Eugene, OR | Best Record store: House of Records. Among the businesses along 13th Avenue, you will find the small house-turned-business called House of Records. The house feels cozier and more intimate than a standard strip-mall record store, and it has shelves packed with vinyl, CDs, cassette tapes, DVDs and even books. While Tyler Howard, a staff member at House of Records, considers most of the record stores in Eugene to be similar, he says the variety of media options available sets them apart from the others. House of Records is a veteran of the Eugene community, having opened its doors in 1971. Now it is the winner of Best Record Store in Eugene, Howard says they appreciate the support from the community. “The store’s gone through good times and hard times,” Howard says. “And we’ve always felt like there’s been community support, and it’s been super important for us.”
Ypsilanti, MI | New Ypsilanti shop to feature vintage role-playing games and records: Ypsilanti residents will soon have a new place to get in touch with their eclectic side, thanks to a record shop poised to open this month. Wyrd Byrd, owned by co-owners and spouses Shawn and Brooke Gates, is set to open in the coming weeks, with a target opening of the end of October or early November. The shop will sell records, zines, books and vintage role-playing games like Dungeons and Dragons. While the Gates couple has contemplated opening a record shop for the past decade, it wasn’t until a friend pushed them to host pop-ups this summer that the idea crystalized. Many of the items for sale currently are items Shawn has collected for himself, he said. “A lot of it ends up being kind of in the realm of the weird, plus that’s just what I get drawn to,” Gates said. The shop will sport a combination of both new and used items in topics ranging from “sword and sorcery” fantasy to folk magic, Shawn said. “But we’re also picking up zines on things like plants in your urban landscapes and skateboarding—all sorts of things…”
Leeds, UK | New creative hub and music spot with café and record shop opened in Leeds: A community art space with a café, plant and record shop has opened in Leeds. A community art space with a café, plant and record shop has opened in Leeds city centre. The Imaginarium is a community and arts space that started in Kirkstall, and has since announced its move to Leeds city centre and has everything from a multi-use event space to a café and plant and record shop. A soft launch, which took place in early October, will be followed by the grand opening party that will welcome all to what is sure to become a vital and intimate new addition to the city’s landscape. The Imaginarium started in Kirkstall and soon became a valuable resource for locals with a large program of events. A multi-purpose space, with the capacity to hold 120 people, will be a place to enjoy curated events from the worlds of house and techno with parties like Subterranea and The Off Licence hosting, but also lots of tasteful acoustic nights will be held.
Victoria, CA | An audiophile’s dream: Victoria Record Fair will bring over 30 vinyl vendors to Fernwood: Save the date! A record collector’s fantasy is coming to the Fernwood Community Centre this November. On Sunday, November 6th, the biggest music sale in over two and a half years will be right here in Victoria. Over 30 vendors from Vancouver Island and the lower mainland will be selling thousands of vinyl records, CDs, cassettes, and music memorabilia. Music of every genre for every kind of record collector will be on sale. New, used, rarities and tons of bargains. The event will also be utilized as a fundraiser to help support refugees of the war in Ukraine settling in southern Vancouver Island. Proceeds from the event including table rentals from vendors, admissions and other donations will go to the Newcomers Fund of the St Nicholas Ukrainian Church of Victoria who are actively assisting Ukrainian refugees fleeing to Victoria.
Las Vegas, NV | Check Out The Best Vinyl Shops In Vegas: These 5 spectacular record shops have the best vinyl collections in town! It’s no secret that Las Vegas is a city for those who appreciate entertainment. However, there is so much more beyond the casinos and the strip. Vegas has always been intertwined with musical legends, and today it is a fantastic city to find unique records. We collected our 5 favorite vinyl shops.
You Keep Me Spinning Around: 40 facts as the CD turns 40: What you didn’t know about the CD. The invention of the Compact Disc (CD) heralded a digital era that went on to revolutionise the way music was made, distributed, and consumed. The CD celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2022. But the concept began in the 1960s. The story began with American physicist James Russell, who worked at General Electric’s experimental division in Richland, Washington. He designed and built the first electron beam welder and was among the first to use a colour TV screen and keyboard as the primary interface between computer and operator. A classical music buff, he was frustrated with the way his vinyl records popped and scratched, and had inferior sound quality. He first tried improving the record player, replacing the steel stylus with a cactus needle but with no success. It then dawned on him that the quality of the vinyl record could be retained by scrapping the stylus altogether with a light that read the music without physically touching the disc.
Cassette tape revival turns old trash into new treasure: Musicians and fans like its affordability and physical qualities in a digital world. The humble cassette tape has long seemed destined for a dignified death, taking its place beside the rotary dial telephone, the floppy disk and cathode-ray tube televisions in the cobwebbed corners of museums or junk shops. Yet almost 60 years after it was first launched by Philips, the Dutch electronics company, the tape today doggedly endures, finding new fans in an era of digital overload and riding in the slipstream of the so-called vinyl revival. For many growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, this pocket-size piece of plastic was a prime enabler of musical discovery. The ability to record songs off the radio or other mediums with a blank cassette opened up new possibilities for finding and sharing music, and gave rise to the concept of the mixtape. Cassettes were cheap and fairly durable—at least until the magnetic tape spilled loose and would need to be wound back in with a pencil stuck through the spool.
Deluxe LP box set for Blackadder soundtracks: A new box set is to collect the Blackadder soundtracks on vinyl for the first time. The deluxe 12-disc LP collection Blackadder’s Historical Record is set to be released on 10th February 2023 by Demon Records. Also including a frameable print of Baldrick, each hand signed by Sir Tony Robinson himself and a comprehensive full-colour booklet detailing the comedy series, the “leather-look rigid box” set is now available to pre-order from Amazon for £179.99. Demon tease: “Rescued from a dusty shelf in a long-forgotten archive, Blackadder’s Historical Record brings the bawdy, brutal and blithering bits of history to life via 24 full-cast TV soundtrack episodes. “Housed in a leather-look rigid box with lift-off lid are a 12” frameable print portrait of Baldrick (each copy individually signed by Sir Tony Robinson), a colour illustrated booklet detailing cast, transmission and production credits (with sleeve notes from Sir Tony Robinson), and 12 opulent, gold colour 140g vinyl discs housed inside a dozen splendidly era-inspired inner sleeves.”
