Longmont, CO | New thrift store for retro enthusiasts opens its time machine doors: The store’s location, which is a little off the beaten path on Eleventh Avenue and Kimbark Street. Just a block away from the main drag, Longmont’s newest gem Omnia Vintage Thrift & Collectables isn’t merely a shop, it’s a time capsule, a treasure chest brimming with an eclectic collection of memorabilia from yesteryears. In Longmont, Omnia Vintage distinguishes itself from conventional thrift stores by specializing in retro collectibles. At a lively intersection of past and present, visitors can expect to find treasures ranging from vintage t-shirts from the 80s, 90s, and 00s to Magic the Gathering cards, antiques, vintage toys, vinyl records, comic books and just about anything the mind can imagine. The store’s location, which is a little off the beaten path on Eleventh Avenue and Kimbark Street, may mean residents won’t stumble upon it during a regular stroll down Main Street. But the owners aren’t counting on foot traffic. They’re confident in their excellent collection, aiming to win customers over by reputation, quality and the uniqueness of their offerings.
San Francisco, CA | Vinyl Dreams celebrates 10 years in the business of beats: Dance music shop to host four days of free DJ sets on Haight Street. 10 years ago this week, Michelangelo “Mike Bee” Battaglia softly opened Vinyl Dreams at 593 Haight Street. The below-ground storefront previously held two other dance music-centric stores: Black Pancake Records and Tweekin Records. Vinyl Dreams is still hanging on, an achievement made all the more incredible by the fact that former Amoeba Music electronic genres buyer Battaglia’s curation doesn’t include anything you’ll find on the pop charts. Instead, you’ll find dividers for super-specialized slices of boundary-pushing electronic music. Not just house or techno but, for instance Balearic, a more fluid and chilled-out style of dance beats that gets its name from the Balearic Island of Ibiza. Vinyl Dreams hearkens back to an era when there was a circuit of record stores in San Francisco for DJs and fans alike to stay connected with dance music sounds and styles from around the world.
Emilia-Romagna, IT | ‘People have lost everything’: Italian record shop Flexi launches fundraiser after flood damage: In the northern region of Emilia-Romagna, 15 people have died and thousands more have been forced to leave their homes. Flexi, a longstanding record shop in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna, is raising funds following severe floods. In a GoFundMe launched on Friday, May 26th, the shop explained how “flood water filled the entire basement,” leaving furniture, electrical equipment and roughly 2000 records “irreparably damaged.” The statement continued: “We’re conscious that the disaster around us is huge, and there are much more badly affected areas where the river has taken almost everything. But we also know that Flexi isn’t just an ordinary shop. In almost 40 years, it has become a centre of culture and sharing, which is keeping up, standing firm and reshaping itself by looking to the future, always focusing on passion and love for music. That’s why we need your help in order to be able to restart and face the immediate costs of restoring what’s no longer there.”
The Stars of Record Store Day—Who Sells the Most Records? Record Store Day 2023 has become the most successful since its creation in 2007. We look at some revealing data—like how few vinyl record buyers own a record player—and the biggest stars of Record Store Day 2023. For those who don’t have their finger on the pulse of the record industry, Record Store Day might sound like a madcap attempt to drum up enthusiasm for a niche resurgence in the physical format—even among some who appreciate the younger generation’s seeming interest in vinyl alongside the diehard enthusiasts. Conceived in 2007 as a way to celebrate the fun and diverse culture surrounding independent record stores and the communities they serve, Record Store Day has also become a way to encourage and celebrate the unique culture of the physical music format space in an industry dominated by streaming. But naysayers to the sheer volume that Record Store Day is capable of moving need look no further than the Luminate data revealed following Record Store Day 2023 to see the value in the promotion and to recognize that it’s more than just a nod to vinyl’s comeback in the industry.
Manchester, UK | More than 200 lots of collectible vinyl up for grabs in the White Label Auction: The White Label Auction in Aid of The BRIT Trust—the world’s only known auction of “white label” test pressings—takes place next week on Tuesday, 6th June 2023. This year it will have more than 200 lots of highly collectible ‘white-label’ test pressings—the most offered in the four editions of the auction to date since it began in 2019. The online/on-site auction is once again being hosted by music memorabilia and vinyl records specialists Omega Auctions from their Newton-Le-Willows (Greater Manchester) base. The full catalogue can be accessed here. Fans and collectors can bid from a huge selection of white label test pressings that rarely come to market, with some even signed by the artists such as The Cure, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, New Order, and Wilko Johnson.
UK | Danny Kelleher has set music and gaming on a collision course: The Laced Records CEO is fusing worlds. We’re in something of a golden era for video game soundtracks. While video game soundtracks have been great for a long time, the mainstream is finally beginning to pay attention. Just last year, a new category was created at the Grammys to honour them, while the BBC Proms dedicated their most recent season to video game music. In the popular music world, it feels like every indie musician worth their salt — from Japanese Breakfast to Daughter — now has a video game soundtrack under their belt. Slowly but surely, video game soundtracks are becoming major cultural moments, woven into the fabric of our everyday lives — when we look back on the musical moments of the pandemic, it’s as likely that we’ll think of the meandering, bucolic beats of the Animal Crossing soundtrack, as we will Dua Lipa or “WAP”. Having said that, cultural products that cater for nerds who exist squarely at the intersection of music and gaming have, thus far, been thin on the ground. Danny Kelleher is here to change that — he’s the founder of Laced Records, a record label dedicated to adding an artisanal touch to the world of video game music.
JA | Sister Carol Urges Jamaican Artists To Put Songs On Vinyl: Amid a resurgence in demand for LP records, as reported by Billboard’s sales tracker Luminate Data and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), veteran Dancehall deejay Sister Carol is urging her Jamaican compatriots to return to putting their songs on vinyl. “Vinyl is in demand,” Sister Carol told DancehallMag in a recent interview. “It has a warmness to it that you don’t hear on the CD. Or you hear on yuh jump drive… there is nothing like a vinyl. Whenever you put the needle on, and you hear that sound you feel like you are a part of it, because most of the music that was made then, you know, were composed by five, six different people: the drum, the guitar,” she said. “So the kind of people energy that was circulating come out in the song. When a man siddung an him one play di riddim, pon a computer, it naw no soul. It almost comin like suppm like a condom. It naw guh have di live feel like when it is being played by musician playing live instruments. And when you play the vinyl now, that’s the other part of it that gives you a energy weh indescribable,” she continued.
Details of final Ziggy Stardust performance with newly remastered audio and more: The fully restored film and soundtrack, ‘Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars: The Motion Picture,’ will be released on CD and vinyl formats for its 50th anniversary, and will be showing at over 1,000 cinemas worldwide. The legendary last ever Ziggy Stardust show will be made available in full for the first time, digitally restored with remastered audio, available August 11 on 2-CD/Blu-Ray, 2-CD, 2-LP limited edition gold set. On July 3, 1973, David Bowie retired Ziggy Stardust, his most famous alter-ego, in front of 5,000 stunned fans at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. Now, the fully restored film and soundtrack will be released for the first time for the 50th anniversary of the show. Renowned filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker (Monterey Pop, Bob Dylan – Don’t Look Back, Depeche Mode – 101) captured the momentous event by filming Bowie and The Spiders From Mars backstage and onstage. The digital restoration of the new version of the film has been overseen by his son, Frazer Pennebaker, with remastered audio.
Bergen County, NJ | A Vinyl Revival? How Today’s Students Have Brought Back the Record Player. …“My sister got a vinyl record player as a gift many years ago and I loved the concept,” says AVPA-T junior Jack Haji. “When she moved into college, I took her record player and put it in my room. From that moment, I started collecting and listening to vinyl records.” One of the most popular aspects of vinyl records for students is the intimate feeling that comes with owning a physical copy of their favorite music. Compared to streaming, purchasing an album requires more personal effort, often fostering a stronger connection between the student and the record. ABF junior Greta Jenning’s dad’s record collection and vinyl setup, playing Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. “I definitely think that owning physical records really enhances the listening experience, especially since tangibility is something that there is less and less of these days,” says Greta Jennings, a junior in ABF. “Plus, collecting records is really like any other type of collection: it’s really cool to have a bunch of something you enjoy in a physical form.”
