Monthly Archives: July 2022

New-gen vinyl buyers are ‘serious, dedicated and valuable.’ Research firm MusicWatch has been diving into its data on the new generation of vinyl buyers in the US: those born in 1989 or later. It found that nearly 80% of them have started buying vinyl in the last five years, and that while 37% of them say they buy it to display, 78% intend to listen to their LPs. Yes, that means a crossover: “some records jockey between the wall and the stylus,” as MusicWatch’s Russ Crupnick put it. Another finding: one third of these new-gen buyers say that they buy vinyl to support their favourite artists: “They overwhelmingly believe it is important to support artists beyond just listening to their music.” Interestingly, packaging – artwork and the design of the record itself – appear to be bigger motivators for buying than audio quality.

Ocean County, NJ | One stop shop: A guide for all things vinyl around Ocean County, NJ: It’s been about two months since moving to New Jersey, but if you took a look around my apartment you’d think my fiancee and I just moved in last weekend. It’s definitely a work in progress. …Usually, when I shop for records, I’ll just go to an antique store, which New Jersey has a plethora of, and browse their selection. That’s always fun because antique shops I think have the most eclectic stock of records. But if you’re looking for a store that specializes in vinyl, there are a few right here in Ocean County that are worth visiting.

Portland, OR | Shopping For Vinyl Records With A Portland IPA In Hand? Yes Please! Wouldn’t it be cool if you could stroll through aisles of vinyl records and cassettes with a Portland IPA in your hand? Really wish I’d thought of this idea! Black and White rock posters on the walls, aisle of record bins, and the beer. The bar will stay simple, sticking to six taps including Rainier and a rotating cider. The rest of the taps will generally focus on Pacific Northwestern beers, in particular things made in Portland; a nearby beer cooler will have a wider collection of beers, ciders, and non-alcoholic options. The Record Pub will open its doors officially on Friday, July 22 at 11 a.m.

Marquette, MI | Find Some Classics At The Latest Vinyl Record Show And Sale This Weekend In Marquette! Your latest chance to check out and buy some classic and new vinyl records is happening in Marquette this weekend. Jon Teichman, organizer of the latest Ore Dock Record Show & Sale, spoke about the event today with Mark & Walt in the Morning. Teichman said from Noon to 11:00 p.m. each day, from this Thursday, July 21st until Sunday, July 24th, the pop-up vinyl record show will be held in the Community Room at the Ore Dock Brewing Company at 114 W. Spring Street in downtown Marquette. He also shared some stories about previous record sale finds, including a special Jackie Gleason collection from 1962! Teichman added that thousands upon thousands of new & used vinyl records, CDs, posters, cassettes, books, and t-shirts will be available and trades welcome!

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Chicago, IL | Meteor Gem opens its doors to Chicagoland’s trve metalheads: Chicago’s newest record store specializes in all things metal. Meteor Gem occupies a garden-level boutique at 3082 N. Elston, and its stock is so laser-focused on extreme music—including death, doom, black, post-, and progressive metal—that the records in just one subgenre outnumber the entire metal inventory of many local shops. Owner Mikhail Fedyukov has been involved in Chicago’s heavy underground for about a decade, booking and occasionally performing at DIY shows. He began selling records online about five years ago, and when the pandemic hit, he decided to devote all his working hours to that pursuit. “I had a small vinyl warehouse in my one-bedroom apartment,” he says. Fedyukov launched Meteor Gem’s website in January 2021, signed the lease for the Avondale brick-and-mortar location in February 2022, and opened the store on July 1.

Guelph, CA | A ‘love letter’ to Guelph: Royal Cat Records releases new zine: It’s in Guelph, and it’s about records, punk and junk: meet Grunk, Royal Cat Record’s long-awaited zine. After “many personality crises and a worldwide pandemic,” Royal Cat Records is finally launching their long-awaited zine, Grunk. The 21-page, self-published, small-batch magazine is “a loveletter to our dumb little city from a couple of record-collecting junk lovers,” featuring comics, playlists, album picks, an interview with a renowned cartoonist, and tidbits of trivia about the Guelph music scene. Bryan Munn, who owns Royal Cat Records with his wife Kara, has been toying with zine making since he was a child, making little comic books with the help of his dad’s photocopier. He was just as captivated by zine culture when he met Kara in the 90s. Together, the two punk rockers started making small zines, manually binding them together and giving them out to anyone who would read them.

Klamath Falls, OR | For the record: Klamath record store holds rock trivia night: A local business in Klamath Falls has set the bar exceptionally high when it comes to musical entertainment here in the Basin with its monthly trivia night. The brainchild of Kurt Liedtke, as well as owners and founders, Jimmy and Sarah Turner, Rock Trivia is an event that is certain to satisfy even the most fastidious music critics. In a cozy theater room located in the back of the store, a score of Klamathians volunteered as tributes to compete for the title of Rock-n-Roll Historian of the month. Liedtke organizes the questions in the form of a slide show, playing clips from music videos for each of the songs and artists in question. This month, the game was broken up into three rounds: Oneders, Gibberish Lyrics and Rip-Offs. The Oneders category consists of popular songs by one-hit-wonders, artists who are known for only having one hit single. Songs such as “Mambo No. 5” and “What Does the Fox Say” were reasonably popular upon their release; yet no one in attendance could recall the artists that recorded them.

Newcastle, UK | Hunter Record Fair has vinyl lovers in a spin: Vinyl lovers will be in a spin this weekend. The Hunter Record Fair is back on the calendar, after a COVID-enforced hiatus, with a huge array of bargains, rarities, LPs, 45s and more set to adorn the Kotara High School auditorium, between 9am and 4pm, on Saturday 23 July. There, devotees face the enviable choice of thousands of albums across all genres of music, including country, rock, soul, metal, punk, pop, hip-hop, jazz, blues, reggae, rockabilly, folk, R&B, ska, alternative, house, hardcore punk, electro, indie, new wave and noise. “We’re really looking forward to it,” organiser Dan Phelan said. “I think 2019 was the last time we staged the event. “So, hopefully, it’ll make a positive return. “Stallholders from around the country will offer a massive range of both new and second-hand vinyls and CDs.”

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More than 19 millions records have been sold in the US already this year: A small increase on last year’s figures. Sales of vinyl LPs in the US rose to 19.4 million for the first six months of 2022, according to a report by Luminate Data. This figure represents just over 53% of all 36.5 million physical album sales in the US so far this year. The slight bump (from 19.2 million in the same period last year) suggests a slow down in the rapid 51% growth recorded across the whole of 2021. Sales in the first half of this year have skewed away from existing catalogue releases and towards newer releases. Former One Direction member Harry Styles broke the modern-era record for first-week physical album sales earlier this year, shifting 183,000 copies of his third studio album, Harry’s House, in May. The report unearths distinct demographic trends too. Among women, the younger Gen Z audience accounts for 34% of sales; while the older Millennial and Gen X generations tend to do the bulk of the buying on the men’s side, with 31% apiece.

Iloilo City, PH | Vinyl is not dead in Iloilo, hear it out: Anthology Iloilo puts Ella Fitzgerald, Coldplay, Fleetwood Mac, and Taylor Swift in one room where you are warmly welcomed by an office staple that supersedes all business requirements – the owner’s pet dog. In the heart of this La Hubre-curated record store in Ledesco Village, wooden-letter blocks pose a question that rings through today’s earphones: “Have you heard it on vinyl?” On a 2018 round up of Acoustic Fridays in Festive Walk Parade, a pop-up came with its own rhythm: a crate of vinyl records with Queen’s Greatest Hits starring front, just still and there. I would later know the owner to be hobbyist Arvin Gangoso, after a green transparent “An Evening with Billie Holiday” record I purchased as a High School graduation gift. Gangoso met the steady and fast rise in the demand for vinyl, and made space for Anthology in Iloilo City which he knew to lack vinyl record stores.

UK | Queen’s Greatest Hits sells seven million copies, breaking UK chart record: Queen have made UK chart history by becoming the first act to sell seven million copies of an individual album. Their first Greatest Hits collection, from 1981, is now owned by one in every four households in the UK, said the Official Charts Company. The record, which features classic singles like We Will Rock You and Bohemian Rhapsody, has been a perennial best-seller for years. It recently spent its 1,000th week on the UK album chart. Queen guitarist Brian May called the latest achievement “joyous news.” “No album has done this before in history,” he said in a statement. “Thank you, we appreciate it.” Drummer Roger Taylor added: “The British public and their infinitely-great taste have made this the biggest-selling album in history. “Thank you very much; we’re humbled and honoured. We salute you!”

Why the sleeve to Closer by Joy Division was controversial: Who exactly are the mysterious figures on the cover of Joy Division’s final album? And why did the image prompt accusations of “bad taste?” Joy Division’s classic debut Unknown Pleasures features a sleeve design that spawned hundreds of pieces of merchandise and many more parodies. But what about their second album, Closer? What’s that one all about? Dressed in sober black and white, the cover artwork features the title of the album written in a font that looks like it’s been chiselled into marble, while a monochrome photograph appears to show four cowled figures grieving around a man lying on a bed. …Because Joy Division had an album cover showing a group mourning a dead associate, Factory were accused of poor judgement by some Joy Division followers, who were shocked when they saw the sleeve in the shops for the first time – the cover was literally a wake for the departed singer.

Rapid City, ND | Here comes the sun-warped vinyl: Why records should not be left in cars for too long: Dropping a vinyl record can scratch the disk and ruin the quality if it doesn’t break, but leaving that brand-new album in a hot car can do much more serious damage. Vinyl records have a melting point of around 200 degrees Fahrenheit — but if left in a hot car for too long, it will start to warp and lose its shape which could even render them unplayable. Placing a record in a dark spot such as under your seat can help, but Black Hills Vinyl strongly recommends placing it in a bag and taking it with you if you are out for an extended period of time. “The windshields act as a magnifying glass almost, and that amplifies the heat,” said Jory Andre from Black Hills Vinyl. “That is why even in the high eighties, you can still warp your records because it just magnifies all of that heat. On a sunny day, it’s around 80 degrees and you get in your car and you are baking. It is kind of that effect.”