Carrollton, GA | New Record Shop Brings Vinyl to Life: Eric Shepard’s love for vinyl records goes back to his earliest childhood memories when he would sit in front of the record player and listen for hours to the great musicians like Elvis Presley. He gently slides a decades-old album from its case, gazing at its grooves under the light in his newly opened record store. “There’s a warm, resonating sound that you get from vinyl records,” says Eric. “You can really feel the ambiance. With vinyl, the musical nuances transport you in a way that streaming never does. The anticipation of hearing the needle drop and the first note sound through your speakers always leaves you wanting more. Nothing feels as good as vinyl sounds.” Eric fondly recalls first experiencing vinyl after his brother handed him a KISS album at the tender age of three. “I was hooked…”
Burlington, NC | Burlington’s Main Street Vinyl finds its groove: Edward Bishop flipped through albums in the bargain bins at Main Street Vinyl in downtown Burlington on Tuesday. A regular at the store, Bishop, 63, has collected albums since his youth. “Vinyl has never gone away despite the record companies always seeking to work on another way to package their product,” Bishop said. A brick and mortar store, Main Street Vinyl, 321 S. Main St., Burlington, offers audio enthusiasts the opportunity to own physical analog copies of the music that may be on the playlists of digital devices. Josh Garrett and his girlfriend, Amy McLamb, co-own the store, which opened in November, 2016…“I really like records and sharing with people,” Garrett said. “My dad was big into music and that broad taste of the different genres I listened to is reflected in the store inventory from rock n roll, jazz, soul, imports to the blues.”
Minneapolis, MN | Northeast Minneapolis’ only record store is closing: Michelle Obama never chose to fight that particular urban malady, instead focusing her efforts on the inarguably more troublesome food deserts. Who, then, would combat the area’s vinyl deficiencies? Raoul Benavides would. He opened Flashlight Vinyl at 1519 Central Ave. NE that same year, thus giving Northeast its only dedicated record shop. Until October 31. That’s when Flashlight will go dark forever, according to a Facebook post from Benavides.”Gratitude is all a person can have at this point,” the shop owner wrote Monday. “It was my honor to serve northeast Minneapolis with music. After three years, We are closing our doors. So many great people, new friends, and stories came to visit and share their love of vinyl.” Halloween will be Flashlight’s final day in business, and you bet there’ll be a spooktacular liquidation sale.
Los Angeles, CA | Stones Throw Records opens listening bar in LA: …Open this week, the bar is situated under Stones Throw’s offices, and is a partnership between the label’s founder Peanut Butter Wolf (Chris Manak), label manager Jason McGuire and restaurateur Tyler Bell. The bar’s design nods to vintage recording studios, Japanese hi-fi bars as well as the surrounding neighborhood; the press release says “cross sectional sofas invoke both mid-century minimalism and the custom car culture that rolls past the bar on Figueroa, part of historic Route 66.” The bar’s centerpiece however, is 7,500 records from Peanut Butter Wolf’s own collection, a Thorens turntable, McIntosh Amps and Altec Lansing speakers. The records will be split into rock, soul, reggae, rap, electronic, world and jazz categories. On weekdays, bartenders will select from the collection, while on weekend, Gold Line will host guests mixing exclusively from the in-house vinyl, with a strict policy of no outside records and no computers.
New York, NY | Downtown Music Gallery Needs Your Help: You wanted record store news? Here you go. “Last week, our ten year lease for our basement space on 13 Monroe St. in Chinatown, came to an end. We are now paying month-to-month, so are future is precarious although the landlord does like us. It is hard to believe that we’ve been here for nearly 10 years, especially when folks finally find their way here and say it is their first time at our “new” location. We moved here from the Bowery due to a large rent increase and during a recession…Our goal at this point is continue until for around 2 years until our 30th anniversary. So, please help us to continue serve all serious listeners. You can contribute via credit card, Paypal (ebay@downtownmusicgallery.com) or with checks.
Here’s the Complete Vinyl Records Manufacturing Specification for 7″, 10″, and 12″ Discs: Last month, we reported that an industry workgroup had been assembled to reexamine a decades-old specification for vinyl records. The most recent specification was issued by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1978. Since that point, the manufacturing standards for the format have not been revised, partly because the format itself started disappearing in the 90s. Another reason was also offered: perhaps the specification is fine, and not in need of an overhaul (or even an update). At the Making Vinyl conference in Detroit this week, a panel of vinyl manufacturing experts was assembled to discuss the standards. The group indicated that changes could be announced in 2019, though this is still early stage.
Four Landmark Brian Eno Albums Set For Double-Disc Heavyweight Vinyl Reissue. These landmark records chart 4 key points in a fascinating journey that saw Eno explore what is now referred to as “ambient” music. On 16 November, UMC/Virgin EMI are set to release deluxe gatefold, 2-LP heavyweight vinyl editions of four seminal Brian Eno albums: Discreet Music, Music For Films, Music For Airports and On Land. Although originally released interspersed with other albums and thus not fully sequential, these landmark records chart 4 key points in a fascinating journey that saw Eno explore generative music, found-sound ‘non instruments’, studio experimentation, ‘figurative music’ and – most notably – building upon Erik Satie’s concept of ‘furniture music’, eventually coining the now vernacular-standard term ‘ambient’. This set of deluxe reissues marks not only 4 further highlights in Eno’s esteemed catalogue, but also bar-setting, cannon-defining benchmarks, that are still at the pinnacle of the genre, to this day.
