New record store on its way to Kelowna: As we mourn the indefinite loss of our beloved HMV, Kelowna music lovers may also rejoice as news from Sunrise Records has come! The Orchard Park, HMV location will be taken over by the all Canadian music company and with it will come some pretty exciting changes. In late February, the company announced it will be taking over 70 brick and mortar HMV locations come April, and it was announced Thursday that Kelowna and Burnaby are two more lucky locations. Just in time for National Record Store Day (RSD) on April 22nd, the new locations will be open and with them comes even more music magic.
Forget High Fidelity: How women are reclaiming record stores, From Kansas City to Chesterfield, more women are buying and selling vinyl: For a long time, these record shops were the domain of a certain breed of music lover. It was here that you’d find the vinyl purists and catalogue-crazy, train spotter-types of the music world famously depicted by Nick Hornby in his 90s novel (and later a film staring Jack Black and John Cusack) High Fidelity: “Young men, always young men, with John Lennon specs and leather jackets and armfuls of square carrier bags.” But in recent years, as record sales have risen, it seems the gender divide has narrowed. More and more women are buying and selling vinyl, gradually staking their claim in this traditionally male space.
Charleston welcomes new record store in Elk City District: Business is expanding on the West Side of Charleston as another store opens. City leaders and patrons welcomed the new Elk City Records Thursday with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The business is located on the 300 block of Washington Street West in Charleston, also known as the Elk City District. This is Charleston’s third record store, but it will specialize in vintage vinyl records. They are offering online sales, trade for old records and have thousands of records for sale in-store.
A new heavy metal record shop has opened in London: Welcome to Crypt Of The Wizard Records. A brilliantly named new record shop for heavy rock, metal and extreme sounds, has opened in London this week. Located on Hackney Road in East London, Crypt Of The Wizard currently has stock of around one thousand new and used records and cassettes for the “discerning heavy metal maniac.” “If the sound of steel and thunder makes your heart sing, if you were born too late clad in denim and leather, if you’re a child of the night living in a Heavy Metal daze then Crypt of the Wizard Records may be the place for you!” reads the shop website.
Bromley’s last independent music and film shop is being shut down: A well-loved independent music and entertainment shop in Bromley could be forced to close its doors. Head, based in The Glades shopping centre has become well-known amongst music fans for its Record Store Day celebrations. But after eight years at the centre, the shop is about to make way for a ‘major national retailer’.The replacement is heavily rumoured to be HMV, which currently has a store on Bromley High Street, just outside the shopping centre. With the store expected to close in a matter of weeks, more than 600 people have liked a Facebook page, “Save ‘Head’ Bromley.”
Sir Elton John goes record shopping in Vancouver: Sir Elton John, who is due to play two shows in Victoria this weekend, enjoyed an off-day Thursday by doing a little record shopping in downtown Vancouver. The legendary pop star dropped into Beat Street Records on Hastings Street to check out the selection of vinyl. “We didn’t get the head’s up he was coming in. I just rolled in from the back and there he was with his two giant bodyguards,” said Beat Street manager Lindsay Tomchyshen…“The first thing he asked for was something by Tech N9ne, who is like a gangsta rapper. That kind of surprised us and threw us off,” said Tomchyshen, who conceded they didn’t have anything from the Kansas City indie hip-hop star.
The death of the album has been exaggerated, The remarkable resurgence of vinyl shows there’s life in the LP yet: Faced with this remote fragmentation, however, the physical album has experienced a remarkable resurgence: 70% of UK album sales are of tangible formats. Most remarkably, vinyl has captivated a new generation. In 2016 vinyl records hit a 25-year high, selling 3,200,000 units compared to 200,000 just a decade ago. The incredible rejuvenation of the medium is easily explained by the profound allure of the concrete object.
David Bowie Releases Planned For Record Store Day, Two full studio albums to gain lavish vinyl releases: The icon’s vaults have been explored on two new releases, bringing rare material to vinyl for two very special packages. ‘CRACKED ACTOR (Live In Los Angeles 1974)’ brings together songs from the ‘Philly Dogs Tour’ show from September 1974, part of which was captured in the BBC documentary Cracked Actor. The material will be spread across three vinyl discs, five sides of music with the sixth given over to a ‘Diamond Dogs’ etching. Elsewhere on Record Store Day fans can find the ultra rare ‘Hunky Dory’ era promo album ‘BOWPROMO1’.
