Dungannon, UK | Gene Stewart’s: The Dungannon music shop where we queued for concert tickets still going five decades later: Many Co Tyrone folk will remember those early mornings camped outside Gene Stewart’s on Irish Street in Dungannon. The good old days of the record shop will hold fond memories for many, particularly those who formed long queues outside for tickets to concerts back in the day. Many Co Tyrone folk will remember those early mornings camped outside Gene Stewart’s on Irish Street in Dungannon . The shop was owned by Irish country music star and Dungannon man Gene Stewart, who sadly passed away in 2016 aged 72. While the shop has had to change its tune over the years due to ever-changing music trends, Gene’s brother Raymond now oversees things with his two daughters and keeps his brother’s memory alive. Now known simply as Stewart’s Music Shop, the shop is still going after close to five decades in the heart of the town. “…We used to call it Northern Ireland’s leading record shop, and we’ll soon be the only record shop the way things are going.”
Washington, DC | The Waxing + Waning of Vinyl: A Chat with Byrdland Records’ Owners: Alisha Edmondson, co-founder of Byrdland Records and sister location Songbyrd Music House, just had her groceries delivered. Because of the commotion brought about by fresh produce and foods shuffled in the background, she’s speaking to me with her camera off as she and fellow co-founder Joe Lapan recount the story of how their initial location in Adams Morgan came to be. “Years before we opened [in 2015], I remember telling Joe how lucky we were that we grew up without digital,” Edmondson says. “That our friends and I had communal experiences with music and that it earmarked times in our life.” I tend to prefer Zoom conversations to phone calls because it allows me to see people’s faces. It helps me answer internal questions such as what makes them smile when talking about themselves — or conversely, what makes them furrow their brows? These nuances often shed light in ways words don’t. However, these subtleties weren’t essential when listening to Edmondson. The passion bled through her voice as she recounted her and Lapan’s initial ideas for founding a music-centric business, including a revelatory experience at a Classic Album Sundays session in Brooklyn, New York.
Hawkes Bay, NZ | Local Focus: The sound of vinyl rising: Gordon Stevenson balked at signing a long-term lease for his Napier CBD record shop, so moved his business to his Poraiti garage. “I’m 75 and the landlady, in her wisdom, decided she wanted me to sign a fairly long-term lease which would take me to 80 and I’m not prepared to do that,” he said. “So we decided bugger it – we’ll come home.” Wife Janis said after 30 years of retailing in Napier she was happy to move to semi-retirement. “It has backfired, because we are busier now,” she said. Most regular customers still visit the Just For The Record business, along with out-of-town collectors, but an increased online presence has been a big boost to sales. “Covid has been good for us, particularly during the Auckland lockdown that went on for months and months,” she said. “Our online orders increased dramatically and I would probably say 80 per cent of our orders went to Auckland.”
Manchester, UK | Best Record Shops in Manchester: Heaven is a record shop. Here are some of the best record shops in Manchester we know you’ll love as much as we do. There’s magic in record shops. From the second the storefront catches your eye, it floods your body with a warm serotonin buzz. Or at least it does for us. Nothing beats leisurely flicking through case after case of vinyl, checking out different genres, and diving into that bargain crate where you can find records that are cheaper than a bag of chips. It’s easy to lose yourself in it. But some record shops are more heavenly than others. Some are staples of the community after decades of providing us with a musical haven where we can explore our favourite music and find our new favourite artists. And as the music capital of the UK, Manchester has plenty of them. Here are the best record shops in Manchester.
World’s largest vinyl plant warns of delays “until at least 2030.” A pressing concern. The world’s largest vinyl plant has told music fans that will be halting most production until at least 2030, following news that ABBA will reissuing their entire catalogue and releasing their 10th studio album ‘Don’t Push The Button’ in 2029. The full ABBA discography — consisting of nine studio albums, two live albums, seven compilations, three box sets, and 50 singles — is being recut to wax, including multiple runs of super limited edition, heavyweight 180 gram, multi-coloured, hand-etched records for each. The band have revealed this will be the last time any of their old music is reissued, before they embark on a new electronic-focused era, with their next album inspired by one of “their greatest idols” The Chemical Brothers. …It’s set to manufacture almost 200 million copies of reissues and forthcoming ABBA records, which will keep it busy through to the end of the decade.
Charleston, WV | Traveling WV: Sullivan’s Records: When Sam Lowe was tasked with organizing thousands of vinyl records in 2007 at his former job at a Huntington music store, he never imagined what it would lead to. “I was sort of tossed into the deep end with a huge collection that was totally random and needed to be alphabetized,” Lowe remembered. “It took the entire summer, but by the end of it I was totally hooked on records.” With that new found passion, Lowe rolled the dice and opened Sullivan’s Records in Charleston’s East End in 2013. That gamble has certainly paid off with the resurgence of records supported by music lovers of all ages.
The Return of Records Examined in ‘Vinyl Nation’ Documentary Trailer: “The thrill of what might be behind the door of that little shop.” 1091 Pictures has unveiled an official trailer for Vinyl Nation, a documentary about the return of vinyl and resurgence of records in modern times. This originally premiered at various film festivals in 2020 and has been playing on the festival circuit these last two years. Vinyl Nation is a deep dig into the crates of the vinyl record resurgence to discover what an old technology says about our relationship to music and each other in a divided time in America. Some of the questions the film asks: “Has the return of vinyl made music fandom more inclusive or divided? What does vinyl say about our past here in the present? How has the second life of vinyl changed how we hear music and how we listen to each other?”
Oakland, CA | Mark Ibañez’s ‘Vinyl Room’ shows his first love was music before sports: “Music was my first love before sports. I was a Beatlemaniac,” says KTVU’s sports director Mark Ibañez. That’s no surprise to viewers who relished Ibañez’s broadcasts during the pandemic from his record-lined man cave, better known as the “Vinyl Room.” After nearly 43 years, much like a needle riding the groove to a record’s edge, Mark’s spin at KTVU is coming to an end. He’s leaving the station this week, but as he reflects on this peculiar timing and the world’s uncertainties, he’s proud of this reinvigorated and reinvented bond through music with his audience. The Vinyl Room after all is an extension of his personality. When the lights and camera turn on, viewers who catch a glimpse of the Vinyl Room almost get to play a fun game with his veritable jukebox of smash hits that show his eclectic taste. What’s he going to display? What albums might you recognize?
ABBA announce new career-spanning album box set: The 10xLP and 10xCD collections will arrive in May. ABBA have announced details of a new career-spanning box set which will celebrate their nine studio albums. The Swedish pop group returned in November with their ninth studio album ‘Voyage’, marking their first LP since 1981’s ‘The Visitors’. ABBA have now shared details of ‘The ABBA Album Box Set’, which will celebrate their nine studio albums to date and be completed by ‘ABBA Tracks’ – a special record featuring non-album singles such as ‘Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)’ and ‘Fernando’. The collection, which is set for release on May 27 via POLAR/Universal Music, will be available in both 10xLP or 10xCD formats. Pre-order is available from here. The albums in the 10xLP box set will be pressed on 180g heavyweight vinyl, while the 10xCD collection will be accompanied by a 40-page booklet featuring album information and classic photographs from throughout the group’s career.
Cleveland, OH | New interactive exhibit coming to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is opening a new interactive pop-up event in collaboration with the Cleveland Institute of Art. The “Interactive Vinyl Listening Exhibit” features work by designer and artist Jack Macphee. He created an encyclopedia of more than 750 records labels showing the role music and vinyl records have played in political activism and events throughout history. “So what Josh would be doing is kind of examining some of those records. He’ll be playing, some of them telling the stories, thinking about what is music’s role, what are the record labels, roles, and kind of using that platform to affect and impact social change and social activism,” Rock Hall Director of Fan Experience John Goehrke said. Fans can participate in a question-and-answer book signing with the artist and then head on over to the Cleveland Institute of Art where Macphee’s exhibit is located until June 10.
