Hong Kong vinyl bars spread analogue music culture by offering ‘a glimpse into the past’
From a Japanese-style jazz cafe to a ‘relaxed’ DJ bar, these venues offer city revellers musical experiences ‘outside the algorithm’
In an era when algorithms dictate the type of media we consume online, some young people are “going offline” as part of a new movement encouraging more intentional interactions with the arts.
Vinyl bars have been popping up around Hong Kong as a result, catering to analogue enthusiasts looking to enjoy music the way it used to be before CDs and streaming.
Jazz kissa are a type of cafe where drinks are accompanied by jazz records playing in the background. The idea took off in the late 1920s, when people in Japan began to develop a taste for Western culture and music but could not afford imported jazz records, and live jazz bands were few and far between.
For the price of a coffee or a glass of whisky, people could enjoy listening to expensive imported jazz records played on phonographs. In the following decades, the sound systems became increasingly advanced.
“The Gen Z-ers have never experienced something so physical and analogue, whereas the older generations lived it but have not seen it in decades,” Wong says.