Astoria, OR | New record store opens downtown: The Lonely Crab is on Commercial. In the summer of 2019, Chris Lamb’s record store — and 30 years worth of collected records — burned down in a fire. Lamb recalled losing Avalon Records, a well-known shop in downtown Bellingham, Washington, as a devastating experience. “I was about to come into my own. I was about to pay it off to the old owner. Store was doing good. And then, a literal needle scratch scene change,” Lamb said while making the noise of a record scratch. Lamb, originally from Yakima, Washington, worked at record stores since high school and was unsure if he ever wanted to sell vinyl again. But after moving to Astoria and trying his hand at a few other jobs, Lamb was ready to get back in the game when an opportunity arose. In November, he launched The Lonely Crab Record Shop on Commercial Street. The new shop offers new and used records of all genres, record players, posters and other related items.
Lincoln, NE | Leading Off: The renaissance of vinyl isn’t lost on a Lincoln record store owner: Back in the early 1990s, whenever Syracuse teenager Travis Mannschreck had a few bucks in his wallet and a few gallons in his gas tank, he made the short journey to Lincoln. His destinations were usually Twister’s or Homer’s, the locally owned Lincoln record shops that attracted teens from all over. “Those were the the places to go,” said Mannschreck, who’s now a 46-year-old Lincoln resident and father of two. That’s the inspiration to First Day Vinyl, the new- and used-record store Mannschreck opened Dec. 1 at 7301 S. 27th St. “There was a little nostalgia on my part, wanting to recreate the Twister’s and the Homer’s of my youth,” he said. “They were all nice big stores that you could get lost in and spend a ton on time in. “This is my attempt to recreate that for the younger generations.”
Wickford, UK | Famous Wickford record shop visited by McFly, Busted, Shakin’ Stevens, Chas ‘n Dave to close after more than 50 years: ‘There comes a time you’ve just got to say enough is enough. I’m going now.’ A record shop in Wickford recognised around the world by for its outstanding collection of vinyl, which has been visited by some of the biggest names in music, is finally due to close after more than five decades of success. Adrians Records was opened in 1969 in Wickford and owner Adrian Rondeau has finally announced the doors will close next year as he readies himself for retirement in Norfolk. It’s the record shop where McFly singer Danny Jones mooned thousands fans from the upstairs windows after the high street was closed off for the band’s record signing for their single ‘I Wanna Hold You’ in 2005. It has been visited by Chas ‘n Dave, Shakin’ Stevens, Busted, Culture Club, Wilko Johnson, Pete Burns, Danny Osmond, Depche Mode, Alvin Stardust, Alison Moyet and Erasure—plus more which have been lost to time.
Elgin, MN | Elgin’s first coffee and music lounge shepherds in customers to learn more about jazz: Elgin has a new coffee shop in town and it also serves as a music lounge where people can listen to and bring in their own records to be played. Elgin’s newest business, Jazz Shepherd, may be the place for you to relax with a cup of coffee and listen to any jazz record spanning all the way back to the genre’s inception in the 1910s. Daniel VanEijl, has been collecting records since 1991 and has “shepherded” in over 14,000 vinyl records in the last 31 years. The name Jazz Shepherd comes from VanEijl titling himself “a shepherd of records”. VanEijl has also spent the better part of a quarter century as a DJ. With a vast record collection — and DJ gigs becoming less frequent due to COVID-19 — VanEijl needed to find a new home for his collection and share it with people. “The idea was I needed to have a cafe where I was going to play my records, hang out with people’s music and talk about music. We originally planned not to be in a small town, but because we own the building we jumped into opening in Elgin.”
ZW | In the groove: Tymon Mabaleka: One of Zim’s most revered music producers: If you go back to the period of vinyl records made in Zimbabwe, the name of producer, Tymon Mabaleka will appear on almost all of them. It is not often that I write about people behind the scene in the music business. However, Tymon Mabaleka deserves a special place on the Zimbabwe music landscape. A lot of musicians who were in Harare who saw footballer Tymon Mabaleka aka ‘The White Horse’, behind the recording and mixing desk when Gallo Records re-located from Bulawayo to Harare in 1982, wondered what a famous footballer was doing in music. One musician asked me what Tymon was doing in music. Gallo Records, which later changed its name to Zimbabwe Music Corporation had a hard time trying to convince Harare musicians that Tymon was an accomplished music producer. It wasn’t until Gallo Records brought artistes from Bulawayo such as Lovemore Majaivana, Solomon Skuza, Ebony Sheik and Fanyana Dube to record in Harare with Tymon that Harare musicians started to trickle-in and accepted Tymon as a good producer after listening to his production on Majaivana’s album.
Cinthie: “I hope we can grow a strong music community with the new generation again.” Berlin-based DJ, producer, label owner of 803 Crystal Grooves and its sub-label Collective Cuts, we_r house, the Elevate record store, and proud parent Cinthie has risen to become one of the most prominent DJs in the house scene of 2022. Her music and DJ style has gained her recognition across the board from many of the legends she grew up listening to out of Chicago and Detroit through to many other leading figures in today’s house and techno scene. Djing since the early nineties as a teenager, Cinthie’s depth of knowledge radiantly shines through in her sets and her productions, which traverse through a broad range of classic and contemporary sounds, encompassing the broad spectrum of electronic music in her vinyl-focused, often extensive sets. Ahead of her performance at Your Paradise Fiji, EG caught up with Cinthie to learn more about her recent release, future plans, and more.
Philadelphia, PA | Philadelphia Eagles Christmas Album Sells Out in Two Minutes: The Philadelphia Eagles Christmas album, A Philly Special Christmas, is all the rage. Pre-orders of the first vinyl pressing sold out a while ago. Then last weekend, the Eagles pro shops offered copies autographed by the three main Eagles players on the album. The stores sold out of those copies in about ten minutes. But then we learned that a second (and, according to two sources involved with the production, final) pressing (as in, this is your last chance ever to buy this album on vinyl) would be going on sale at 9 a.m. on Friday morning. Well, that didn’t work out so well for most of us. On the website for the Eagles Christmas album, you could enter an email address to get a reminder at 9 a.m. on Friday inviting you to the sale. I did so under three different email addresses. But I didn’t wait for those emails to come, which is a good thing, because I never saw one. Others report not getting the promised email.
Metallica announce hiatus of vinyl club: In 2020, Metallica announced their first-ever Vinyl Club, a subscription service for fans who wanted to collect exclusive vinyl releases from the band. It is currently nearing the end of its second year and unfortunately, Metallica have announced that the club will be taking a break for the foreseeable future. In an email to Vinyl Club subscribers sent on Dec. 8, the band wrote: “Since you’re all collectors, you know that current vinyl demand is exceeding production capabilities. Across the music world, all artists are dealing with delays. So that we can focus on bringing you 72 Seasons in April, we’re not going to offer a renewal for the next Vinyl Club subscription at this time. We do not yet have a target date for the next subscription year.”
