Author Archives: TVD HQ

King’s Cross, UK | Independent Label Market: Returning to Canopy Market, King’s Cross on for the weekend on December 15th & 16th for their Christmas market in London, Independent Label Market will be supported by AIM – the Association of Independent Music. The labels are bringing with them their extensive back catalogues plus a selection of amazing market exclusives, rarities, signed goods and exclusive test pressings. Among them, One Little Indian will bring very rare coloured Bjork albums on 12”, Dirty Hit will have the brand new album by The 1975, Ninja Tune will bring latest releases by Peggy Gou and Little Dragon and Brainfeeder will have their brand new 10th anniversary compilation box with unreleased songs from the likes of Flying Lotus, Thundercat and BADBAD-NOTGOOD.

Springfield, VA | Digital Music Is King. So Why Did A Vinyl Record-Pressing Plant Just Open In Virginia? Last year, digital music hit a milestone. For the first time ever, it accounted for more than half of global music sales. Music streaming revenues rose more than 40 percent, while sales of physical recordings continued to sink. Yet a company in Northern Virginia has just started pressing vinyl records. Tucked away in an industrial park in Alexandria, Furnace Record Pressing is the country’s newest record manufacturing facility — and a seemingly batty business idea, if you haven’t paid attention to deeper trends in the music industry lately. Despite the overall downturn in physical recordings like CDs, vinyl sales have been on the rise for a decade now, as younger people have begun to discover the richer sound and collectable nature of old-fashioned records. But as the vinyl frenzy caught on, soaring demand quickly created a problem, says Furnace’s owner, Eric Astor.

Chicago, IL | A portrait of Chicago institution Out Of The Past Records: Almost 50 years in the business. Couple Charlie and Marie Henderson have been selling records in Garfield Park since 1969. A West Side Chicago mainstay, the original Madison Street storefront burned down during riots following the assassination of Martin Luther King. Now at 4407 W. Madison, the shop is a one-stop adventure for eager collectors ready to get dirty and dig. A cross-eyed cat named Shadow roams the store, and you’ll be sure to see some dusty groovers meandering through the stacks alongside you. Records here are ‘strictly old-school’, reasonably priced and gently used. As Marie Henderson says, “you’re guaranteed to find a lot of everything and a lot of nothing, it just depends what you’re looking for.”

Penticton, BC | Sleepovers for Life preserves new B.C. music in vinyl: A Kelowna man is reviving the art of record making. Boutique vinyl cutter, Steve Gibson began his career in Germany a year ago with a 20-hour training day followed by another all-nighter. He had been eyeing up German engineer Souri Automaten’s record cutter, which cuts a vinyl record in real time from digital copies, for quite some time. The only way to buy the equipment is to fly to Germany to be trained by Automaten himself. Then, only once training is completed to Automaten’s satisfaction, can equipment be purchased. Once Gibson returned home he started Sleepovers for Life, his own small-batch, record-cutting company that took off without any advertising. Gibson’s business has been growing solely by word of mouth. In one year he has cut hundreds of records. “Record people are generally collectors. Limited runs mean a huge amount to certain people, myself included. It’s that first pressing, this colour or that colour. The small batches are really fun for a certain group of people,” said Gibson.

The Ultimate Buyer’s Guide to Getting Into Vinyl Records: We’re in the age of digital music — a period in the history of recorded music where any song and any artist is accessible on our mobile phones at anytime. While digital music makes it easier than ever to consume music, formats like vinyl records have not gone away. In fact, in 2017 14% of all physical music was sold on vinyl LP records — and there’s a reason for it. Unlike digital music, there is a physicality to vinyl records, a slowness to it, that requires a listener to browse a stack, pull out a record and slip it onto a turntable. And while digital music may be easier to consume, there is a certain pleasure in hearing music played on a turntable. Audiophiles will tell you that the sound is warmer on records than digital files or CD (this author believes there is some truth to that), and that due to the nature of having to lift a needle on and off a platter, it forces one to listen through a complete album (or at least one side) rather than flipping through tracks with a swipe of your finger.

Cleveland, OH | Cleveland’s Music Saves quits the record store business: Music Saves, a Cleveland-based online record store, announced that it will be shutting down its vinyl record sales. “Music Saves is quitting the music business,” reads a statement on the store’s website, written by owner Melanie Hershberger. “The industry has changed in ways I could never have predicted 14 years ago. A lot of it feels really backwards. A lot of it has really worked against us. I feel like, as many other small businesses, small record stores are becoming less needed, as time goes on.” Originally, Music Saves operated out of a brick building just down the road from Cleveland music venue Beachland Ballroom. The store specialized in selling new releases on vinyl, and it earned local fame for its resident cats.

Glasgow, SCT | Glasgow record store to launch city’s newest radio station. With the capacity to run 24/7 and available worldwide, the aim for LP Radio is to have the station grounded in Glasgow but facing out to the rest of the world. A Glasgow record store is to launch the city’s new radio station from its base in the west end of the city. LP Records, on Park Road in the Kelvinbridge area, is launching LP Radio – a worldwide alternative online radio station. LP Radio will be centred around discovering and sharing new music alongside a focus on debate, patter, and community. Speaking to Glasgow Live, the man behind the station Lorenzo Pacitti said: “Plain and simply it’s a dream that I think I can make a reality, and much like the motivation to start a record shop I think it’s a dream that’s rooted in satiating a definite need and appetite here in Glasgow and beyond.”

Pittston, PA | Swap & Hops Pop-Up Record Fair to bring record, beer lovers together in Pittston: The overlap between beer nerds and record collectors is a significant one, at least if you believe what you read on the internet. And now, an event at a Pittston brewery this weekend seeks to combine the two hobbies. The first NEPA Swap & Hops Pop-Up Record Fair will be held at the Susquehanna Brewing Company at its main location, 635 S. Main St., Pittston. The event will run noon to 6 p.m. this Sunday, Dec. 9. The fair is being held in conjunction with the Gallery of Sound. According to a press release from the record store, approximately 5,000 items from the company’s inventory will be available at the fair before they’re sold in-store, giving serious collectors a unique opportunity to see items before anyone else. But Gallery of Sound won’t be the only ones there with records…

The Big Lebowski soundtrack released as limited 20th anniversary vinyl edition: That record really tied the room together. Mondo has announced that a 20th anniversary edition of The Big Lebowski soundtrack will be released on limited “white russian” coloured vinyl, this December. The Big Lebowski’s 15 song soundtrack features music by Bob Dylan, Elvis Costello, Nina Simone and Moondog. Directed by the Coen Brothers, the cult movie stars Jeff Bridges as The Dude, who gets mistaken for a millionaire of the same name, known as The Big Lebowski. Its all-star cast is rounded out by John Goodman, Julian Moore, Steve Buscemi, Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Turturro as the fiesty, purple-velvet-jumpsuit-wearing, bowling pro Jesus Quintana. The 20th anniversary edition features new artwork by Paul Mann, available on coffee and cream coloured LP as well as a standard black variant.

Music streaming is fueling vinyl’s resurgence. They’re not competitors but complementary formats that deliver different benefits to fans. Streaming has been blamed for killing off the CD, but industry experts agree it’s helping bolster the growth and quality of another physical music format: vinyl. Since 2015, streaming income has eclipsed CD sales, and the likes of Apple Music and Spotify have become major players in the music industry. This year the Recording Industry Association of America reported that 75 percent of music revenue in the United States came from streaming services. In the past three years, vinyl sales in the US have steadily risen about $2 million annually. On paper, it doesn’t make sense. Why would anyone buy an album they can only listen to in one specific environment, when for half the price of a new record, they can put it and millions of others in their pocket and listen anywhere?

New York, NY | RIP Bleecker Bob Plotnick, the Man Who Gave America New Wave, Punk, Power Pop in the 1970s: It’s a couple of days late, but I’m reporting to you that Bleecker Bob Plotnick died November 29th at age 75. If you lived in Greenwich Village in the late 1970s or cared about music at all from that era, you will know Bob’s name or the name of his record store. He — and it– were seminal in bringing New Wave, punk, power pop, whatever you want to call it to America. Without him it’s unlikely there would be the Ramones, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, New York Dolls, so many acts now so well established in the music firmament but 40 years ago just whispers from Melody Maker the NME.

New York, NY | Robert Plotnik, ‘Bleecker Bob’ of Record-Store Fame, Dies at 75: Robert Plotnik, a lapsed lawyer better known as the namesake of Bleecker Bob’s Records, a Greenwich Village vinyl mecca that survived the dawning of cassettes, CDs and downloading and the death of CBGB, the nearby club where punk rock was cradled, died on Thursday in Manhattan. He was 75. The cause was kidney failure, his partner, Jennifer Kitzer, said. He had been incapacitated since having a stroke in 2001. Bleecker Bob’s was immortalized in a 1993 episode of “Seinfeld” (when Kramer and Newman fail to make a windfall selling used records there), in the opening credits of “Saturday Night Live,” and in Colson Whitehead’s 2009 novel, “Sag Harbor.” It was also where a customer named Patti Smith met a record salesman named Lenny Kaye more than 40 years ago and invited him to accompany her on guitar at a poetry reading. He’s been accompanying her ever since.

Kidderminster, UK | Kidderminster man jailed for ‘fake’ vinyl records scam: Stephen Russell, 65, of Puxton Drive, Kidderminster, was part of a group which distributed unlicensed recordings of 1960s northern soul artists. On Friday (November 30), a court heard how 55,000 unlicensed records were seized by police following an investigation by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents record companies in the UK like Warner Music, Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music Group. Unofficial copies of original recordings included Marvin Gaye’s This Love Starved Heart Of Mine, Bettye Swann’s Kiss My Love Goodbye, Major Lance’s Investigate and Art Freeman’s Slippin Around With You. The BPI stumbled upon the operation after test-purchasing vinyl records sold online, which were found to have defects like misspellings, blurred typefaces, and a large quantity with the words ‘not for sale’, ‘promotional copy’, and ‘DJ copy’ written on them.

Syracuse, NY | Record collector opens shop in East Syracuse: Tom Little has been collecting vintage vinyl records for the past 10 years, and has already accumulated more than 40,000 records to date ­— a kaleidoscope of classic rock, blues, psychedelic and doo-wop records from the 50s through the 90s, now being sold at his new record shop in the village of East Syracuse on W Manlius Street. Little, 53, is a record collector and owner of Syracuse Vintage Vinyl, a used record store that opened in the village on Thursday, Nov. 15. Located on 205 W. Manlius Street along a strip also inhabited by two tattoo shops and Serres Donut Shop, this is the business’ first storefront. “I buy all the time, and I love to buy the stuff that sells quick,” said Little, citing records like Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” to Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon” as best-sellers. “It’s just something fun to do,” he said. “I mean, how cool is it to own a record store? Pretty freaking cool.”

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New Orleans, LA | One Stop Record Shop: Legendary guitarist Earl King (“Lonely, Lonely Nights” and “Let the Good Times Roll”) claimed that he walked into the One Stop Record Shop one day in late 1963 and was told “All your gang is in the back.” Sure enough, behind the stacks of 45s and LPs he found Professor Longhair, Tommy Ridgley, Eddie Bo, and others huddled around the store’s piano. This was the same room where in early 1960 a teenaged Irma Thomas auditioned for Ron and Ric Records’ Joe Ruffino, which led to her cutting the hit “Don’t Mess With My Man” (the preceding lyric is “You can have my husband, but please…”). The record jumpstarted the career of the future Soul Queen of New Orleans.

The 50 Best Rock Albums Ever: The 50 greatest rock albums of all time, as chosen by you. When we asked people to vote for their favourite ever rock album, we didn’t restrict the options to a pre-defined list of titles we’d come up with over pints in the pub. You could add any album you liked. What happened? Well, a slew of old favourites popped up when we compiled the results, but there were a few surprises too, albums we probably wouldn’t have assumed would make to Top 50. And it’s made the results a lot more interesting. So if you voted, thank you, Otherwise, just enjoy a selection of 50 albums that genuinely broke the mould.

Help MOJO Find The World’s Best Record Shops! Nominate the music emporia that have made your lives better, and we’ll feature the most amazing in MOJO. …Wherever in the world it is, your dream shop will be a fantastic place to spend time. Maybe it looks great, has a cool specialism or super-friendly and knowledgeable staff. Maybe it’s on a boat or in someone’s front room. Perhaps it’s patronised by the local music-making community and/or the guy from Endless Boogie. Maybe it’s all black metal, in Bali. Or just more conventionally, you know, great. Possibly this retail wonder is in your own back yard – a regular haunt/life-support system – or a vision you’ve stumbled on during your travels.

Vinyl revival boosts Crosley Brands revenue: Crosley Brands, a venerable Louisville electronics company that has its origins in the heyday of radio, has been capitalizing on a surprising trend: a resurgence of vinyl. The analog technology, which requires a physical medium (the phonograph record) and a mechanical device that spins the record and decodes it with a needle, is finding ever more fans in an era dominated by streaming music and handheld devices that hold tens of thousands of songs. And if it weren’t for a gutsy decision and impromptu trip to China by a young CEO in the early 1990s — when vinyl, thanks to the dominance of CDs, seemed to go the way of 8-track — Crosley might have folded long before the vinyl renaissance.

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Warwick, NY | Original Vinyl Records official ribbon cutting Wed., Dec. 10, 3PM: 17 year Warwick, NY resident Jim Eigo, owner of Jazz Promo Services, has fulfilled a lifelong dream by opening Original Vinyl Records, a retro record store for the avid and novice vinyl album collector. Jim, a collector himself, amassed the records he’s selling over years of collecting, picking, yard sailing and record shows. Jim is a long-time veteran of the record business having worked at Cox Records in Brooklyn, NY, running the jazz dept. at the legendary Greenwich Village record store Happy Tunes Records in the 1970s, setting up the first record store in Soho the Soho Music Gallery on Grand and Wooster and managing the jazz dept. for J & R Music World back in the 1980s. Jim always planned to get back into the retail end of the music business. After years of marketing and promoting jazz musicians and record labels, he saw the opportunity and the need for a local record store. Original Vinyl Records is the first in Warwick, NY in nearly two decades.

Wales, UK | The largest vinyl warehouse clearance sale ever seen in Wales is coming to Barry. It signals a scaling down of the huge record dealing business originally set up by Claire Williams and Mark Owen. Record collectors, vinyl enthusiasts, and music fans will have the chance to pick up bargains and rare finds at the largest vinyl record warehouse clearance sale ever seen in Wales. Up to 100,000 items are up for grabs at knockdown prices – from every music genre imaginable at a warehouse in Barry. It signals a scaling down of the huge record dealing business originally set up by Claire Williams and Mark Owen more than eight years ago. Mark, who formerly travelled the world as a tour manager, has set up a successful rock management company looking after rising stars such as the Kris Barras Band and Salvation Jayne, while Claire is going to carry on in the record dealing business, but on a much smaller scale, hence the reason for the mammoth sale of their huge stock from their warehouse on Vere Street in Cadoxton.

Shepherdstown, WV | Black Friday buyers descend on Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment: While some holiday shoppers were flocking to Walmart and Kohls for their Black Friday sales, other shoppers were descending on Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment, for the store’s annual Black Friday Record Store Day. The day is an event many U.S. record stores hold the day after Thanksgiving, attracting buyers, not with low prices, but with unique items like limited special editions from major artists. Customers from around the Eastern Panhandle were already waiting for Admiral Analog’s Audio Assortment to open its doors, over a half-hour in advance of the store’s opening time. One of the people waiting to enter the store was Summer Russell, of Charles Town, with her niece and daughter. Russell said her niece was the most serious about owning an expansive record collection.

Manchester, UK | Pete Doherty’s favourite box set and the £3,000 vinyl – tales from a Northern Quarter music institution. Vinyl Exchange is one of the oldest record shops in the area and turns 30 this weekend. The Northern Quarter is a lot of things to a lot of people – brunch destination, late-night cocktail haunt, vintage shopping haven, a gallery for street art fans. No matter what you’re into, though, music has flowed through the veins of this part of Manchester for decades. Vinyl Exchange is one of the oldest record shops in the area, turning 30 this weekend with a huge party with some musical mates – there’ll be resident vinyl DJs providing a soundtrack, with Shindigger supplying beer and Reform Radio live streaming the whole thing. Since opening in 1988, the team have seen a lot of things, from extremely rare records worth thousands of pounds to completely unexpected celebrity shoppers. Co-owner Richard Farnell has been part of the business since 1995, and in that time vinyl’s popularity has teetered on the edge of extinction, and then surged back from the near-dead. “People seem to be kicking back against digital downloads,” he says. “They want something that’s more tangible, something that they can actually own – which is good for us!”

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Bleecker Bob has died: Robert Plotnik, the titular owner of NYC’s iconic Village record store Bleecker Bob’s, has died. The sad news was confirmed by his longtime partner, Jennifer Kitzer. Bob had been in declining health for some time after suffering a stroke in 2001. The store stayed open till 2013. NYC/Brooklyn store Academy Records offering up this tribute: RIP to Bleecker Bob, a true legend on the NYC record store scene and probably the most singular character among that very idiosyncratic bunch. I first got to know Bob and his wise cracking sarcasm as a teenager in the late 70s as I soiled my fingers flipping through his grimy reused record sleeves. I also quickly learned that he loved an equal dose of sarcasm in return and our interactions were some of my first tastes of what it meant to be a real New Yorker. When I first opened my store in 2001 it was a real badge of honor when he came to check it out and told me it didn’t suck too bad. Catch ya on the B side…

Denver, CO | Looking Back On 40 Years Of Wax Trax, Denver’s Vinyl Record Mecca: Sometimes it still feels like 1978 inside Denver’s Wax Trax Records. Maybe it’s the creaky wood floors, or the ever-present soundtrack of ‘70s-era underground rock that plays through the store’s speakers. But a big part of that preserved-in-time feeling probably comes from the owners, Dave Stidman and Duane Davis. If they’re not in the corner CD store of Wax Trax, then it’s a safe bet you can find them two doors down restocking the endless stacks of new and used vinyl. It’s been 40 years since Stidman and Davis took over, and that time comes with a lot of colorful stories from a seedier time in Denver’s Capitol Hill neighborhood. “We got into the corner store in 1978 and we got this space probably early ‘80s. It had been a woman who had a needle-craft store,” Davis said, standing among rows and rows of vinyl albums.

The best turntables of 2018: …There were a number of themes running through this year’s turntable designs. Firstly, the flush of excitement around vinyl in the turntable market in last five years has given way to specialist tools for niche customers. As a result, manufacturers are increasingly including semi- and automatic functions on their decks for record buyers who would not consider themselves ‘audiophiles’. Across the hi-fi industry, the tendency towards all-in-one models – where additional elements like amplifiers and bluetooth are packed into the turntable chassis – is an example of brands catering for more flexible forms of listening. On the other side of the coin, there are increasing numbers of interesting designs on offer for the audiophile listener with sound quality and innovation coming to the fore.

7 times Marvel superheroes appeared on record covers. The stories behind the strange collision of two iconic but (usually) separate worlds. Recently, Marvel honoured the world of hip-hop by recreating some of the industry’s most iconic album covers with their own superheroes substituted in. The variant covers appeared on Marvel’s comics and proved so popular that the publisher even released a two-volume collection of just the album artwork. But Marvel’s characters have appeared on record covers before, and often for stranger reasons than you might expect. Here are a few famous (and not-so-famous) examples that you may or may not be aware of…

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