Fort Worth, TX | After 61 years on University Drive, Record Town packs up with a new groove on the way: Jim Milan Jr. remembers the first 45 he bought at Record Town, the 61-year-old University Drive record store: Ricky Nelson’s “Travelin’ Man,” which came out in 1961. Milan would’ve been around 7 or 8 at the time. “I remember I was really kinda antsy about getting it because it was 79 cents, and I only had [14] cents,” says Milan, who would come to the store with his father, the long-running Fort Worth jazz musician Jim Milan. “So I was gonna hit him up for like 63 cents or whatever it was. ‘Is he going to go for this?'” Milan, who still has the single, says that Record Town used to be the “Saturday hang,” where music fans could preview their purchases in listening booths and otherwise just hang out.
Liverpool, UK | Massive new gig venue and bar opening from team behind The Jacaranda and Heebie Jeebies: The brand new venue is from the team behind The Jacaranda, Heebie Jeebies and EBGBS. Liverpool’s music scene is constantly evolving – since the days of The Beatles and The Cabin Club a lot has changed and the latest chapter in the city’s illustrious history is about to open. A brand new 400 capacity gig venue, record store, bar and restaurant from the team behind The Jacaranda, Heebie Jeebies and EBGBS is opening on Seel Street. The Jacaranda has been one of the cornerstones of Liverpool’s music industry for almost 60 years, so it seems fitting for it to carry on the legacy another venue…Aptly named Jacaranda Records: Phase One, the venue is setting its sights on becoming Liverpool’s newest musical institution.
Southend, Essex, UK | Magazine photographer Andrew Cotterill’s work on display at South Records: The work of photographer Andrew Cotterill, who has shot pictures for some of the nation’s most popular music and lifestyle magazines – Q, Mojo, Spin, Sony Style, NME, Big Issue and Dazed and Confused – can be seen in a semi-permanent exhibition at a Southend record shop. South record store proprietor Richard Onslow, said: “We’re really excited to be hosting an ongoing exhibition of Andrew Cotterill’s music photography. “Anybody that’s ever so much as glanced at a music magazine in the past 20 years would’ve seen his work. He took the first photos of the Strokes when they came to the UK to tour their debut record (an image we have on show), along with iconic images of greats like Lee Scratch Perry, Chuck D, Beck, up to the recent shoot for Arctic Monkeys MOJO cover.
Symbol Audio creates sleek new minimalist turntable console: New York Hudson Valley based company Symbol Audio has unveiled the Modern Record Player, a sleek new integrated turntable that combines a classic aesthetic with contemporary connectivity. As the name suggests, Symbol Audio knowingly reference the old in their creation of the new, inspired in particular by Dieter Rams’ classic Braun SK55 turntable, which shocked the audio world by replacing typically heavy, wooden record player cabinets with a clean plastic finish (that would also go on to inspire Steve Jobs’ early iPod designs). The Modern Record Player is fully wi-fi compatible and makes a point of hiding away any unwanted wires, with an integrated AB amplifier and speaker system designed by Morel hoping to provide the punch, although the site of the platter atop the speaker may make some audiophiles wince.
Is laser-cut ‘HD Vinyl’ the Holy Grail for audiophiles, or a just a gimmick? “We can put the grooves much tighter than it has been possible before. We can put 30 percent more information onto the disc — that can be more dynamics, more playing time, higher volume, or a combination of those three,” he says. “This is the part that you will immediately hear when listening to HD Vinyl.” Loibl and his team have been putting in the long hours, but will they actually be able to deliver on such lofty promises? …Unlike the physical differences between most evolutionary formats, such as the paradigm-shifting move from tape-wound cassettes to laser-etched CDs, the technology Rebeat is developing won’t actually change the size or material of the records that spin on your turntable. That’s because, at its core, HD Vinyl technology will simply combine two steps in the existing vinyl manufacturing process, aiming to improve upon the quality of the finished product.
Ditch the milk crates. Store your vinyl properly in this elegant DIY stand: You can embark on this project in one of two ways: either start with multiple smaller boards of the same thickness, or use one large board and chop it up to create the pieces you need. We went with the latter option and started with a single hardwood board, roughly 1 inch thick and 10 inches wide, though a slightly thinner or narrower board would work too. If you’re going this same route and using one board for the whole project, you’ll need a slab that’s at least 60 inches in length. We began by chopping our pieces to rough length using our trusty miter saw, and then cut them to width on a table saw — but don’t worry if you don’t have access to a table saw. The beauty of this project is that you can make all the same cuts with a jigsaw (though you’ll likely end up with rougher edges that will need more sanding).
Kevin Buckle: Red, blue or clear are my kind of colours for vinyl records: Last week saw the release of Welcome Strangers by Modern Studies. While their blurb says their music might best be described as “kosmiche choral”, I’ll stick with chamber-pop. Signed to Fire Records and including Avalanche veterans Emily Scott and Rob St John, the album should build on the success of their first one. Meanwhile, out this week is a self-titled album from Tracyanne & Danny. While Danny, from the band Crybaby, will not be known to many Tracyanne Campbell is very well known indeed from singing with Camera Obscura who recently made Avalanche’s list of five best-selling bands of all time.After the death of Camera Obscura’s keyboard player and backing vocalist Carey Lander in 2015 from a rare bone cancer, nobody was sure what would happen and it is good to see Tracyanne back making music. Fans won’t be disappointed and there is a lovely red vinyl with a bonus seven-inch in a gatefold sleeve only available from all good independent record shops.
