Allston show space and vintage clothing/record shop Store 54 to close in May: Over the weekend, Store 54 in Allston hosted a Saturday night show with scene veteran Andrea Gillis and a Swedish band called Stupidity. Based on news delivered late last week, it’ll unfortunately be one of the last shows at the Harvard Avenue vintage clothing and record shop. Owner Wayne Valdez announced on Friday that Store 54 would be closing on May 2, though the following month is littered with special events and other sales and showcases.
Sainsbury’s re-introducing vinyl ‘validates the relevance’ of the format: You can now buy vinyl when doing your weekly shop at Sainsbury’s. The supermarket is stocking records for the first time since the 1980s, following a similar move by Tesco. And the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents the UK’s recorded music industry, says it suggests the format “will be around for a long time to come”. In 2015 sales of vinyl went over the two million mark for the first time in 21 years.
Seattle music labels specialize in a once-forgotten medium: Seattle bands are releasing music on cassettes, and labels are re-releasing classic albums on the oft-forgotten format. From the late 70s through the early 90s, the cool kids who were into music would lug big cases around to hold all their cassettes. Today, you can have practically the entire world’s collection of music at your fingertips with apps like Spotify. And tape decks aren’t exactly in every household, so you would think they are pretty much useless. Not so.
Vinyl makes a comeback, thanks to millennials: The pleasure of listening to music on a record is hard for Phil Machemer to explain. For the 29-year-old owner of the new Revolver Records store on Hertel Avenue, it begins with the crackle of the needle touching the spinning vinyl disc on the turntable. “It’s such a simple thing,” Machemer said. “It’s like magic.” The reggae of Peter Tosh filled his store on a recent afternoon as a few collectors thumbed through boxes of records that lined the windows. A record album, like the one on the counter with Tosh looking out from a field, turns music into something three-dimensional, like a painting or a book.
Vinyl music industry witnessed a boom in US: Vinyl sales have been exploding for nearly a decade. The music industry witnessed 29.8% boom in the US alone according to Nielsen Music. There is a steady growth in sales over the past decade that is 6.1 million records were sold in 2013, 9.2 million in 2014 and nearly 12 million in 2015-marks the 10th straight year of vinyl sales growth.
Guest Record Vending Series at Silver Spring, MD’s Bump ‘n Grind: Join us for a night of digging! Bump ‘n Grind is excited to offer a new series for vinyl enthusiasts, inviting guest record vendors to bring their collections into the shop for people to peruse and purchase. What better way to beef up your collection, than digging through the crates of some of the area’s finest collectors? Admission is Free!
