New independent record shop cafe opens in Birmingham city centre, Whether you want coffee, art or vinyl, there’s something for everyone at Cafe Artum: A coffee shop that sells vinyl records as well as cakes and croissants – now there’s a foaming good idea. The good news is that the city’s latest brew house is already up and spinning. Customers are flocking along to lap up the coffee… and to get into the groove…Four words in the window tell you all you need to know: Art, Music, Food, Culture. Set up by friends Christy Lakeman and Jayson Wynters, Cafe Artum is only a relatively small space as far as coffee shops go. But as well as a full-sized coffee bar, benches, tables, chairs and stools, it has 3 turntables and two banks of boxes containing scores of LPs for sale.
The vinyl treasures of James Rugami’s record shop: Visitors come from all over the world to discover African classics in the shop, which is located in this sultry meat market. “My best artist is Manu Dibango, I actually have an original press of the Soul Makossa album, and I keep it in a special supply of my most expensive merchandise,” says Rugami Music In Africa. A key element of Rugami’s business is acquiring vintage turntables, recorders and vinyl from willing and unwilling owners. The art of persuading people to part with priceless items is one he honed early on. In 1986, one of Rugami’s older brothers owned a turntable he valued with his life, though it did not work. At the time, Rugami had seven singles, but nowhere to play them. But he was persistent.
The Vinyl Countdown: Sure, one could spend May 19 watching the royal wedding, but why do that when you can be surrounded by rock and roll royalty instead? That’s the game plan for Eddie Bruce, owner and operator of RocknShop at 650 Henderson Drive in Cartersville. While the rest of the world might have their eyes fixed on the Prince and the Queen, he’s hoping hardcore vinyl enthusiasts will be more interested in checking out the Prince and Queen records at his new shop when it opens in two weeks. Then again, it’s not really accurate to describe RocknShop as a “new” venture, considering Bruce, 56, has been operating a smaller record shop inside the Copperwood Co. store at 96 Iron Belt Road for about three years.
Seattle record store marks 44 years in the resurgence of vinyl: With a collection of 500,000 records, some dating back to the 1910s, 12-foot ladders lining the shelves, and a store owner who can recite 55 classic rock artists like an auctioneer, Bop Street Records is unlike any other record store in Seattle…Dave Voorhees, owner of Bop Street Records, is no stranger to the music retail business. He first got his start selling 45’s out of his parent’s North Seattle home back in 1974 after having uncovered 3,000 rare blues records on a trip to Texas. Five years later, he established his first retail space and in 1984 moved Bop Street Records to the heart of Ballard – where it’s been thriving for 34 years.
Books and vinyl fill into Shockoe Bottom storefront: The needle has dropped on a new music and book shop in Shockoe Bottom. Small Friend Records & Books opened last month at 105 N. 17th St. in Shockoe Bottom. Owned by married couple Zoe Golden and Jordan Pulaski, Small Friend buys, sells and trades new and used books and vinyl records. Golden and Pulaski met while working at online grocer Relay Foods, which shut down in early 2017. Golden said they left the company before its shutdown and shortly after began pondering entrepreneurship. “We had been saying we need to think of a way to start something of our own, where we could be our own bosses,” he said. After settling on books and records, they named the store for their dog, a 4.5-pound Yorkipoo named Peluga, whose face also graces the store’s logo.
Saint John’s Backstreet Records owner honoured at ECMAs, Gordie Tufts opened record store in uptown 38 years ago: Perhaps New Brunswick’s best-known record spinner and slinger, Gordie Tufts of Backstreet Records is being recognized by the East Coast Music Awards. Tufts opened Backstreet Records in Saint John approximately 38 years ago, and the Fredericton sister location eight years later. Now the regional music awards are honouring the man who dedicated his life to his store and making independent music accessible. “It’s not all on my shoulders,” said Tufts, who will receive New Brunswick’s Stompin’ Tom Award. “I have to thank people who help us do what we do…I’m not a musician,” he said. “I don’t play. I don’t sing. I run a record store.”
The Ultimate Analog Music Is Back: Surging demand for vinyl LPs has raised hopes for the reel-to-reel tape deck, which returns to sale this month for the first time in decades. It’s no secret that sales of vinyl music are at the highest in decades. Even the lowly cassette tape is regaining popularity as some millennials embrace analog music over digital downloads and streaming services. But for the first time in more than two decades, a German company is reviving what may be the ultimate format: a new reel-to-reel tape machine. Dusseldorf-based Roland Schneider Precision Engineering this week will introduce four Ballfinger reel-to-reel machines, bringing back a technology that dominated professional music recording for most of the 20th century and is now making a comeback with audiophiles and artists including Lady Gaga.
