It was a pleasure to finally meet Nick and Jennifer Atocha, makers of the most beautiful record cabinets I’ve ever seen. In the imaginary future of my mind, I will live in an old brownstone with extremely high ceilings, wide plank floors, cool chandeliers, a spiral staircase, a grand fireplace, a secret library, sky lighting, and at least three or five (I don’t like even numbers) of Atocha’s record cabinets.
Jennifer very slyly warned me of the possibility—no, inevitability—of my dear Ikea Expedit shelves collapsing beneath the weight of all my precious vinyl. I frowned.
“Do you have children?” she asked.
“No.”
“Pets?”
“No.”
“Then don’t worry. Your records won’t break. When it happens, just send me a picture.”
“That’s not funny.”
Nick and Jennifer share backgrounds in music and design. Their record cabinet is a perfect example of functional beauty: It stores hundreds of records, providing easy access to a collection while showcasing the gorgeous album art. Typical record shelves display only the spines, and, as Michael Fremer says, “When you only see the spine, it’s easy to forget the face—kind of like dating in the 70s.” Who wants that?
Speaking of break-ups, Jennifer also broke the news of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore’s separation after 27 years of marriage and 16 full-length albums with their band, Sonic Youth. What is the world coming to? Is nothing sacred?
“Do you have any other bad news for me, Jennifer?”
Lovely people, Nick and Jennifer live and work in New York City and I look forward to visiting their showroom. Jennifer says she's looking to partner with a turntable manufacturer here in the US. Many customers ask her advice in building a system, so she would like to develop stronger relationships in the hi-fi world. Atocha record cabinets not only provide a lovely solution for storing records, but they also inspire their users to become reacquainted with their collections. People who own the Atocha cabinets want to listen to vinyl again. And if that's not hi-fi, I don't know what is: Every good audio component should lead to the discovery (and rediscovery) of great music.
