Madison, WI | Vinyl Cave: Record Store Day and local store updates: Love it or hate it (opinions vary widely), for inveterate music collectors the mid-April perch of Record Store Day has become an “opening day” of sorts for crate-digging season. The annual St. Vincent de Paul collectible record sale typically takes place just after Record Store Day, and early season rummage sales usually take place by then as well. But in 2020, nothing has proceeded as usual. Record Store Day was supposed to happen on April 18, but with much of the world trying to self-quarantine, the date was moved back to June 20. The St. Vinny’s sale also was postponed; Willy Street store manager Genève Friede writes via email that new dates for this year’s sale are currently being worked out. It doesn’t seem as if large crowds gathering in tight spaces will be a great idea in June, either, so the original replacement date for Record Store Day has already been canceled. Plus, there’s the fact that a boatload of albums need to get manufactured and out to stores, and some releases might not have been ready by the June date. The new solution: RSD will move even later in the year, with the current plan to parcel out the releases over three Saturdays, Aug. 29, Sept. 26 and Oct. 24.
UK | Tim Burgess named as ambassador of Love Record Stores Day: The online event is encouraging music fans to support their favourite independent record stores. Tim Burgess has been named as the ambassador of next month’s Love Record Stores Day. Set to take place online on Saturday, June 20, Love Record Stores Day will be held in place of the rearranged Record Store Day 2020 — which has been postponed twice this year due to the coronavirus outbreak — as the latter will now be split over three dates (August 29, September 26 and October 24). Love Record Stores Day is aiming to get music-lovers to support their favourite independent record stores by shopping online on June 20, when exclusive and limited edition vinyl releases from a range of artists and labels will be made available to purchase on the websites of various record stores. Releases from the likes of Arctic Monkeys, Oasis, Caribou, Belle and Sebastian, Beach House, Robyn, New Order, Jungle and John Grant will all be available to buy online on June 20.
Midland, MI | Midland’s new way of shopping: Records at curbside: Radio Wasteland still selling albums. Customers are still shopping at Radio Wasteland Records in Midland but instead of combing through dozens of crates of albums, they are watching for what’s available online, ordering and then picking up their haul at curbside, much like the restaurants do these days. Owner Jim Gleason said people are still eager to find records. “Many tell us since they’re staying at home so much more, they want new music to listen to,” he said. “There’s also a lot to be said about the importance of music to one’s good mental health. Our curbside pickups on Fridays especially have been pretty busy, and we’re finding that as more people find out we’re offering it, the more they’re taking advantage of it.” Gleason said the independent record store, located at 716 George St., also has been shipping records as well – locally, regionally and throughout the state. Curbside pickup is offered during the afternoons on Fridays and Saturdays. And if there is enough demand, he hopes to expand to Thursdays and maybe even Wednesdays over the next couple of weeks.
Denver, CO | Wax Trax, Famous Denver Record Store, Hopes New Website Helps Them Survive Coronavirus: For over 40 years, people have been coming to Wax Trax for their for all their music needs. In all that time, co-owner Duane Davis has never seen his store like this. “This is the most unusual situation we’ve ever had occur,” he told CBS4’s Dominic Garcia. Because of coronavirus, sales are down around 90%. Due to safety concerns, customers aren’t allowed to browse the store’s selection. Wax Trax has had a website for some time, but never sold music on it. Duane and co-owner Dave Stidman knew they had to adapt to survive, but they needed help. “The other owner and I are pretty much old school. So computers are a little bit of a mystery to us,” Davis told CBS4. Luckily, Stidman’s son, Pete, recently moved back to town and has been helping post their inventory online. Slowly but surely they’ve continued to make progress. “It is time consuming but it has been gratifying to see, putting some of those oddball items up really gets people’s attention,” Davis told CBS4’s Dominic Garcia.
Detroit, MI | Andy Warhol, Banksy Album Covers Featured in Virtual Exhibition: A new exhibition from the Cranbrook Art Museum featuring vinyl album covers designed by famous artists is now on digital display. “For the Record: Artists on Vinyl” features work from the likes of Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol, who designed album covers for bands like the Rolling Stones, Velvet Underground and The Smiths. There’s also work from artists like Banksy and Robert Motherwell in the exhibition as well as Keith Haring — a well known street artist during New York City’s graffiti golden age in the 1970s and 1980s who was floating in the same musical circles as an artist like disco star Sylvester, who he designed an album cover for for the song “Someone Like You.” “There are a lot of famous artists who have done album designs for different reasons,” says Andrew Blauvelt, director of the Cranbrook Art Museum. ”Many of those artists were in our collection.” The Cranbrook Art Museum doesn’t have permanent galleries showing off their collections like many museums. Instead, each gallery rotates through different exhibitions.
Split Enz Celebrate 40 Years Of True Colours With A Very Split Enz Vinyl Release: Available for pre-order now. The New Zealand band we love to claim the most, Split Enz, are celebrating their most successful release, True Colours, in true, Split Enz colourful spirit, with a colourful vinyl release. Available for pre-order now, the 40th anniversary see’s the Melbourne made record, rereleased in orange, green, blue and yellow coloured vinyl on June 19th. The CD and digital releases will feature bonus material not included on the original 11-track album, with further details to be announced in the coming months. Band member, Eddie Rayner is taking back the original sound of the album he explains, “I have both the original stereo masters from the 1979 mixing sessions, and the versions currently held in repositories such as Spotify….and they are radically different, sonically. The original masters are mixed, but unmastered, and the Spotify versions have been brutally, and probably repeatedly remastered… by whom, when, where and why, nobody will ever know. So for me, remixing to both restore and improve the currently-available mix AND the sound, for this 40th anniversary release, was a good idea.”
