Hagerstown, MD | Hub City Vinyl puts Hagerstown on the map for music lovers: What started out as boxes of 45 rpm records culled from years of working on old jukeboxes—and a building in Hagerstown left to urban decay—has blossomed into Maryland’s largest record store and is bringing a positive change to Hagerstown’s downtown. Hub City Vinyl, located at 28 E. Baltimore St. in Hagerstown, is housed in a massive 20,000-square-foot historic Art Deco-style building that was saved from decades of neglect by its current owners, Sheree and Lloyd Thoburn. With over 20,000 records in their hoard, plus cassettes, CDs and music books, open seven days a week and with no online sales, Hub City Vinyl has become a must-visit for both locals and record lovers from as far away as Pittsburgh and Delaware. Customers are seeking everything from new hits out on vinyl to completely obscure, used records in nearly every genre imaginable.
Flamenco music enjoys the revival of vinyl records: Flamenco en vinilo (Flamenco on vinyl) was born with the purpose of recovering flamenco treasures that have never released on vinyl. When a song comes to mind, usually we go to YouTube or Spotify to listen. Streaming platforms have revolutionized the way we consume music, and have made it a very difficult for traditional record companies to turn a profit, especially those dedicated to underground genres and artists. Beyond the success of the digital market, vinyls reminiscent of old times are on the rise again. After the collapse of the market due to the closure of shops during the pandemic, there was a growth in sales of 39.6% in physical records, according to the organization Producers of Music of Spain (Promusicae). Forty-three percent of those sales were vinyl records, with around 10.7 million euros ($12.1 million) in revenue. In an effort to rescue the great myths of flamenco, the record label Flamenco en vinilo (Flamenco on vinyl) was born in Spain.
Queen artwork to be auctioned alone after second thrown away: Plans to sell artwork created for a pair of classic Queen albums were thwarted when one was thrown away. Art director David Costa wanted to sell the original artworks he created for the 1975 vinyl album A Night At The Opera and A Day At The Races from 1976. However, only A Day At The Races can be sold because Mr Costa believes he threw away the cover for the earlier record while clearing his studio. The artwork had been valued at between £5,000 and £10,000. “An unwitting triumph of tidiness over posterity, I’ve now come to the inevitable conclusion that A Night At The Opera became a casualty of my over-enthusiastic effort to begin clearing through 50 years of personal ephemera,” said Mr Costa. “A shame, but in the grand scheme of things, not a global catastrophe.”
Memphis, TN | Redemption in Vinyl: An under-recognized aspect of the punk and garage scene in Memphis is the musicians’ love of strange, old records. After all, one of the best models for kicking back against corporate rock hegemony is hearing how artists made music when rock and other genres were considered the radical fringe. Such was the context back in the ’90s, when the heathen underground played venues like the Antenna and Barristers. By day, many of those club denizens were fanning out to the city’s thrift stores, combing through vinyl. The Royal Pendletons were mainstays of the local scene then, often making the trip north from their home base in New Orleans to play with such local pioneers as Impala or the Oblivians. It’s no accident that all of the players in those bands — notably Michael Hurtt and Matt Uhlman of the Royal Pendletons, Scott Bomar of Impala, and Greg Cartwright and Eric Friedl of the Oblivians — are respected DJs and curators of rare vinyl to this day.
Metal Blade Records celebrating 40th anniversary with debut vinyl reissue: Metal Massacre Volume One arrives April 22nd: Metal Blade Records is marking its 40th anniversary this year with its debut release, Metal Massacre Volume One, for the first time since 1984 on limited edition vinyl. Originally released on June 14, 1982, Metal Massacre showcased the best of Los Angeles’ unsigned acts of the time such as Metallica, Ratt and Malice, and has since become a cornerstone of Metal Blade Records. This special release will be available worldwide on April 22nd. The 40th anniversary reissue track list includes all songs originally featured on the first and second pressing of the iconic compilation. A limited edition Ruby Red vinyl variant will be available to 5000 copies worldwide at metalblade.com, and 2,000 copies pressed on clear vinyl exclusively available at metallica.com.
Studio One dub tracks collected on Soul Jazz compilation: Including the dubs of classic tracks by Horace Andy, Johnny Osbourne, and Freddie McGregor. Soul Jazz is reissuing its Studio One Dub compilation in an 18th anniversary edition, this March. The 2xLP compilation features dub versions by Dub Specialist — aka Coxsone Dodd — of tracks by artists including Horace Andy’s, Johnny Osbourne, John Holt, and Freddie McGregor. The record also includes interviews with Dodd on dub and dubplates, and sound engineer Sylvan Morris on his work at Studio One. It follows Soul Jazz’ release of Trees Speak’s Vertigo of Flaws album. Pre-order Studio One Dub here in advance of its 4th March release…
Best vinyl record cleaners 2022: Keep your vinyl collection in prime condition: Give your music collection a makeover with our pick of the best vinyl record cleaners you can buy today. If you love collecting vinyl, then having grubby grooves just won’t do. After all, what’s the point in spending a fortune on a Beatles LP, only for it to sound like Paul McCartney’s singing with his head flushed down the toilet. The best vinyl record cleaners can free you of such problems, working to return your precious albums and singles to almost shop-fresh condition. In this guide, we’ve picked our favourite vinyl-cleaning products to help you make a buying choice that suits your needs and budget. Here, you’ll find everything from crap-busting cloths to gadgets that’ll work with your vacuum cleaner to literally suck your records clean. Intrigued? Then step this way to see our list of recommendations.
