Vinyl Revival: Czech Record Maker Aims for Global Dominance: As vinyl records make a global comeback, a little-known Czech company is riding the market surge to establish itself as the world’s biggest record manufacturer, with plans to expand in North America and Asia. GZ Media, based in a small town south west of the Czech capital, has made deals with all the major music labels and is running its plant day and night, every day of the year — even on Christmas — to satisfy booming demand.
Would You Buy This $33,000 Turntable? Handmade with slate from the last two functioning quarries in Pennsylvania, Oswalds Mill Audio turntables aren’t merely eye candy — they incorporate only idler and direct drives (instead of belt drives) to achieve an incomparable sound quality. At 210 pounds, the player’s literal mass insulates the vinyl record from any vibration. When used in tandem with founder/CEO Jonathan Weiss’ speakers, which take inspiration from audio equipment made for cinemas in the 1930s through the ’50s, the sound has proved so moving that a cult following of audio engineers and celebrities have placed orders.
Vinyl LP’s Scoring Big On South Africa’s Bid Or Buy: The bidorbuy CEO Jaco Jonker says that rock and pop genres account for more than a half of vinyl records purchased on bidorbuy. Most of them are second-hand, though some are still sealed. Buyers are somewhat less likely to go for newly pressed versions of old albums, but vinyl issues of contemporary artists have a decent following. The prices of LP records sold on bidorbuy range from about R10 to over R1000, although it is not unusual for some rare issues to go for more than R5000. Jonker adds that the vinyl section has proportionally more overseas buyers than many other sections of the site.
New record store and bar plans for Leeds’s oldest street: Kirkgate – one of the city’s oldest streets – is seeing a flock of new arrivals as part of a multi-million pound regeneration project. Earlier this year the street welcomed Yorkshire-themed café, bar and deli Wapentake, along with the new Art Hostel. Now plans are in the pipeline for a new record store and bar. The Doghouse Bar and Record Store is set to take over a former hair salon.
The only six ways to collect records: For me, being a record guy is about not having to worry about failed downloads and scratched CDs, uncharged iPhones or liner notes you couldn’t read without the Hubble Telescope. I still do digital. How else can you quickly hear “Erotic City” as you’re about to hop on the train and terrible news rolls in? But vinyl remains an important part of my musical life. So if you’re already on board, forgive me. But if you’re looking to put the needle down for the first time, these simple guidelines should help you take that leap forward into LPs.
Pink Floyd catalog coming back on vinyl: For the first time in over two decades, Pink Floyd Records will begin the reintroduction of the Pink Floyd catalog on vinyl. The first four records to be released on June 3, 2016 include: “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn”, “A Saucerful of Secrets”, the soundtrack from the film “More” and the 2 LP set “Ummagumma” (at left). Pink Floyd Records will reproduce the vinyl catalog throughout the year with release dates being announced at regular intervals. In the meantime, all Pink Floyd records are now available on CD, digital and most streaming platforms.
Radiohead To Reissue Entire Discography On Vinyl: After a lengthy dormant period, Radiohead has been particularly active in announcing new material over the past week. So far we’ve had two new singles: “Burn the Witch” on Tuesday, then “Daydreaming” fresh off the press today, and an album release date (Digitally May 8th and physically June 17th. Mark your calendars). Adding to the list is an official reissue discography exclusively on vinyl.
