In rotation: 1/22/18

HarperAudio Goes Retro with New Vinyl Audiobook Series: Following successful vinyl record releases by Amy Poehler and others, HarperAudio plans to produce a series of spoken word vinyl audiobook titles (with accompanying digital editions) in 2018. The vinyl audiobook series will launch in April with Wild Horses Vinyl Edition (including an MP3 version) by Joe Hill. The title is, as HC put it, a “vinyl-first” release. The short story, read by Nate Corddry, is about four teenagers who take a ride on an antique carousel. The seemingly innocent lark results in disastrous consequences. Other vinyl-first editions coming this year include Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events #1: The Bad Beginning and poet Nikki Giovanni’s Love Poems. HarperAudio vinyl titles will be distributed by Wax, an indie record label that specializes in the format.

The Manufacturer Keeping Cassette Tapes Alive: In manufacturing, it’s hard to know which industries or products will be left for dead, only to see a resurgence down the line. One interesting example of this is vinyl: once a relic for music collectors, this industry has been booming in the last few years, even reaching a record high – no pun intended – in 2017. The Associated Press (AP) recently reported on a less-publicized format that we all thought was dead and gone: the audio cassette. While vinyl has been flying high based on renewed interest in the medium, a plant in Missouri is investing in cassettes – not really because the industry is growing, but because everyone else has vacated it. The last man standing is a manufacturer called National Audio Company, and they’re the soon-to-be final U.S. company to produce the tape that goes inside of a cassette.

Watch: Belle & Sebastian Go Record Shopping At Oxfam: Belle & Sebastian have shot a new video, featuring the group record shopping in their local Oxfam. The charity run a regular video series, inviting the likes of Loyle Carner and Anton Newcome to rifle through their racks. Belle & Sebastian are notorious vinyl fiends, and leaped at the chance to visit their local Oxfam book and record shop in Glasgow’s West End. A great time they had of it, too, picking up rare gems, guilty pleasures, and some off the beaten track titles. An absorbing watch in its own right, you can tune in (above).

Five classic David Bowie albums reissued on vinyl: David Bowie’s Low, “Heroes”, Stage, Lodger and Scary Monsters LPs are being reissued this February, via RCA. The releases follow recent news that Bowie continues to top vinyl album and singles chart sales since his death two years ago, with nearly 300,000 of his records sold in the UK since. Though the albums were remastered and reissued as part of Bowie’s A New Career In Town (1977 – 1982) box set, this is the first time the LPs have been released individually since 1991.

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  • SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL INDIE SHOPS SINCE 2007


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