Record Store Day Black Friday returns 29th November: Record Store Day returns for Black Friday 2024. This year’s event sees special vinyl releases from more than 100 artists, including The Beatles, Bebe Rexha, Jungle, Garbage, and Rage Against the Machine. Consider all musical bases covered. As ever, all releases are special limited editions, and are available only from independent record stores. The doors open at 8am on Friday 29th November—that’s Black Friday for other retailers, too. …Record Store Day celebrates all things vinyl, with special releases, merchandise and live performances all part of the fun. It’s a chance to show your appreciation for everyone involved in the independent side of the music business, including workers at the stores, the labels, distributors and the artists themselves. The main event takes place in April, but Black Friday is an antidote to the online sales madness.
Evanston, IL | Animal Records vinyl store opens in Evanston: Longtime Evanston resident Greg Allen said he has dreamed of owning a record store all his life. Last month, his dream became a reality. Animal Records, located at 624 Grove St., opened Sept. 30. The store’s wares consist of records from Allen’s own extensive collection, turntables and record players. The store will also buy record collections for cash or store credit. “I’ve always been a record collector my whole life,” Allen said. “But I’m not gonna be alive forever, so what’s the point of just keeping all this crap in my house?” Allen said he bought his first record when he was 12. This year, he is 55. He’s finally ready to open his own record store since his youngest child just started college, he said. He added that many parts of the store are still a work in progress because he had to move and catalog his “colossal” collection out of his home. But he wanted customers to see the store anyway, he said.
Glasgow, UK | Love Actually star visits Glasgow record shop after filming ITV thriller in city: An actor from Love Actually was pictured visiting a record shop after filming a new ITV thriller in the city. Andrew Lincoln, who is known for his role as Mark in the 2003 romcom, visited Mixed Up Records on Otago Lane recently. The 51-year-old, who also starred in The Walking Dead, posed with a tote bag containing his new purchases from the music and movie store. Staff wrote: “Andrew Lincoln is very happy with his big bag of excellent records from Mixed Up! And he gets to take home one of our super cool tote bags too.” It comes after Lincoln was spotted filming a new television series in the city. The actor was shooting scenes for the upcoming programme Cold Water, which is described as an “intoxicating” new thriller for ITV. The story follows John (Lincoln), a repressed man who is shocked to find himself in middle age, secretly raging at his life as a stay-at-home dad.
New York, NY | Coldplay pops into New York City record store for surprise performance: Customers inside the store were suddenly treated to a live song by Coldplay—during which Chris Martin invited a woman celebrating her 70th birthday on stage. For a few lucky Coldplay fans, it was para-para-paradise. The band made a surprise appearance at the New York City record store Rough Trade on Tuesday morning, stopping in to perform a song for the customers shopping inside. Chris Martin and the seven-time Grammy winning band — who released their newest album “Moon Music” on Friday — performed an acoustic version of their latest single “feelslikeimfallinginlove.” “They kind of wanted it to be something where there were customers just shopping and, all of a sudden, they walk in and start playing,” said George Flanagan, the store manager. “Which is kind of exactly what happened.”
Bradford, UK | The Record Café listed as one of the best in the UK: A well-known name has listed a unique bar as one of the best stops in the UK. The Record Café, in North Parade is a much-loved fixture at the top-of-town and anyone from Bradford and its surrounding areas knows all about it and its popular owner, Keith Wildman. But the bar-come-vinyl-collector’s dream has received recognition from further afield this week. Graeme Sharp, a journalist by trade in his seventies, has dubbed The Record Café as one of his 10 favourite record shops in the UK in an article for The Guardian. His love of vinyl records stretches back 58 years, when he bought his first vinyl, Duane Eddy’s 1962 single (Dance With the) Guitar Man. He is also the author of newly released ‘On the Records: Notes from the Vinyl Revival’, a follow-up to his ‘Vinyl Countdown’ book, which was published in 2019.
Dallas, TX | Caffeine and tunes at The Spin Coffee and Vinyl: From Bob Dylan’s “One More Cup of Coffee” to Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” coffee and music have had a plentiful relationship. It makes sense to open a coffee shop centered around music, which is exactly what Nassif Kraish has done with The Spin Coffee and Vinyl. The original location is in Dallas, Texas and is run by Kraish’s son. After moving to San Antonio for his wife’s job, Kraish decided to open a second location—this time with a kitchen. The Spin Coffee and Vinyl offers an assortment of breakfast pastries, coffee and cereal. There are two menus for coffee. One is centered on traditional types like mocha, cappuccino and latte. The other, deemed “With a Spin,” features themed drinks such as Strawberry Fields and In Bloom. One of the specialties of The Spin Coffee and Vinyl is the recently added Turkish coffee. As for cereal, Kraish keeps a diverse catalog in the cereal bar.
The Doors Announce 60th Anniversary Plans: New Releases, A Book & More: “When I was a kid, 60 years old seemed like, ‘Well, you’ll be dead any minute,'” John Densmore tells Billboard. “And here we are.” The Doors will turn 60 next year—something drummer John Densmore says the kids who formed the legendary rock group in Los Angeles could never have imagined. “When I was a kid, 60 years old seemed like, ‘Well, you’ll be dead any minute,’” Densmore tells Billboard with a laugh. “And here we are.” The group’s 60th anniversary celebration is upon us, too—starting next month with some key archival releases. Arriving Nov. 22 via Rhino’s High Fidelity audiophile vinyl series is The Doors 1967-1971, a limited edition (3,000 copies) six-LP set that houses the six studio albums the band released during late frontman Jim Morrison’s lifetime. A week later, for Record Store Black Friday, Rhino will release a four-disc remastered vinyl edition of Live in Detroit, taken from a May 8, 1970, concert at the city’s famed Cobo Arena. The 25-song set is the longest concert the Doors ever performed, according to band manager Jeff Jampol of JAM Inc.
Denver, CO | Rocky Mountain Record Show Returns to Denver This Weekend: The Rocky Mountain Record Show is a vinyl lover’s dream, with more than 150,000 records, live music, food trucks and more. The Rocky Mountain Record Show is back in rotation at the Denver Sport Castle on Saturday, October 12, and Sunday, October 13, bringing more than 150,000 records and a packed crate of other classics to enjoy, including a full bar, food trucks, live music from local DJs and a poster sale. The biannual show (there’s also an installment in April) is perfect for the record collector with everything—but also designed to be welcoming for the “vinyl curious,” explains founder Kobi Waldfogel, who started the event in 2021 with partners Reuben Saul and Patrick Selvage. “There really is something for everyone,” he says, and that includes “the whole spectrum of collectors—the person that’s just getting into it all the way to the hard-core collector.” It’s grown from a one-day event hoping for 500 attendees to a two-day festival that draws around 3,000 visitors.
Independent bookstores see post-pandemic bump: Stores and online sales have increased as people rediscovered reading. When the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, supply chains around the world were instantly disrupted. The drop in supply correlated with price increases, resulting in higher-than-average inflation. Even now, four years after the start of the pandemic, consumers are still reeling from high grocery, housing and insurance costs. Many are turning to credit cards to pay for expenses and slashing discretionary spending on items like vacations, restaurants and more. Despite people tightening their purse strings, one place seems to have thrived during Covid: the independent bookstore. Research shows there has been a sharp increase in the number of independent booksellers, even though monoliths like Amazon still reign supreme. In my own city of Indianapolis, I can think of five independent bookstores that weren’t here before Covid. “The pandemic was incredibly tough for many small businesses but also helped kickstart lots of folks reading more again, so many of us ‘rediscovered’ reading,” said Jake Budler, who owns Tomorrow Bookstore in Indianapolis with his wife, Julia Breakey.
