Monthly Archives: February 2022

In rotation: 2/24/22

Oak Park, IL | ‘Cue the Record’ at FitzGerald’s: All-vinyl barbecue dinner party to kick off Val’s 50th anniversary. Two local music legands are teaming up. Val’s halla Records is kicking off its 50th anniversary year with an event at FitzGerald’s 6615 Roosevelt Road in Berwyn. On Tuesday, March 22 from 6 to 9 p.m. “Cue the Record” ticket holders will enjoy a blend of barbecue and vinyl with an all-you-can-eat buffet and curated tunes from 1972 — the year Val’s halla Records was opened by the inestimable Val Camiletti. “There is so much good music from 1972, I was like, ‘how can this event only be three hours?’” laughed Will Duncan, owner of FitzGerald’s. “I think Val’s milestone and this event will definitely resonate with the community.” Duncan and Trevor Toppen, owner of Val’s halla Records, 239 Harrison St., have a shared vision about the importance of maintaining their inherited legacies while bringing new energy and a fresh perspective to sustain their respective businesses for future generations. The duo connected shortly after Duncan purchased FitzGerald’s in March 2020 and soon after invited Toppen to create a “mini Val’s” inside the nightclub.

Best Bluetooth Turntables 2022: Top Wireless Record Players for Vinyl: Let’s get one thing out of the way: the latest Bluetooth turntables might not be for everyone. Though Bluetooth record players can help cut down on the amount of cords needed to play your vinyl collection, many audiophiles might recommend going with a more traditional turntable setup for the ultimate high-fidelity sound experience. But for someone who wants a convenient and easy way to spin their records right away, there are a ton of affordable, great-sounding Bluetooth turntables worth considering. Better yet, they make it simple to hear your vinyl records anywhere around your home. Popular audio brands, from Audio-Technica to Sony, have released Bluetooth turntables for connecting your player to a separate speaker or device. And while they come with convenient Bluetooth connectivity, they still often give you the option to curate your vinyl system with speakers and other gear. Here’s your full guide.

Top 10 Most Expensive Vinyl Records Ever Sold: Let’s face it; record collecting isn’t exactly the cheapest hobby, and we’ve all spent more than we’d like to admit on a single record. The good news is, unless you’re a multi-millionaire, there’s a good chance even the most expensive vinyl records in your collection will pale into insignificance compared with the eye-watering exchanges on this list. After checking out these absurdly priced records, you might not feel so bad in justifying that $100 record you’ve had your eye on for years now.

Minneapolis, MN | Record Store Day 2022 list includes a couple Minnesota surprises (plus Prince and Replacements): An unreleased album by Bob Stinson’s last band will arrive for the April 23 store drop, as will a vinyl version of Golden Smog’s debut EP. As is almost always the case, both Prince and the Replacements will have limited-edition LPs hit the shelves on Record Store Day 2022, the master list for which arrived Wednesday. However, two other names on the list from Minnesota come as a bigger surprise for the April 23 bonanza at independent record stores: a long-lost LP by Bob Stinson’s last band the Bleeding Hearts, and a first-ever vinyl edition of supergroup Golden Smog’s debut EP. “Been a long time coming!” Stinson’s Bleeding Hearts bandmate Mike Leonard said Wednesday, stealing the name of an album by his other band, the Magnolias: “The title ‘Better Late Than Never’ would have fit here.’ Actually titled “Riches to Rags,” the 13-track Bleeding Hearts album was recorded in 1993, seven years after Stinson was fired from the Replacements. He died 10 months later, so these are his last recordings.

Daft Punk Treat ‘Homework’ to 25th Anniversary Edition, Stream Rare Helmetless Concert: Both their debut album and ‘Alive 1997’ come back to vinyl in April. A year to the day since announcing their break up, Daft Punk are back in action to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their groundbreaking 1997 album Homework with a new digital release, vinyl reissues and a one-time livestream of a rare performance without their signature helmets. Earlier this afternoon, social media profiles for the French duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo shared photos of the Daft Punk logo that adorned Homework’s cover, in addition to a flyer from their supporting “Daftendirektour” and an illuminated marquee advertising their appearance at the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles. Hours later, those three teasers now culminate in a deluxe digital reissue of Homework, along with a one-time-only livestream of that Mayan Theatre concert you can tune into here via Twitch. Homework’s 25th anniversary edition brings together the original album and a slew of remixes from Masters At Work, DJ Sneak, Todd Terry, Motorbass, Slam, Ian Pooley, I:Cube, Roger Sanchez & Junior Sanchez…

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New Release Section: Regina Spektor, “Becoming All Alone”

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Critically acclaimed artist Regina Spektor’s eighth studio album Home, before and after is set for release June 24 on Warner Records. Pre-order HERE. In anticipation of the upcoming record, Spektor is unveiling the album’s first single “Becoming All Alone.”

Spektor is playing a special homecoming show at New York City’s iconic Carnegie Hall on April 11. Artist presale begins February 23, with Live Nation presale starting on Thursday, February 24. General on-sale is this Friday, February 25. More info/tickets HERE. She is also set to play shows in Salt Lake City, Aspen and Denver this July.

Home, before and after is Regina Spektor’s eighth studio album and most quintessentially “New York” in years. Recorded in upstate New York, produced by John Congleton and co-produced by Spektor, the album is Spektor at her most inspired, heralded by “Becoming All Alone,” a surrealist ballad that swells with arrangements and comes alive in your head.

During the summer of 2019, Spektor completed a successful five-night Broadway residency at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, marking her debut on the Great White Way. The Daily Beast called the run “both whimsical and thunderous,” with Gothamist saying Spektor “delights on Broadway with a fun, zany show.” Spektor’s most recent album, 2016’s Remember Us To Life, has been the subject of extensive critical praise from the likes of NPR, Entertainment Weekly, New York Magazine, People and many more.

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TVD Radar: Bobby Cole, A Point of View 2LP in stores Fall 2022

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Frank Sinatra walks into a bar…

Well, Frank called it a “bistro,” and Jilly’s on 52nd Street even had matchbooks that when opened read, “My favorite bistro — Frank Sinatra.” Jilly’s also featured Frank’s “favorite saloon singer,” Bobby Cole, who held court there for many years. His other gigs around New York landed him a recording contract with Columbia, but the 1960 release from the Bobby Cole Trio, while well reviewed, failed to gain traction. It featured no original material from Cole, and was essentially a recorded version of his Jilly’s act — one hard to capture on LP.

Judy Garland walks into a bar . . .

In 1964, and after hearing Cole’s performance of one of her favorites, Cy Coleman’s “You Fascinate Me So,” Garland invited the New York jazz singer to become the new musical arranger for CBS’s The Judy Garland Show in Los Angeles. When that show ended, Cole returned to New York and Jilly’s.

Jack Lonshein, whose day job was creating album covers for artists including Sarah Vaughan, Maynard Ferguson, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young (and eventually Big Brother & the Holding Company and The Amboy Dukes!), was a friend of Cole’s. He knew Bobby’s magic, and original songs, were what the jazz world needed.

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Graded on a Curve: Sweet, Hits

Remembering Steve Priest, born on this day in 1948.Ed.

I have had the dubious good fortune of finding myself on board an airplane with the Sweet–twice. And in coach class no less!

On both occasions I was red-eyeing it to Berlin while they were on their way–or so the gone-to-seed rocker shoehorned uncomfortably into the narrow seat next to mine informed me–to play some god-forsaken Glam Festival in the hinterlands of Scandinavia. And he wasn’t an outlier; the whole lot of them were fat, bleary-eyed and looked seriously hungover, and carried with them a demoralizing air of utter defeat. Flying the red-eye econo class to play a nostalgia fest with a bunch of other ready-for-the-knackers-yard has beens (The Glitter Band anybody?) will do that to a person.

‘Tis better to burn out, indeed; these guys struck me as mushrooms sprouting in the fetid soil atop the corpse of the rock’n’roll dream. I found myself wondering if it wouldn’t be better for them if the plane went down, then realized it was too late; their sell-by date had come and gone years before, and even the posthumous glory that accrues to the victims of tragedy would be denied them. Honestly? I wanted to hug them the way you would a kicked dog.

I had to remind myself–and I’m sure it hurt them to remember–that once upon a time the Sweet was a very big deal indeed. The toppermost of the bands on the bubblegum end of the English Glam spectrum during the seventies, Sweet (thanks in very large part to the outrageously fecund songwriting combine that was Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman) first gained prominence with a small handful of chewy chewy pre-teen crowd pleasers along the lines of “Little Willy,” “Wig-Wam Bam,” and “Co-Co,” before aiming for pop immortality with such zany (and very hard rocking) crowd pleasers as “Blockbuster,” “Ballroom Blitz,” and “Fox on the Run.”

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New Release Section: Midnight Oil, “We Resist”

VIA PRESS RELEASE | Nearly 20 years after their last full length studio release, Australia’s iconic rock band Midnight Oil today release the brand-new album, aptly titled RESIST.

In signature style these dozen tracks tackle a slew of urgent issues. From opener, ‘Rising Seas’ through ‘Last Frontier’ which closes the set, recurring themes include climate crisis, environmental degradation and the role of citizens alive to the immense challenges of our times. Moods stretch from the wilderness reverie of ‘Tarkine’ and the poignant ‘Lost At Sea’ to the anthemic protest celebration ‘We Resist’ while the album’s musical span is equally broad, encompassing slashing guitars in new single ‘At The Time Of Writing’ and brooding synthetic textures in ‘We Are Not Afraid’. There’s even a three-part epic called ‘The Barka-Darling River’ that keeps delivering surprising twists as it snakes along.

In line with the album coming out today, the band have also shared the official video for ‘We Resist.’ This short film combines submissions of protest actions by Midnight Oil fans from around the globe as well as archival footage from a handful of the many such events staged by the band over the years. The band also confirmed today that next Friday, February 25th, they will announce a handful of June shows in North America as part of Midnight Oil’s final tour.

RESIST is Midnight Oil’s 15th studio release since they first exploded out of the post-punk scene back in 1978, blazing a singular trail of blistering gigs from Australia’s pubs and clubs to arenas and festivals around the world. It is a fitting, forward looking, statement for a band whose clarion call has always been “it’s better to die on your feet than live on your knees.” Featuring stellar production by Warne Livesey, RESIST will be accompanied by some special live performances that will comprise the group’s final concert tour.

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Graded on a Curve:
The Ano Nobo Quartet, The Strings of São Domingos

A contemporary group from the small African country of Cape Verde, The Ano Nobo Quartet is a guitar and vocals-focused delight. Equally beautiful and intense, the group’s playing could spark a night of dancing with nary a drum or percussion instrument in sight, while resonating with emotion that transcends language. The Strings of São Domingos is their new album, released by Ostinato Records digitally on February 25 and two weeks later on 140-gram 45 RPM double vinyl in a matte laminated gatefold sleeve and 12-page booklet, and on compact disc packaged in a bookcase, also matte laminated, and a 24-page book. For global music fans, it is an essential acquisition.

Ostinato’s focus on the sounds of Cape Verde has been impressive. First to emerge was the compilation Synthesize the Soul: Astro​-​Atlantic Hypnotica From the Cape Verde Islands, released in 2017, then there was Grupo Pilon: Leite Quente Funaná de Cabo Verde in 2019, and after that, Pour Me A Grog: The Funaná Revolt in 1990s Cabo Verde.

The Ano Nobo Quartet consists of Pascoal (the leader), Fany, Nono, and Afrikanu, their name paying tribute to the legendary Cape Verdean composer Ano Nobo, who was mentor to Pascoal and the father of the rest of the group. These connections only deepen the set’s historical warmth, as The Strings of São Domingos offers a fresh example of Koladera, a music with strong Cape Verdean roots even as the Ano Nobo Quartet infuse it with a wide variety of styles.

These influences include, per Ostinato’s typically informative notes for the release, Salsa Cubano, Spanish Flamenco, Brazilian Samba Canção, Jamaican Reggae, Argentine Tango, Mozambican Marrabenta, and even Black American Blues. This might read like a chaotic hodgepodge, but it’s much nearer to a finely crafted Mulligan Stew, with some of the ingredients subtly integrated with the skill of a veteran chef.

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In rotation: 2/23/22

Janesville, WI | The Exclusive Company, Janesville’s last record store, to close after liquidation sale: Monday might not go down as the day the music finally sputtered out and died in Janesville, but the city’s one remaining record store soon will be gone. The Exclusive Company, a long-running, Wisconsin-based independent record store chain, announced Monday it will permanently close its store at 1259 Milton Ave. The shop is one of six the company has run in Wisconsin since owners launched the first Exclusive Company record store in West bend in 1956. On Monday, the Janesville store was closed while a liquidation company and store employees readied for a blowout sale to clear out the thousands of vinyl albums, CDs, movies and assorted items still in stock. On the outside of the white, cinder block storefront, liquidators had tattooed the shop with blazing yellow signs that advertise the store’s last stand in stark black letters. It’s a massive sale that, according to one of the placards, will “liquidate to the bare walls.

Wichita, KS | Record store showcases strong music selections for music lovers: I received a record player from my close friend a couple of years ago. The record player belonged to his late grandfather. With the record player came an abundance of vinyl records from different time periods and genres – including an original record from Def Leppard’s Pyromania album from 1983. Soon after receiving my first record player, my friend suggested I go to Spektrum Muzik, located at 905 W. Douglass in the Delano District of downtown Wichita. At Spektrum, there are tons of records in several different genres, including, country, bluegrass, pop, hip-hop, rock and roll, metal, psychedelic rock, gospel, musical and movie soundtracks, etc. Records can either be purchased new or used. Spektrum has a large selection of used records which account for records from the original era it was recorded in. The store also sells mini vinyl records, used CDs, cassette tapes, band T-shirts, record players and other memorabilia. One of the neatest aspects of Spektrum is that they collect vinyls, cassettes and CDs that are sold through a buy, sell and trade process.

Ashelle, NC | Amid vinyl record resurgence, we visited NC’s only vinyl pressing facility: In 2011 vinyl accounted for just 2% of physical music sales, but finished 2021 with 50.4% of all physical sales, according to MRC data. Gar Ragland has always been a music fan, dating back to his childhood in Winston-Salem. “I fondly remember growing up in Winston, saving up my lawn mowing money by doing it myself with tools like those now available at lawngonewild.com and going to the Record Bar or any one of the local record stores with my father on a Saturday afternoon,” Ragland said. Fast forward a few decades and his love of vinyl still holds strong and is growing even deeper, despite vinyl records almost being lost to newer technology as recently as a decade ago. “For the last 12 years, vinyl has experienced this exponential hockey stick-like growth in popularity, and the pandemic has only catalyzed further growth,” Ragland said, who now lives in Asheville and works as a music producer. Ragland runs his own record label and is also the founder and CEO of Citizen Vinyl, North Carolina’s only active vinyl manufacturing facility.

US | The Best Second-hand Record Stores in Each City, If Spotify Just Doesn’t Cut It: While many of us listen to music on Spotify and other music streaming apps, a handful of audiophiles still love listening to records because of how well they preserve the sound of the original recording. And while second-hand record stores are few and far between these days, there are still many of them left – and there may even be one in your neighborhood. That’s why we’ve compiled the best second-hand record stores in a few major U.S. cities.

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TVD Live Shots: Slash featuring Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators at YouTube Theater, 2/18

For all those who believe rock n’ roll is on life support, think again. Slash along with Myles Kennedy and The Conspirators crushed a 2-hour guitar-laden set that left fans screaming for more when the dust settled in Inglewood on Friday night. It was a truly epic show that pushed the boundaries of previous tours with a 21-song setlist that dug deep into the vault and then some. If you weren’t at YouTube on Friday night, you probably missed out on what many considered to be one of SMKC’s finest live performances in recent history.

Kicking off the festivities was an LA-based band known as Dead Sara, and they let it all hang out for the 30+ minutes they had on stage. Emily Armstrong’s vocals reminded me Courtney Love or Shirley Manson, and the band’s overall sound was a throwback to classic ’80s punk of yesteryear—very cool to say the least. My favorite tracks of their 7-song set were “Lights Out!” and “Gimme Gimme.” My only wish for this performance would have been to have better lighting to showcase their killer stage antics. Outside of that, it was a fun performance and I look forward to digging into their catalog further down the road.

Now on to SMKC. It’s been a while since I have seen these guys (or any of their other associated bands) live on stage. After prolonged Covid downtime, I was wondering if we were going to get the “early tour” show (where everyone works out the kinks) or a kick-ass rock and roll show (where the band leaves no doubt they are the “real deal”). No surprise here—Slash, Myles Kennedy, Todd Kerns, Brent Fitz, and Frank Sidoris literally torched the YouTube Theater with a killer performance that left permanent smiles on the thousands of fans in attendance on Friday evening.

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TVD Radar: Iron Maiden, The Number Of The
Beast
40th anniversary cassette in stores 3/25

VIA PRESS RELEASE | BMG will mark the 40th anniversary of Iron Maiden’s third album, The Number Of The Beast, with a commemorative cassette release that will be available in the US as an independent record store exclusive on March 25, 2022. More info on stores and availability here.

This seminal recording, first released in the UK on 22nd March 1982—and the first to feature Bruce Dickinson as vocalist—catapulted Iron Maiden to international stardom and set them on course for the spectacular trajectory of success which the band continues to enjoy and develop.

The cassette is comprised of the 2015 remastered recordings of the original eight songs on the album as listed below, with front cover color art based on the 1982 C-60 cassette release plus a re-designed and updated inlay.

Ultimately, it’s a tribute to a watershed album that sold in its millions in record stores all around the world; a celebration of those bygone times and a fitting souvenir for the fans who have loyally followed the band ever since.

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Graded on a Curve:
Nina Simone,
Wild Is the Wind

Remembering Nina Simone, born on 2/21 in 1933.Ed.

Nina Simone was truly one of a kind. A proud black woman unafraid to sing out about racial inequality—she would later say she wrote her defiant 1964 song “Mississippi Goddamn,” about the ugly events then occurring throughout the South, “in a rush of fury, hatred and determination”—Simone (who was later diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder) was notoriously irascible, tempestuous, and unpredictable.

Just how unpredictable? Well, she liked her guns, and once attempted to shoot a record executive whom she accused of stealing royalties. She also pulled a gun on a store clerk who refused to allow her to return a pair of shoes. (Suggestion to shoe clerks—give the woman her damn shoes!)

And in 1995 she actually succeeded in shooting a neighbor’s child with an air gun, unhappy because she found his laughter distracting. On the political front she went from preaching nonviolence to subscribing to the notion of violent revolution, and ultimately left the United States in protest against the Vietnam War to live out the remainder of her life in Barbados, Liberia, and various European countries, most notably France.

But all of that—with the exception of her fiery political beliefs and adamant commitment to civil rights, of course—is ultimately irrelevant, because in the end Simone will be judged a singer and songwriter of prodigious talent. From her beginnings as a lounge singer in Atlantic City in the mid-fifties Eunice Kathleen Waymon—who took the stage name Nina Simone because she didn’t want her family to know she was playing the Devil’s Music—developed a style of jazz singing all her own, and while her recorded output slowed after 1970 or so she continued to produce albums until 1993. (She died in 2003 in southern France.)

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UK Artist of the Week: iamkyami

British newcomer iamkyami charms with the release of her infectious, bubbly new single “Internet Friends,” out now. The track is getting us nicely excited for the warmer months and we think you’ll feel the same.

Combining bedroom-pop, R&B, and fun-loving electronica, iamkyami’s “Internet Friends” is an infectious and adorable delight from start to finish. Recently supporting the likes of Yazmin Lacey, Georgia, Pizzagirl, Zuzu, and Roy Ayers, iamkyami’s music is raw, honest, and executed with ninja-like emotional literacy, pulling influences from her Japanese and Black American heritage.

Talking about the single, iamkyami, born Kyla Ami Mitsui Russell, explains, “Waking up everyday, seeing the cloudy, grey skies in Manchester and wondering if things will ever return to ‘normal’ was and is still weighing heavily on my mind. I’ve never been very good at maintaining friendships because of my busy schedule but I try to keep up with friends online. Especially with how things are now, that’s all we can do most of the time.

“Internet Friends” is about trying to make more meaningful relationships with people while trying to break down the barriers that the internet creates. There’s people I speak to a lot online, but the relationships seem like they can be very surface level. They probably don’t know my birthday or my favourite food or simple things like that. Because of this feeling, I tend to feel like I’m living life and doing things by myself like in the video. The song is also about getting older I suppose. Friends aren’t as free as they used to be and that takes getting used to.”

“Internet Friends” is in stores now.

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Graded on a Curve:
Half String,
A Fascination With Heights

Formed in Tempe, Arizona in 1991, Half String were extant for roughly six years, honing a sound considerably more shoegaze than sunbaked during that stretch, and with a healthy quotient of post-punk in the equation. Of EPs, they had a few, but managed only one full-length, A Fascination With Heights, which came out on CD in 1996 via Independent Project Records. Now, the very same label has given that set an expanded reissue of magnificent design on black or clear double vinyl plus bonus 7-inch, with both editions limited, and on numbered CD with a second disc holding the songs from the 45. Expansive and occasionally psychedelic, the unifying elements are solid songs and inspired execution.

It was when guitarist-vocalist Brandon Capps and bassist Tim Patterson convinced Kimber Lanning to join them on drums that Half String was born, with Matt Kruse stepping in on second guitar a couple years later. Those wishing to hear their early work (a pair of 7-inchs, a CD EP and additional songs) are in luck, as Captured Tracks collected it all on double vinyl in 2012 with further unreleased material as Maps for Sleep 1991-1994 (as part of the label’s reissue series The Shoegaze Archives).

In 1994 Patterson exited the band as Dave Rogers stepped in; he’s heard on Maps for Sleep’s last two cuts, “Eyesick” and “Featherweight,” and in full on A Fascination With Heights, which is, unsurprisingly, the band’s most fully realized effort, and even more so now that the reissue adds a solid half hour of bonus material (that’s eight additional cuts, excluding the 7-inch, on the 2LP set, and seven extras on the 2CD).

Half String’s influences aren’t hard to detect, at least in regard to shoegaze. As an exemplar of the style, one would obviously expect My Bloody Valentine to be chief amongst them, but it’s really Ride and Slowdive that make a deeper immediate impression. Half String’s music is reliably melodic, even catchy at times, though not exactly exuberant, which is where the post-punk enters the scheme, and also where the influences get a little harder to pinpoint, at least in terms of specific bands.

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In rotation: 2/22/22

Edinburgh, UK | Princes Street store is the apple of HMV’s eye: It has been an open secret that HMV has been looking to move back to Princes Street, so the news was no surprise. But what was surprising was the location they chose, squashed in between Kingdom of Sweets and Superdrug and spread over three floors. In recent years when downsizing, HMV have claimed that customers preferred everything to be on one floor and there was some truth in that. It is odd, therefore, that their new store, which is already not that big by flagship standards, is spread over three floors. I can only imagine they took the best deal for the worst location as there is the perfect flagship store just along the road in the old British Home Stores building. For Avalanche it is good news, as their extortinate prices for vinyl will only highlight our own prices which are often not a couple of pounds but five to ten pounds cheaper. For Assai, who have chosen the treadmill of having some of their favourite artists release albums every week, HMV will provide strong competition, but ironically by far the biggest losers will probably be FOPP, who are also owned by HMV.

Leeds, UK | Meet the Premier League referee who runs a record shop in Leeds called ‘Vinyl Whistle.’ Jonathan Moss runs a record shop and cafe in the Headingly district of Leeds called ‘The Vinyl Whistle’ when he is not officiating matches in the Premier League. Premier League referee Jonathan Moss runs a record shop in Leeds aptly called ‘The Vinyl Whistle’. The former PE teacher, who counts James Milner amongst his former students, runs the record shop and cafe when he is not busy working as a top flight referee. Moss has officiated in the Premier League since 2011 and has taken charge of FA Cup and League Cup finals in the past. ‘The Vinyl Whistle’ is open seven days a week, with reduced hours on Sundays, and is located in the Headingley district of Leeds, the city where Moss went to university before becoming a teacher. The shop’s logo features vinyl and record player on a whistle, paying homage to Moss’ profession when he is not at his store. He explained his love for vinyl and record shops during an interview with Goal.com back in 2019, stating that: “If I want to hear about a song straight away, I might listen to it on streaming, but I’ll always want to own it on vinyl.

Carthage, MO | Four State Record Show returns for 3rd year: People from all over the four states checked out records, both old and new at the Four State Record Show. But it’s much more than that. They’re part of a bigger community of collectors. “The vinyl community’s been building for about ten or twelve years now. it’s gaining popularity,…so a lot of people of all ages are coming out and buying records that tend to find the holy grail type items here that people will bring that they’ve been hunting online. maybe in a lot of times, you’ll find those items here,” said Lynn Brennfoerder, Co-Host of the Four State Record Show. The four-state record show brought people from northwest Arkansas, all the way through Ottawa Kansas, like Sean Dickinson with the Ampersand Vinyl. “For me, I do this every week, so my business, as I do pop up record shows and usually brewery is coffee shops kind of in small towns where they don’t have access to record shops, and so shows like this, I guess, allow me to have a larger audience and you’re really going to get the word out there,” Dickinson said.

Lancaster County, PA | Record Store Day 2022 announced; Here’s the participating record stores in Lancaster County: Since its start in 2007, Record Store Day has been used as a way to celebrate independent music retailers across the country. After splitting across multiple dates during the past two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, Record Store Day in 2022 will indeed be just one day, Saturday, April 22. This year’s “Record Store Day Ambassador” is Berks County’s own Taylor Swift, who will be releasing an exclusive 7″ of “the lakes,” a bonus track from Swift’s 2020 album “folklore.” In addition to Swift’s offering, releases from Prince, David Bowie and hundreds of others are on this year’s list. In just 15 years, vinyl records have gone from niche to record-breaking sales. According to a report by MRC Data-Billboard (formerly known as Nielsen-Soundscan), 41.7 million vinyl records were sold in 2021, the highest reported amount since 1991, and more than double the amount sold in 2020.

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We’re closed.

We’ve closed TVD’s HQ in observance of the Presidents’ Day holiday. While we’re away, why not fire up our Record Store Locator app and visit one of your local indie record stores?

Perhaps there’s an interview, review, or feature you might have missed? Catch up and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.

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TVD’s The Idelic Hour with Jon Sidel

Greetings from Laurel Canyon!

I’m going to send myself an invitation / Say hello to the video life / Meet myself on the action replay / Hope I get there right on time

Video life / Repeat / In remote control / Video life / Starts right here / Tune in / Make the image clear / All right

Last night I made my first post to TikTok. I know, I know. It sounds desperate and ridiculous but I am in the music business and @huxlxy, an artist I work with out of London, inspired me to do so.

My guy told me the algorithm was smart and I should follow, post and share, see what happens. For the past couple of years I’ve eyed my son’s TikTok feed. Kids dancing, being dumb or delinquent. A world gone mad where stupider than stupid shit rules the day.

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  • SUPPORTING YOUR LOCAL INDIE SHOPS SINCE 2007


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