Kyiv introduces a new record shop, abo records. Three friends—Amir Hanani, Borys Stepanenko, and Oleh Baranovskyi—opened the shop last month to make up for the absence of music venues, which remain closed due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The store sits in an abandoned liquor factory on Kudryavska Street. Its stocks spans ambient, downtempo, breaks, trance, house, techno, and more. “The idea to open the store was in our mind for a while,” the founders told Resident Advisor. “Now, while all our clubs remain closed due to war, we took the plunge.”
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They said the store is “an alternative place” for connecting with DJ friends and Kyiv’s wider electronic music community. “We live in truly dark times, but still try to remain optimistic and are happy to see people visiting us and digging into records for hours,” they added.
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Opening a record shop in the middle of a war wasn’t easy. “We’re expecting less visitors than if Russia hadn’t started the war,” the founders said. “Some people from our music circle left Ukraine, some are fighting in a war. Obviously, we will have zero tourists from abroad. Also in our new reality, shipping from abroad is more difficult and costly now, due to broken logistic chains.”
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Despite all this, the founders believe selling vinyl is key to keeping Ukraine’s electronic music and DJ scene alive. “Even in such dark days, we want to keep it going,” they said.
A percentage of the store’s profits will go to helping Ukraine’s soldiers and to a foundation for volunteers. The store will open three times a week—Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday—from 4PM through 9PM.
Originally reported from Resident Advisor.
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