Omaha, NE | One of Omaha’s few remaining record shops is closing: Almost Music will close in January. The independent record store in the Blackstone District announced the news in a Facebook post. “It is with heavy hearts that we announce the January closure of our beloved little store. That’s right, folks, we’re calling it quits,” the post said. “We gave it hell and had some kicks.” Coupled with used bookstore Solid Jackson Books, Almost Music opened in Benson in 2013. It moved to Blackstone in 2016. When it opened, Brad Smith acknowledged to The World-Herald that opening a new record store would be tough, but he wanted to provide a good experience for customers. The store mostly focused on high-quality used vinyl. The shop will remain open until January, and it will continue to buy and sell records.
Shanghai, CN | The last of the musical dinosaurs shuffles toward extinction: It’s been quite the hustle in the narrow dead-end at 64 Fenyang Road over the past few days. People, young and old, have come to bid farewell to an old friend. “Classic Music Store,” a record shop that has been there for 14 years, closes for good on Sunday. Fenyang Road, a tranquil street in Xuhui District, is sometimes called “the street of music,” for this is where Shanghai Conservatory of Music is to be found and was once home to many music shops. But Classic is the last record shop standing in the street, perhaps one of the last of privately owned record stores in the whole country, a dinosaur, struggling to survive with an out-of-date shopping style in the face of the rise of the smart little mammals of e-commerce. First DZMZ (Dazimingzhong) market, a sacred place for album lovers, was demolished in 2008. Then, more and more record stores hidden in backstreets and lanes disappeared. Copyright regulations tightened, digital music rose and the tiny bright lights of “real” music, were slowly snuffed out, one by one…
Chicago, IL | Records are being pressed in Chicago for the first time in over 20 years: A long overdue vinyl manufacturing hub in the Windy City. A new record pressing plant called Smashed Plastic has opened in Chicago, reports the Chicago Reader. Housed in Workshop 4200 (fka the Hammond Factory), Smashed Plastic currently operates one Viryl Technologies’ WarmTone press, with the scope to add two more should the plant expand. Smashed Plastic began its soft launch in October, with an official opening scheduled for January. The company plans to focus on shortening wait times for independent labels and bands.
Dun Laoghaire, IE | ‘We don’t listen to albums the way we used to’ – The Vinyl Festival celebrates record revival: Oscar nominated director Lenny Abrahamson and actor Adrian Dunbar are among the high-profile guests sharing their love of vinyl at The Vinyl Festival this weekend…Born out of a conversation between local record shop owner Brian O’Flaherty and graphic designer and fellow vinyl enthusiast Neil Goodman last year the three-day event also boasts guests including Bronagh Gallagher, Don Letts, Joe Jackson, Gavin Friday, Julie Feeney, Steve Averill and more, with 2FM’s Dave Fanning and Today FM’s Tom Dunne moderating. It’s clear the vinyl revival is thriving in Ireland. For co-founder Neil, the festival is about remembering a time when albums were tangible entities, savoured over and played as they were intended, and the artwork was as much a part of the ritual as the music.
Vinyl took off now cassette players are making a return: First it was vinyl sales that took off now there is a move to bring back the cassette player with Crosley set to release two brand new cassette playing devices that also have a radio built in. This week the Company announced that they’ve launched two new cassette players—the CT100 and CT200—the first-ever cassette players that the company has ever manufactured. “Just as our portable record players helped bring vinyl mainstream years ago, we know our new cassette players will lead the charge on the revival of the cassette tape,” Director of Marketing Jason Menard said in a statement. “These new cassette players bring together the retro design and nostalgia of the 80s with modern technology, making them a must-have for all generations of music lovers.” Both the CT100 and CT200 feature a tape deck with cassette auto stop, AM/FM radio, and a headphone jack.
