Author Archives: TVD HQ

Record Theatre kicks off closing sale: It’s the end of an era. After 30 years, the iconic Record Theatre is closing its doors. Lovers of music, movies and books have been buying their favorite classics at this store for decades. At one time, it’s popularity and success spread across a chain of six record stores in the area, now its just down to one – the flagship store on Main Street in Buffalo. A “go-to” spot for the hardest to find vinyl records, CDs, DVDs and even cassette tapes, the legacy Record Theatre leaves behind is unlike any other. “It’s a bummer. It’s like one of your friends moves and you’re not really sure the next time you’re going to see them because they’re moving too far,” Joe Seivert says.

How a San Marco business owner is selling vinyl in the digital age: William Brueck comes from a family of music lovers. His father, Bill Brueck, owned Yesterday & Today Records off Baymeadows in the 90’s. After a lull, Brueck opened a new one under the same name at the Beach Blvd. flea market to great success. On May 31, Yesterday & Today Records moved to a more permanent home in San Marco…“A lot of the popularity is it sounds better,” Brueck said. “The pure analog sound is easier on your ears and the sound is more robust, thicker. That’s the word a lot of people use, thicker. A record doesn’t leave anything out.”

Elbow release Record Store Day film to accompany All Disco: Elbow have released a short documentary-style film to accompany their track All Disco. The song originally appeared on Guy Garvey and co’s latest album Little Fictions, which came out in February via Polydor/Concord. The video was filmed during this year’s Record Store Day and features interviews with people about what music means to them as well as asking people for their favourite song and guilty pleasures. The short film is said to be about “the importance of music but also a reminder of the joy and community that music brings to our lives.”

Vinyl finds a home, Telluride Music’s new owners add LPs, will host live events: Telluride Music Company (333 West Colorado Ave.) recently made room on its shelves for the again-beloved LP. Tom Nading, the store’s new co-owner, insisted it was not a financial decision, but a personal one. “I wish I could tell you that we are really business savvy but the main reason we are doing it is because I collect vinyl and don’t have anywhere to buy it,” he said. Most of Nading’s friends have a record player, he said, and he wanted to provide a location for them to “dig.” “A big part of vinyl is the dig and going to shops and looking through,” he said. “We want to provide a place for people to do that in town.

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Local record store aims to improve area with new apartments: Finding affordable apartments in Rockford can be hard when you’re on a budget, but a local record store is trying to change that. “Either you get $1,000-plus for a one-bedroom apartment or you get a hole in the wall for what I’m asking,” said Toad Hall owner Nick Naruz. That’s why Naruz has spent the last few months renovating this nearly 100-year-old apartment building on Broadway. New appliances, hard wood floors and in-unit laundry are just a few of the amenities he’s providing.

The world’s best record shops #071: Wah Wah Records, Barcelona: A small outlet in a small street of the Raval neighbourhood in Barcelona, Spain, Wah Wah something of a paradise for collectors and aficionados – if your idea of paradise doesn’t include much floor space. Opened in 1992, Wah Wah boasts a huge selection of vinyl records, originals and reissues from all ages and scenes – blues, jazz, soul, funk, R&B, garage, psych, prog, rockabilly, punk, indie, soundtracks… That said, it’s under the broad arch of psychedelic music that Wah Wah records excels, with whole sections dedicated to region specific musics – from Scandinavian prog to obscure Bollywood – and enough diggable records to give both your bank balance and your inner ear the heebies.

‘Popular Mechanics’ spotlights Jack White’s Detroit vinyl plant in ‘Made in USA’ issue: Kevin Dupzyk, senior associate editor of the magazine, met with White at the 441 W. Canfield St. store for the official opening of the plant in February. Dupzyk writes of escapades with the ambitious former White Stripes frontman and lightning literally striking diehards camped outside the plant waiting for it to open. “If you could zoom in on the Detroit of 40 years ago, it would have said ‘Autos.’ Now, who knows? Later tonight, Jack White will plant a flag in this corner of his hometown, and the flag will read ‘Vinyl,’” he writes in the 2,500-word feature with photo spread.

More music a near-impossible mission: Ross Woodward remembers the first record he bought as an 11-year-old in 1974 – Abba’s first UK hit single Waterloo. He bought the band’s second UK hit, too – Mamma Mia, which topped the charts in early 1976. Another early buy was Slade Alive just to show the pre-teen was also into raucous sounds. For the British boy these early purchases were the start of a magnificent obsession with popular music that has lead to a massive collection of vinyl records, then CDs and now back to vinyl again – and a show on the peninsula’s radio station RPP-FM on Friday evenings at 6 o’clock…Woodward said he wanted to “share my love of amazing tunes with others and inspire people to make their record collections even bigger.”

Industry Insider: Jacob Moesgaard of AM explains the revival of vinyl: Vinyl is at an all-time high right now and it’s pretty incredible to watch the revival happen in tandem with the digital age. The recent boom represents a myriad of different things- music sales, contrary to popular belief, did not quite die, art itself is still seems very much alive, and people are still interested in carrying physical copies of albums. With that in mind, we knew we had a lot to discuss with the team at AM, a unique company that focuses on accessories to take care of records. They are the original vinyl cleaning company after all, so they know a thing or two about the record industry. We sat down with their CEO, Jacob Moesgaard, to talk about the future of music, vinyl’s past, and more.

Toronto Public Library adds 100 new vinyl records to their collection: The Toronto Public Library is a much-loved service provided to Toronto, with hundreds of books, ebooks, comic books, DVDs, CDs, and online films available to borrow for free, not to mention free services like computer and printer access, Wi-Fi hotspots, vinyl record players, and listening stations. Now, the TPL has undergone the task of updating their vinyl collection at the Toronto Reference Library. The TPL recently posted to Reddit that 100 new titles have been ordered and are officially starting to be added to the shelves.

Bovey man opens “World’s Smallest Record Store”: Tim Edwards could fill an encyclopedia with all his music knowledge. “You need a little jazz? Dizzy Gillespie,” Edwards said as he flipped through his collection. It would be hard to argue with Edwards’ music expertise: He says he owns 40,000 records. “My wife says I’m hoarding them, but I like to think I’m an archivist,” he said. The archivist opened KEBS Records off Bovey’s main street in April. It’s just ten feet by eight. “We get over about four [customers] and then it’s like we move outside and watch ’em shop,” Edwards said. Edwards says he thinks his record store is the smallest in the world. While it hasn’t been certified, Edwards says he’s done enough searching to be convinced.

Vinyl revolution comes to Bolton as Premier Music Fairs visits Bolton’s Market Place Shopping Centre: Vinyl lovers will be getting into the groove this weekend when a popular record fair spins into town. Dealers laden with thousands of LPs, 45s, EPs and rare CDs will set up stall in Market Place Shopping Centre from 9am tomorrow. Hundreds of fans are expected to flock to the event, which is run by Glossop-based Premier Music Fairs. Veteran record sellers and newcomers will trade, swap and buy records, while there will also be a free expert valuation service.

The Smiths reissue two single versions of ‘The Queen Is Dead’ on vinyl: The Smiths have released two vinyl reissues of seminal track The Queen Is Dead to mark the 31st anniversary of the album of the same name. The single is available as a picture disk in both 7 inch and 12inch format, with each offering a different tracklist. If you’re lucky enough to get your hands on the 12 inch, you’ll also hear the 2017 masters of Smiths tracks including Oscillate Wildly, Money Changes Everything and The Draize Train.

For the record: the vinyl revival and a plug-in too far: Vinyl is back, or so it might seem. For better or worse? I’m not so sure myself. Like a lot of vinyl enthusiasts, I too enjoy the ritual, the feel, the physicality of a real product in my hands. But as soon as I get to the listening part, the sound engineer in me can’t help but feel it’s all a bit of snake oil. Following yet another successful record store day in an ever growing market, a closer look at the top 10 highest selling vinyl albums of 2017 reveals that seven out of the 10 are either re-releases from legacy artists or old soundtracks. There’s plenty that has been said about the reality of this revival on independent artists and labels but what impact has it had on the recording itself?

“90% of Jamaica’s vinyl collection is in Japan” – Iconic sound system owner speaks out: Following a three week trip to Japan and responding to claims that the country has acquired much of Jamaica’s musical heritage, Wee Pow told The Sunday Gleaner: “People have a good reason for saying that because the Japanese have been smart. They have visited Jamaica and they bought maybe 90 per cent of our vinyl collection and that vault is now in Japan. I talking classic vinyl that your grand parents used to collect. The Japanese came here and they knocked door to door and bought out the vinyl records…so most of our catalogue is in Japan.”

It’s not all about digital music: An old vinyl record factory gets new life: Bob Marley pressed some of his records there. So did 2 Live Crew, Mary J. Blige, Lee “Scratch” Perry and 50 Cent. Now the former Final Vinyl record factory, founded in Opa-locka in the 1970s by Jamaican reggae producer Joe Gibbs as his base of U.S. operations, is reopening for business under a new name. SunPress Vinyl, a vinyl record pressing plant at 14097 NW 19th Ave., boasts six pressing machines, including one capable of producing multi-colored and picture discs. The facility will also offer complete packaging services such as labels, single or gatefold jackets and inner sleeves.

Soulsville Record Swap: Goner Records and the Stax Museum present the Second Annual Soulsville Record Swap on Saturday June 17 at the Stax Museum of American Soul Music, ground zero for so much great music from Memphis. This historic location guarantees that this will not be an ordinary record show, and with dealers Memphis, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, New York, and Minnesota, there will be an incredible variety of music for sale. Get here early for the best selection! DJs will play sets all day long, and we’ll have food trucks from Arepa 901, Sandwiches & More, and MemPops on hand. Come out and be a part of it!

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