Seattle, WA | Everyday Music’s planned closure will leave CD-sized hole in Capitol Hill’s record shop scene: Scott Kuzma stayed in business for the great vinyl revival but he’s not so sure he wants to stick around until CDs make a comeback. He has thousands of them, if you are in the market and think you might want to open a music shop on Capitol Hill. “If someone wants to do it they’re more than welcome to do it,” Kuzma said. There is an opportunity. Come June, Capitol Hill’s Everyday Music will be gone from 10th Ave. The offshoot of Kuzma’s Portland record shops officially announced its closing plans over the weekend as employees began spreading the word to customers last week. The rumors are true. We are heartbroken to announce that our store is closing permanently in June. With the ongoing pandemic struggles and no rent relief, we can no longer afford to keep our doors open. Your continued support has kept us going and we need it now more than ever- we are forever grateful for you and the past 18 years of memories. In the meantime, we are still open 11-6 everyday and would love to see all of your beautiful, masked faces over the next few months
Marion, NC | Game Heads & Vinyl Junkies in Marion specializes in classic records, video games: Marion has a great place where “game heads” and “vinyl junkies” can find whatever they want to round out their collections. Located at 476 E. Court St., Games Heads & Vinyl Junkies is a locally owned store that specializes in vintage vinyl records, video games similar to WSM Casino, and movies.
Joshua Noblitt is the owner and operator of this relatively new business, which has been open for a few months. Noblitt has turned his passion for vinyl records and video games into a store that has something for everyone. Noblitt started collecting records when people were getting rid of them and switching over to compact discs. He would visit flea markets and buy used records, which were cheaper than CDs. Now, vinyl records are popular again and many folks no longer play CDs. “I started bringing so many of (the records) home and when they started becoming popular again I thought I could turn it into a business,” Noblitt told The McDowell News. Noblitt had his merchandise at K&R Antiques in Old Fort before opening his own store in Marion.
Boston, MA | More Young People Are Buying Records: Here’s How To Make Them Last: In the streaming era, vinyl still offers something unique for the music listening experience. But they require good care and upkeep. CDs, cassettes and digital downloads have all come and gone but records have managed to stay relevant in households around the world for over a century. Although many probably thought record players couldn’t compete with music streaming services, they couldn’t be more wrong. Music streaming services make songs and artists more accessible, but record players offer something that is inimitable. The tangibility and sound quality of records are attracting a whole new generation of collectors. Emile Berliner’s “gramophone” first hit the consumer market in 1897. The records it used were originally made out of rubber until after several years the material changed to vinyl. It was quite popular upon its first release but its golden years wouldn’t come for another few decades. The invention of the radio stole the spotlight from the gramophone for a few years but its popularity didn’t diminish. In the ‘60s and ‘70s, record players were a
Johannesburg, ZA | Diggers and dreamers: Vinyl collectors in Africa’s city of gold. In Johannesburg, South Africa, record obsessives find common ground in DJ booths, thrift stores and music fairs in their little town of vinyl. It is about an hour’s brisk walk from Jeppe High School for Boys in the east of Johannesburg to the Kohinoor record store in the inner city. More than 20 years ago, it was a trip Mxolisi Makhubo and his small group of hip-hop loving, self-proclaimed “outsiders” at their macho school made about once a month. “We used to take our bus fare and save it up for a month to buy records with and we’d walk to town, which is where we’d catch minibus taxis back [home] to Soweto,” the now 37-year-old architect told me on a summer’s Sunday morning over a cup of tea at his renovated house on top of a ridge not that far from his old school. “We felt alienated, because we were in the chess club, we were in the poetry club, the choir, we were cultured … so music became a space for us to escape, but also to feel comfortable outside these hypermasculine attitudes within the school.”
Halifax, CA | Teen burglar who helped steal Elland man’s “irreplaceable” vinyl record collection is jailed: A teenage burglar has been locked up for his part in the theft of an Elland man’s “irreplaceable” vinyl record collection. Jake Walker, then 18, and an older accomplice got into the victims’ flat using a key and made repeated visits to the address during the night to steal two televisions, games consoles, clothing and the collection of 200 vinyl records. Prosecutor Anthony Moore told Bradford Crown Court today that the complainant had been out at work that night and returned home to find drawers pulled open and items strewn around his flat. Mr Moore said the biggest loss was the record collection which had been amassed over many years and was valued at several thousands of pounds. The court heard that CCTV footage captured the two burglars making five or six trips back to the premises and leaving with bags of stolen property. Following the burglary the victim alerted local record shops and a dealer contacted the police to say a man had come into his store trying to sell records.
The Cover Uncovered: Joy Division’s out of this world artwork for ‘Unknown Pleasures’ The debut album of the English rock band Joy Division has gained popularity over the time not just because of its music but also because of its cover art. In fact, people who are not acquainted with the band and their music are linked with them indirectly through the illustrious cover of the 1979 album. In the pre-internet days, people identified the band with the monochrome cover art more intently as pictures of the band members were neither easily available nor did they feature in the cover itself. Released by the indie label Factory Records, the album garnered critical acclaim for its music but failed to bag commercial success. It would matter little as the record came to stand for everything Joy Division had been. Joy Division were, first and foremost, a group of artists and so, with the help of some art-savvy friends, the band’s album artwork fits perfectly for their sound and their ethos.
