Brooklyn, NY | A Guide to the Best Brooklyn Record Stores: Brooklyn record stores are keeping analog sound accessible, affordable, and occasionally paired with a solid cut or pour of espresso. Unlike neighboring boroughs, Brooklyn is not short on vinyl suppliers. One could even say, Brooklyn record stores are doing the heavy lifting of keeping the exchange alive in a former Mecca for vinyl collectors and general hobbyists. But as NYC rents continue a perpetual decades-long ascent, their ranks have thinned. And we’ve suffered some pretty crushing casualties along the way (R.I.P. Israel’s, Charlie’s, and a dozen more.) Make no mistake, though. What remains of Brooklyn’s vinyl traders is an embarrassment of breadth compared to what’s left of Manhattan’s once-prized roster, which has been whittled down to just a handful of shops over the last 15 years. Those that endured have either deepened their niches, locked in a market-defying lease, or, against the odds, managed to come up with some combination of both.
Sonoma, CA | Behind the Business: From yard sales to Jack’s Record Store: Behind the Business: Jack Allan goes to garage, yard and estate sales to hunt for vintage vinyl treasure, which he sells on his online shop. You may have seen Jack Allan at a local estate, yard or garage sale. When he arrives, hopefully early, he heads straight for the records. Sometimes they’re valuable, other times they are nearly worthless, but that’s the nature of treasure hunts. …Allan grew up in Norwich, England, a town that — despite having a population of just under 150,000 — had seven quality record stores when he was a teenager. He bought his first vinyl album at 14. After abandoning all but 40 records in the move, Allan built back his collection, with around 1,500 albums stacked in boxes and tucked in cabinets in his Boyes Hot Springs home — the unofficial warehouse of Jack’s Record Store, his online business for secondhand vinyl.
CD Baby Announces It Will No Longer Distribute CDs and Vinyl: Portland, Oregon-based independent music distributor CD Baby has announced that it will no longer warehouse, ship, or distribute CDs, vinyl, cassette tapes, or DVDs to Amazon or music wholesaler Alliance in an email newsletter to customers. Its warehouse will close and customers will have 60 days to pay for their inventory to be returned before it will be recycled. The company says “digital distribution to places like Spotify, Amazon Music, and Apple Music” will continue. At the time of publication, the CD Baby website still advertised distribution services for physical products. When CD Baby, Inc. was founded by Derek Sivers in 1998 in Woodstock, NY, it was one of the first internet-based retailers that focused on selling CDs for independent artists. In addition to their web store, CD Baby distributed CDs, vinyl, and cassette tapes, to more than 15,000 brick-and-mortar stores.
Odessa, TX | Odessa icon Endless Horizons moving after 48 years: Odessa icon will continue offering the same unique vibe it always has. Tom Logan loved the Beatles and the Grateful Dead and grew up dreaming of opening his own record store, his son, Sam, said. “He was living in Arlington selling pots and pans door-to-door and he had the idea to open up a record store. He had narrowed it down between Austin or Odessa and he chose Odessa and moved down here in February of ‘75 and then opened the shop in July,” Logan said. He has no idea why his dad settled on Odessa, but he remembers the building on Grant Avenue near University Boulevard used to be a hamburger joint in the ’50s and ’60s. He also remembers being told his dad thought up the name of the store while on the long drive from Arlington to Odessa.
Philadelphia, PA | Brewerytown Beats: Explore Brewerytown – What to eat, drink, and do: From cat cafes to Ethiopian bars, spend a day in Brewerytown. …Nestled between two houses on North Bailey Street, you may miss the garage where Max Ochester keeps his impressive collection of vintage vinyl, CDs, cassettes, and records. But voices of Bob Dylan and Bowie float out the open garage door, beckoning you to enter the funky chaos of Ochester’s newer, bigger space — 4000 square feet to be exact — that holds an inventory of close to half-a-million. The store, which previously sat on Girard Avenue, is Ochester’s mission to preserve and celebrate Philly’s rich music history one record at a time.
UK | Texas announce intimate acoustic performances in celebration of new ‘Best Of’ LP: Texas are celebrating the release of their new LP, ‘The Very Best Of 1989 – 2023’, with a series of special intimate acoustic performances. The new retrospective from Sharleen Spiteri and co celebrates their career to date, from debut single I Don’t Want A Lover through to their 2021 album, ‘Hi’. Coinciding with the release, the group will visit intimate venues across the UK, starting July 10 at Coventry’s HMV Empire before heading to Kingston, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Leeds. Each show will be followed by a Q&A session with the singer to delve into the stories behind the album. Tickets are on sale now.
Goldring’s New E4 Moving Magnet Cartridge Is The Ideal Upgrade For Vinyl Lovers: Analog audio specialist Goldring has been making audio equipment for over a century and is probably best known for its range of high-end moving magnet cartridges used on turntables. With the vinyl enjoying a miraculous resurrection, the market for new cartridges has been enjoying something of a renaissance. Now Goldring is introducing a new flagship E Series moving magnet cartridge called E4. …The company claims the E4 represents the pinnacle of E Series engineering and performance. Goldring’s E4 is designed to be compatible with all medium-to-high-mass tonearms, the type found on most budget to midrange turntables. Because it’s constructed using the same high-quality core as the brand’s other E Series cartridge, E4 is ideal for upgrading from an obsolete cartridge in its entirety or for those who want to boost the performance of an existing E Series cartridge by replacing the stylus.
