Ex-Pantera Bassist Rex Brown Says Debut Solo Album ‘Was Meant To Be Listened To On Vinyl’: “I wouldn’t say it sounds like classic rock, but I would say I was influenced by it. Yeah, I had a really good time. I had a really good friend in [Nashville-based guitarist and songwriter] Lance Harvill and we wrote a bunch of songs, starting putting a team together and created this chemistry in the studio and it started coming together. We said, ‘Well, we’d better put something together.'”…”Yeah, I’ve been to Nashville [before]. There’s always been a plethora of good players, but I never left the studio. It’s all listening to old vinyl and about writing the songs. It’s all about the song.”
The Flip Side is Dubai’s hip new independent record store: At the heart of the store is a record section, stocking music from across a host of various genres, which Shadi says over time will “keep growing”. There are also plans to turn the space into a community hub hosting in-store DJ sessions, documentary screenings and providing a seating area for people who want to stop for coffee. Of course, no self-respecting record store would be complete without a stellar sound system, and The Flip Side boasts just that, with an impressive DJ booth to compliment and multiple ‘listening stations’ set up for customers to try before they buy.
Cassette comeback: For fans, ‘a yearning for something you can hold’: Like the original, “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” is endearingly retro. The hero Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) cherishes a vintage Sony Walkman and his mixtape of 1970s pop gems such as “Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)” from the band Looking Glass. The cassette is part of writer-director James Gunn’s homage to the Analog Era. But tapes are hardly obsolete or even passé. While they may have disappeared from many record store shelves, tapes haven’t gone away. In fact, they’re back in a big way. Cassette sales are up by 82 percent for the year, and even Top 40 hitmaker Justin Bieber is releasing albums on tape.
New Art from Old Vinyl Records: Even though the hearts of consumers were won away by other forms of storage media, the shiny vinyl records that once stored our favorite tunes aren’t ready for the junk heap of history. Artists are still finding creative ways to honor the role of vinyl records in a past generation’s love of music — by using vinyl records to make art! For Brooklyn artist Greg Frederick, it started when he found an abandoned box of records left on the street. For the six years since he’s been making portraits of icons from the music industry using what gadget site Digital Trends calls “an intricate tapestry of vinyl record pieces.” David Bowie, Bob Marley, Prince, and Amy Winehouse are now preserved forever in vinyl encased in resin.
Vinyl never went anywhere for this Midland collector: In case you haven’t heard, vinyl records are coming back in a big way. But for long time fans of the turntable like Bill Young of Midland, vinyl never really went anywhere.How much does Young like vinyl music? “One time I bought out a record store,” he said, laughing. Along with being a life-long music and vinyl record fan, Young is the administrator of the Michigan Record Club, a Facebook page he created to connect people from all over the state through their love of vinyl. Young said the page has given him a slew of new friends who share his passion, and allows him to network about collection opportunities. “Vinyl is a nostalgia thing for older people, but new listeners are buying vinyl for different reasons,” he said. “I am happy to see new people come in to vinyl.”
