A couple of nights ago I went to the launch of Title. Title is a new music store that has opened in (499) Crown St near the corner of Devonshire St in Surry Hills.
Set up by the people behind Fuse Distribution, it stocks only good music. I was amazed and heartened to see such a fantastic selection of sounds from many genres – experimental, avant-garde, jazz, world and smatterings of well-picked indie and electronica – at super low prices. Most CDs were $25 – a far cry from other ‘import’s stores whose stock rarely dips below $35.
For a long time I’ve wanted Sydney to have the wealth of record store-depth that Melbourne has had. Whilst I grew up going to Red Eye, Metropolis (RIP) and Waterfront (RIP) in the 80s, then the specialist dance stores in the 90s, Sydney has only had a few lacklustre attempts at doing what I’d now happily call ‘adult’s music properly – Folkways in Paddington, Birdland in the city – and both of these didn’t really cater for the leftfield well at all. All of this ‘lack’ meant everyone like me deserted the physical retail world for online shopping and importing directly from overseas.
Title is what I’d term a ‘post-bust’s record store.
It has a great hand picked selection of labels, magazines, arthouse films, and is also a really nicely designed store. It has the feel of an indie record store, staff that care and aren’t just some automaton who couldn’t get a job in fashion retail, and a sophistication in stock selections that an elderly person like myself is comfortable with.
It is also a place where I don’t feel like I am twice the age of everyone else in the store!
