Northampton, UK | Queues stretch along Gold Street as Northampton shops join annual Record Store Day: Vinyl enthusiasts queued overnight outside Northampton record shops at the weekend to be among the first to buy some of the limited releases which were part of this year’s Record Store Day. By the time Spun Out in Gold Street opened its doors at 8am on Saturday morning, more than 100 collectors were queuing outside – with the first having arrived at 8.30pm the day before. Among those in the queue were Record Store Day regulars Mark Sarll and Chris Gedge who had both spent all night outside of the shop. Mr Gedge, was queueing outside Spun Out from 11.30pm on the Friday night. He said: “I was third in the queue. I dropped my dog off at friends in Northampton for the weekend and went direct to Spun Out.”
Dublin, IE | Bob Dylan surprises staff at Dublin record shop: Bob Dylan has sent the signed copy of his 1997 album Time Out Of Mind to a Dublin branch of Tower Records. The store, based on Dawson St in the city, received the unexpected gift just ahead of Record Store Day, reports RTE, the Irish broadcaster. The album arrived on Friday, April 12 and was signed, “To Tower Records Dublin, thanks for still selling records! – Bob Dylan.” Dylan is currently on tour in Europe. He is scheduled to play two shows at Vienna‘s Konzerthaus on April 16 and 17, then on through Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Denmark before he co-headlines with Neil Young at London’s Hyde Park on July 12 and Kilkenny’s Nowlan Park on July 14.
Belfast, IE | Rebirth of vinyl sees new record store give it a spin in heart of Belfast: A new independent record shop has opened close to the Primark site in Belfast, offering a boost to city centre retail. Experienced music promoter Darren Smyth is one of the figures behind Strange Victory Records, with Jeff Doherty, owner of used vinyl speciality store Dragon Records on Wellington Place, also involved. Today’s official opening of the 22 Berry Street store coincides with Record Store Day, the now annual celebration of independent record shop culture. The new store is the latest boost for retail trade around the Primark cordon following the reopening of Zara’s only local outlet last week. Darren, who has helped bring over 400 bands and musicians to Belfast over the last 18 years, said he felt there was a gaping hole in the market for an independently owned outlet to buy new vinyl. “Outside of HMV there is nowhere to buy new vinyl in what is supposedly a capital city. We’re the only city I can think of in Europe I think that doesn’t have at least one,” he said.
New York, NY | Roy Ayers, Method Man & Redman & More To Play Crate Diggers NYC Music and Record Festival: Presented by Discogs, the “largest vinyl collector’s festival series on earth” is coming to the Bronx on July 27. Crate Diggers NYC, presented by renowned music database Discogs, and in association with Japanese audio company Audio-Technica, has announced the official music lineup for its New York City festival on July 27 at the New York Expo Center in the Bronx. Funk icon Roy Ayers will headline the fest, with support from by Method Man & Redman, Rudimental, Smif-N-Wessun, Black Moon, Mad Skillz, Jurrasic 5’s Soup Presents: The Fullee Love Collective, and more. Entrance to the record fair is free to attend all day, and tickets for the fest cost $30 and go on sale Friday, April 12 at 10:00 am EST. Crate Diggers NYC welcomes record sellers from around the region, as well as rare-finds and freshly pressed vinyl collectors looking to add to their stock.
Edmonton, CA | This isn’t your dad’s 8-track: vinyl stands the test of time: Edmonton man takes his passion for music and reinvests in the record: For Todd McLean, there is no better physical format for music than a vinyl record. It’s a ritual to unseal a record, put it onto a turntable, clean the stylus, drop the needle and sit back to listen. “It becomes an event, an experience all on its own,” said McLean, owner of Edmonton’s Moonshot Phonographs. While vinyl doesn’t have the “pristine purity” of a compact disc, McLean said the ear searches for the imperfections and warmth you get from listening to an LP (long-playing record). When McLean opened his vinyl record-pressing operation in Edmonton just over a year ago, he was fulfilling a lifelong dream of becoming a part of the music industry. He has always loved taking in shows, finding out how the music is made and listening to it on vinyl. He’d go to the merchandise table after every show but wasn’t always able to buy the records he wanted from smaller, independent artists.
Billings, MT | New record store to open in Billings: Cameron Goodwin knew how to operate a turntable while still in diapers. Now, the 8-year-old is the namesake for Cameron Records, a new store opening on Central Avenue in May. “He’s the boss,” said Cameron’s dad, TJ Goodwin, who is opening the record store with his friend, Andy Brown. When they were kicking around the idea of opening a store, he asked Cameron, “Do you think it will work in Billings? Do you think people will come and buy music?” Cameron’s response: “Dad, I believe in everything.” “He believed in it more than anyone,” said Goodwin, who grew up in Billings and left in 2000 to attend college. After graduating, he took a job as a funeral director in Bozeman, where he met Brown. Their wives knew one another, and the two connected over a shared love of records.
Christchurch, NZ | A different vinyl for every day for Christchurch collector: Warren Robertson has enough vinyls to listen to a different one every day for a year and still have a huge collection left to cycle through. “Hundreds and hundreds” of records are meticulously organised in the Christchurch man’s garage, categorised by genre and era to make it easy to find the exact tune to match the mood, whatever that may be. He’s never counted the exact number – and couldn’t possibly pick a favourite – but he’s not precious about his lifelong collection and scoffs at the monetary value of keeping the vintage covers pristine. “They’re made to be listened to and I absolutely listen to them. People say ‘oh, those are worth a lot of money’ and that, but there’s no point having them sitting out there without playing them.”
Withington, UK | A new record store is opening in Withington, with a cafe serving booze and a year-round garden terrace: Withington is about to get a brand new record store on Egerton Crescent, with a cafe serving beer inside. Wilderness Record Store will be taking over the former Deco site, just off Wilmslow Road. As well as stocking an impressive record collection, it will be serving freshly made toasties, cakes and pastries, plus a range of beers and wines and the venue’s very own Wilderness gin and tonics. The record store is due to open with a massive all-day party on Saturday, April 13 – happily, Record Store Day – with complimentary drinks and a tote bag handed out with every vinyl purchase. Visitors at the event will also be given a gin and tonic voucher redeemable at the after-party at nearby Solomons Cafe and Bar, which will run from 8pm until 1am.
Pro-Ject releases X1 Turntable, destined to impress music lovers: You better believe Pro-Ject when it says it isn’t a company that positions a turntable’s price and features above the need for real quality and engineering. As good as its word, Pro-Ject has unveiled the new X1 turntable, a model that is handmade in Europe using high-quality materials and expensive technology. So when this turntable Titan says its X1 is not cheap, it’s because Pro-Ject consciously did not want it to be the cheapest. The focus from the get-go was to make a quality vinyl-spinner that would keep its buyers happy for years. This company ethos is a long way ahead of the many cheap and cheerless turntables that are prevalent in the mass market these days. Pro-Ject describes these bottom end turntables as bereft of the solid engineering build quality a correctly designed model has in abundance.
