Japanese listening room

Rios transforms a basement site in Austin's Hotel Magdalena into a vinyl listening room akin to a Japanese kissa, where folks can indulge in music.

Where the cocktails aim to be as high quality as the sound

Japan has a drinking culture all its own, with music-centric lounges and tiny bars in skyscrapers. Here are the best of America's Japanse bar boom.

Interest in jazz kissa is growing internationally, and kissa-inspired listening venues are appearing outside Japan; can they compete with the real thing?

Japanese-style Listening Bars are a new way to experience music. The concept of listening bars, like many things, has its origins in Japanese culture. Commonly referred to as HiFi bars in the U.S., listening bars are a “​subset of the kissaten, the small and idiosyncratic coffeehouses dotting the side streets in Tokyo​ (Ben Ratliff, New York Times),” and stem back to the 1950s.

Over the past couple of years, there’s been a stateside surge in the Japanese-style “listening bar,” a lounge where audiophiles can grab a drink while intentionally listening to and appreciating music, often from records. KC’s first will open in the West Side this weekend. XO (709 W. 17th St.) blends the essence of Japan’s postwar… Continue reading Opening This Weekend: A Japanese-Inspired Hifi Cocktail Lounge

OOAK DESIGN STUDIO

Nighttime is not always best for attentive listening – but when you hear a record in detail, you can feel lunar tidal pull of music and the physicality of the people making it, says Ben Ratliff