Ontario, CA | ‘There’s nothing like vinyl’ says owner of Oshawa’s newest record store: The owner of Another Spin has more than 3,000 records in his collection and loves to talk music. Is it fair to ask someone with a collection of more than 3,000 records what their favourite album is? Not surprisingly, Andre Lessard loves all kinds of music. He’s been collecting Madonna albums for decades (and has more than 380) and listens to jazz, funk, disco, soul, rock, metal and indie. His record collection ranges from Depeche Mode and the Smiths to new artists like Willow Smith and Celeste. This is the kind of stuff Lessard loves to chat about when customers drop by Another Spin Records and More, the new downtown Oshawa record store he co-owns. “I really like to discuss music with customers. It’s the stories. Every customer has their own favourite band, their own favourite record and I like to hear about that,” he says. “Meeting new people through the store has opened my eyes and ears to other music.”
This is the most beautiful vinyl player we’ve ever seen: Record players have been dipping in and out of fashion for the past couple of decades now (thank you, hipsters). But we have found a turntable that is sure to remain cool for years to come. Say hello to the Brian Eno turntable. This beautiful turntable was designed by Brian Eno in collaboration with the Paul Stolper Gallery. With in-built colour-changing LEDs and a minimalistic design, it’s perfect for any music lover and anyone obsessed with well-designed products (that’s us, then). There will only be 50 of these limited-edition turntables released out into the wild so if you fancy buying your own turntable but have missed out on the Eno design, then make sure you check out our roundup of the best record players.
New York, NY | Best Hidden Gem New York City Newly Opened Used Vinyl Record Store: In this video, JamesandKarla and their music-loving dog Hudson visit the best hidden gem in New York City, a newly opened used vinyl record store, Ergot Records. This shop carries a wide variety of genres including punk, rock, jazz and house, techno and experimental music. We speak with the founder and owner, Adrian Rew who shows us some of the vinyl record gems he currently has in the store.
Styria, AT | Napalm Records And Austrovinyl Sign Strategic Partnership in Response to Rising Vinyl Demand: Napalm Records, one of the world’s leading independent Rock & Metal labels, and vinyl manufacturing company Austrovinyl – both based in Styria, Austria – are thrilled to announce that they have joined forces for a strategic partnership, strengthening the domestic music market and expanding international structures. The new collaboration will cover the increased in-house demand for vinyl, while strategically expanding business for Napalm Records, who have already ventured into different fields with their booking agency “Napalm Events” as well as their festival brands “Metal On The Hill” and “Rock In Graz”. Austrovinyl, located in the midst of the beautiful Styrian thermal spa & wine region, will continue to establish itself as one of the most state-of-the-art record pressing plants in Europe, and a reliable, high-quality producer of vinyl records.
Rare 1965 David Bowie demo ‘I Want Your Love’ up for auction: The vinyl record is expected to fetch up to £12,000. A vinyl copy of a rare David Bowie demo recorded in 1965 is set to go up for auction. The song, titled ‘I Want Your Love’, was recorded by a teenage Bowie with his band at the time, Davy Jones and the Lower Third. According to Variety, the vinyl will go for sale tomorrow (December 16) and is expected to fetch up to £12,000. Auctioneer Martin Hughes said: “The seller purchased the physical music archive of one of the world’s biggest publishing companies and therefore unearthed a raft of amazing demos and unheard tracks from huge artists.” Earlier this year, one of Bowie’s old suits went up for auction. The two-piece suit was worn by the music icon on a single night out at the historic New Romantic hang-out The Blitz Club, and was claimed by legendary promoter Steve Strange after it was left in the London club’s cloakroom.
The vinyl industry is no longer running smoothly: The shortage of raw materials and the increase in orders for records created huge traffic jams in the factory. Independent labels are the first to suffer in the face of the behemoths of the industry. Fifteen weeks, eighteen weeks, six months: these are the waiting times announced today to labels wishing to press vinyl records. And again, this is an estimate. Impossible to commit, it will be necessary to do with the vagaries. No one is spared, but the independent labels, which have neither the weight nor the financial power of the behemoths in the industry, are obviously those who taste the most severely. However, it is difficult to summarize a situation resulting from multiple problems – starting with a global shortage of raw materials – to a simple majors-indie opposition. In this case, petroleum, for which the drop in production volumes has caused great stress on the polymer, which is essential for the manufacture of vinyl. And wood, which heavily affects the production of paper and cardboard.
The Spotify Unwrapped Playlist Might Be Missing a Key Part of the Human Consumer Experience: On the same day I received my Unwrapped email from Spotify, I also purchased a record player. That says a lot about me as a human and as a customer of Spotify. …On the same day I received the Spotify email, I also purchased a record player. Unboxing the various pieces and parts, I then spent the better part of an hour wiring the player and getting it set up. Once connected, I set the player down onto the antique credenza, flanked by the two stereo speakers set apart by exactly 6 feet. With everything in its place just so, I flicked the on-switch to set the turntable in its centripetal motion. With surgical precision and the most delicate touch of the finger, I moved the tone arm and eased the needle downwards onto the outside ridge of the spinning record. Music filled the room.
