Mold, UK | VOD Music confirms second store to open in town centre: Owner of VOD Music in Flintshire is not planning to stop the music any time soon after 15-years of business. At 67sq ft, VOD Music is known as the smallest record store across the UK and now proud owner Colin Trueman has confirmed he will be opening a second shop later this summer. The existing independent shop situated at 28 New Street in Mold opened in 2009. Being a source of interest locally and from afar, customers are pleased to know the original shop will remain the same. The new, second venue is slightly bigger and so will provide a spacious set-up and enhanced shopping experience while retaining the qualities customers already know and love. Colin said: “I am certain this will a fun place, great for a browse, chat and plenty of banter. It wasn’t on our radar but when the opportunity was presented to us it had to be considered.”
Amagansett, NY | Drop a Needle: Start (or restart!) a vinyl collection with these 5 pivotal picks from Innersleeve Records: Video may have killed the radio star, but not even streaming could slay vinyl. In 2017, the same year that Sony Music announced it would begin vinyl record production once again (after a near 30-year abandonment of the medium), Craig Wright opened his record-centric music store Innersleeve Records (199 Main St., Amagansett, 631-604-6248) — and not a moment too soon. Wright, who spent his formative years working at the dearly departed Long Island Sound (we remember) now offers new printings and used versions of all genres of music, as well as guitars on consignment and the accoutrements that go along with them. We checked in with store manager Chris Clark (whose family used to own the now-shuttered guitar shop across the street; it’s kind of poetic, right?) for his five must-have albums for any collection. Here’s what he had to say.
Evansville, IN | Evansville record store celebrates fourth birthday: An Evansville record store is celebrating its fourth year in business this week with a variety of promotions and giveaways. With over 300,000 records in stock, Space Monkey continues offer a diverse selection of records for any taste in music. Owner Patrick Holl says he is amazed at the support the store continues to receive, and is looking forward to what the future holds. “It feels great. We’ve made so many friends, and customers. We’ve been lucky enough to have people come from all the major markets around us, plus all of the Tri-staters…it’s been quite a milestone,”says Holl. Some of the prizes include a new turntable, and a signed album by The Cold Stares. The store says customers can follow their Facebook page for all the latest giveaways and promotions throughout the week.
ZA | Touchdowns and turntables: Collecting vinyl in South Africa: Last year when I studied in Athens and traveled around Europe, I bought a vinyl record in every country I visited. When I returned to the United States, I added 10 records to my vinyl record collection — which has over 300 vinyl records. I covered that experience in a previous article in, what I can consider at this point, the “Touchdowns and Turntables” series. My travels this summer significantly overshadow last year’s. I started in South Africa and worked my way up to Ireland. In total, I have stepped foot on three different continents and in five different countries this summer. Due to my fear of damage in transit and ethical concerns about making purchases in certain countries, I only purchased three records in Cape Town, South Africa. Despite the significant decrease in purchases, the three I made in Africa satisfied my music addiction for the summer.
Plainville, CT | The Plainville Record Riot! A Giant Vinyl Record Store Lands in Hartford County! 10,000 LPs for sale: It’s the Plainville Record Riot! 40+ tables of LPs, CDs & 45s. A giant record store under one roof. 10,000 LPs in one room! Join the Record Riot community. Meet you in the bargain bins! Did you just buy a turntable? The Record Riot is a PERFECT event for you. Dealers from New England and beyond will bring all sorts of musical surprises. From punk to funk, classic rock to hip hop and soul/jazz too. Cheap records and expensive vinyl too. CDs as well, plus 45s for your jukebox. $5 admission at 9:30 AM, $10 early at 8 AM. Plenty of free parking! And great music all day! Hope to see you diggin’ in the crates!
UK | Vinyl came back from the dead—and so did the bootleggers: inside the booming business of knock-off records. As LP sales boom in the UK, so has the illegal trade in poor-quality fakes. But the record detectives are fighting back. In July 2018, the peace of an upmarket cul-de-sac in rural Hampshire was suddenly disturbed by the arrival of two police officers and three people from trading standards banging on the door of a big redbrick house. They had a warrant to carry out what was called an “inspection”, but was really a raid. The man they were investigating was 50-year-old Richard Hutter, and the job they had to do that day took three hours. As they searched his home, he spent most of the time in the kitchen, insisting that he had done nothing wrong. His mood was one of shock and deep discomfort. For at least six years, he had quietly sold his wares online and funded an apparently affluent lifestyle to the tune of around £1.2m; now, the consequences were coming home.
Jackson, MS | Vinyl records and books are a great pair: Like David Swider, owner of The End of All Music and co-owner of The End of All Art, which is the subject of this week’s Culture centerpiece story, vinyl records and books have long been a passion of mine. I grew up reading and have continued to through the years, though I tend to read more collections of essays and books on theology than “Goosebumps” or “Harry Potter” these days. I often seek out signed copies of books and have them autographed in-person when I have the chance (which is often, with local bookstores like Reed’s GumTree and Square Books regularly hosting author events). …As Swider said, collecting vinyl records and books go hand in hand. There’s just something about physical media that makes it more of a joy to consume and collect than a disembodied digital copy.
Madison, WI | Madison Paperback Bookstore Opens On East Side: Tucked into the side of a single-story building of small shops east of Stoughton Road on Milwaukee Street is Madison Paperbacks, a bibliographic trip into the literary and political past. Looking for a first edition of RD Laing’s “Politics of Experience”? The early out-of-print novels of Don DeLillo? A stack of OFF OUR BACKS – the militant feminist journal of the ‘70s? A wall of early sci-fi paperbacks with far-out covers? The esoteric collection of thousands of books owned by Todd Henderson is slowly being unpacked and shelved in Madison’s newest bookstore. …“I’ve been selling books online for years and in the last couple of years I started selling at flea markets, music festivals and the like. My bookstore is now open to the public one day a week. I specialize in old paperbacks, what they call ‘mass market paperbacks.’ They’re super-cheap editions,” says Todd. “I specialize in science fiction, counterculture stuff from the 60’s through the 80’s and a lot of other stuff, old versions of hardcover books but paperbacks mostly.”
NZ | Was the vinyl record the most significant artwork of the 20th century? If you spent your teenage years in the late 20th century, chances are, you treasure the crackle and buzz of a needle in the groove of a vinyl record. If my house was ever threatened by fire, once the family and dog were out and passports gathered, I’d snatch a big old metal box I have that contains mine and my father’s seven inch 45 rpm records. Precious stacks of black. By the end of the 60s the album was king, but by the 80s in Aotearoa New Zealand a vinyl cottage industry was exploding with 45 rpm records, with labels like Flying Nun leading a DIY approach. As we know, vinyl is now back, and in production again in New Zealand. This after a seeming end for local commercial record production in 1987, which then saw the market flooded by cassette tapes and CDs. Only Peter King of Geraldine was to continue to produce short-run lathe cut records here for decades, and was celebrated for it worldwide by independent musicians and even the Beastie Boys.
