Manchester, UK | Manchester’s Eastern Bloc record store celebrates 40th anniversary with three-day party: The store founded by John Berry and 808 State’s Martin Price will host Mark XTC, Mr Scruff, Graham Massey and more. Manchester’s Eastern Bloc is celebrating its 40th birthday next week with a three-day party, running Friday 25th to Sunday 28th July. The iconic record shop, cafe, bar and intimate venue will welcome a number of big names from the city’s storied electronic, dance and rave scenes. These include 808 State’s Graham Massey, Keep It Unreal boss Mr Scruff, The Warehouse Project resident Krysko, drum & bass pioneer Mark XTC, and rising Tresor Berlin resident and former shop employee Kerrie. A special guest is still to be announced, with local heroes Esmé, Luke Daniels, and Mikey D.O.N. also on the bill alongside shop staff such as Jim Bane, Means&3rd and SilasTheDon. The triple-header will begin at 12PM on Friday with music finishing at 3AM.
Pitlochry, UK | Inside the Pitlochry record shop steering Perthshire vinyl revival: Vinyl, CD and cassette enthusiasts have been beating a path to Foot of the Mountain Records in Pitlochry since it opened in March. Pitlochry might not be the obvious choice for Scotland’s newest record shop. But that’s where you’ll find Colin Tennent steering a one-man vinyl revival. The lifelong music fan opened Foot of the Mountain Records on Pitlochry’s main street in March. There, in a tiny upstairs space above a bike shop, Colin sells second-hand records, CDs and cassette tapes. And in just four months he’s built up a loyal following. Sellers from all over Scotland are calling to rehome their cherished collections. Pitlochry regulars are investing in record players to satisfy their thirst for nostalgia. And kids from the local high school are even popping in for used cassette tapes to play on their suddenly-cool-again Sony Walkmans.
Liverpool, UK | Legendary venue that took a gamble is celebrating 10 years: “It was completely unknown territory at the time.” Legendary grassroots venue The Jacaranda is marking ten years since the launch of its record shop. What started as an uncertain venture has since spiralled into a celebrated gem in Liverpool’s music scene. Located on Slater Street, the venue is hailed as one of the UK’s most iconic grassroots music spaces – a status solidified by its historic connection to the Beatles’s early career. With a legacy stretching over six decades, The Jacaranda continues to be a cornerstone of Liverpool’s musical heritage. Before the vinyl boom hit the nation, the team was actually unsure what to do with the space. …The idea to revive the concept came just before the vinyl boom took over the world. Graham added: “A few of my friends in their 30s started buying records. again. We took a gamble but luckily it payed off.”
Cloverdale, CA | Cloverdale’s Elevated Music turns 5: Record shop to hold anniversary celebration. It’s been five long years since Elevated Music swung open their doors. Owners Bill and Jenn Haggerty opened their Cloverdale record store in August, 2020, in the middle of COVID. It was a tough go to open a shop at the time. Because of that arduous opening—and because of the gracious support from their customers—at year one, and every year since, the couple thanks their customers across Surrey and the Lower Mainland by throwing a birthday anniversary celebration with big discounts and special record sales. This year, their fifth anniversary, is no exception. Bill told the Cloverdale Reporter he’s excited to celebrate the milestone. He and Jenn will hold their yearly business birthday bash Aug. 9 at their shop on 176th. “The day is going to be fantastic,” said Bill.
Lubbock, TX | The Spins Vinyl Cafe confirms Lubbock location, homemade tamales, future plans: An upcoming coffee shop near Lubbock High School is hoping to create a new, harmonious sound with vinyl records and homemade tamales. The Spins Vinyl Cafe, 1947 19th St., will become a relaxing space with coffee, food, vinyl records, listening stations and potentially day clubs. Evelyn Mendez, owner, hopes to open the cafe once the construction on Avenue T and 19th Street clears. Mendez optimistically estimated that could be toward the end of July, and a grand opening will be scheduled once the school year begins. “We wanted to do something a little bit different, that Lubbock didn’t already have,” Mendez said. “I wanted to create a space that when you walk in, everything slows down. I know there’s shops that sell vinyls and there’s coffee shops, and I want to integrate them.”
Los Angeles, CA | A Free One-Day Vinyl Wax Fair Is Popping Up To Honor The Sunset Strip’s Iconic Music Legacy This August. Spinning Sunset: A Vinyl Wax Fair is a free one day music celebration featuring vinyl vendors, DJs, and music memorabilia. The Sunset Strip is getting a retro remix this summer, and it’s spinning all the right tracks. On Saturday, August 16 from 1 PM to 7 PM, Spinning Sunset: A Vinyl Wax Fair is taking over the iconic boulevard with a special one-day celebration of L.A.’s legendary music scene. And the best part is that it’s totally free to attend! Set against the backdrop of The Pink Dot parking lot, Spinning Sunset is bringing crate-diggers, audiophiles, and vintage lovers together for a daytime vinyl market that hits all the right notes. Expect a curated lineup of local record stores, vintage vendors, exclusive band merch, and all-vinyl DJ sets to keep the energy high from afternoon to golden hour.
John Coltrane’s ‘A Love Supreme’ and Village Vanguard recordings receive deluxe new vinyl editions: John Coltrane’s most iconic studio album and most celebrated live recording are both being reissued in special vinyl editions this fall. The saxophonist’s longtime label, Impulse! Records, will drop A Love Supreme: Mono Edition on Sept. 26. On Oct. 24, Impulse! will release The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings, a 7-LP boxed set. The Vanguard material comes from one of the earliest engagements by Coltrane’s quartet with McCoy Tyner on piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones on drums. Producer Bob Thiele made the arrangements for a live recording at the club, with engineer Rudy Van Gelder setting up his equipment near the stage.
UK | AVID celebrates its 30th anniversary and dedication to precision engineering with the all-new Relveo turntable: With new suspension system, refined power supply and flagship-derived technology. British turntable brand AVID is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, and it has designed a record player from the ground up to mark the occasion. The AVID Relveo features the brand’s precise engineering pedigree and features a new suspension system, a reimagined platter, and an advanced external power supply. AVID designs, engineers and assembles all of its turntables in its Cambridge headquarters. It also designs and builds “virtually every component itself” with high-precision CNC machines, and prides itself in delivering products that are “obsessively engineered to perfection for a lifetime of listening pleasure.”
AU | In our digital world, collecting physical memorabilia has never been more important: Your digital record is not as permanent as you think. There’s one scene from 1995’s Before Sunrise that really captures the beauty of a vinyl record. Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Celine (Julie Delpy), alone, put on a Kath Bloom record in the small music booth of a Vienna record shop. There’s no dialogue. No eye contact either in fact—they glance back and forth the whole time, just missing each others’ eye. All you hear is Kath Bloom’s voice in her song, Come Here. It’s a very simple scene: a boy and a girl listen to a record she’s chosen. But the yearning in Bloom’s voice and in the lyrics themself—No I’m not impossible to touch / I have never wanted you so much—makes it one of the most vulnerable and intimate scenes I’ve ever watched. What a beautiful way to hear a song for the first time.
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