Los Angeles, CA | Amoeba Music building has been approved for demolition — but where’s the store’s new location? The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday voted to approve zoning changes that would clear the way for the development of a 26-story complex at the site of the Amoeba Music store in Hollywood at the corner of Sunset and Cahuenga boulevards. The move cements the fate of the distinctive building, and fuels further speculation on the future of the city’s biggest record store. Amoeba’s Hollywood location, which opened to great fanfare in 2001, has been in a kind of holding pattern since news of the possible development came to light a few years ago. The store sold the building to developer GPI Companies in 2015 for $34 million. “Amoeba has every intention of remaining in L.A.,” Amoeba’s Jim Henderson told The Times in 2017, citing the store’s statement on Facebook as the most complete update on its future at 6400 Sunset Blvd. “Rest assured, we are NOT closing, but we are now in a position where we may have to change locations in the coming years.”
Northamptonshire, UK | Desborough day centre Beatles album sells for £2k: A rare first pressing of The Beatles’ debut album found at a day care centre has sold for £2,200 at auction. Auctioneer Will Gilding discovered the Please Please Me vinyl at Marlow House in Desborough, Northamptonshire. The record, which was a stereo version on a black and gold Parlophone label, had been in storage for 10 years. Pamela Goodman, trustee at Marlow House, said she was “giggling like an idiot and whooping” as it fetched four times its estimate. She said they will spend some of the money on specialist cutlery for their centre users. Please Please Me was originally released in March 1963, with the stereo version a month later.
‘Inna de Yard’ Delves into the ‘Soul’ of Jamaica: Dogs barking in the distance. Birds chirping nearby. A man walking through the mist, surrounded by lush vegetation. A distinctive vibrato singing “Speak Softly, Love” over it all. So begins Inna de Yard, a documentary that can safely be called a love poem to reggae music, or the “soul of Jamaica”, as the film is sub-titled with an obvious play on words. Directed by Peter Webber (whose first feature was the acclaimed Girl with a Pearl Earring), the documentary comes at a timely moment: reggae was inscribed last November on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). Before opening across Germany on Jun. 20, the film was screened in Paris at the U.N. agency’s headquarters to a full house of spectators, many of whom seemed to know the artists and the songs. Several stood up to dance when the musicians performed after the projection. nna de Yard takes us into the lives of pioneer reggae musicians who have come together to record music in a hilltop studio. This is a weathered, old house that offers breath-taking views of the capital Kingston. It is filled with stacks of vinyl records spilling out of their decaying jackets, while an ancient piano sits on the porch.
IsoAcoustics unveils wooden “butcher block” turntable isolation platforms: Do they make the cut? IsoAcoustics has announced a new range of wood isolation platforms called the DELOS series. Crafted from maple, the four models combine IsoAcoustics’ isolation technology wth a maple block base, and range in price from £399 – £699, depending on size. Turntables are extremely sensitive to vibrations. The stylus navigating the tiny variations in the vinyl’s grooves is a delicate process that is easily interrupted by vibrations.” explains IsoAcoustics’ Dave Morrison. “We found the most effective solution to diminish the effects of external vibrations was integrating our isolators into a butcher block to combine mass with our patented isolation technology.” DELOS series will be available 1st July.
Queen’s Studio Collection 18LP coloured vinyl mega-box returns: 18LP half-speed coloured vinyl box is back in print. Universal Music’s enormous Queen 18LP vinyl box called Studio Collection was issued back in 2015 and went out of print reasonably quickly, which resulted in some eye-watering prices being demanded via secondary markets. However, there is now good news for fans who missed out, since the box is now back in print. This collection contains all 15 studio albums released by the band pressed on vibrant 180g coloured vinyl in hues sympathetic to the original artwork. It stretches to 18 records is because a few albums span two LPs. Queen II has been cut to two separate black and white vinyl records for this box, reflecting the ‘Side White’ and ‘Side Black’ on the original pressing. In addition, the reverse sides of each record come complete with a custom etching. Innuendo and Made In Heaven were primarily made for a CD market and were previously edited to fit on two sides of a vinyl record. Here for the first time they are cut at full length as double vinyl LPs.
Let’s cut some vinyl! A tour of Little Elephant Lathe Cuts: As sales of compact discs continue to fall and the streaming/download world becomes omnipresent, vinyl has been slowly making a huge comeback. Toledo, Ohio based company, Little Elephant Lathe Cuts, an operation headed by Rob Courtney, services the fledgling artist/ group /songwriter who longs to preserve their music on vinyl. A big hurdle for most venturing into the vinyl pressing world is the expense, which normally requires a 250 minimum and that can become very pricey for those with a much smaller fan base. Not anymore. From one vinyl album to multiple copies, Little Elephant Lathe Cuts offers the ability to do very small runs of high quality vinyl for their prospective projects. Goldmine spoke to Rob Courtney who discussed the reemergence of vinyl and walked us through his company’s process of getting a vinyl pressed and into your hands.
