CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/23/24

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Hi Everyone,
 
It is with a heavy heart that I write this note today. Last week we lost a member of our CIMS family, Bob Schick from Plan 9. Bob was a dedicated member of our indie retail community as well as a beloved musician. He was also just all around a lovely guy who was quick to throw out an encouraging word and had one of the kindest smiles out there. He will be greatly missed. Sending love to Jim, Bob’s family and friends and the entire Plan 9 team.

I am including this note from Plan 9 owner Jim Bland:

Today, May 24, 2024, I lost a long-time friend and co-worker of 42 years, a man who was like a brother to me. We grew our store, our friendship, and our families side by side, through our heydays, and through tough times. We wouldn't be where we are today without his extensive knowledge and loyalty. Today, we at Plan 9, mourn this unfathomable loss, in hopes of soon celebrating his life.

-Jim

We invite you to follow the page below, and share your memories, photos, etc. Thank you.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559745585192

Rest in peace, Bob.
 
Here are the charts.
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/2/24

in

Hi Everyone,
 
I would be a damn fool if I did not use this message today to remember Steve Albini.
 
At some point, I guess you finally start to get used to losing your heroes. However, some hurt more than others, and this is definitely one of those.  When I got the text from a friend with the news, it hit me like an actual punch to the gut.
 
To say Steve Albini was an essential figure to my musical development is still an understatement. In his eternal coveralls, he was more like a brick mason, helping to build my musical foundation one brick at a time.
 
From the first time hearing Big Black’s album Atomizer- no song spoke more clearly to the heart of a bored and often angst-filled teen growing up in Birmingham in the ’90s than "Kerosene". I felt like the lyrics could have been a page ripped from my journal. From there, I became a disciple of all things Touch and Go and I felt like a whole other world was opened.
 
From the music of Shellac, Slint’s Tweeze, Superchunk’s No Pocky for Kitty, The Pixies' Surfer Rosa, Nirvana’s In Utero, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, Palace Music's Viva Last Blues , My Disco's Paradise, Dirty Three's Ocean Songs, the music of  Low, Dirty Three, Man or Astro Man?, Don Cab, Joanna Newsome (the list could go on), this man was a part of making so many of the albums that are close to my heart.
 
Steve Albini you were a force. Thank you for all your amazing work. Thank you for being a part of so many albums (like for many of us) that played a huge part in helping me survive a world where I felt I didn’t fit in, and also helping me find one where I did.

I will be in Nashville for Music Biz next week. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

Andrea 

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/18/23

in

Hi Everyone,
 
Congratulations to Portia Sabin and the entire Music Biz team on another successful event. I know how much hard work goes into putting together a conference and they all did an amazing job this year. We had three days of productive meetings and programming and great representation from our group, which always makes for better discussions all around.
 
I would also like to congratulate our CIMS members, Sandy Bitman of Park Ave CDs in Orlando, FL and Harry Crumpler from T-Bones in Hattiesburg, MS as well as Joe Nardone of Gallery of Sound (DORS) on being finalists for this year’s Frontline Innovator Bizzy Award and also big ups to Tobago Bonito of DBS sounds and FAMS on taking that lovely award home!
 
It was, as always, great to be back in Nashville and to connect with so many friendly faces. The part of my job that I enjoy the most is connecting with people in our industry to discuss what we can do to make things better, and there were lots of those discussions last week. I am excited to see where things go from here.
 
Hope you all have a safe and happy holiday and here are the charts.
 
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/4/23

in

Hi Everyone,
 
We are headed to Nashville next week for Music Biz 2023 and I look forward to seeing many of you there. It is always good to be back in Nashville and to have a chance to reconnect with everyone in person, so if you see me be sure to say hello!
 
Also, we have some exciting news in advance of our Music Biz meetings. I am very happy to announce that we will be adding Curious Collections Vinyl Records and More located in Bryan, TX (Texas A&M) to theCIMS family.

https://curiouscollectionstx.com/

More on that soon, but Mary House, the owner of Curious Collections will be joining us this year atMusic Biz and attending our Coalition meetings, so I hope everyone will give her a very warm welcome to the group.
 
Safe travels and look forward to seeing you in Nashville!

Here are the charts,
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/12/22

in

Hi Everyone,

It was great to be back in Nashville last week for Music Biz 2022. There were great meetings and panels that sparked some even better conversations, and most importantly it was so great to reconnect and be face to face with so many of you. I have missed that so much! Thanks to Portia and everyone at Music Biz for the incorporation of more physical media content this year. Thanks to the labels and distributors that sat down with us to talk about the challenges and successes of indie retail, and to all of our stores that showed up to represent just that.

I would also like to congratulate one of our CIMS members, Justin Johnson, of Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie, NY. His suitcase was a little heavier on the way home because he took home that Music Biz 2022 Frontline Innovator Bizzy award!

How about that jacket?! That’s how you do it!

Congratulations to our other CIMS member nominees; Terry Currier of Music Millennium (Portland, OR) and Chad Dryden of the Record Exchange (Boise, ID). You are all winners in my book, so keep doing your thing!

Here are the charts,
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

Florence + The Machine
Dance Fever
(Label)
 

Andrea Paschal - CIMS/ThinkIndie Executive Director
When the perfect album hits you at precisely the right moment… Florence Forever.

CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/13/21

in

Hi everyone,

One of my favorite hobbies as a kid was playing “musical family tree”. Most of us know how this goes, you would discover a band you absolutely love and then you would scour liner notes and any article or interview you could get your hands on to piece together: “Who were the band members? What other bands did they play in? Who were they friends with? Did they have bands that I would like as much as this one?”

Thanks to the internet this detective game has become much easier, but in my early days, this was how I (and so many of us) learned so much about music and discovered much of what would form my musical foundation.  Also- shout out to the Magic Platter listening stations where I spent hours of my youth in headphones digging through the used section and listening to stacks of albums week after week- that also helped.

Needless to say, I LOVE a good origin story and this week I have a really good one for you.

This RSD, Gruntruck’s Push (originally released in 1992), will be available for the first time domestically on vinyl. This release is one that hits close to the heart for our very own Matt Vaughan of Easy Street records, so this week I would like to share an article he wrote. This reads like a who’s who of the 90’s Seattle music scene and even gives a glimpse into the inceptions of Easy Street Records.

Here is a little excerpt on that:

“You might ask, how did a 19-year-old have the gumption to start a business, with rent, buying inventory, etc? I had worked at record stores through my teenage years. One was owned by a stepdad on the Eastside, the other by a guy on the Westside. Both owners had to get out at the same time, for different reasons. I’ll leave it at that. I took the lease, fixtures, and inventory of the West Seattle store and the remaining inventory and name of the Eastside store. I had to keep the name of one of the stores otherwise I was going to have to file a business license and all that. There was no time for delay. 

The Westside store I had worked at was called Penny Lane, a very unoriginal name for a record store. After a couple years, I moved it down the street (where it still stands today), created a logo, and hired a couple people. I guess I had a knack for running a record shop, knowing what records to buy, what labels to partner with, what bands to support. I assume that gave me some cred with some of the local bands and the overall scene, but what did I know about rock band management…”

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Here is a link to the full article, definitely a fun one.

https://www.revolutioncomeandgone.com/articles/19/gruntruck-most-underrated-Seattle-grunge-band.php


Thanks for sharing this one Matt!

Here are the charts.
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

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CIMS WEEKLY CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/6/21

in

My two favorite parts of the music world are: 1) that you truly never know who you will cross paths with, and 2) that it is always really fun to be there at the beginning of something.

Back in my early days at CIMS, one of my close friends and (at the time) bandmate came home from tour with another band and told me that his new friend and fellow musician would be coming to town for a bit and he really wanted me to meet her… that “we would really get along”. She was working on her own songs and while they had breaks on tour, they were going to make a record.

During that period, we would all end up spending a good bit of time together sharing music (our own and others), and there were lots of really fun and really late nights in the studio recording and listening back to tracks. Over the course of that year, sometimes weeks, months, or just days at a time, I watched and listened as those songs that started as laptop demos came to life. I knew from the first time she hit spacebar to play me “a couple of things she had been working on” that she was going to make it and do cool things. I even remember when she decided what her songwriting moniker would be.

So… who was it and where is she now? I knew her as Annie, but most of you probably know her better as that chosen moniker, St. Vincent, and those songs became known to the rest of the world as her debut albumMarry Me.

If nothing else, it does feel good to be right. She certainly did make it and she has done some very cool things since. Tomorrow she is back with her new albumDaddy’s Home.

I got a chance to spend some time with the new album, and upon my first listen I got the feeling of waking up still hazy (certainly with a bit of a headache) from an Oz-like dream of New York. A very specific New York that I particularly love, with all of that ’70s perfectly imperfect grit and grain and definitely a sequin or two. When, if you had “the look”, you could make it past the ropes at 54, and the chances of hanging with Lou or Andy and the gang were high. David, Mick or Elton might even pop by when they were in town. You would get into some trouble, but it would be a lot of fun.

It has been a while since our paths have crossed, but I have to say, Congrats Annie. This is a really good one.

Here are the charts,
Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

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St. Vincent Daddy's Home (Loma Vista)

St. Vincent
Daddy's Home
(Loma Vista)

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WEEKLY CIMS CHARTS: WEEK ENDING 5/28/20

in

Hi Everyone,
 
We are heading into day two of RSD Summer Camp- Couch Camp Edition.
Yesterday was a great kickoff with lots of great programming and I hope to see more of you today. I would like to thank MusicBiz for partnering with us to make this event possible and helping us to bring everyone together, especially at this time.
 
More on everything else next week, but let’s all keep working together to bring positive change. The time is now.
 
Thanks,
Andrea
 
Here are the charts:

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

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WEEKLY CIMS CHART: WEEK ENDING 5/21/20

in

For the last few years, we have brought you Summer Camp, the only Conference that's designed around record stores and focused on all areas of Independent Music Retail. This is something I have been a part of building from the ground up, and it is one of my favorite projects to work on.  Each year we have grown the conference and this year we were set to have our biggest Summer Camp yet, but sadly this year we are not able to do that.
 
We are however still committed to Indie Retail, so this year we have partnered with Music Biz to bring some of the elements of Summer Camp online. The programming has been designed to be especially focused around helping stores navigate the times we are in and hopefully to come through this even stronger. We are working as fast as possible on this because time is of the essence.
 
If you are a store, label, distributor, vendor, or service provider that touches indie retail in any way, we hope that you will still choose to Camp with us this year.
 
Here is some important info:

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COUCH CAMP 
We're taking SUMMER CAMP--the only conference for record stores--ONLINE!  June 2 through 5
 
We'd love to have you join us! Register for the conference here: bit.ly/couchcamp 
 
And if you'd like to help us support and educate record stores, please consider a sponsorship--going fast, only a few opportunities left!!! Reach out to  carriecolliton@recordstoreday.com for more details! 
 
Thanks so much, and I hope to see you at Couch Camp next week.
 
Your Camp Counselor,
Andrea
 
Here are the charts:
Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

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WEEKLY CIMS CHART: WEEK ENDING 5/14/20

in

Hi Everyone,
 
How are you all doing out there? Last week we saw some of our stores begin the process of re-opening. Whether officially open to the public or still waiting it out, everyone is finding their new way of retail and working to make their stores feel safe for their staff and customers alike. Record Archive in Rochester has been busy getting ready for when they open the doors, and I wanted to share how they are creatively made their 6 ft indicators fit right into the atmosphere of the store.

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On that note, I want to take a moment to say, I know it is somewhat of a controversial issue, but I really don’t get the issue people have with wearing a mask. What is the big deal?! Sure, it is a little bit of a hassle and feels a bit strange, so what. In the grand scheme, it is a small price to pay. We all want to get back to life, to see our friends, to go record shopping!!! We just need to do that responsibly.  What we don’t want is to go through this again, and if we take those simple precautions, it can make a big difference. So please, do it for yourself, do it for others, and let’s help keep everyone healthy and safe.

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Okay, on to more exciting music news, Jason Isbell’s new album, Reunions was our top debut last week. This week, it is the number one album at indie retail and made it into the Billboard Top 200! There is always going to be that number one on the chart, but this one is special. I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to Jason Isbell, Thirty Tigers, and the Orchard for putting indie retail first on this one. You really showed us the love and we gave it right back. Congratulations!
 
Have a happy Memorial Day weekend.

Here are the charts,
Andrea 

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

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Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit Reunions (Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)  Alayna Alderman - Record Archive I am loving Reunions, the new Jason Isbell record. Not only do I think this is a beautiful record- thought-provoking, sentimental …

Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Reunions
(Southeastern/Thirty Tigers)
 

Alayna Alderman - Record Archive
I am loving Reunions, the new Jason Isbell record. Not only do I think this is a beautiful record- thought-provoking, sentimental and sweet, but I love the artist behind this record. If the world had more Jason Isbells, who was so gracious with sharing his love and support of indie record stores, we would all be living in a better place.

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CIMS WEEKLY CHART: WEEK ENDING 5/7/20

in

Here are the charts,
Andrea 

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
cimsmusic.com
#cimsmusic

2b9bf94c-ea8a-4cbb-8079-f617c9b24abb.jpg
Deeper Auto-Pain (Fire Talk)  Nick Campbell - ThinkIndie Warehouse Manager Angular post-punk/garage rock/guitar pop from up Chicago way. FFO Ought, B Boys, and Corridor.

Deeper
Auto-Pain
(Fire Talk)
 

Nick Campbell - ThinkIndie Warehouse Manager
Angular post-punk/garage rock/guitar pop from up Chicago way. FFO Ought, B Boys, and Corridor.

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