The block that Lenny built: It’s not particularly distinguished-looking, if we’re telling the truth…Ah, but this very block is alive with memories for so many of us, for Record Theatre made it a mandatory destination. We hung out there, we sought out our favored releases there, we discovered new music that would stay with us throughout our lives there, we sold our own bands’ records, tapes and CDs on consignment there, and – if we worked there — we took our smoke breaks, ate our sandwiches from Dagwood’s and Fera’s subs, and walked north on payday to cash our paychecks on this very block that will now, by official Buffalo decree, be most fittingly known as “Leonard ‘Lenny’ Silver Way.”
The vinyl man of Kitab Mahal: As I walk down the cobbled pavement under the famous blue-and-white arches of Kitab Mahal, I almost walk past Royal Music Collection without noticing it. But Lata Mangeshkar crooning ‘Chhod De Saari Duniya Kisi Ke Liye’ lures me to the shop tucked away between others selling helmets and mobile phone covers. I am immediately struck by the hundreds and hundreds of [records] and cassettes that are immaculately organised in the tiny space. The shop’s owner is Abdul Razzak, a man of few words. It is difficult to tease answers out of him; he prefers to reply in lists: genres, artists, languages, types, sizes, speeds of vinyl. He has facts about his collection of LPs and EPs and LDs at his fingertips.
Vinyl Record Sales Are Up 1,500%: Vinyl’s revival as a music format is continuing, according to new figures from the British Phonographic Industry. Over the last decade, sales of vinyl records have increased by an impressive 1,500% and the vinyl industry is soon likely to be worth over $1 billion. If certain predictions are met, vinyl will account for 7% of the total value of all music sales worldwide, helping to slightly offset the decline of CD purchases. This news comes at a time when record store culture is also enjoying somewhat of a comeback, particularly amongst dance fans who are attracted to the older style of turntablism. This resurgence in record-buying is predicted to see 40 million albums sold by the end of this year alone.
NASA’s Golden Record, our planet’s hottest mixtape, is also an interstellar love story: As a computer recorded her brain waves and heart beats in June 1977, Ann Druyan thought about the history of Earth, its inhabitants and humankind’s progress as a civilization. Try as she might to focus, the 27-year-old woman’s thoughts drifted from humanity to one human in particular, Carl Sagan, the astronomer-turned-scientist/celebrity and her partner on the Voyager mission’s Golden Record, a kind of time capsule intended to tell extraterrestrials about earthlings. The phonographic records aboard the twin Voyager spacecrafts have carried images, music, words and Druyan’s thoughts deep into interstellar space as a greeting for space-faring extraterrestrials. Druyan’s loss of focus added another element to this snap shot of humanity, a recording of a young woman experiencing love.
Book Review: A Record of my Vinyl by Potter Style: When this book arrived in the mail I was floored by how attractive the cover is and how nice it is going to look on my bookshelf. This family is a collector of vinyl records and the number of pages that are available will provide plenty of space for new acquisitions. I love the way the entries are laid out. The entries allow for artist, title and liner notes. Making this a really comprehensive collection diary. Just perfect for any collector is an area devoted to the most wanted albums. Every collector has a few on their need to obtain list, and now it can be documented for anyone that wants to pick up a special gift for the collector. This is really a great gift idea for the record collector. I am quite impressed with the quality of the book and the pages.
Bay Area music legend DJ Stef dies: Stephanie Ornelas, a graphic designer, developer and writer whose work as a trailblazing musician and disc jockey was deeply respected across San Francisco Bay Area music scenes, died suddenly Sunday, according to reports on social media. Ornelas, also known as DJ Stef, was the founder of the Vinyl Exchange, a music community newsletter whose debut in the mid-1990s saw it document record-collector culture’s rise and fueled its expansion into print and online platforms…“My record collection is deep with soul, disco, punk, various ’70s, ’80s and ’90s styles and a wide range of dance music, but hip-hop and rap from the early days to the present are its core,” she said.
