Lower Merion, PA | Iconic Main Line record store about to close for good: …For over 40 years, Gold Million Records, originally under the name Plastic Fantastic, has been the place to go for music. But over the next few weeks, the store will close for good as owners Howard Gold and Max I. Million have decided to close the iconic store. “This was both of our passions right from the beginning,” Gold said in a recent interview inside the store at its current location at 851 W. Lancaster Ave. in Bryn Mawr. “What a treat to be able to share it, and people appreciated it.” Among their memories of the last 42 years are the giants of the rock industry who have passed through the doors. Today, there are photos on the walls of many of those visits, including Blondie, Joan Jett, the Ramones, the Hooters, the Police and many others. Gold said many of the times those bands were at the store was before they got really big. To Gold and Million, those stars were just kids at the time.
San Francisco, CA | Turn the music up: The 4 best spots to score vinyl records in San Francisco: Love to spin vinyl records at home? Hoodline crunched the numbers to find the top vinyl hotspots in San Francisco, using both Yelp data and our own secret sauce to produce a ranked list of where to venture next time you’re in the market to hear your tunes the old-fashioned way…Topping the list is Rooky Ricardo’s Records. Located at 419 Haight St. (between Webster and Fillmore streets) in Hayes Valley, this is the highest-rated vinyl record spot in San Francisco, boasting 4.5 stars out of 83 reviews on Yelp. Owner Dick Vivian opened Rooky Ricardo’s three decades ago, with a collection of 35,000 45s from a distributor who had gone out of business years before. Since then, the spot has welcomed LPs to its collection to fill things out, becoming one of the country’s top spots for funk and soul records.
Vancouver, CA | VIFF 2018: Kid Koala presents Satellite as part of Live program: Kid Koala brings his interactive turntable orchestra project Satellite to Vancouver. …To bring Satellite to fruition, 50 turntable stations are set up in the performance space. Each station also has a mixing effects console, a series of colour-coded vinyl records, and directions of how to follow the score. This is accomplished by a series of subtle lighting changes which correspond to the colour-coded albums, that the audience plays. Of course, each station will spin along somewhat differently than the next, and also be adding its own sound effects into the master mix. The creative team did consider the very strong possibility that the resulting sound could be extremely and profoundly unpleasant.
Mic Drop: W Hotels Launches Music Label: W Hotels isn’t just marching to their own beat, they’re debuting it. The iconic brand behind the world’s first on-property music festival series (WAKE UP CALL) today announces its newest project: W Records. At its core, W Records is a record label and resource for artists selected by W Hotels and their music industry partners. From signing to release, W Records supports artists through every step of development, providing recording space, video shoot locations, mixing and mastering and finally, distribution of the new sound via live performances, streaming and vinyl production. Tracks for W Records are recorded, naturally, in W Sound Suites (the brand’s signature, on-site recording studios) with four rising artists stepping up to the mic over the next year. Starting today, tracks from the first artist will be released through W Records both digitally and via limited edition runs of vinyl, offering W fans a throwback way to enjoy new/next music.
