Bellefonte, PA | Fez Records Opens with a Purpose in Bellefonte… Michael Fester had always dreamed of opening his own record shop. However, it wasn’t until he moved from across the country to central Pennsylvania that he found the perfect opportunity. Fester, the owner of Fez Records in Bellefonte, opened his shop to the public on Oct. 1. The independent record store at 2042 Axemann Road offers a mix of new and used vinyl records, CDs, cassette tapes, turntables and more. Products are also available through an online store. “I knew that there was a need for hardcore vinyl fans to have a place to pick up new products,” said Fester, who works with two distributors to keep vinyl in stock. “There’s something special about thumbing through stacks instead of going to Amazon or an online service.” While more dedicated customers could browse Fez Records’ shelves for hours, Fester hopes the shop will cater to music fans at large, too. After months of preparations, the first-time business owner says initial feedback has already been encouraging.
Salem, OR | New vintage drum, records shop offers a Salem couple’s lifetime of work: Vinny Galarce knows how music savants like their vinyl records packaged and sealed. Having spent the past 15 years selling vintage drums, he also knows which models people will want to buy, and in what condition. It wasn’t until two months ago that Galarce’s previously online store saw new life in brick and mortar. He and his wife, Lina Toledo, opened Drum Bug Music at 345 High St. S.E. on July 22. Galarce, 53, said his love for music dates back to the first time he heard Creedence Clearwater Revival in the third grade. He started playing drums and played in a couple of bands in his home city of Santiago, Chile. A fan of Kiss who became disappointed by the band’s foray into disco, he was eventually introduced to Judas Priest through their 1979 live album from Japan. “Since then, I didn’t look back. I’ve been into metal and hard rock forever,” he said.
The rise and fall of Tower Records: …The lesson from Tower Records that most stands out for me is about a special kind of capital that does not involve dollars but is still valuable. Sociologists call it “social capital,” which accumulates when people get off their couches, put away their screens and mix in person. At Tower Records stores, people came together in a physical space to share passions, exchange ideas and explore new content. In an archival sequence from the film, you can see a ’70s-era Elton John on one of his weekly foraging trips to the Tower Records on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles. The pop legend is dressed down, holding a pen and notepad, a man on a mission looking for all the world like a discerning chef choosing his greens at a produce market. One voice in the film observed it was “as much social as retail,” with people “spending hours together at the record bins.”
Rochester, NY | Bop Shop Records Celebrates Its 40th Anniversary with Special Series of Live Jazz Performances: Bop Shop Records, in Rochester, New York, opened its doors in 1982 and has been presenting live jazz (and other musical genres) for 34 years – well over 1,000 concerts since 1988. As it celebrates its 40th year, the record store and performance space is in the midst of presenting more than 40 concerts throughout 2022. The Fall Jazz Series at Bop Shop Records continues on Wednesday, Oct. 12, with Concert #32: TRYYO, featuring Michael Vlatkovich, Jonathan Golove and Damon Short. The Fall Jazz Series runs through October and November, culminating in the Bop Shop Records 40th Anniversary Jazz Festival on Nov. 25, 26, 27 and 28. …Music is something that mends the soul, whether it be jazz or other forms. Bop Shop Records has created a listening environment that enables artists and listeners alike a chance to, as Hamid said, “come together with the combination of good intentions, good hearts and hopefully good music, and us all together to create something that is hopefully very positive and beautiful.”
Christie’s: Records Revival: Why Vinyl Is Back in Vogue. Vinyl has been back in the news this year, thanks in part to a certain former boy-band star, but the records revival has been quietly gathering pace for a while now. Luxury Defined reports. …“I have very strong memories of going to the record store and being transfixed by the jackets and promo displays, crazy artwork, and music that was out of reach and unknown to me,” says Seth Yamasaki (known to many as “Shef”), who has been running A1 Record Shop in New York City since 2004. “By the time I was buying music myself it was the CD era, but very quickly I started picking up vinyl at punk shows as that format was still very alive there. That soon lead me down the rabbit hole of used records and older music. I love vinyl because—apart from the sound—it is the archive of modern recordings.” Nick Collins of All Ages Records, London’s only dedicated punk and hardcore vinyl shop, takes a similar line on the appeal of tangible assets. “Many people in the industry thought consumers were going to completely buy into the ease of MP3s and consider an MP3 ‘a thing’—when it clearly isn’t,” he says.
PLACEBO release limited-edition vinyl and entirely new paint colour with artist Stuart Semple: Placebo have teamed up with British artist Stuart Semple to develop a unique colour and a very special limited edition packaged double A-Side 7” vinyl record. The 7” features their new cover of Tears for Fears’ anthemic ‘Shout,’ as well as their version of Kate Bush’s iconic ‘Running Up That Hill’, a rare opportunity to get this on vinyl again. In this unprecedented collaboration, for the first time ever a band and a visual artist have authored an entirely new colour, aptly named PLACEBO. PLACEBO paint is inspired by Semple’s lifelong love of Placebo. Changing colour in front of your eyes in different lights, PLACEBO morphs from a deep purple hue, through black, into a shimmering blue. In addition to the new PLACEBO paint, which is available for all to purchase and use, Semple has also created an original acrylic and charcoal on canvas painting using the hue, titled ‘SHOUT,’ which now forms the cover artwork and artwork for the limited-edition record.
“Somebody fucked up”: Slipknot’s new album has been shipping with the wrong name printed: Sure to be a hot collector’s item. In what looks to be a future collector’s edition item, copies of Slipknot‘s The End, So Far vinyl and cassettes have been found with the wrong album name. Certain fans have received copies of the album on vinyl and cassette with the name The End For Now printed on the cover – with stickers of the correct title The End, So Far pasted on to cover it up. Some fans have speculated that vinyl backlogs made it impossible to accommodate a change in album title, though Slipknot’s Corey Taylor has disputed the speculation along with rumours that the band are reverting to the previous title. In response to a question about the album title in a Ask Me Anything on Reddit, Taylor replied, “The End, So Far was the correct name. Somebody fucked up and didn’t double-check with us.” Taylor did not offer any further explanation in his Ask Me Anything.
