More vinyl record plants opening soon. Is it enough to end backlog? The increased demand of vinyl has created quite the backlog recently. However, new vinyl presses are in the making! Will this be enough? Any artist with a desire to release a vinyl record faces the hard reality of a long wait time, with some quotes as long as 12 months out! Of course, that just doesn’t work when it comes to marketing your latest product, but the good news is that help is on the way. Some of them may be small, but there are a host of new vinyl pressing plants about to come on line, which should help ease the backlog. One plant is a new ground-up construction with 8 vinyl presses in Oxnard, California built by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab and its parent company Music Direct. Unlike many plants that use older recycled machines, the presses are brand new and are manufactured by Nashville’s Record Pressing Machines. The plant is slated to come on line in 2023. Another is a 14,000 square foot facility in Denver built by VMP that’s slated to come on line in late 2022. No word on the number of presses it will house. New plants in the UK and Berlin will also help ease the back order strain.
Leeds, UK | Crash Records: The history of one of Leeds’ most loved music shops as it celebrates 35 years on the Headrow: As Crash Records celebrates its 35th year on the Headrow, shop owner Ian De-Whytell looks back at Crash’s journey over the years. For music lovers across Leeds, Crash Records has long been the hub to visit for the latest and greatest indie, rock and metal music. First opened on Woodhouse Lane in 1985, before relocating to the Headrow in 1987, the independent music retailer has seen the rise and fall of CDs, resurgence of vinyl and its fair share of groundbreaking gigs. And Ian De-Whytell, owner of Crash, has been there to witness nearly all of it. As a fan of the shop for many years, Ian’s dream came true in 1998 when an opportunity arose for him to purchase the much-loved store. “It just so happened that the owner was expanding into things and he was spreading himself a little bit thin,” explained Ian.
Honolulu, HI | Hawaii’s vinyl album sales are booming in numbers not seen in 30+ years: Everything old is new again, especially when it comes to music—and memories. Vinyl sales have grown rapidly for more than a decade on the mainland — as well as here in Hawaii. 2021 was the biggest year since 1986 for vinyl record sales, with more than a billion dollars worth of records sold last year. Living in a digital world, listeners want something tangible that they can connect to, like 16-year old Grayce Willing, who came to Hungry Ear in Kakaako from Kapolei to pick out her 16th birthday present… a vinyl Bruno Mars album. “I like vinyl because it’s there in my hands — I can see, I can feel it and I can hear it,” says Willing. “You hear the crackles, it gives that nostalgic feel…if you compare to a digital recording it sounds real different, it sounds more raw and it sounds more clear in a way,” says Keli’I Monsell-Talaro, another vinyl fan.
Casitas Springs, CA | Johnny Cash’s Former Home, Listed for $1.8M, Includes Original Turntable: The singer built the house, located in Ventura County, California, in 1961, complete with custom wood built-ins, a black commode and ceilings imbued with glitter. Back in 1961, Johnny Cash and his then-wife Vivian built a home tucked into the hills in Ventura County, California, overlooking the small town of Casitas Springs. The ranch-style 4,500-square-foot, five-bedroom residence was built to the singer’s specifications and included everything from a wall-mounted turntable to custom wood built-ins in the kitchen and living room. Now, the double-gabled house, which is set on nearly six acres not far from the Ojai Valley, has come to market for $1.795 million, listed by its current owner (who purchased the house in 2003 for $739,000, according to The Wall Street Journal). Many of Cash’s original details have been preserved, including painted ceilings imbued with glitter, a curved brick fireplace in the family room and an intercom system. The house also includes a wood-paneled studio where Cash wrote his songs.
Weezer made me be their record player and now I need a lie-down: A song that you can only play by spinning on the spot while holding your phone? What could possibly go wrong? We all know that vinyl’s had a resurgence in recent years as a way of listening to music, but have you ever thought about it from the point of view of the record player? Sitting there all day, spinning discs at precisely 33 and a third (or 45) revolutions per minute to play sweet sounds into your ears? Of course you haven’t. That hasn’t stopped venerable alt-rockers Weezer from coming up with an absolutely splendid wheeze to promote their new single, ‘Records’, though. In an inspired piece of marketing silliness, they’ve released it in a format where you have to play it by holding your phone (ideally one of the best smartphones) and spinning around, literally becoming a human record player. Great idea! But what sort of idiot would actually do it?
Meet the world’s most expensive vinyl turntable, Esoteric Grandioso T1, which costs €70,000: The Grandioso T1 is the first turntable created by the high-end Japanese brand which has been at the forefront of audio innovation. In a nutshell: Premium audio brand Esoteric has launched its first-ever turntable, the Grandioso T1. The timing coincides with the 35th anniversary of the brand’s foundation. The brand was created by the premium audio brand TEAC as its higher-end spin-off. Grandioso T1 is not a product for the mainstream, however, as it will set you back an eye-watering €70,000. Background: I’m a huge fan of vinyl turntables even if I don’t use them anywhere near as much as I used to. I’ve still got a Technics SL1200 that I bought in the mid-90s that works perfectly well nearly three decades later. Panasonic stopped making the €500 DJ turntable for a number of years and then relaunched it with a new manufacturing process and a variety of models that ranged in price from €929 to €19,000.
Tool Announce 3-LP Vinyl Edition of Fear Inoculum: The 180-gram, triple-LP package hits record stores August 5th. Tool have announced a 180-gram, triple-LP vinyl edition of their 2019 opus Fear Inoculum. The release arrives August 5th and retails for $64.98 — less than half the price of the previously available Fear Inoculum vinyl box set (which retails for $169.98). The band received some flak for charging $810 for a signed version of the latter set at their shows. This upcoming release provides fans with an even more affordable vinyl version of the album. The new 3-LP package features new artwork from Adam Jones and is housed in a triple gatefold jacket with an exclusive 12″ x 36″ double-sided poster. After the long initial wait for Fear Inoculum, Tool have opened the floodgates, having also unleashed a reworked version of their “Opiate” single earlier this year. Titled “Opiate²,” the release was accompanied by a Jones-directed short film/music video, which saw a release on Blu-Ray.
Stereolab collect rare and unreleased tracks on new 3xLP compilation: Featuring previously unreleased work, demos, and limited releases. Stereolab are releasing the fifth volume of their Switched On series, titled Pulse Of The Early Brain via Warp/Duophonic UHF Disks this September. The 3xLP compilation features previously unreleased music, demos, and limited edition releases. The album features 21 tracks, although the online listing is set to 16 due to digital licensing restrictions. Pulse Of The Early Brain follows the fourth instalment in the series — Electrically Possessed. Pre-order the compilation from Bandcamp in advance of its 2nd September release; check out the artwork and tracklist below…
