Fountain Square record store, live-music spot to launch next month: A new Fountain Square record store promising live performances and beer and wine is set to open Nov. 4 with an appearance by Minnesota country bluesman Charlie Parr. Patrick Burtch, owner of the recently closed Rocket 88 Doughnut shops, and two partners are launching Square Cat Vinyl at 1054 Virginia Ave., in vacant space next to Goodwill Industries’ Vintage Vogue store. The partners are investing about $100,000 in the 2,000-square-foot leased space that will feature new and used albums, a stage with a furnished high-end sound system, and a small bar serving beer, wine and coffee.
Beloved vinyl stronghold Hear Records opens new outlet in Chinatown: The cosy store is already (and deservedly) recognised as one of the best record shops in the world, and Singapore’s music lovers can’t help but keep coming back to chew the cud with founder Nick Tan and peruse the thousands of records in his ever-expanding catalogue. Cool cats will now have the option to drop by Hear Records’ second repository at Banda Street for even more vinyl classics, as well as high-end turntables, electronics and other accessories. Not to mention it’s an awesome place to hang out and talk about music for hours…
Record Store Day deals return for Black Friday: Remember, remember the 25th of November. Not for any treason, or gunpower, but for something far more important… Black Friday. And the people behind Record Store Day are once again getting in on the action for 2016 with a “kick-off to the season of gift-giving (and gift-wishing)”. As the RSD organisation says, “if America is going to go crazy buying things to wrap up, then record stores need to be part of that“. Fair enough. A host of limited edition records have been announced in the US, with artists featured including Alice Cooper, The Beach Boys, Disclosure, Jimi Hendrix, Prince and The Rolling Stones. As ever, you need to find your local participating record store to get your hands on the releases.
Did Jack White hide vinyl records in these chairs?: A Reddit user claims to have come across four chairs that could hold hidden Jack White vinyl records within them. During the early days of the White Stripes, White teamed up with musician friend Brian Muldoon to form The Upholsterers. Both former upholsterers, the pair then hid 100 copies of their song ‘Your Furniture Was Always Dead… I Was Just Afraid To Tell You’ in reupholstered furniture around Detroit in 2004. Earlier this year, one of the records was found inside a sofa, while two others were found in furniture 2 years prior.
Former rock singer pressing records to meet growing demand for vinyl: Gerry McGhee knows the business of rock music — from writing songs and performing live shows to selling recorded music and merchandise — but nothing prepared the industry veteran for surging sales in new vinyl records. McGhee was the lead singer and songwriter for Brighton Rock from 1984 to 1992 and then went into the business side of music. He founded Isotope Music Inc. in 1996. The Burlington company is the largest Canadian wholesaler of major label and indie CDs and also vinyl and related merchandise. Some independent record shops buy $5,000 a week in vinyl from the business.
Drop the needle: Halifax library’s vinyl club brings together generations of music lovers: From a little boy discovering Iron Maiden with his dad, to Iraqi immigrants sharing their love of the Fugees, a Halifax library program is using vinyl to draw in people of all ages. The free Deep Cuts Vinyl Music Club has been held at least once a month in partnership with Taz Records since March at the Central Library for record listening events, which have ranged from D’Angelo’s Black Messiah to Prince’s Purple Rain, and Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys. “People … seem to have a real soft spot for (vinyl), even the younger people like the hipsters. They enjoy it because it’s a real medium, it’s a real physical thing,” said Josh Lake, club creator and media studios assistant at the library.
BYOV (Bring Your Own Vinyl) Sales Day at The Record Parlour, 11/12: Do you have EXTRA VINYL to Sell? Bring it, Sell it, YOU keep the Cash. In addition to The Record Parlour’s massive 50,000+ Vinyl Inventory, we’ll be adding 1000s more from PRIVATE SELLERS wanting to sell their own records. Real records from real people that will be under our roof for 1-Day only on Nov 12th. FREE for Vendors & Customers. Wanna DJ? We’ll have sign up sheets avail each day for 45min sets. Vinyl ONLY pls.
Cassette tapes fast-forward to new following: SUBANG JAYA, MALAYSIA – Collectors and music fans wearing the t-shirts of obscure rock bands brave the tropical heat outside a record store near Malaysia’s capital, waiting to get their hands on new cassette tapes. No, this isn’t a flashback to the 1980s, but an event marking recent International Cassette Store Day, an annual celebration of a music format once thought headed for extinction but now enjoying a rebirth. Vinyl’s renaissance is well-documented and now it seems cassettes are rising from the grave, with artists such as Kanye West and Justin Bieber releasing songs on tape.
