New York, NY | East Harlem Music Store Moves to a Latin Beat: You won’t find many who know more about Latin Music than Vicente Barreiro, co-owner of Casa Latina Music Shop on 116th Street in East Harlem. He’s been there more than a half-century, and it all started when he met Christina at a Manhattan Dance Club. “We used to go dancing, and we got married and her father had the store, not this one he had another store two-doors down, and he asked me if I wanted to work there,” said Barreiro. His answer was yes, to Christina’s Dad Alfonso Rubio. Rubio bought the current shop in 1966, and when he passed away in 1978, Vicente and Christina started running the business. Barreiro added musical instruments to the records, tapes, and CDs sold here over the years, specializing in Latin sounds like salsa. The store became a popular spot for the greats of Latin Sound to stop by and talk music with Barreiro. The pandemic hasn’t been kind to music stores like Casa Latina, as many customers who would stop in got accustomed to ordering online.
Breaking records: Vinyl sales pass CD sales for the first time since 1980s: Vinyl record sales last peaked during the Reagan decade; 40 years on, vinyl is making a comeback. In 2020, vinyl record sales passed CD sales in the United States for the first time since the 1980s, according to a report from the Recording Industry Association of America. Vinyl sales were up 3.6 percent while CD sales were down 47.6 percent. Owners of local record stores said the trends have been apparent, and they point to the coronavirus pandemic as the primary reason. Jesse Merideth, owner of The Hippie Hut Guitars & Things, said he has noticed skyrocketing sales. “I imagine people have a lot of time to kill,” Merideth said. “People are getting stimulus checks with some extra money to spend on things.” Jack Sterver, owner of Records Per Minute, a popular record store in Columbus, said he thinks the increase is due to the pandemic-inspired phenomenon of picking up new hobbies. “People are picking up vinyl collections as a new hobby,” Sterver said. “I think it’s people trying to stay home, and it gives them a way to step away from the TV and go back to how things used to be.”
Williamsville, NY | Revolver Records to Open Third Location in Williamsville: Vinyl lovers, you’re in for a treat. Revolver Records announced that it is opening a third location in Western New York. The new location will be at 6840 Transit Road in Williamsville, between Wehrle Drive and the Thruway and is set to open on February 26. The vinyl record store already has two locations in the city of Buffalo on Elmwood Avenue and Hertel Avenue. “It’s official!! We will be opening a third location in less than 2 weeks (Friday, February 26th)! Located at 6840 Transit Road in Williamsville. Stay tuned for videos and pics of us setting up the shop and news about giveaways and more!”
Best Bluetooth turntables 2021 – reviewed: These platter-spinners will stream your records to wherever you want them. If you’re going to use a physical format for storing and listening to music, there are plenty of reasons to choose vinyl – the two most commonly trotted out are its ‘warm analogue sound’ (by audiophiles) and its ‘big artwork’ (by most of the rest of us). Vinyl comes at a price, though, and I don’t just mean the cost of a new 180gm pressing of J Cole’s KOD (the thick end of £20, as you’re asking). There’s the size of the format, and the subsequent storage problems it can present. And even more importantly, there’s how fiddly and needy most turntables are. But it’s possible to complement vinyl’s olde-worlde charms with a bit of convenience and modernity. How? By investing in a Bluetooth turntable, that’s how. By choosing a turntable fitted out with the necessary Bluetooth bits’n’bobs plus some extremely complicated analogue-to-digital processing, it’s possible to wirelessly stream vinyl as if it wasn’t a 70-year-old technology. Here are the four best-value Bluetooth turntables you can buy. Even audiophiles are catered for.
Record player deal: save nearly £100 on one of the best turntables you can buy today: Grab this entry-level turntable for less. Buying one of the best turntables on the market may sound like an expensive prospect, but this fantastic deal on the Pro-Ject Debut Carbon proves that record players don’t have to break the bank. Usually £349.99, this excellent entry-level turntable has been discounted to just £299.99 at the Peter Tyson eBay store – add on a 15% discount with the code ‘PLAYWITH15’, and that price drops even further to £254.99. …The Pro-Ject Debut Carbon is well built, beautifully designed and just sounds exceedingly good. Its easy setup makes it ideal for beginners, but its sonic performance, excellent damping, and chic design means it will satisfy seasoned vinyl enthusiasts, too. It’s worth bearing in mind that this turntable doesn’t come with a built-in phono preamp or an anti-skate dial, which can make setting the tonearm a little fiddly – though it’s an easy tradeoff when you consider how much detail the Debut Carbon can pull out of your vinyl, thanks to the included Ortofon 2M Red cartridge.
