St Paul, MN | In defense of physical media, owning your cultural history: …Physical media may still be alive right now, but soon there may come a point when the storefront for every game console is a monopoly. Where only one company gets to set the price as high as they please for any game that they choose. Where your new favorite movie can go straight from theaters to streaming, never being available for purchase. Music fans have already pushed back against the encroachment of streaming, and CD and vinyl sales have seen a resurgence in recent years, and the time to support physical media for other media is now.
Alexandria, VA | The Beat Goes On: Crooked Beat Records Reopens After Devastating Flood: When Bill Daly arrived at Crooked Beat Records on the morning of Jan. 11, he stepped into six inches of standing water. The deluge poured from multiple directions, swallowing rare inventory, vintage stereo equipment, and nearly three decades of work. It was also his son’s birthday. “I couldn’t believe what I saw,” Daly recalled. The immediate damage was estimated at $63,000. But the compound effect of water damage rarely stays within early forecasts. Months of lost revenue, commercial storage fees, moving logistics, and structural remediation pushed an attorney’s financial impact estimate between $200,000 and $300,000. For an independent retailer, such numbers often signal liquidation. Daly, however, never considered throwing in the towel. “I like doing this,” he said. “I want to do it for another 10 years, or more.”
Sacramento, CA | Sacramento-area record store to open second location in region. Here’s where. A Folsom vinyl records and CDs store is opening its second location in mid-October. Fat Elephant Records, Books & Music is moving into the Folsom Outlet Stores at 1300 Folsom Blvd. on Oct. 16, the store’s owner told The Sacramento Bee. The shop will mostly sell pre-owned CDs and records, with some new releases, but overall, the focus will be on vintage albums. The location will sell leftover inventory from The Beat, a much-loved independent record store that closed in 2013 after 30 years in business. Vinyl records will be priced between $3 and $10, depending on rarity, according to the store’s owner. This reflects the affordable prices of the outlet center, he explained.
U2 team up with Jack White’s Third Man Records for ‘Carnaval De Luz’ limited-edition vinyl: The yellow and black design has been created specifically for independent music retailers. U2 have joined forces with Jack White‘s Third Man Records to drop a limited edition vinyl version of their new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’. The rock icons recently announced new album ‘Carnaval De Luz’, which they describe as a “messy, provocative, sacred collection of songs”, set for release on November 13. Comprised of 12-songs, the Jacknife Lee-produced album has already been previewed by the lead single ‘Silencio’, which Bono and co. played live at some surprise shows last week – including a stop at their former high school in Dublin and a gig from the balcony of a cafe. …Now, ahead of the release next month, U2 have joined up with Third Man Records for a special edition of the album.
Patchogue, NY | Indie Label Finds New Groove in Patchogue: 401K Music teams with Record Stop for limited-edition vinyl release. Independent record label 401K Music has traded the New York City music scene for Patchogue, where founder Veronica Gretton is putting down roots and preparing a limited-edition vinyl release with a distinctly local connection. After more than a decade based in New York City and Brooklyn, the company relocated to Patchogue during the pandemic. Gretton said she quickly found a home in the village and its growing arts and music community. A longtime music-industry veteran, Gretton has worked with some of alternative and new wave music’s best-known acts, including The Cure, The Stone Roses, Talking Heads and the Ramones.
Sarasota, FL | Free Sarasota Open House & Record Fair Celebrates Fogartyville’s Grand Reopening October 3: The event will celebrate the grand reopening of Fogartyville Community Media and Arts Center following extensive renovations, while giving visitors an opportunity to discover the people, programming and community work behind both Fogartyville and WSLR Community Radio. Admission is free and the event is open to the public. Folk-Americana musicians Trevor Bystrom and Nora Bear will perform during the celebration, with additional live music from Mateo Music Radio. Record collectors will also want to leave plenty of time for browsing. The event will feature a vinyl and CD sale where visitors can search through records while supporting the nonprofit organization.
Union, NJ | Vinyl music fans share their favorite records at Vauxhall Branch Library: Fishbone, Robert Gorl and Betty Davis were just some of the talents recently shared at the Vauxhall Vinyl Music Club’s Open Turntable. The Vauxhall Vinyl Music Club is free and meets monthly at Vauxhall Branch Library. The club is presented in collaboration with music aficionados, Gabriel Ramos, Vauxhall Branch manager, and Union resident Paul Reitz, who worked with Sony for more than 20 years. This month, in addition to Ramos and Reitz sharing songs, library attendees were also invited to talk about songs that mean something to them. All songs were played on a portable vinyl record player. “It’s an open session to the community,” said Reitz.
Athens, GR | Vinyl Market is Back This Weekend: Dig, Listen, Discuss & Connect. Now in its 11th year, Vinyl Market returns to Technopolis City of Athens October 2-4. Thousands of records, rare first pressings and DJ sets promise a weekend of digging and discovery for collectors and newcomers alike The Vinyl Market is back this Fall in Technopolis City of Athens (Piraeus 100, Gazi), promising a unique experience for vinyl enthusiasts, new and old. Organized by a small and dedicated team, the festival, now entering its 11th year, caters to all musical tastes with thousands of titles to browse from across the worlds of rock, soul, funk, jazz, blues, ethnic, electronica and many more.
Oakland, CA | Blue Bottle Coffee Debuts Notes in Repose, a Limited-Edition Vinyl Celebrating Coffee, Jazz and the Art of Composition: Blue Bottle Coffee today announced the launch of Notes in Repose, its first-ever compilation album, created in celebration of the brand’s Signature Blends. The limited-edition vinyl brings together 10 contemporary jazz compositions from artists representing nine cities across Blue Bottle’s cafe markets in North America and Asia, including Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Makaya McCraven, Jeff Parker, Angel Bat Dawid and the Kyoto Jazz Sextet. Woven together with ambient recordings captured in Blue Bottle cafes, the album invites listeners to slow down, brew a cup of coffee and give the music their undivided attention.
David Sylvian returns with first new album in seventeen years, The Distance Between the Killer and the Killing: The Distance Between the Killer and the Killing serves as the follow-up to Sylvian’s 2009 album Manafon, and will be released on the newly founded NANOQ label. The album is composed of sessions recorded between 2012 and 2025, based on recomposed improvisational material with a variety of artists ranging from Otomo Yoshihide, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Bilianna Voutchkova and Miako Klein, to Jamie Drouin and Lance Austin Olson. The 46-minute instrumental album is said to be unlike anything that Sylvian has done before
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