London, ENG | Here’s why the Independent Label Market’s all-female Soho takeover is so vital: Vinyl-lovers institution the Independent Label Market is set to curate an all-female line-up tomorrow on London’s Berwick Street, as part of Soho Music Month. The first ever edition of the event will see female founders of independent record labels taking over the market from 11am to 6pm on Saturday, June 16. The market will be based on a strip of London that’s steeped in musical history; Berwick Street was once known as The Golden Mile of Vinyl in the 80s, and the area is still home to loads of great record shops today. With DJ sets from three female DJs: Xanthe Fuller, Sophie Callis and Cherrie Flava (the former Soul Jazz Records A&R Nicole McKenzie) the day will be held partly to celebrate physical music, with all kinds of limited edition records up for grabs.
Queensland, AU | Record heads get their fix troving for musical treasure: FOR Paul Kelly, this weekend’s Butter Beats record fair was the definition of a treasure hunt. Trawling through the records of years gone by there more than a few classics to be had. Especially considering Mr Kelly planned to meticulously comb through all the crates on display for hours on end. He had set aside the better part of his weekend to troving for musical gold, dedicating the hours of 9am to 2pm on Saturday to finding the next gem to add to his already growing collection. One of his most impressive finds was a medley recording from The Beatles, a rarity according to vinyl veteran Mr Kelly. Butter Beats owner Jason Woodward said Mr Kelly was one of hundreds of record heads getting stuck in to the thousand-large collection on offer. Most of whom’s passion for vinly had consumed the majority of storage space in their house.
Edison, NJ | Get Ready for 2018’s Jazz Record Collectors’ Bash: This year at the annual New Jersey Jazz Record Collectors’ Bash, coming on June 22nd and 23rd, there will be a special guest visitor from the West Coast: the premier jazz film collector Mark Cantor. He will be presenting a program of rare jazz films, and along with Dave Weiner and Ron Hutchinson’s films, there will be a special presentation of the Savory Collection by Loren Schoenberg. It looks like a momentous bash with plenty to see, hear and collect. Directions and other info here; I’ll be there to provide you with not only the Mosaic goods but other rare 78s, CDs and ephemera.
Gold Coast, AU | Grandad leaves behind treasure trove of 80,000 records, believed to be Australia’s biggest collection: What is thought to be Australia’s biggest record collection is up for grabs. The collection belonged to Gold Coast grandfather, Ken Perkins, who left behind a treasure trove of more than 80,000 records after his death. Mr Perkins spent more than 50 years building the archive, which would take more than six-and-a-half years to listen to in its entirety. “If anyone knew my dad, they would know he had this little black book,” his daughter Natalie Perkins said. “He would pull it out of his little jacket pocket and he had just the catalogue numbers of the missing pieces, the gems he was looking for.” Ms Perkins has been left with the mammoth task of clearing out his crowded house.
Atlanta, GA | Tiny Dust-to-Digital record label gathers big attention: When college student and roots music fan Lance Ledbetter grew frustrated at the near impossibility of buying 78 rpm gospel records from the 1920s and ’30s, he began to ponder a question: What would it take to reissue those old tunes and put them in stores? Answering that question has become a career for Ledbetter and his wife, April, at their record label, Dust-to-Digital. Since its first release in 2003, the tiny company run from their modest brick house in a quiet Atlanta neighbourhood has become a powerhouse in the niche market of music that’s been gathering dust, waiting to find or regain an audience: antique 78 recordings of blues, gospel, jazz and other styles, along with musicologists’ field recordings of rural musicians and indigenous people all over the world. Nine of the label’s releases have been nominated for Grammy Awards, and one actually won.
