Published
Thu, Oct 4, 2018, 17:15
- Gold Line, stocked with 7,500 vinyl records from Peanut Butter Wolf's collection, is open now in Highland Park.
There's a new vinyl-focused bar in Highland Park, Los Angeles called Gold Line.
Open this week, the bar is situated under Stones Throw's offices, and is a partnership between the label's founder Peanut Butter Wolf (Chris Manak), label manager Jason McGuire and restaurateur Tyler Bell. The bar's design nods to vintage recording studios, Japanese hi-fi bars as well as the surrounding neighborhood; the press release says "cross sectional sofas invoke both mid-century minimalism and the custom car culture that rolls past the bar on Figueroa, part of historic Route 66."
The bar's centerpiece however, is 7,500 records from Peanut Butter Wolf's own collection, a Thorens turntable, McIntosh Amps and Altec Lansing speakers. The records will be split into rock, soul, reggae, rap, electronic, world and jazz categories. On weekdays, bartenders will select from the collection, while on weekend, Gold Line will host guests mixing exclusively from the in-house vinyl, with a strict policy of no outside records and no computers.
Manak refers to Gold Line as a loose interpretation of Japanese record bars, as covered in Aaron Coultate's RA feature from 2016. The Stones Throw founder told Los Angeles magazine, "Since I won't be at our bar every night, my concept is for DJs I know to spin with my records. And our DJs will mix more danceable music on busier nights, rather than let a full jazz or rock album play like in Japan."
It's the second hi-fi bar opened in LA recently, following In Sheep's Clothing in the Arts District.