Ed Sheeran and Gallagher brothers lead vinyl revival at HMV, Demand soars across all genres, with Sheeran’s Divide on track to be retailer’s biggest selling vinyl record of the year: HMV is predicting its biggest year for vinyl music sales since the late 80s as records make a comeback on the UK’s Christmas wish lists. The music retailer said demand was soaring across all genres, with Ed Sheeran’s Divide on track to be its biggest selling vinyl record of the year, followed by the solo efforts of Liam and Noel Gallagher, formerly of Oasis, in second and third place. John Hirst, music manager at HMV, said: “A strong year for new releases from artists such as Ed Sheeran and Rag’n’Bone Man has been followed up with a really strong back end, with the Gallagher brothers driving the LP sales into the final quarter.”
Cafe Chat: Lyttelton Records brings new bar to Woolston: Coffee, doughnuts and vinyl records have been mashed together in a fresh hospitality creation by Lyttelton Records in Christchurch. The recording company has opened a live music venue that also acts as an espresso bar, craft beer bar and vinyl store. The espresso bar hybrid set up shop at 650 Ferry Rd, Woolston, previously home to Holy Smoke. Experienced hospitality duo Aaron and Donna Lee joined owner and record producer Ben Edwards and partner Saffron Gallagher in the business a year ago. “We wanted to give Lyttelton Records a physical home and to be more than just a label but a local hang out to see live shows,” Aaron says. It’s still early days for Lyttelton Records, but the plan is to host gigs on its purpose-built stage up to three nights a week.
Thousands of records reduced to £1 as Ashby vinyl store kicks off another celebration: Hundreds of music lovers lined the streets of Ashby again as a vinyl store prepared for its popular 1,000 records sale – at just £1 per disc. On Saturday, November 25, The Attic hosted the sale which saw full-priced records, with some thought to be worth as much as £80, reduced to just £1 for one day only. Some of the records from artists including Sam Smith and Noel Gallagher had only been released for a few days and were reduced to the nominal fee. Other “hot bargains” included LPs by Stranger Things, The Beatles, Bob Dylan and David Bowie. Along with the record sales the customers were also entered into a free prize draw for cinema tickets to see Star Wars.
Vinyl, streaming and CDs: Maybe it’s not just about the audio quality: It’s a debate that’s raged in music circles for decades — does vinyl or a CD provide the superior listening experience? And the advent of digital downloads and streaming services has done little to quell the contest. Vinyl listeners swear by the medium’s distinct, warm sound — and the enjoyment digging in the crates to collect LPs brings. Music giant Sony has announced it will re-enter vinyl record production to meet increasing demand, especially with young listeners. It seems the format many had written off as dead will be sticking around for a while. But is vinyl best if you’re trying to hear what your favourite band were playing when they laid down the track?
Eurythmics Will Be Spinning on Turntables Again With Career-Spanning Vinyl Re-Release in 2018: The British duo Eurythmics were a force on the Billboard charts throughout the ’80s, as their quirky electro-pop resonated with music fans. Now, the music of Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox will be taking a new spin on turntables all over the world, thanks to the global re-release of the duo’s eight studio albums on vinyl. “Issuing our out-of-print vinyl albums in 2018 is a great thing because people won’t be listening to our music on a cell phone,” Stewart tells Billboard. “They’ll have a record player and speakers and a sound system, like we did when we were growing up. People will buy vinyl records and put them on the turntable and listen to one side at a time, and hear the tracks played in the particular order that we selected.”
John Williams iconic score for Lost in Space heads to vinyl: John Williams’ iconic soundtrack for the TV series Lost In Space is getting a very special vinyl pressing. The new package, arriving just in time for Christmas, compiles over two hours of score on four loverly coloured records. “In doing research for this vinyl box set, we discovered [Williams] was drafted and spent three years in the Air Force, conducting and arranging music for the U.S. Air Force Band,” SpaceLab9 say of the reissue. “His jazz piano name was ‘Little Johnny Love’ Williams. For his work on Lost in Space, he was credited as Johnny Williams. Spacelab9 has collected almost 3 hours of music from four different episodes of Lost in Space onto these gorgeous vinyl pressings in shades of purple, blue, green, and orange to match the aesthetic of the show. Dust off the record player and travel back in time with us!”
How to Prepare your Vinyl Records for Long-Term Storage: Have the Right Storage Unit: The long-term storage unit that you are going to be using has to be carefully considered. It is best to store your record collection in a climate-controlled storage unit. The unit should allow you to keep the temperature at standard room temperature or slightly lower. The unit should never become too hot as this can cause warping and other problems. The storage unit should also be free of moisture and humidity. Both humidity and moisture could damage your record collection as you store it. The goal is to have a storage unit that keeps the collection in an environment with a consistent temperature which is completely dry.
