Monthly Archives: September 2018

Bexhill, UK | Popular Bexhill record shop closes down: Music’s Not Dead, in Devonshire Road, became a central hub for up-and-coming musicians and brought numerous gigs to the town. The shop held a wake event on Sunday (September 16) where scores of musicians came to play live music and show their support. Del Querns, owner, said: “We opened seven years ago with the idea of providing a record shop for the town and putting on live music in the shop and venues around Bexhill. “We ended up putting on more than 70 gigs with acts from all over the world. “We’ve had to close for several reasons. Footfall, like in every high street, is down and the abuse by big companies of the tax system make running an independent shop very hard when the margins are so tight.” Stewart Drew, director and chief executive officer (CEO) of the De La Warr Pavilion, said: “Music’s Not Dead has become known as a significant destination for music over the last decade and has been punching well above its weight for some time now.

Fired Before Her Show Devoted to Police Shootings of African Americans, CSU Long Beach Museum Director Vows to Fight Her ‘Shocking’ Dismissal. Was Kimberli Meyer’s firing connected to lauren woods’s anti-racist artwork? …A monument to African Americans killed by police officers, the work consists of 25 record players on pedestals arranged in a grid, each poised to play audio drawn from police records, court proceedings, and footage captured by bystanders—or sometimes nothing at all, if there were no recordings available. The 25 men and women memorialized include Sandra Bland, Mike Brown, Philando Castile, Trayvon Martin, and Eric Garner, but woods envisions “American Monument” as an ongoing project that would grow with future iterations. The university, however, appears to have had concerns about the nature of the work.

Myanmar | U Maung Maung’s blast from the past: To some people, these maybe nothing more than trash, some useless pieces of equipment from a forgotten past, but to others these are rare gems that brought back some bittersweet memories from not so long ago, when strife of all kinds – from World War I, World War II, up to the cold war era — dominated the world. Yangon is about to get a rare treat reminiscing those foregone era of the angst-ridden, rock n’ rollin flower children generation and their famous slogan “Make Love Not War”, with a showcase of different kinds of turntables and vinyl records players, which defined the music scene for the good part of the 20th century. From September 20 to 22, researcher U Maung Maung will be showcasing his lifetime collection: turntables, record changers and discs, vinyl music records, sharing with today’s millenials and digital children about those turbulent times and computers and today’s digital gadgets were just figments of imagination.

Rage Against The Machine are reissuing their entire back catalogue on vinyl: …The pioneering four-piece – who are currently inactive having last played together in 2011 – have taken the bold step of ordering the reissues, which span from their 1992 self-titled debut to their 2003 live album ‘Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium’…Back in July, Morello reflected on Rage’s 2000 split in an interview – while also offering an explanation for why the band decided not to record a new album upon reuniting in 2007. “I’ll put myself first and foremost. It was a lack of emotional maturity in being able to deal with each other as people,” Morello said about the 2000 split. “We had political vision and the shows never suffered, but we just couldn’t agree on stuff and that unearthed feelings that made it hard to make records.”

Phish Announces ‘Billy Breathes’ Vinyl Release: Following a limited-edition, 7,500-copy Record Store Day release, Phish will release their 1996 album, Billy Breathes, on vinyl on Friday, October 26th. The 2-LP vinyl set of the band’s sixth studio full-length album is pressed on 2-180g audiophile LPs. Billy Breathes was recorded and mixed in 1996 at Bearsville Studios by John Siket and Steve Lillywhite, and was produced by Phish and Lillywhite. Billy Breathes was originally mastered by Bob Ludwig and released by Elektra on CD and cassette on October 15, 1996. In the fall of 2017, Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering cut the lacquers from the digital audio tape flat master for the vinyl edition. Billy Breathes features 13 tracks, including Phish’s highest-charting single, “Free” (the tune peaked at #11 of the Billboard Mainstream Rock Chart and was certified Gold in 1999).

Gallatin, TN | Work underway in fight to save Randy’s Record Shop: Many claimed a major piece of music history was just too damaged to be saved. Now, a group has work underway in the fight for Randy’s Record Shop in Gallatin. Nikki Nobles can’t help but smile listening to a very old radio broadcast of her dad, legendary WLAC DJ Gene Nobles. “He started in 1943 and retired in 1972,” said Nobles, thinking back to her father’s time as one of the original DJs who introduced rhythm and blues music to WLAC. “The rhythm and blues, you could feel it in your soul,” she said. “It had a message.” “Here he and Randy are at a banquet,” Nobles continued, lifting another picture out of a stack…”It’s a historical place for Gallatin,” said Nobles.

Vancouver, B.C. | Vinyl Exchange: Downtown record store changes hands after 25 years in business: Adam Harrison bought his first record from the Vinyl Exchange — Pink Floyd’s The Wall — more than seven years ago. He fell instantly in love with the charmingly no-frills store, but never imagined he would own it one day. That changed late last year when Harrison, who wound up working at the Second Avenue shop while finishing his degree at the University of Saskatchewan’s Edwards School of Business, realized longtime owner Mike Spindloe wanted to sell. “Records aren’t getting any lighter and my back’s not getting any stronger, and as most people probably know I’ve lived in Vancouver for many years — I have family out there — and the commute was just getting to be a little much,” Spindloe said.

Quezon City, PH | This vinyl collector is San Agustin Street’s proprietor of cool: Amidst bottles of booze and the smell of truffle oil, Tonyboy de Leon tells us about how he got hooked on vinyl and fell deep for the subtleties of sound. It’s raining outside, and the notorious Makati traffic has piled up even in this Salcedo backstreet—but no outside sounds are heard here, in 78-45-33, Tonyboy de Leon’s bar-cum-bachelor pad. Instead, Aretha Franklin is serenading us from the vintage JBL Hartsfield speakers, likely produced in 1964, which de Leon purchased from audio equipment collectors. The only light source in this Japanese jazz kissaten-inspired joint comes from the shelf where his 2000+ record collection sits just above the bottles. He’s irreverent and gregarious, the inflections of his voice upbeat. This entrepreneur isn’t trying to sell me something, but is more of a next-door neighbor excited to have you over for drinks and check out his music collection.

Greenville, SC | Greenville Record Fair focuses on love of music, renewed popularity of vinyl: Last June, Rolling Stone magazine published a story pronouncing both compact discs and downloads dead, espousing both streaming and the vinyl LP as the current — and future — musical-delivery methods of choice. No less an authority than Jack White, former White Stripes singer-songwriter-guitarist and founder of the thriving independent label Third Man Records, said, “I definitely believe the next decade is going to be streaming plus vinyl — streaming in the car and kitchen, vinyl in the living room and the den. Those will be the two formats. And I feel really good about that.” This news didn’t come as a surprise to Gene Berger, owner of the downtown independent record store Horizon Records. The store has been open for 43 years, and while Berger still sells CDs, vinyl LPs have been the backbone of his business for most of the past decade.

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Singapore, MY | White Label: Record store by day, bar by dusk: Founders of social commerce #vinyloftheday have launched their first brick-and-mortar record store, White Label at Ann Siang Hill. In 2013, Darren Tan and Kurt Loy founded the music and lifestyle platform #vinyloftheday for vinyl records collectors and music enthusiasts. Following their social media success, they have launched White Label, an integrated record store and bar, in the hip heritage neighbourhood of Ann Siang Hill. The storefront is adorned with a neon signboard that reads, “You Make My Heart Spin”, with a playful pun on the soulful pleasures of listening to a vinyl. The store boasts an extensive selection of records from various eras, as well as a rotating selection of offerings from local and regional record stores.

Toronto, CA | Elton John stops by Toronto record store, adds to his vinyl collection: Elton John surprised employees at Toronto record shop Sonic Boom on Tuesday when he strolled into the store and bought a number of vinyl albums. Manager Christopher Dufton says he instantly recognized the legendary performer, who was dressed in black Adidas gear and black-rimmed shades. “I didn’t have to ask,” he said of spotting John’s famous face. “You would know, too.” On Instagram, the store wrote that John might be “the only knight we’ll ever have in Sonic Boom history.” John is in the midst of his Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, which rolls into Toronto next week. His husband, David Furnish, is also from the city. The musician has fostered a reputation for collecting vinyl in recent years.

Chicago, IL | Oak Park board: No way on Val’s Way, Honorary street rejected by Oak Park Board of Trustees. The Oak Park Board of Trustees rejected a proposal to designate an honorary street sign for the late Val Camilletti, the beloved local record purveyor, who died in July. The honorary street would have run in front of Camilletti’s record store, Val’s halla Records, 239 Harrison St. Trustee Jim Taglia was the sole yes vote on the proposal and Trustee Deno Andrews recused himself from the vote, stating that it was a conflict of interest because he is serving as executor of Camilletti’s estate. Andrews is the trustee who proposed the honorary street for Camilletti. Trustees said they opposed the measure because of the slippery slope of honorary streets becoming more common.

Brighton, UK | Brighton is one of the best places to buy and sell records: Nine years ago, author Graham Jones documented the decline of record shops in his best-selling book Last Shop Standing. However, since then vinyl records have made a spectacular comeback and Graham has published a new book, The Vinyl Revival and the Shops That Made It Happen, which comes out on Friday. The book is a guide to independent record shops that sell vinyl. It also entails personal stories of shop owners who have helped make the vinyl revolution happen. Graham, a regular visitor to Brighton, said he highly recommends the city for vinyl lovers. He said: “I’ve spent 32 years travelling around the UK visiting record shops. Over the years, I must have visited about 2,000 different shops. “Independent shops are responsible for the vinyl revival.”

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