Chicago, IL | Remembering Val: The online comments about Val Camilletti were too good not to share. I moved to Oak Park in 1975, and Val’s halla was my home away from home. Going there always meant a stop at the Elvis Shrine, a leisurely browse for treasures in those amazing bins, but more than that it meant being able to talk about any performer, any kind of music, or any obscure album I was trying to lay my hands on and knowing that Val knew it all and knew how to get the album. She was also, without making it a big deal, someone around whom a gay kid living on his own could feel comfortable and sense a kindred spirit. She was a friend, an inspiration, and as she grew older an exemplar of how to age superlatively and contribute till you take your dying breath. As the tributes come rolling in (and they will) all of us who knew her will be amazed again at the breadth of her influence in the music scene and the struggle for LGBT rights. Addio, Val, you made the world a better place.
Winsford, UK | Brain injury charity Headways benefits from Electric Church record shop donations: A record shop in Winsford has helped to raise hundreds of pounds for a brain injury charity by donating thousands of vinyl records. Headway – the brain injury association’s charity shop in Winsford – has raised £360 from the sale of vinyl records this year thanks to generous donations from The Electric Church. When people bring records to the shop in Over Square that owner Jimi Coppack cannot sell, he asks whether they want to take them back home or if he can donate them to Headway, and most people have been happy to support the charity. Jimi said: “I walk past the Headway shop and see people really going for it, rummaging through the records. “I have collected vinyl for the past 18 years and I know what it’s like to go crate digging and find something you love. It is great to be able to do that for other people.
Turntable Review: T+A G2000R: …The chassis feels heavy and strong, formed by an aluminium skin covering MDF and sitting on anti-vibration feet. A belt-driven aluminium platter cradles a grounded rubber mat, and is powered by a quartz-controlled AC synchronous motor. When switched on, an internal motor-controlled DSP circuit slowly increases the speed. When that speed reaches the required revolutions, the designated light illuminates. The entire process looks and feels very dependable. A simple yet stylised turntable lid completes the package. Inside the plinth is a phono amplifier. You use DIP switches to configure your cartridge. I understand that they’re used to keep costs down, but they’re finicky and at this price point, a more elegant solution should have been used.
The 10 best punk albums to own on vinyl: From the Sex Pistols to The Stooges, we select the best punk vinyl every record collector should own. As it came kicking and spitting out of the late 1970s, punk left an indelible mark on music as we know it. Sparking dozens of off-shoots and subgenres in its wake, it’d be a stretch to find a genre of music which has proven as influential or as attention-grabbing as punk. For a genre displaying so much prolific creativity, it follows that it also spawned cratefuls of classic albums. From proto-punk to post-punk and psychobilly, where does one even begin when it comes to furnishing one’s record collection with the best the genre has to offer? That’s where we come in. We’ve assembled the quintessential collection of punk rock jams which should form the foundation of every music fan’s collection.
