Chicago, IL | ‘We’re going to make a great run at it’: Oak Park’s Val’s Halla Records to stay open, for now. After believing its days were numbered, Oak Park’s iconic Val’s Halla Records store has a new lease on life into 2020, with hopes the store can become financially viable by then. Store manager Shayne Blakeley confirmed the shop has been temporarily saved by River Forest resident and customer Trevor Toppen, who plans to lend his financial expertise to the business. “It’s pretty amazing,” Blakeley said. “I’m going to have a lot to be thankful for before I cut into any turkey. Things have been moving very fast.” Earlier this month, Blakeley announced the store had intended to close by the end of November after 47 years in business. At the time, he said Val’s Halla had its worst first quarter financially in 20 years, which appeared to be the final nail in its coffin. Toppen, who has lived in the area since 2003, got to know Val’s Halla and Blakeley when his son Jackson started volunteering at the store, and said he couldn’t pass up the opportunity to give the store a second chance.
Cork, IE | Cork’s famous vinyl record store back after Douglas village fire: The shop had been closed for 10 weeks following fire in Douglas Shopping centre. One of Cork’s best-known vinyl record stores – MusicZone – has reopened following a ten week absence due to the fire in Douglas Shopping Centre. The shop was forced to close its doors following the blaze in the Douglas Mall but it is now open for business again in its new location at Unit 4, Deanrock Business Park, Togher. MusicZone is one of Ireland’s largest stockists of vinyl records and they offer free delivery throughout the country on any order of three or more records. The business was set up by Ray O’Brien in 2001 and in a statement, he spoke of his delight at finally being able to welcome customers back to his store where he works alongside his son, Cormac. “So look here we are, 10 weeks since the night of the fire and it’s on, moving to the new location,” said O’Brien.
Wichita, KS | Vinyl is about to top CD sales, and Spin It Again Records has reopened to help: Only days after the Recording Industry Association of America announced that for the first time in more than three decades vinyl record sales likely will top CD sales this year, Spin It Again Records has reopened. The store has been closed since late August, but this week owner Ed Swarts reopened it in its new location at 3715 W. Douglas, which is two blocks east of West Street…The store sells new and used vinyl records, turntables, cleaning supplies and other related items and does minor related repairs. It also buys used records. Spin It Again Records will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Swarts says he’s not surprised vinyl sales are about to surpass CD sales. “The CD is just a thing of the past,” he says.
Liam Gallagher declares “ignorance is bliss” as he favours vinyl over Spotify: “I don’t think I’ve ever used Spotify once in my life. I don’t even know how to use it. I don’t have a clue” Liam Gallagher has admitted that he “doesn’t have a clue” when it comes to music streaming services and that he has no intention of ever using them. The former Oasis frontman says he much prefers to listen to vinyl than digital services such as Spotify. He told the Huffington Post: ”I stay away from that. I don’t think I’ve ever used Spotify once in my life and I don’t think I intend to either. I don’t even know how to use it. I don’t have a clue. ”Part of it is, ignorance is bliss. All these new ways to listen to music have gone way over my head, and I’m quite happy with it. Call it that I’m stuck in the ’90s. I listen to tunes on the record player.”
Billings, MT | Stapleton Records turns up the volume for artists, musicians in gallery show: …Ten original songs are being released on limited edition vinyl records that feature unique cover art created for each song by regional artists represented by Stapleton Gallery, including Hall, Kevin Red Star, Jennifer Eli French, Judd Thompson, and others… Vinyl records are expected to outsell compact discs for the first time since 1986. This isn’t really that noteworthy, given the dramatic decline in CD sales and the small percentage of overall sales that vinyl records represents, but physical music isn’t dead yet. Still, there’s a disconnect between what it costs to make music and what people are willing to pay. Newspapers are struggling with these same issues. Streaming is the industry’s drug of choice, accounting for 80 percent of its revenue, according to the Recording Industry of America mid-year report. That revenue is up 26 percent to $4.3 billion for the first half of 2019.
Brooklyn, NY | Olivia Jean live at Rough Trade Brooklyn, NYC – Review: Last night I caught up with Olivia Jean at Rough Trade NYC. Well known for her previous lead role with Garage goth band The Black Belles, who were formed by Jack White in 2009, the alt-rock artist has now started to establish herself as a solo act. Kicking off in an intimate room set in a record store in Brooklyn, Olivia Jean started the show with ‘Shut Your Mouth’. Although the sound was rather limited with just a couple of portable PA speakers and amp – it was still good enough to showcase her style and skill. Playing with her own band, she continued with Night Owl, Brushfire, Merry Widow and Rhinestone, which were delivered in quickfire succession. Most of these can be found on her latest album Night Owl, released in August. It’s also worth noting that she also wrote and produced all the songs on the LP as well. She threw in a Black Belles track towards the end with Wishing Well. With songs like “Reminisce” and “Night Owl” being short and snappy, it’s definitely a case of quality, not quantity, from the Nashville-based multi-instrumentalist.
How To Truly Enjoy The Vinyl Sound So, if you are looking to enjoy the vinyl music to its best extent, then let me tell you that by taking proper care of your record, it is very easy and simple to enjoy. So today in this article, I am going to tell you How To Truly Enjoy The Vinyl Sound or how to make your vinyl sound better. No doubt enjoying the vinyl music is such a blessing and if you are a true fan of the vinyl music then you will also be knowing the importance of it as well. Enjoying the vinyl sound is one of the most pleasant feelings. So, today in this article, I am going to tell you how you could truly enjoy it. Without taking much time of yours, let’s move further and take a look at it…
Check out the first playable record made from recycled ocean plastic: A record has been made from recycled plastics. The brainchild of Mercury Prize winner Nicky Mulvey, Cornwall-based Sharps Brewery, Keynvor and vinyl manufacturing company Tangible Formats, the 10-inch record is the first of its kind ever made. Made with plastics found on the coastlines of Cornwall, the record is entitled ‘In the Anthropocene’, and profits from physical sales and digital streams will go to UK-based charity, Surfers Against Sewage. Earlier this year, London clubs Oval Space and Pickle Factory went plastic-free. Read DJ Mag’s feature on eco-vinyl, where we spoke with Deep Grooves vinyl pressing plant in Amsterdam about their mission to become fully sustainable.
Bad Axe, MI | Spin me right round, right round: Until recently I didn’t fully understand the expression, “everything old is new again,” until reading a couple news articles. The articles were about music, its various forms, and some changes. One article was about how Best Buy wasn’t going to carry music CDs anymore because most people had switched to streaming music or had subscribed to music services. I could see that happening, but there was one article that surprised me. According to the Recording Industry Association of America, vinyl records are expected to outsell CDs this year. At one point in the 1990s vinyl music was all but extinct. When my sons, were helping me clean up after a house fire, they found several of my old records that I had put away in the attic because it was difficult to find record players and the needles for them. They were fascinated by the records. They called the large and smaller sized records black CDs. They were amazed when I explained to them what they were, that different sized records had different speeds…
