Calgary, CSA | Westleaf Receives Development Permit Approval for its Flagship Prairie Records Cannabis Store in Banff, Alberta and Provides Retail Update: Westleaf is pleased to announce the Town of Banff has approved its development permit for a flagship retail location in the heart of Canada’s most visited national park. The location on Caribou Street just off famed Banff Avenue, will be developed as a flagship in the Prairie Records brand of cannabis stores. The town located one hour west of Calgary, attracts more than 4 million visitors annually and is Canada’s most visited national park and one of the top tourist destinations in the country. Westleaf remains on track to open approximately 20 locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan by the end of Q3 2019, subject to receipt of required regulatory approvals including receipt of cannabis retail licenses from the Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis and the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority.
Ayr, UK | End of era as popular Ayr music shop shuts down: Big Sparra Vinyl in Ayr has announced its closure following a recent flood at the New Bridge Street store. It’s the end of an era for a much-loved record store which has touched the hearts- and ears- of many across the country. Big Sparra Vinyl in Ayr has announced its closure following a recent flood at the New Bridge Street store. The record shop has been selling golden oldies and modern mixes for half a decade. And Big Sparra has had its fair share of the limelight as it featured as one of the main filming locations in a TV advert as part of the National Trust for Scotland’s campaign, For the Love of Scotland. The store have been big supporters of annual Record Store Day in the past and even opened at 8am to allow vinyl collectors to get their hands on limited-edition discs. But it seems it’s not the end for co-owners Robert McKain and Ian Wallace as the pair move on to new ventures, with the latter half of the duo hoping to reopen in the same unit.
Auckland, NZ | In a spin for music charity: Ever wondered how music is created and captured on a vinyl record? With the renaissance for affection of the vinyl record in mind, a unique event is giving music enthusiasts the chance to see great original Kiwi songs played, recorded — and that work cut on a vinyl record – in three hours. Musician, songwriter, producer and now vinyl-cutter Jesse Wilde, is staging Journey to My Vinyl Destination, on Saturday, March 16, from 1pm. “It’s for vinyl record lovers and anyone who enjoys good music,” says Jesse, a former long-time Bucklands Beach resident. “You will see a live music performance recorded, mixed, and mastered and cut to vinyl right before your very eyes. The whole process of vinyl lathing, mixing and mastering for vinyl will be explained in this three-hour event.”
Stroud, UK | Groove Armada DJ Tom Findlay to perform at Stroud record shop: One of the world’s best DJs has chosen to celebrate World Record Store Day in Stroud this year. Tom Findlay, one half of the UK electronic dance and chill-out duo Groove Armada, will be playing two intimate DJ sets on Saturday, April 13 as part of the celebrations in the town. The famous DJ, who has released eight studio albums and singles such as I See You Baby and Superstylin with his musical partner Andy Cato as part of Groove Armada will be joined by Stroud’s own DJ superstars Mr Mulatto and Frank Situation from Situation Sounds to celebrate their own collaboration. Love on the Attack will officially be released by Tom AKA Sugar Daddy on Record Store Day, and he will be taking to the decks alongside Mr Mulatto and Frank Situation at Trading Post Records at 3pm to the delight of fans.
Canada | Call for interest for surplus copies of Radio-Canada’s vinyl records and CDs: Radio-Canada is issuing a call for interest today for the surplus copies of non-digitized vinyl records and CDs still in its possession. The available inventory of vinyl records comprises an estimated 108,000 surplus copies, including 49,000 33 RPM, 19,000 45 RPM and 40,000 78 RPM records. The CD inventory comprises an estimated 57,000 surplus copies. Overall, the inventory is made up of recordings in the following genres: classical (37%), French pop vocal (19%), English pop vocal (17%), instrumental (10%), jazz and blues (10%), folk (6%), and other (1%). This call for interest is open to Canadian secondary or post-secondary educational institutions that offer specialized music instruction recognized by a provincial Department of Education or the equivalent in Canada; museums; public libraries; community radio services; and non-profit organizations with a social mission.
Austin, TX | Hole in the Wall Owner Is Opening a New Neighborhood Bar in Highland: Royal Jelly is now Long Play Lounge, opening soon. A new bar is taking over the former Royal Jelly restaurant and bar space in Highland. Neighborhood bar Long Play Lounge is aiming to open on 704 West St. Johns Avenue most likely on Monday, March 18. Long Play takes on a whole music and vinyl record theme. The name is the longer version of what is commonly known as an LP record. The space is meant to feel like a mastering studio, complete with a record player, Danish speakers, and a record library spanning 300 albums. There are plans to host record raffles where people can buy raffle tickets to buy records being played at the bar. There will be approachable cocktails and beers. There will be two draft beers as well as a tapped cocktail, plus six to eight canned beers like Lone Star and some local breweries. The food menu isn’t long. There will be meaty chili and vegan chili, as well as chips, salsa, and queso.
Dark side of the vinyl: Are records bad for the environment? …Streaming services might seem like the greener option, but millions of digital files being streamed billions of times all require energy-intensive servers to store, retrieve and serve them to the consumer’s host device, such as a smartphone, which itself contributes to streaming’s carbon footprint, with its rare earth metals and short lifespan. By contrast, once a vinyl LP has been produced and purchased, its impact on the environment becomes minimal – even the record player typically requires less energy than a computer or digital music server. Still, the production of a vinyl record is often a noisy, dirty, 19th-century steam-driven manufacturing process, involving a series of environmentally troubling materials. As Michal Sterba, CEO of Czech-based GZ Media – a company a lot of UK record labels use for their manufacturing – admits: “Vinyl record is not the most ecological product in the world. A lot of steam, a lot of chilling, questionable process during the galvanics, the compound itself contains PVC, [it’s] very difficult to recycle in the end.”
