Following more than ten years of collaboration, it comes as no surprise that the Parisian record store, label house and party planners, Yoyaku, returned to Barcelona for another OFFweek event as they curated an innovative array of artists to perform at their contribution to Barcelona’s international electronic music love affair – OFF Sonar. Yoyaku OFF Barcelona saw them bring Lis Sarroca, Mari.te, Hugo Martinez, Saoirse, Shakèd, Sonja Moonear and Tomas Station to Hola Beach Club Sitges for a 10-hour shindig of electronic music mastery delivered via wax.
Following the successes of last year’s pop-up, Yoyaku have decided to make itself a permanent home in the vibrant Spanish city as they open Yoyaku Barcelona record store, their first store outside of Paris. Situated in the seaside of Sant Martí, they find themselves nestled in amongst the cultural hubbub, some cool cafes and top dining spots. Not to mention the location is also walking distance from the Basilica de Sagrada Familia, the store is a worthy detour for any would-be tourists! Yoyaku come as a welcome addition as they bring some of the finest from their extensive in-house catalogue across their many labels, as well as a serious selection of second-hand records, fit for even the most selective of crate-diggers. Having been at the forefront of the French electronic music scene for many moons now, the crew have amassed a most impressive selection of records to dig through. They also couldn’t have picked a better spot in terms of neighbours as their new location finds itself inside the Bridge 48 arts hub – a community music hub that offers courses, workshops and studios as well as live music events.
The shared zeal for electronic music, their institutions, and the production of unique artists within an abundant scene are what marry these two spots and position the Spanish spot as an ideal candidate for a second permanent record store for Yoyaku. Although they will bring swathes of French labels in tow, the idea for Yoyaku is not to replicate their Paris store but to provide an intersection between the two cultures, featuring a selection dedicated to local labels and Barcelona-based distributors. They will also continue to host listening sessions and in-store sessions, this time fuelled by the vibrant musical energy of Barcelona’s scene.
The store opened on the 15th of June in tandem with OFF Week. This exciting news also coincides with more of the sort! Yoyaku have recently acquired Objects, a vinyl pressing plant based in Berlin, to offer their new distribution service – Kurtezy. They are also hoping to expand it to become a full manufacturing plant, ethos behind this acquisition was to offer a more streamlined and integrated with a more direct journey for the product and more direct involvement for the independent labels and artists. This new Berlin-based initiative has garnered solid interest as some of the city’s key players are already involved, with Jamie Fry of KMA60, Sammy Dee and Yoyaku’s own Benjamin Belaga. Stay tuned for more news on this front!
Check out the new Yoyaku Barcelona here.
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