New record store opens in Park: GROSSE POINTE PARK — Standing behind the counter of Ripe Records Detroit, the newest addition to Charlevoix in the Park, Andrew Curcuru cleans a new batch of records set to go on the shelves. “When you leave here you’re getting a clean record,” he said. “I didn’t want to be like all the other record stores where you go in there and they’re selling bongs and T-shirts and incense. That’s not me. This is a vinyl store.” Curcuru and his wife, Kathy Garrido, and their son, Alex, officially opened the store Saturday, April 21, on Record Store Day. They buy, sell and trade new and used records, as well as sell and service turntables, speakers and receivers. Curcuru said everything in the store is analog, with all the refurbished turntables, speakers and receivers from the ’70s and ’80s.
If you love monsters and music, you’ll love this new record store in Collinsville: Collinsville residents know Bill Cherry as an Elvis tribute artist who travels all over the world performing rock ‘n’ roll hits from the ’50s, ’60s and ’70s. But now the hometown boy with long black sideburns and a bright white smile is adding “shop owner” to his repertoire. Cherry recently opened Monster Vinyl, a record store that combines his love of music and monsters. Racks are filled with albums, CDs, cassettes and eight-tracks. Shelves are lined with vintage toys, dolls, action figures and other collectibles, many related to sci-fi and horror films. “It’s like my bedroom, open to the public, without the bed,” Cherry said, laughing.
Vinyl and Coffee Ride Together at Chicago Multiroaster Purple Llama: Music lovers all over the world celebrated Record Store Day on Saturday, April 21, this year, which also happened to be the fitting first anniversary of Chicago-based Purple Llama, a multiroaster coffee shop and record store hybrid in Wicker Park. With more live performances and community events in the works, founder Joel Petrick and the rest of the Purple Llama team, including Director of Coffee Dylan Connell and General Manager and Vinyl Buyer Adam Hirzel, envision the shop not just as a coffee spot or a music spot, but as a true hybrid inspired by both. To commemorate its first year, Purple Llama is launching a Coffee & Record Subscription, a bi-monthly box set that will pair coffee roasters and records from all over the world.
New App Automatically Recognizes Album Covers, The Shazam of album art is ideal for diligent crate diggers: A new app is being billed as “the Shazam of album covers,” and we’re all for it. The new app is called Record Player and it was designed with Glitch by Patrick Weaver. The app utilizes Google Cloud Vision API and the Spotify API to automatically recognize album cover artwork and direct you to the album on Spotify. The app seems like the perfect tool for avid music fans and regular vinyl crate diggers who may want to preview an album that catches their eye in a store so they can check it out before purchasing it. Interest in vinyl records has soared in recent years, especially due to events like Record Store Day and their placement in big retailers. According to Billboard and Nielsen Music, vinyl LP sales have reached a record high, accounting for 14 percent of all U.S. physical album sales in 2017, an 11 percent increase from 2016.
A Total Drag patron built an amazingly detailed Lego model of the record store and it’s awesome: Dan Nissen knows Total Drag Records pretty well. He should. He’s the co-owner of the store. But even he was blown away when friend Benu Peters brought in a small Lego version of the Sioux Falls record shop, complete with intricate, accurate details. There was the lighting over the corner stage, records on the racks just like the ones sold by Total Drag, and a Lego version of Nissen behind the counter with a cup of coffee. “He brought it in and I was just floored,” Nissen said. Peters made the model for the Nissens and Total Drag to celebrate the record store’s fourth anniversary.
Guns N’ Roses announce deluxe reissue of ‘Appetite For Destruction’: It looks like Guns N’ Roses are set to release a deluxe reissue of their seminal 1987 album ‘Appetite For Destruction’ The iconic record, which celebrates its 31st anniversary later this year, contains classic tracks ‘Welcome to the Jungle’, ‘It’s So Easy’, ‘Paradise City’ and ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’. Fans are speculating that a big announcement due on Friday (May 4) will confirm a world tour around the album milestone. Earlier this week, the band launched a countdown timer on their official website, with a clock counting down to Friday Midnight EST. However, an unboxing video – which has since been removed from YouTube – appears to prematurely reveal the contents of a brand new deluxe reissue of ‘Appetite For Destruction’ from the band.
