Discogs to Boost Brick-and-Mortar Record Stores With New Initiative: During its inaugural Independent Record Store Month in June, the online music database will launch an online directory highlighting physical record shops around the world. In the wake of this year’s Record Store Day on April 23, Discogs is spinning up its own initiative to assist brick-and-mortar music sellers. The online physical music database announced Tuesday (May 3) that it’s set to launch its first annual Independent Record Store Month in June 2022. By connecting music fans and indie record stores across the globe, the initiative hopes to highlight the importance of physical record shops and their contribution to vinyl culture.
Athens, OH | Record Store Day was a ROARing Success: Nestled behind Standard Salon, Republic of Athens Records, or ROAR, located at 79 ½ E. State St., is easy to miss by outsiders. Nevertheless, Athens locals know this small business is one of the many gems the city has to offer. What started as a pop-up shop in a bookstore is now a must-go for vinyl and record lovers. In light of ROAR’s success, the store participated in Record Store Day. According to Record Store Day, the holiday began in 2008. The idea originated in 2007 from record store owners who wanted to provide an opportunity to celebrate the unique, eclectic style that encapsulates independent record store culture. Since it was ROAR’s first Record Store Day with a storefront, the business hosted a variety of events leading up to the special day: Saturday, April 23. On Thursday, ROAR sponsored the ACRN show and Friday they organized a movie showing at the Athena Cinema.
Bristol, UK | New Bristol record store Disk Frisk is opening this month: Disk Frisk has announced that the shop will open its doors on 14 May. Bristol’s newest record store will be located at 4 Sommerville Road, just off Gloucester Road. To celebrate their launch they’ll be holding a free entry event throughout the day, with the store founders Disk Frisk on the decks alongside Noods Radio residents Millie McKee and Tim Lawson. plus a special guest. In February local DJs Kane Orchard and Corey Miller – under their DJ aliases Kayne the Hermit and Morey Ciller – announced plans to open a physical shop space. Disk Frisk will specialise in second-hand vinyl from the 1970s through to the early 2000s. Sharing the news of their official opening in a couple of weeks time, they wrote: “We’ve been working hard on getting the space ready and can’t wait to welcome you all here!”
Whangārei, NZ | Northland news in brief: Record fair back: Vinyl records have always been in demand and Northland vinyl junkies can get their fix at the next Whangārei Record Collectors Fair later this month. Organised by Indigo Records, with support from Creative Northland, the fair will be held again at 116 Bank St on May 21, from 10am. There will be the usual crates of second hand vinyl on offer covering virtually all musical genres. DJs from Radio Beagle will also be spinning the discs on live sets during the day. Mask rules apply.
Nashville, TN | The Man Who Rescued The Ernest Tubb Record Shop the 1st Time: In the continuing effort to keep the concern for the impending sale of the historic Ernest Tubb Record Shop on Lower Broadway in Nashville top of mind on what’s it’s 75th Anniversary (May 3rd), and while talking to former employees, customers, and boosters of the Record Shop, and even the Executive Director of Nashville’s Metro Historical Commission, W. Tim Walker about the dilemma, one person’s name kept coming up in discussion: Terry Tyson. Terry Tyson was the manager of the Ernest Tubb Record Shop from early 2018 until early 2020. In that time, the Record Shop went from being chronically understocked and under-managed, to once again becoming a hopping destination spot in on one of Nashville’s most bustling areas. So in the interest of trying to workshop ideas and solutions for how to save the Ernest Tubb Record Shop, I reached out to Terry Tyson to ask him about his time as manager, and what might could be done to secure the business for the future.
Can you tell Pro-Ject’s three new E1 turntables apart? No way. You’ll need to look inside to see which has a built-in phono preamp, which supports Bluetooth, and which has neither. The vinyl LP, which actually outsold the fading CD in 2021, won’t last without affordable turntables like the new Pro-Ject E1 series introduced today. The three-turntable family includes the E1 ($349), the E1 Phono SB with phono preamp ($399), and the E1 BT ($499) with both a phono preamp and a Bluetooth audio transmitter. These are otherwise identical triplets, with the only differences being internal electronics. Each is designed and manufactured in Europe by Austria’s Pro-Ject, a division of the McIntosh Group. The turntable uses a high-density resin subplatter beneath the low-mass synthetic main platter to reduce noise and resonances. The main bearing assembly, mounted in a solid MDF plinth, is wrapped in either a high-gloss black, satin white, or satin walnut foil finish.
