Lancaster, PA | A Day in the Life Records opens in Lancaster city with ‘finely curated selection’ of vinyl: A Day in the Life Records has opened a new shop in downtown Lancaster. Now in its own space at 24A W. Walnut St., A Day in the Life Records previously sold vinyl records at Scarlet Willow, a vintage shop at 320 N. Queen St. Daniel Flynn, who owns the record shop with this wife, Ashley Spotts, said they decided to open a separate shop after having a good reaction from selling records for the last four years at Scarlet Willow. Flynn, who formerly worked in finance, now manages the roughly 800-square foot shop, which also carries some music cassette tapes, CDs and books. A Day in the Life Records opened with around 2,000 records, consisting of what Flynn calls a “finely curated selection” that includes new releases and popular titles as well as hard-to-find and collectible items. Flynn said the shop is always looking to buy record collections.
Dire Straits’ ‘Brothers In Arms,’ Mark Knopfler’s ‘Local Hero’ For Half-Speed Vinyl: Both albums have been remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. UMC/EMI have announced the March 19 release of half-speed vinyl masters of Dire Straits’ immortal 1985 album Brothers In Arms, and Mark Knopfler’s revered soundtrack to Bill Forsyth’s 1983 movie Local Hero. Both albums have been remastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. They will be available on 180gsm black vinyl with a series branded obi-strip and a certificate of authenticity from Abbey Road Studios. The double vinyl Brothers In Arms will have a full colour outer sleeve with printed inner sleeves; Local Hero will have a full colour outer sleeve with a facsimile of the original artwork. The massively successful Brothers In Arms was Dire Straits’ fifth studio album. It went on to be one of the biggest-selling releases in recording history, with ten-times platinum status in the UK (the first record ever to achieve such status) and nine-times platinum in the US.
Volbeat reissuing debut album ‘The Strength/The Sound/The Songs’ on vinyl: Volbeat has announced a 15th anniversary vinyl reissue of the band’s 2005 debut album, The Strength/The Sound/The Songs. The package will be released on a trio of different color options, including a glow-in-the-dark green exclusive to indie record stores, on March 26. The Strength/The Sound/The Songs provided the first glimpse at Volbeat’s unique combination of hard rock and metal with rockabilly. It brought the Danish rockers attention in Europe, but only received a limited U.S. release. Volbeat’s sound eventually made its way stateside beginning with their fourth studio effort, 2010’s Beyond Hell/Above Heaven, and the band’s remained a rock radio mainstay ever since. Volbeat’s most recent album is 2019’s Rewind, Replay, Rebound.
Pixies leader Black Francis sets out vinyl reissue series: A total of 12 albums from Black Francis will be released throughout 2021 on coloured vinyl – with The Cult Of Ray and Oddballs set for launch in February. Pixies frontman Black Francis will reissue 12 of his albums on coloured vinyl throughout the course of 2021. Nine of the records have never been released on vinyl before, with the Frank Black-stamped The Cult Of Ray and Oddballs the first pair to hit store shelves on February 12. Those will be followed on April 16 by Francis Black Francis, Honeycomb and Fast Man Raider Man, with Bluefinger and Live At The Hotel Utah Saloon arriving on July 2. September 3 will see Svn Fngrs and Live in Nijmegen reissued, with the collection concluding with NonStopErotik, The Golem and Paley & Francis on November 27. All 12 are being reissued by Demon Records. Francis says: “Salutations from the Twilight Zone, and if you think I mean the 1960s sci-fi television programme, you are correct – I am quite literally inside of a 1960s sci-fi TV programme. And in that context, Demon have allowed me to correct certain anachronisms in my published works and are releasing some for the first time on vinyl.”
Jazz Corner: Vinyl and The Rebirth of The Long-Playing Record: The 12” vinyl became a standard vehicle for recorded music: A friend called the other day, in pre-COVID-19 times that is, and said he had a bottle of South African wine which would go perfectly with jazz heard on vinyl. Could he bring the bottle over? Could we have a vinyl jazz listening session? A really good idea, sirjee! Now my friend is very well-traveled and is a man of eclectic taste. He has been to several jazz festivals around the world and has an impressive collection of jazz. But that is almost a totally digital collection with plenty of compact discs and hard drives. We had a great session of listening to jazz on vinyl, and he was right: That wine was well paired with the jazz that evening. Maybe a mellow red goes well with Bill Evans, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald. The experiment is certainly worth repeating soon!
