The Record Parlour’s Free Vinyl Record Days—35,000 LPs FREE, January 13-14, 2018: 200,000+ Records purchased in the last several months have created a massive mountain of #Vinyl Records to accumulate since our last #FREE DAY in Sept. Over 35,000 records across all genres are out for FREE Jan 13-14, 2018. Arrive EARLY for the best selection and shorter wait time. Spend $20 and take up to 100 RECORDS FOR FREE. Please bring your own box or bag. We only do this 2-3x a year – don’t miss the 1st one for 2018 – January is our biggest. (Next date is June 2018) In addition to LPs, we will have about 3,000 45s, 78s, #Cassettes, Music Magazines and #Posters.
Beyond The Bay: Brandon’s guide to European record collecting: For some, a vacation may mean snapping famous sights, sampling local foods, or simply taking things slow. As a vinyl junkie, anytime I go somewhere new, my focus is on unearthing stacks of a town’s local record shop. The premise of record shops is largely the same everywhere you go, but the personality and selection can vary dramatically. My European getaway revealed shoebox shops with loads of personality, near-obsessive organization, and kind shopkeepers willing to accommodate tardy shoppers. During my two-week stint overseas, I visited Amsterdam, Munich, and Berlin, and was lucky enough to stop by at least one shop in each city. Here’s an overview of what I saw, and what I picked up.
The Glasgow charity shop where browsing for records lives on: In this world of music downloads and streaming, it seems the allure of the hard copy still endures. And one charity shop in the west end of Glasgow has proved there is life yet in the charitable giving of vinyl and CDs. Oxfam’s music store on Byres Road last year raked in a cool £100,000 net profit from the sale of records, CDs, cassettes and instruments. That was more than any other shop in the charity’s chain of 550-plus outlets across the UK. For Andrew McWhinnie, the shop manager at Byres Road, successful trading is all down to a sense of community.
Technics unveils new “premium” SP-10R and SL-1000R turntables: Technics is continuing its drive to bring back its most important turntables, with the classic SP-10 and SL-1000 decks set to be given a high-end reboot. Previewed in August 2017, the Technics SP-10R turntable was described as Technics’ “most premium turntable ever”, and with further details emerging at Panasonic’s CES 2018 press conference, we now know why. Living up to the reputation of the original SP-10 – the world’s first direct drive turntable – this new model is powered by a coreless direct drive motor, with the rubber-dampened aluminium platter stabilised by a 10mmm brass weight, giving it a mass of 7.9kg. Reducing wow and flutter rate to 0.015 percent, it promises to limit background noise while increasing and clarifying the audio signal in the process.
Sound System Outernational Vinyl Weekender: Strictly Vinyl conference: A free conference for reggae sound system scene and vinyl culture supporters, professionals & researchers: panel discussions, demonstrations, films, workshops etc. Strictly Vinyl is a one day and night meeting of minds and bodies, practitioners and researchers, learning and dancing from reggae sound system scene. Come to enjoy, learn and share your knowledge and experience, research, techniques and appreciation of vinyl culture. The Strictly Vinyl conference is part of the SSO Sound System Outernational #4 Vinyl Weekender from Thurs 11th to Sun 14th Jan, including Let’s Play Vinyl exhibition opening, Stuart Hall book launch, Legacy In The Dust: The Four Aces Story film showing and hands-on workshops (see Events Calendar for these days).
