Dublin, IE | Vinyl festival returns to Dun Laoghaire: Dun Laoghaire will be the home of The Vinyl Festival for the second year in a row. The event host a collection of talks, panels, DJ sets and live performances which celebrate the importance of music and the vinyl record. The line-up of special guests include Horslips, Vicky McClure (Line of Duty/This is England), Liam O’Maonlai (Hothouse Flowers), Noel Hogan (Cranberries), Mary Coughlan, radio presenters Dave Fanning and Tom Dunne, and many more. 43 years on from recording their Horslips Live album in Dún Laoghaire’s old Pavilion, Johnny Fean, Barry Devlin and Jim Lockhart from the band are coming back to the town for two concerts as part of the festival. They will play two nights on November 1 and 2 in the Pavilion Theatre. Liam O’Maonlaí will discuss the writing and recording of Hothouse Flowers’ 1988 debut album, People and will play a few live tracks on piano as well as a couple on vinyl.
Sacramento, CA | Record Spinners: The History and Closure of Dimple Records: John Radakovitz stands in front of a makeshift assembly line in the back warehouse of Dimple Records in Roseville in July. One by one, he picks up a record, places it gently in a sleeve, affixes an orange price sticker to the front and sets it aside. Music has been at the core of John’s entire adult life. He’s made a career of trading tonal poetry captured on vinyl, then magnetic tape, then polycarbonate plastic disks — and somehow, in this era where millions of people lease music encoded as zeroes and ones, the company he cofounded more than four decades ago is still going strong. People still walk into his seven stores scattered throughout the Sacramento area, and they’re buying music, movies, video games and books, both new and used. But John knows many people are walking into his stores for what could be their last time…
Guided by Voices throwing ‘Sweating the Plague’ listening parties: Guided by Voices‘ are gearing up to release Sweating the Plague in a few weeks — it’s the band’s 29th album and third this year. Robert Pollard’s well of anthemic, ultra-catchy rock songs has not run dry, as evidenced by “Unfun Glitz” which premieres in this post. Listen below. Sweating The Plague will be released on streaming services on November 1, but will be available in stores a week early, with listening parties happening in 17 independent record stores across four countries on Thursday, October 24 at 6 PM local time. Purchasers on that day will get a commemorative poster, and each store will be giving away a Sweating The Plague test pressing autographed by Robert Pollard. In North America, there are listening parties in Minneapolis, Nashville, Portland, Boston, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Dayton, Brooklyn (Rough Trade), Toronto, Seattle and Austin. All listening party locations are listed below.
Hartlepool, UK | Rare signed The Jam album up for grabs at Hartlepool charity music event: Music fans can win a rare album signed by all three members of The Jam and help raise money for two worthwhile causes at an upcoming event. Hartlepool DJ David Halcrow, his wife Tracey and Hartlepool March of the Mods organiser Kev McGuire are staging a day of music and fundraising at the Corporation Sports and Social Club in Whitby Street. It takes place on Saturday, November 2, from 2pm until late and will feature a mix of top local live bands, DJ sets, food and raffles. The main raffle prize is a rare three record vinyl album by The Jam autographed by Paul Weller, Rick Buckler and Bruce Foxton. The day is raising money for the Chemotherapy Unit at the University Hospital of Hartlepool and 12-year-old Grace Measor from Seaton Carew who has been undergoing treatment for leukaemia.
Forbes: Review: Como Audio Releases Its First Turntable: Given the decidedly retro look of Como Audio’s wireless speakers and music systems — with warm wood finishes, control knobs instead of touch controls and support for FM radio — it should come as no surprise that the company has now released its own turntable. Rather than re-inventing the wheel (or platter, I suppose), Como Audio partnered with Pro-Ject, a world leader in audiophile turntable design. The result is a beauty of a turntable with premium quality components, a sleek and modern design, the ability to stream vinyl tracks wirelessly, and a setup experience that’s as close as it gets to plug-and-play. At $399, the Como Audio Turntable is an affordable step up from entry level turntables, with performance and looks that won’t disappoint.
Record Store Day Black Friday Promises 177 Titles, Including Paul McCartney, Cardi B, Lizzo. Also in the Nov. 29 mix: everyone from Patsy Cline to U2 and the National. Record Store Day’s slate of exclusive Black Friday titles has been announced, to the tune of 177 new releases — almost all of them on vinyl only, although a few CDs, cassettes or books figure into the mix. As usual for the post-Thanksgiving LP-fest, the lineup consists of about half the number of releases that come out for the bigger RSD event in April, but few fans of any musical genre could scour the list and not find at least a few titles that’ll make any trips to Macy’s or Wal-Mart seem like an afterthought Nov. 29. The full list is available here. Tantalizing obscurities abound, of course — and will be previewed in depth by Variety in the run-up to the event — but here are 10 of the releases with the widest appeal…
U2 releasing ‘Three” debut EP RSD Black Friday: Island Records and UMC have announce a new limited edition vinyl reissue from U2 celebrating the 40th anniversary of the band’s first release Three. Remastered in 2019 and pressed on 180-gram black vinyl, this limited edition vinyl EP Three (1979) will be released on November 29th via independent retailers for Record Store Day’s Black Friday promotion. Originally released in Ireland in September 1979, the Three EP features three songs recorded at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin with producer Chas De Whalley – “Out Of Control,” “Stories For Boys” and “Boy-Girl.” The A-side was chosen via a listener poll on Dave Fanning’s RTÉ (Irish national radio) music show. All songs have been remastered for this reissue. The EP will be a numbered release, limited to 17,000. It’ll be a full color outer sleeve featuring new artwork, with die cut hole for label and 40th anniversary noted on discs labels and sticker.
Buffy Sainte-Marie, Chet Baker Vinyl Exclusives For Record Store Day 2019’s Black Friday: Craft Recordings have announced seven exclusive vinyl albums for Record Store Day’s 2019 Black Friday event, taking place on Friday, 29 November in independent record stores across the US. A diverse selection of titles will be reissued this year, including Buffy Saint-Marie’s innovative 1969 album, Illuminations and a mono pressing of Chet Baker’s Riverside album (Chet Baker Sings) It Could Happen to You. First released in 1969, Illuminations is the pioneering sixth studio album from the Academy Award–winning singer-songwriter and activist Buffy Sainte-Marie. Throughout her long career, the Indigenous Canadian-American icon has been a trailblazer and a tireless advocate, an innovative artist and a disruptor of the status quo. No exception to her career, Illuminations broke ground as one of the very first electronic vocal albums.
Two New Paul McCartney Tracks, ‘Home Tonight’ & ‘In A Hurry’ Due Out On Black Friday: The limited edition vinyl picture disc will feature new and exclusively created artwork based upon the parlour game ‘Exquisite Corpse.’ Paul McCartney has an announcement sure to top fans’ Black Friday shopping lists: On 22 November, the legendary Beatle will digitally release two never-before-heard tracks, ‘Home Tonight’ and ‘In A Hurry’ – followed by a very limited Record Store Day exclusive double A-side 7-inch picture disc single through Capitol Records on 29 November. The limited edition vinyl picture disc will feature new and exclusively created artwork based upon the parlour game ‘Exquisite Corpse’ along with a lyric insert. Both ‘Home Tonight’ and ‘In A Hurry’ were recorded during the Greg Kurstin sessions for McCartney’s chart-topping 2018 album Egypt Station.
