Part four of the TVD Record Store Club’s look at the new and reissued releases presently in stores for April, 2020. Part one is here, part two is here, and part three is here.
NEW RELEASE PICKS: GRID, Decomposing Force (NNA Tapes) Featuring Matt Nelson (Battle Trance, Elder Ones) on saxophone, Tim Dahl (Child Abuse, Lydia Lunch Retrovirus) on bass, and Nick Podgurski (New Firmament, Feast of the Epiphany) on drums, this is GRID’s second album after a self-titled debut in 2017 (that one’s still available on cassette, this one’s on LP), though last year they also collaborated with Lydia Lunch on a sweet track as tribute to key Beat writer Herbert Huncke. Decomposing Force is a brutal but also atmospheric slab of post-free jazz-molten noise-Industrial strength improv scorch that should briefly cheer up those who are perpetually saddened by the lack of biannual releases from Borbetomagus. It’s not quite as hammer-down as that trio (notice I said atmospheric) but it definitely has the potential to be a room clearer. So, don’t play it during quarantine. Unless you’re hanging with a bunch of Wolf Eyes fans, in which case the party’s just getting started. What a lucky fucker you are. A
Harkin, S/T (Hand Mirror) Although she has a ton of experience as a touring musician along with a few studio credits including Waxahatchee’s Out in the Storm, this is the debut from Katie Harkin, which is also the first release on the ambitious new label she’s formed with her partner, the writer Kate Leah Hewell (they describe Hand Mirror as a “creative community,” with literary publications and live events part of the plan). The eponymous effort is a solid one, reinforcing her background along with smarts in choosing collaborators; the set features the drums of Stella Mozgawa (Warpaint) and Jenn Wasner (Wye Oak, Bon Iver). Additionally, Harkin reveals savvy in combining a live foundation with electronic elements including samples and synths.
As said, savvy: the record doesn’t really go in for an electro-poppy sound but is instead mildly reminiscent of the sorta “serious” high-tech album statements that occasionally emerged during the 1980s, though even with a few post-Gothy strains and Kate Bushy motions, this general tendency doesn’t feel like a calculated state of affairs (which is to say, maybe you won’t hear it, and it might’ve not been her intention). Part of why has to do with Harkin’s guitar playing, which is most assertive early (vaguely like Barney Sumner in early New Order in opener “Mist on Glass”) and late (in closer “Charm and Tedium”), but the biggest reason is that it’s clear Harkin isn’t striving to fit into any sort of stylistic niche. Her songs are as strong as her singing, and I’d say this is a promising record, but really, she’s already essentially delivered. A-
Chicago, IL | Pandemic can’t scratch virtual Record Store Day: Beverly Records, 11612 S. Western Ave., has always displayed a knack for staying on the cutting edge of a business linked to yesterday. Its “Facebook Live Shopping Event” on Thursday, April 23, at 7 p.m., will be the most recent example of an old hound dog coming up with cheap tricks to give the people what they want. With Record Store Day 2020 shelved during the pandemic, Beverly Records’ men at work ironed out the kinks to connect directly through technology to help shut-ins get the latest in vinyl releases and re-releases that they otherwise would have purchased after standing in line in the morning dew. “We have been busy picking out some really cool records, and now they are ready for distribution,” said Beverly Records Owner Jack Dreznes, whose connections in the industry have helped him secure many coveted recordings. Facebook users can tap into Beverly Records’ live video feed, and they can expect the following from the comfort of home: Two records will go up for sale at the same time. The viewer posts the comment “claimed” to purchase the record displayed. After the Facebook event, Beverly Records will contact the buyer to 
Cornwall, ON | Cornwall area mourns the loss of local musician and business owner: The Cornwall community is reeling from the unexpected passing of Larry “Bud” O’Byrne on Thursday. The 40-year-old father of two was an avid musician and participated in stand-up comedy shows. He was perhaps most well-known as owner and operator of Buds Records and Kool Things, which he opened last year. Located in Leduc’s shopping centre, the store was a headquarters for several of the city’s record collectors and lovers of music alike. Following O’Byrne’s passing, several members of an online vinyl collector’s group he founded shared their fondest memories of the man. “He will be greatly missed in the vinyl community and as a good community member of Cornwall,” said Richard Houle. “Between his shop, the record shows he put on, his auctions, and his Facebook group, Bud gave us something this city never had; a sense of community among us collectors,” stated another member. “He loved vinyl and was an immediate friend to anyone who loved vinyl too. His shop was a hang out, I’d go once a week just to flip through records and 
Alpharetta, GA | Comeback Vinyl offers virtual record store, curbside pickup to Alpharetta community while physical doors are closed: Music has always been a priority in Comeback Vinyl co-owner Alex Vernon’s life, he said. He and his mother, Karen Vernon, shared a strong bond over music for his entire life, he said, which led him to becoming a DJ in college. His passion for music is why he opened his first record “store” inside an Alpharetta antique mall with his mom in 2012, a mall she and a friend opened together. He said it was not an official storefront at this point but a section of the antique mall. “I went to my first concert with [my mom], listening to new albums when they came out together on CDs … so [my parents] gave me a turntable for Christmas [one year], and I started buying records,” Alex said. “[My mom and I] started going through all her records together and buying collections together to put into this antique mall.” Alex said initially this was a way for him to build his record collection and for him and his mom to bond, but it kept growing into a bigger store inside the mall, then 
Palm Springs, CA | Pandemic Stories: Get to Know a La Quinta Record Store Owner Who Picked the Perfect Time to Take His Business Online: I miss being able to go to record stores. When we’re not in the midst of a pandemic, much of my time and money is spent flipping through and purchasing vinyl that I may or may not need. On the plus side, this means I’ve amassed a substantial collection that will last me through the quarantine—but I’m still having withdrawals from visiting Finders Thrift and Vinyl. Finders, as you’d guess from the name, is part thrift store, and part record store, on Calle Tampico in La Quinta. Matt Lehman is the owner who keeps the shop packed with rare finds and classics at great prices. Most of the records I own came straight from his famous discount bin. In recent months, Lehman has been working on taking the record-store portion of his business online, using the name Spatula City Records. Turns out his timing could not have been better. “I was extremely lucky when this whole quarantine came down,” Lehman said. “I had been building Spatula City Records for over three months, with the intentions of launching in May. The day I shut down Finders was a Tuesday, and I spent the next three days working as hard and as fast as I could to 
San Francisco, CA | ‘A devastating loss’: SF record shops lament closures on what should have been Record Store Day: It was 8 a.m. on Record Store Day, and the line in front of Amoeba Music buzzed with anticipation, stretching down Haight Street and around the corner onto Stanyan. Though it was the first time in 12 years that the San Francisco location had opened at such an early hour, manager Tony Green estimates that at least 8,000 people visited his independent record shop that day, eager to get their hands on a limited edition release or sought-after relic to add to their collection. That was last year. Now, the shuttered shop, which would have celebrated Record Store Day this weekend, is depending on online sales as the annual event is postponed until at least June 20. But Green thinks even that seems optimistic. “Of course, it is a certainty that we could not do it the same way we have in the past, with a lot of music fan frenzy and close social interaction,” he told SFGATE, adding, “Our main focus right now is figuring out how the store will run 
Memphis, TN | Local book, record shops ‘essential’ to the city we want to keep: A signed, used hardcover of mystery writer Ross Thomas’ 1989 novel “The Fourth Durango.” A good-as-new used vinyl copy of the Chuck Berry compilation “The Great 28.” A remastered, good-as-new, used CD of The Clash’s 1979 album “Give ’Em Enough Rope.” A new paperback of the Larry McMurtry novel “All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers.” Respectively, those were my most recent purchases at Burke’s Book Store and Goner Records in Cooper-Young, at Shangri-La Records on Madison near Overton Square and at Novel book store in East Memphis, all in the weeks just before our world mostly shut down. There are things I’m missing over the past few weeks: Having my kids in school. Being able to escape to a coffee shop to write. FedExForum “Whoomping” through an unexpected Grizzlies playoff race. Enjoying a bacon-and-egg grilled cheese and hibiscus tea from the Fuel food truck on a bustling Memphis Farmers Market morning. The mere prospect of lying on the lawn for a Levitt Shell concert. Going to the movies. But high on the list is this: Glancing over the stacks or 
