visit us at www.intoxica.co.uk
INTOXICA!
Intoxica was founded in the summer of 1994, evolving from the long-established Vinyl Solution shop. Vinyl Solution had been one of London’s leading second-hand record stores since 1978, and by the early 90s was renowned for it’s hardcore and punk, while also having a thriving dance section. Several record labels also formed as a result of the shop, covering hardcore, death metal, house and hip hop.
By 1994 there was an explosion of interest in exotica and easy listening, which crossed over into jazz, funk, and soundtracks. Intoxica was created to fulfil the demand, while remaining an outlet for high quality collectables and reissues. A combination of high buying prices, and regular buying trips abroad, meant that the shop soon gained a reputation for high quality stock often rarely seen elsewhere. The shop has catered more and more for club culture, supplying funk originals and breakbeats for an ever sample-hungry clientele, including many respected hip-hop producers.
The shop has seen live in-store appearances from a variety of artists including Rocket From The Crypt, Add N To X, Kim Fowley & the Priscillas.
The store also combines the jazz/soul basement with an art gallery, which has staged many successful exhibitions since 1997. These have been included Savage Pencil (who designed the Intoxica logo), two by Josh Collins (Frat Shack, who built the shop sign, and also designed the shop's tiki hut interior), Billy Childish, Project Dark, and Andy Ward (illustrations for Mojo, Straight No Chaser etc).
With the exception of a few Stereolab CDs (Intoxica is an authorised Stereolab dealer), Intoxica remains firmly vinyl-only, based on the belief that vinyl is not only aesthetically far superior to compact discs, but also scientifically proven to sound better.
As a result of it’s well-chosen stock and attention to detail, Intoxica has been described by Time Out magazine as ‘considered by many to be the best second-hand record shop in London’.
Myspace Layouts - Myspace Editor