Collect 23 Beatles albums through new magazine: Beatles fans can now collect the band’s back catalogue in fortnightly instalments of vinyl LPs. The Beatles Vinyl Collection is a new collector’s magazine that has a different album from the group included in each issue, to make up a full set of 23 reissued recordings. Albums have been remastered at Abbey Road Studios in London and the collection includes Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Abbey Road, Revolver and Rubber Soul, as well as compilations The Beatles Anthology, which comes in three volumes, and two Live At The BBC collections.
‘It’s a big gamble’: Record stores sound off on Sunrise’s HMV takeover, ‘In this day and age, it seems insane,’ says Vancouver independent record store manager: Record stores across the country are hopeful Sunrise Records’ HMV takeover will work out, but experience has left them skeptical about the big move. Toronto’s Sunrise announced last week it will be taking over 70 HMV stores in malls across the country, with the aim of having them up and running by midsummer and turning a profit by next year. If it works, it’s a boon for the industry, said Spencer Destun. But he’s got his reservations. Destun runs the last surviving Sam the Record Man location at Belleville, Ont.’s Quinte Mall. Since opening in 1979, he said, he has seen about eight or 10 chains come and go — and his store is all that’s left of Sam the Record Man.
Hand Drawn Pressing is Focused on the Future of Vinyl Records: Until recently, vinyl records were considered outdated, offering a tinge of wistfulness to those in their midst. And their comeback, unlikely as it seemed in an increasingly digital age, has had a significant impact on one particular company located here in the North Dallas Corridor – Hand Drawn Pressing. As the manufacturing arm of Hand Drawn Records – a full-service, artist-centric independent music company – Hand Drawn Pressing is focused exclusively on vinyl record pressing, offering a new and modern technology that’s proved revolutionary in the music industry.
Pulse: Have the vinyl say at Garage Days: Music fans have the chance to support Hobart’s thriving live scene — and pick up some sweet vinyl bargains while they’re at it — when the second Garage Days record fair is held on Saturday. The inaugural Garage Days event was held in September and was hailed as a huge success, with about 400 music lovers turning out to trawl through crates of records and listen to live performances by the likes of Ben Salter and A. Swayze and the Ghosts. It was just one of numerous pop-up events Schmorgasbaag owner Luuk Wipprecht and Garage Days organiser Paul Sluijters from Jubilee Street Records have hosted over the past six months, aimed at giving local musicians a unique setting in which to showcase their art.
This Round, Ultra-Minimal, Upside-Down Vinyl Player Is As Simple As It Gets: In recent years, there has been a trend to simplify the vinyl record player, to suit the minimalist aesthetic that is popular today. ‘Wheel’ is a new super minimal record player created by Dutch company Miniot that makes listening to vinyl records very easy and pleasant—it consists of nothing more than a round platter on which you would place the record. The short control stick at the center of the player is all you need to control it—turning it clockwise would turn it on, click it at the top to pause and resume the record and click right or left to select tracks.
Robert Higgins, Record Town and fye founder, dies: Albany businessman Robert J. Higgins, who founded the Record Town chain of music stores in 1972 and built it into a billion dollar retail empire that still survives today as the f.y.e. chain, has died. Higgins was CEO of the holding company for his store, Trans World Entertainment, for 40 years before stepping down in 2014, although he remained on as chairman until his death. He was 75. On Thursday, friends of Higgins were grieving from his passing, including James Barba, CEO of Albany Medical Center. “He was my best friend,” Barba said.
