, I picked up a copy of Sounds of Liberation’s 1973 Unreleased, which Ochester helped reissue in 2019 with Dogtown Records.
At LOVE Records, Ochester says he hopes to stir up some holiday spirit and keep sharing the Philly records he can no longer sell at Brewerytown Beats. In December, he’s considering throwing a Christmas party at Radio Kismet, and using their live podcast space during popup hours to host Q&A events with local artists involved in the music he’s selling. Radio Kismet (130 South 34th Street) is also home to Philly podcasts like The Franklin Institute’s “The Curious Cosmos” with astronomer Derrick Pitts, and “So Curious” on the science of music. The co-operative studio also hosted events for theSerious Rap S*** podcast and a Cold Chillin’ Records retrospective that WXPN documented in 2019.
Read Brewerytown Beats’ closing statementhere. And remember times Brewerytown Beats made Philly history in these past stories from XPN: Soul Saving: How one man’s obsession with old 45s gave birth to Philly’s Brewerytown Beats, Preserving History: Max Ochester of Dogtown Records and Brewerytown Beats on uncovering hidden gems of Philly’s musical past, and Brewerytown Beats reissues The Thompsons’ 1975 album I’ll Get Over It.