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The Wherehouse, Licorice Pizza, Rhino, Tower, Moby Disc, Aron's, Penny Lane, db Coopers... and now you can add Echo Park's Sea Level to the list of once-essential local record stores that have thrown in the towel.
The LA Times Buzz Bands blog has the scoop:
the independent outlet that in 5 1/2 years had become a locus for Los Angeles' Eastside music scene, will close June 30, owner Todd Clifford said. "It's not so much competition as the fact I want my life back," said Clifford, 32, who runs the store, at 1716 Sunset Blvd. in Echo Park, with the help of just one part-time employee. "Yes, it's been a struggle. But each year has been better than the last. It just got to be too much for me."
Doesn't that sound like all those athletes who say they want to hang 'em up so they can spend more time with their family? Hopefully this too will be as fleeting as a Roger Clemens retirement, though it's hard not to think that Amoeba, iTunes, Best Buy, and Amazon isn't partially to blame.photo of Sea Level in March via Myspace
