UK | Kylie Minogue and Mariah Carey vinyl reissues announced for National Album Day 2021 celebrating women in music: National Album Day’s 2021 ambassadors have been confirmed as Sharleen Spiteri, Laura Mvula, Ray BLK and Joy Crookes. National Album Day organisers have revealed a list of vinyl reissues that will be released to coincide with the 2021 event, which includes classic albums by Kylie Minogue and Mariah Carey. As previously announced, the fourth annual National Album Day taking place on Saturday October 16 will celebrate women in music, inviting conversation about classic albums by the world’s greatest female artists. Among the albums being re-released on vinyl include Kylie Minogue’s Number 1 album Fever for its 20th anniversary on white wax. This sought-after reissue was previously only available exclusively in Sainsbury’s in 2017, and on red vinyl in a Singaporean retailer in 2018. Mariah Carey’s Emotions will re-pressed to pink vinyl for the first time to mark its 30th birthday, while a silver LP of Dido’s No Angel will be available. Ms Dynamite’s Mercury Prize winning album A Little Deeper from 2002 will be reissued for the first time since its release, while Gabrielle’s 1999 Number 1 record Rise will also be given the vinyl treatment for the first time in two decades.

London, UK | A new record store will allow you to press music to vinyl instantly: The new store is the UK location of Jack White’s Third Man and is their first outlet outside of the US (Nashville & Detroit). Our beloved vinyl format has been growing in popularity over the past few years. Sales are a further 16% up this year already (108% YoY), after outselling CDs last term and continuing an impressive 5-year uptrend. Our fascination with wax shows no sign of slowing down, and now, London has its own pressing outlet where you can convert your recordings straight to vinyl. Third Man Records will let visitors record their music directly to wax. The Soho based store is the brainchild of the White Stripes frontman Jack White and will be the heartbeat of the company’s European operations. The premises consist of two levels. The lower level will act as a live music venue called ‘The Blue Basement’, creating a diverse space. The upper level will play host to retail and a recording studio – where you will be able to press your wax directly. The main aim of the store is to be “a physical space to help keep record sales and live performances alive after such a tough period for everyone”.

Denver, CO | Take a Spin Through the Stacks at the Rocky Mountain Record Show: Rocky Mountain Record Show co-founder Kobi Waldfogel is a serious vinyl record collector, but he’s always found something lacking at record shows. “A traditional record show is generally just a marketplace,” Waldfogel says. “It’s buyers and sellers. And that’s great; I personally love to attend those types of events. But every time I’ve been to one, it felt like there was a little bit of culture missing.” For example, Waldfogel says, record shows often have no music playing. That always struck him as odd. So the Rocky Mountain Record Show — which he has put together with partners Reuben Saul and Patrick Selvage — will have DJs spinning vinyl sets throughout the day. It does seem weird, after all, to have an event dedicated to music with no music. The event is happening at RedLine Contemporary Art Center in RiNo, which offers a much warmer environment than a cold convention center, where many such events take place.

Memphis, TN | Memphis Record Pressing drops needle on $7.5M expansion plans: Vinyl records have found their groove again, and a Shelby County company that makes them is looking to become a bigger player. Memphis Record Pressing is planning a $7.5 million expansion that could add hundreds of employees with an average salary of $36,000. The company says the expansion would make it the largest manufacturer of vinyl records in North America, and one of the largest in the world. The company, founded in 2014, told county officials its volume has quadrupled, from 1 million records in 2015 to 4 million in 2020. It currently employs 137 people at its facility in Bartlett, a suburb of Memphis. The expansion would add a logistics facility in Memphis. Memphis Record Pressing said it has considered moving production to Toronto or Prague, and could locate its new project in North Mississippi, but would prefer to build it in Memphis.

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Toledo, OH | Glass City Record Show returns to Toledo: The Glass City Record Show is back in Toledo after the pandemic shut it down last year. This is the 39th year of the show which started in 1982 at the Holiday Inn in Perrysburg, and after a few years moved to the Knights of Columbus Hall in Toledo, and has been here ever since. For $1 admission, the public is welcome to come and sift through thousands of music products. “Vinyl’s, .45’s, CD’s, DVD’s, cassette’s, stereo equipment, anything music related,” said Rebecca Locke-Gagnon, co-runner of the show. There are over two dozen dealers with nearly 50 tables of content. The dealers range from all over the area including Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania and even Colorado. Some of them have even been with the show since the very first one, like Jack Taylor. “I’m a dealer, yeah, I’m a collector first, and these become duplicates at some point, and then I share them with the rest of Toledo,” said Taylor.

York, UK | Oxfam to host pop-up music stall at Shambles Market: Fans of vinyl records and CDs are in for a treat when a music stall opens at York’s Shambles Market for one day only. Oxfam’s Goodramgate store will be setting up its first ever pop-up music stall at Shambles Market on Friday, September 10. On sale will be a wide range of cds and vinyl records. Sandy Morey, manager of Oxfam in Goodramgate, said: “There will be all kinds for sale – classical, popular, folk, jazz, blues, punk, metal and lots more. “There will also be a selection of sheet music and we even have a number of vintage ‘78rpm discs too!” She added: “The public have been very generous in making huge donations to us so we are eager to turn these records, cds and the sheet music into funds to help Oxfam’s work in developing countries.” She said she hoped people would support Oxfam’s first market music stall, adding: “Everything will be available at great prices, for great causes.”

UK | Vinyl records are bad for the environment – it’s time for that to change: In light of the recent IPCC climate report, it’s high time the music industry reconsiders its approach. Now, a label has figured out how to produce 100 percent recyclable records. In the UK alone, vinyl record sales have been growing exponentially for the last 12 consecutive years and in 2020 alone, 4.3 million vinyl sales were made. While that’s great news for old school music nerds and Billie Eilish – who, according to Pitchfork, had the second-biggest vinyl sales week since 1991 with her new album Happier Than Ever – it turns out the medium is actually pretty bad for the environment. On the surface, the vinyl boom might seem like a slower and more conscious way of consuming and acquiring music, but in fact, its production methods are outrageously outdated: the PVC used to make records can take up to 1,000 years to decompose, while pressing machines powered by steam boilers require fossil fuels to generate the heat and pressure to operate. When it comes to packaging and production, things don’t look better.

UK | London label announces world’s first 100% recyclable vinyl record: Collaborating with a new manufacturer in Holland they’ve worked together to develop a process that uses 60% less energy cost compared to traditional vinyl manufacturing processes. Needs, a London based not for profit record label, have teamed up with Green Vinyl Records in Holland to produce a 100% recyclable record. Vinyl has often been debated for it’s negative and detrimental impact on the environment due to high energy usage manufacturing procedures and waste. Green Vinyl’s new method of production uses 60% less energy cost compared to traditional vinyl manufacturing processes. “…Over the years vinyl has been a difficult subject for us. There was even a point where we seriously thought about becoming a digital only label. But after a period of intense research we came across Green Vinyl and found a solution to do what we love and in a way which is ethical, progressive and pushes the format forward. Hopefully through this release we can raise awareness about this revolutionary new technology and inspire others to think about the way they produce vinyl.”

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Cornwall, UK | England’s smallest record shop Lucky’s Record Bar has opened in Cornwall: How the pandemic made Kev Downing do a career U-turn and follow his dream. If, like me, a trip to a record shop is akin to a Disney-esque experience of wonder and delight then 1. you need to get out more and 2. you really need to visit Lucky’s Record Bar. There are a lot of us vinyl junkies and music lovers out there which is why the new record shop, which opened in the old Buttermarket in Redruth a few weeks ago, is an absolute gem. What makes it even more special is that it has been dubbed the smallest record shop in England by Graham Jones, author of books about record shops including Last Shop Standing, The Vinyl Revival and The Shops That Made it Happen. And he should know. The man behind it is Kev ‘Lucky’ Downing, who made a complete career U-turn during the pandemic to make his dream of opening a record shop a reality.

Manama, BH | Tasjeelat: Bahrain get its first vinyl record store: Vinyls have made a major comeback over the past decade. Whether it’s DJs, collectors, or music enthusiasts, little comes close to the joy of setting up record players and hearing your favourite tracks with the incomparable quality offered by vinyls. Now, courtesy of Ali Alsaeed and located in the heart of the Kingdom’s capital Manama, Bahrain has its first independent vinyl records store, Tasjeelat. After he began running an online store from December 2020, presenting his stock on Instagram amidst the country’s lockdown, Alsaeed received a welcome response from the country’s music communities. The idea of creating a physical store had been long on his mind, and in July 2021, Alsaeed realised the dream and opened Tasjeelat. Driven by a motivation to create a space for vinyl enthusiasts and music lovers to explore new genres, Tasjeelat offers an eclectic collection in which local and international hip hop, jazz, and classic rock variations can be found.

Charleston, SC | Four spots to browse new and used vinyl records in Charleston: A popular music method, previously replaced by cassette tapes and later CDs, has regained popularity over the past few years. The use of vinyl records was the number one format for music distribution from the 1950s until the early 90s, later taking a back seat to the compact disk. But even that changed when personal music players, like the iPod, came onto the scene. While most people these days listen to music through streaming apps like Apple Music or Spotify, vinyl records have regained popularity. Whether by record collectors or those interested in the sounds of nostalgia, buying vinyl saw a new surge back in the late 2000s. Now, even today’s popular artists like Taylor Swift release new music on vinyl for those who prefer the method. According to Statista, 27.5 million LPs were sold in the United States last year, up 46% compared to 2019 and more than 30 times compared to 2006 when the vinyl record craze made its resurgence. When was the last time you browsed for a new vinyl record? There are a few local shops that still sell new and used albums.

London, UK | Jack White announces new Third Man Records Store in London: The likes of Paul Weller, The Jesus And Mary Chain and Cornershop are all releasing special records to celebrate the new store. The store will feature a Third Man Records token-operated lucky dip book machine, the ‘Literarium’, which was designed by the Toronto-based artist Craig Small. A Third Man Records token-operated recording booth will also be in operation, where artists and the public can record their own music straight to vinyl. In celebration of the store’s opening, Third Man Records will release a host of new or previously unreleased records by the likes of Paul Weller, David Ruffin, The Jesus and Mary Chain, Cornershop, Gina Birch of The Raincoats and the ‘lost’ Manchester group The Magic Roundabout. These exclusive releases will be available to buy on black vinyl on September 25 from the Third Man online store (which will soon expand into the UK and Europe), at all three Third Man Records stores and independent record shops everywhere. The record will also be issued on strictly limited edition yellow vinyl in the Third Man Records London store.

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