Israel’s Record Shop Closing After 20 Years on Fulton Street, Owner Says: Hidden beneath a sidewalk cellar door on Fulton Street is an underground haven for music lovers, with thousands of vinyl records stacked in shelves and crates. But the albums will soon have to find a new home with the impending closure of Israel’s Record Shop, according to store owner Israel Ben Yahuda. After 20 years offering selections of reggae, soul, rock, jazz, disco and more out of the basement of 1118 Fulton, the business will close by the end of April.
CHIRP Record Fair returns 4/9! Spring is near, and so is year 14 of the CHIRP Record Fair! Join us at Plumbers Hall to dig through thousands of crates of vinyl records, as well as DVDs, CDs, posters, and more. It’s a music collector’s paradise! Early admission from 8-10am is $25 and allows readmission all day long. General admission begins at 10am. The CHIRP Record Fair & Other Delights is a benefit for CHIRP – Chicago Independent Radio Project. Listen online at chirpradio.org, and look for the station on the airwaves at 107.1FM on the north side of Chicago later this year!
Notes from a record store: Pie & Vinyl: Pie & Vinyl in Southsea, Portsmouth isn’t your average record store. To be more precise, it’s a really, really good record store – with added gravy. As the name suggests, Pie & Vinyl considers itself a ‘record cafe’, serving up hearty grub which occasionally pays tribute to the outlet’s own favourite music pedlars (there’s even a ‘Sub Pop Pie’, named after the ‘best record label in the world’). In addition to these pastry tummy-fillers, Pie & Vinyl has earned a sterling reputation for its musical wares since being founded in 2011.
Record Store Day strikes first video partnership: Record Store Day has partnered with Icon Film Distribution for its first video deal. This year, Record Store Day customers will have the opportunity to see Miles Ahead for free, in advance of its cinema release. Directed by and starring Don Cheadle, Miles Ahead is the impressionistic feature film portrait of Miles Davis. Screenings will take place nationwide on April 18. Participating sites include Rough Trade East in London, Rough Trade Nottingham, Rise Music Bristol, Home Manchester and Hyde Park Picture House Leeds.
Happy days: Leeds firm rocks back the clock to make world’s first vinyl jukebox in 20 years: A manufacturer in Leeds drafted in a team of OAPs to become the only company in the world producing a vinyl jukebox. The first commercially available vinyl playing jukebox in 20 years has been unveiled by Sound Leisure, a musical manufacturing company, who drafted in a production team of pensioners to help work the ageing mechanism. The company will go into production of the ‘Rocket Jukebox’ this summer after its prototype was unveiled at the Classic Car Show to the admiration of vinyl lovers old and new.
Goldmine: Collector’s Curse: Bad news: Your grandma’s dead. Good news: You’ve inherited box after box of her dusty old LPs! Score! You’ve seen the vinyl displays at the front of Urban Outfitters and Barnes & Noble, so you know that vinyl is a hot commodity—Fleetwood Mac and Led Zeppelin reissues are big business. Your grandma’s taste in music wasn’t exactly “cool,” but she probably has some Carpenters records that you can pawn off on some suburban hipster, right? Well, maybe.
