Toronto, CA | Grigorian Says Goodbye To Yorkville To Exclusively Sell Online: Grigorian, Canada’s last standing classical music store, will shutter its Yorkville location in June. First opened in 1980, Grigorian will continue its online presence where it has successfully sold records for the past 20 years. John Holland, Grigorian’s gregarious web site manager, and one of the resident musical gurus, says, “while the transition is bittersweet, it is certainly not due to lack of business.” He cites the problematic cost of doing business in Toronto, the proliferation of streaming, and a shift in focus at record companies as factors in the decision. “Let’s just say that it has become very restrictive and that is a reason why a lot of independent businesses are closing in this city,” Holland volunteered when pressed for details about the Yorkville store’s closure. Rents have tripled in Yorkville and Grigorian, like other fleeing Yorkville retailers, i.e., David’s Shoes, Over the Rainbow, Pusateri and Chanel, need better cost efficiencies in this changing retail environment.
Manchester, UK | Record store has re-opened in Manchester after HMV went into administration: Owners of the company have secured a new lease for the shop on Brown Street in Manchester city centre. Popular record store FOPP has re-opened in Manchester city centre three months after it was forced to close when HMV went into administration. Back in February the music shop, on Brown Street, closed when HMV was acquired out of administration by Canadian retailer Sunrise Records. Hundreds of shops were saved, but FOPP was among 27 stores deemed unprofitable and was closed with immediate effect. However, on Sunday, May 27, the store was able to re-open after the owners of the company managed to secure a new lease. A spokesman for HMV said the retailer was very disappointed the shop closed back in February 5 and has worked to get the doors back open again. The spokesman said: “It is a very important store for people in the city. It is an iconic record store.
Memphis, TN | To mark Goner’s silver anniversary, the company is throwing a party this weekend. Back in 1993, when Eric Friedl decided to start the Goner Records label – putting out a limited vinyl release from Japanese noise-rockers Guitar Wolf – he did it because “their music was so wild that I didn’t think there was a label that would dare release anything by them.” Back then, Friedl couldn’t have expected Goner would be going, bigger and better than ever, 25 years on. But in 2019, Goner is its own little empire: one that includes a still-flourishing label, a thriving retail store and the annual Gonerfest concert extravaganza, which draws bands and fans from all over the world each September. To mark Goner’s silver anniversary, the company is throwing a party this weekend. Goner25 is a three-day bash that will include a performance by Guitar Wolf and other longtime label acts and supporters like The 5.6.7.8’s, Royal Pendletons, Jack Oblivian and Bloodshot Bill, plus film screenings and other fun.
St. Petersburg, FL | Daddy Kool Records and O’Berry Succulents will host a St. Petersburg listening party for plants: Plants like music, right? Studies done by Dr. T. C. Singh in the 1960s suggest that sound waves do have an effect on how plants grow, but Daddy Kool Records is going to give you a chance to experiment on your own. On Saturday, June 22, the recently relocated Sunshine City record shop staple is teaming up with O’Berry’s Succulents to stage a listening party for plants and people who love them. The occasion will celebrate the first official reissue of a album from Julliard-educated pioneering electro composer Mort Garson, which has become something of a cult favorite. Released in 1976, Mother Earth’s Plantasia (subtitled “warm earth music for plants… and the people that love them”) was given to folks who bought a plant at Los Angeles’ Mother Earth on Melrose Avenue. Recorded especially for plants, the album was also a Moog-driven stoner’s delight. The album wasn’t popular upon release, but original pressings — which include Mother Earth’s Indoor Plant Care Booklet — now go for up to $600 on Discogs.
Leeds, UK | It’s the Vinyl countdown as Leeds-based Norman Records goes green: …Mr Raine admitted there is a conflict between wanting to sell more records and being conscious about the environment. “Vinyl records are basically made from oil and chlorine, which are extracted from hydrocarbon and salt resources using vast amounts of energy and pollutant chemicals,” he said. But he added: “While vinyl records undoubtedly have a high environmental cost, they are the antithesis of single-use, disposable plastics. If all plastic objects had the long lifetime that vinyl records do then we wouldn’t be seeing nearly as much controversy around ocean pollution and landfill.” Norman Records has introduced a number of new green initiatives this year to try to reduce its carbon footprint including a free vinyl disposal service. Anything with value is handed over to charity and anything that can’t be reused is sent to a specialist unit for recycling vinyl in Selby, where it is broken down into pellets for future use. Meanwhile, 100 per cent of the considerable amount of cardboard the company receives from suppliers is now recycled. It also offers the cardboard for local residents to reuse.
