Burlington, VT | Soundbites: Lacking Lacquer? This week, multiple music news outlets reported a catastrophic fire at Apollo Masters in Banning, Calif. The facility produces “the lacquer used in the production of master discs, from which commercial vinyl records are made, as well as the styli used in the pressing process,” according to Consequence of Sound. The blog went on to report that “the loss could lead to a major delay or reduction in the production of vinyl records on a worldwide scale.” That got me thinking: Will this calamity trickle down to our local Burlington Record Plant? The word from the plant’s owner Justin Crowther is: maybe, but probably not. “At this time, I’m not really concerned, considering our size, but it’s too early to know for sure,” he wrote in an email. He explained that, of the two main lacquer cutting engineers used by the plant, one sources exclusively through MDC Master Lacquers, a Japanese company. Crowther says they are taking orders as normal for the time being…
Redditch, UK | Happy birthday to ya! Vintage Trax to host day of music and much more: Redditch retro record shop Vintage Trax is celebrating its fifth anniversary this weekend – and everyone is invited to the party. The independent record shop grew out of two pop-up shops in the Kingfisher Shopping Centre before finding a home on Birchfield Road, Headless Cross near the birthplace of Led Zeppelin drummer and famous son John Bonham. Now customers come from far and wide as well as locally to browse the racks of records and cassettes as well as CDs. “It’s not been an easy year by any means with rising costs and increased competition from record fairs and online sellers but we are holding our own,” said owner Ros Sidaway. “There is no better experience than coming into a record shop and digging through the crates of albums and trays of 45s, and finding something you’ve been searching for.”
Ashville, NC | TODAY: A benefit event for Australia held at Static Age Records: “The art show starts at 7 p.m. At 9:30 p.m., performances from local bands will start. The line-up includes Moves, Daddy’s Credit card, 13ag H3ad, and Mouth Breathers. All of these bands are local and coming out to support the cause. Owner of Static Age Records, Jessie McSwane opened his store 12 years ago, events like these happen often at his store. “It seems like every few months we have some type of benefit event going on,” McSwane said. He is excited about this upcoming event and hopes that students and locals come and participate… Static age is first and foremost a record store. In recent years, the store has expanded to musical events and art events. Static Age has about 20 to 25 shows a month, the charitable work associated with the benefit was something McSwane was interested in. He hopes this event helps bring attention to the foundation itself as well as the cause.“It seemed like an organization we could get behind,” McSwane said. While the owner of Static Age often hosts events such as this, to him it’s only the beginning.
The New Rules of Music Snobbery: Hulu’s High Fidelity reboot captures the end of elitist condescension and the rise of fervent eclecticism. …A less perceptive reboot would simply have made Ed Sheeran the new sentimental, tacky crap, but Hulu has gone beyond grafting contemporary references onto Hornby’s tale of 30-somethings who are more adept at sequencing mixtapes than at maintaining healthy relationships. The series captures a fundamental reorientation in listening these days: Elitist condescension about musical preferences isn’t cool anymore, but maybe—die-hard fans fear—obsessing and connecting over music are no longer cool either. Barry-types once used their taste to prop themselves above the less erudite, mainstream-minded listeners they mocked. Cherise, by contrast, just wants to chat about a song—and the consumer, cozy in a private digital bubble, decidedly does not.
UK | Slowthai Dropped As Ambassador For Record Store Day After NME Awards Incident: The British rapper made headlines for his behaviour towards host Katherine Ryan and an audience member during the ceremony. British rapper Slowthai has been dropped as an ambassador for Record Store Day following an incident at this year’s NME Awards. Slowthai made headlines on Wednesday night after he approached the awards’ presenter Katherine Ryan during the ceremony and made suggestive comments towards her. He was later removed from the stage after jumping down in the direction of an audience member who branded him a “misogynist” after he was awarded Hero Of The Year. It’s now been announced that he will no longer be a part of this year’s Record Store Day event. “The individual record shops who organise Record Store Day have spoken this morning and have unanimously agreed that Slowthai’s behaviour and statements do not reflect their values or those of Record Store Day,” they said in a statement.
The woman on the cover of the ‘Black Sabbath’ album has been found: For the longest time, the identity of the woman on the cover of the front of Black Sabbath’s self-titled debut album — which turns 50 today — had been unknown. Now, the “black figure” has finally been revealed to be Louisa Livingstone, and she makes electronic music. The iconic album’s cover was shot by a young photographer named Keith Macmillan. He’s credited as “Keef” in the liner notes. “To be honest, it was the first time I really enjoyed that kind of heavy rock,” he told Rolling Stone. “But that album made me a fan for life.” Macmillan recruited an 18 or 19 year-old, five-foot model named Louisa Livingstone for the shoot, which took place at Mapledurham Watermill in the English county of Oxfordshire. She wore a black cloak with nothing underneath it, and they experimented with some shots that were “slightly more risqué,” according to the photographer. “We decided none of that worked,” he said. “Any kind of sexuality took away from the more foreboding mood. But she was a terrific model…”
Manila, PA | A look at the OPM vinyl market in the Philippines today: The recent re-release of the Eraserheads’ “Ultraelectromagneticpop” on vinyl is sold out. No surprise there. Except that it commands a huge price in the resale market. In two months, we’ve seen it reach almost Juan dela Cruz Band proportions. What that means in the old Juan dela Cruz Band records sell anywhere from P8,000 to 30,000 per title. At one time on Ebay, all the records were on sale for almost a half million pesos! It is insane. It sounds too incredible, yet it is true. Now whether anyone bought it is anyone’s guess. As for “Ultraelectromagneticpop,” what we’ve seen it sell for ranges from P7,000 to 10,000 and now up to a whopping P20,000 (equivalent on Discogs). There were more than 40,000 copies of that pressed in compact disc and cassette and it is rare that you will see it for sale. The one time I did see it — and it wasn’t in near mint condition — it sold for P13,000.
John Moreland Brings Back The Old Fashioned Idea Of The Album With ‘LP5.’ …John Moreland is a Tulsa, Okla.-based singer-songwriter who’s just released a new album called “LP5.” Moreland’s notable fans range from Miranda Lambert to Rachel Maddow. Moreland’s known for writing superb sad songs, but rock critic Ken Tucker says this new album shows a wider range of emotions… “The LP of the album title refers, of course, to long playing, the outmoded name for an outmoded medium, the vinyl record album. These days, the primary unit of musical creativity is the single. The days of buying an album, bringing it home, putting it on and pondering how each composition fits into the sequence on the album – that’s a thing of the past almost. John Moreland, although he’s a mere 34, seems to have had this old-fashioned idea of the album in mind when he carefully assembled the flow of mood and tone on LP5.”
