Missoula, MT | Total Record Swap brings the vinyl community together while raising money for the Roxy: Sunday was the day vinyl collectors in Western Montana wait for all year. The Total Record Swap at the Missoula Senior Center happened all day and brought in multiple vinyl collections to be dig through. It cost $2 to get in, but the price of admission was well worth it for collectors looking for that special vinyl record. “Came down here to get this soundtrack of Lady Hawke and I’m very proud to scoop this up,” vinyl record enthusiast Ian Varley said. “A friend of mine came by earlier he was in line early to get it and he said they have that soundtrack your looking for and said you should come on down and I said aw I got to do it.” It’s not all about finding something you knew you wanted, vinyl collecting is also about that surprise find which is easy to do at an event like the swap.
San Lorenzo, CA | Goodbye To San Lorenzo’s Rasputin Record Store: NO! No! NOOOOOOO!! The Rasputin on Lewelling and Hesperian is reportedly closed. Much like other East Bay folks, I am DEVASTATED! Do you know how many 3 for $10 have contributed to my movie collection? Far too many to mention. Not to mention, half of my record collection is from this gem! I sure am going to miss the knowledgeable staff, dope merch, and quality products. There’s rumors that Grocery Outlet will be opening in place of Rasputin. Who can I talk to about this? Where does out support group meet?! You will be greatly missed, Rasputin.
UK | Record Store Day: How The Big Moon pulled off ‘world first’ recording live to vinyl: As ambassadors for Record Store Day, The Big Moon have pulled off something organisers have hailed as a world first – recording three tracks live and direct to vinyl in front of an audience. Performing at the Metropolis Studios in west London, the Mercury Prize-nominated band – Celia Archer, Juliette Jackson, Fern Ford and Soph Nathan – played Your Light, Waves and a cover of Fat Boy Slim’s Praise You to record their exclusive release. Recording directly to vinyl is the original process used by artists to make music for public consumption, but of course it has been long forgotten in the digital age. …”Obviously records are a huge part of our lives and livelihood,” says bassist Celia. “They have been since before we became musicians professionally, and the record store is such an important space. “It’s good to protect it and support it and champion it, so we’re really happy to be kind of the spearheaders of that this year.”
Nashville, TN | You Can Grab Cheap Vintage Vinyl At These Nashville Record Stores This April: The trend of record players and vinyl have been making a come back. Actually, there is an entire day dedicated to record stores and Nashville is the place to be on this day. This event in Nashville this April will be all things vintage and vinyl. Record Store Day is on Saturday, April 18 this year, so you can do some brewery hopping and then go find some new vinyl to add to your collection. Nashville is called Music City for a reason and you can expect to see many record stores participating and this year – there are about 12. Each store will have different deals throughout the day, so if you’ve been eyeing a certain record, now is your time to buy. While deals won’t be announced until closer to date, you can keep up with announcements on the stores’ social media. It’s known that most of these stores host free, live entertainment on this day so you can go on your own record store crawl to experience all the different shops and bands. Last year, The Groove welcomed The Dip, Grizfolk, Tennessee Muscle Candy and so many more…
A look at the secret messages Morrissey etched into The Smiths’ vinyl releases: Morrissey is undoubtedly a creative soul. Despite his polarising opinions of recent years it is still hard to deny the singer’s impact on music with his band The Smiths, the band who championed intellect and integrity above all else. Morrissey’s lyrics are famed for their literary weight and he introduced swathes of a generation to the works of Oscar Wilde through his flagrant adoration of the literary figure. In fact, sometimes the band’s songs were so dense with lyrics that Morrissey had to use the vinyl itself to get over the last message. If you’re a diehard Smiths fan, this won’t be news to you. You’ll have been cooing over the bonus treat Moz gave his fans for decades now. But for those of us without such fandom, we can take a look back at some of Morrissey’s genius etchings. The idea was a simple one. Morrissey would scratch in a simple message, a joke, a double entendre or indeed anything that popped into his brain, into the dead space on the record and gift his and The Smiths fans another reason to smile.
