The world’s best record shops #012: Phonica Records, London: Aside from being an independent record shop that counts a who’s who of international DJs as regulars (Four Tet, Floating Points, Caribou, Dixon to name a few), Phonica has been instrumental in bringing a new type of record shop to the fore. Where shops previously limited themselves to specific genres, manager Simon Rigg encourages a “broad church” approach to dance music, offering everything from rare soul 7″s to library soundtracks to big room house and techno 12″s.
Forgotten audio formats: The Highway Hi-Fi: What’s the connection between the Beatles’ George Harrison, boxing legend Muhammad Ali, and Chrysler cars? The Highway Hi-Fi: a vinyl record player that just happened to be the world’s first in-car music system. It appeared 60 years ago this spring, in 1956, and should have been a smash hit. It was innovatory, a major talking point, arrived as the car market was booming as never before, and it came with much press hype. It also had the backing of a leading motor manufacturer. What could possibly go wrong?
Costa Mesa record shop on wheels represents the vinyl turnaround: When Parker Macy opened the trailer door to his record shop in 2011, he wasn’t counting on longevity. “I figured we might last a year or two,” he said. The week Creme Tangerine opened, OC Weekly reached out to him for an article on the resurgence of vinyl records, something he never would have predicted. Since the jump in vinyl record interest, business for Macy has grown each year. On April 1, Macy will host a five-year anniversary event outside his shop, an Airstream trailer parked at The Lab Anti-Mall in Costa Mesa.
Randall Poster Interview: Vinyl’s Music Supervisor Gets in the Mix: HBO’s Vinyl is set in the heart of the music industry during a period of history where the sound was changing. It is populated by record guys who are also fans. It is executive produced by Martin Scorsese, who also directed the pilot, a renowned expert on both rock and roll. The characters musical knowledge is formed in large part by Randall Poster and Meghan Currier.
Blue Note Records to Reissue Five Titles on Vinyl: Blue Note Records has announced what is described in a press release as “new initiatives in the realm of streaming music” with the launch of a curator profile on Apple Music, as well as the continuation of the Blue Note Records Vinyl Reissue Series…Blue Note has also announced the continuation of its vinyl reissue series with five new titles due to be released on May 6: Big John Patton’s Let ’Em Roll, Blue Mitchell’s The Thing to Do, Ike Quebec’s Blue and Sentimental, Sam Rivers’ Fuchsia Swing Song and Sheila Jordan’s Portrait of Sheila.
EGREM to present president Barack Obama with a vinyl record of Los Van Van produced with Sony Music: The general director of the leading Cuban record company EGREM, Mario Escalona, sent to President Barack Obama during his visit to the island, a copy of the vinyl record La Fantasia, the most recent album produced by the legendary Cuban orchestra Los Van Van and presented to the audience as part of the agreements signed between EGREM and the US Sony Music Entertainment last September.
