Columbia, SC | Legendary Columbia record shop Papa Jazz has temporarily relocated. Here’s what to know. A legendary record shop in Columbia’s Five points has temporarily decamped from its longtime location, but is still spinning just a short distance away. Papa Jazz, which has been at 2014 Greene St. in Five Points for more than four decades, is in the midst of renovations to its space there. As such, it has temporarily moved operations to 747 Saluda Ave., which was formerly home to the Five Points Starbucks. Papa Jazz owner Tim Smith said the record shop is tentatively slated to be at the temporary spot for a couple of weeks. Back in the early 1990s, a car hit the side of the building at Papa Jazz on Greene Street, Smith said. That led to some unique structural quirks at the shop, and Smith said the time had come to do some repairs.
Washington, DC | Byrdland Records Helps Connect Music Fans to Local Artists One Membership at a Time: The record store’s vinyl subscription service, New Columbia Record Club, has continued to grow since it launched three years ago. Monthly, members choose from a curated selection of albums with a specific spotlight on local music. …Byrdland’s idea for starting their own vinyl subscription service began back when Songbyrd was a one-stop shop in Adams Morgan, combining the record store, venue, and eatery in a cramped two-story building. The space constraints, however, kept their vinyl inventory too low. That changed in 2020, when the record shop spun off into its own dedicated space near Union Market. Byrdland gave Lapan and Edmonson the leg room to expand their inventory from 1,000 records to more than 7,000 in the store at any given time. It’s also created opportunities to offer more in-store events, such as concerts, album release parties, and listening parties. “We grew into a larger, more proper record store,” Lapan says.
New Martinsville, WV | Kraken Records Interview: Kraken Records is co-owned by Kim Nelson & Ryan Shifflett and is located at 301 North Main Street Suite 1, New Martinsville. …”I decided to open a physical record store because I wanted to bring something fun and unique to New Martinsville. We had been online for a few years and had built enough inventory to give it a try!” ,,,”The main reason for wanting a physical store was due to my love and passion for music. The physical media has never truly gone away for many of us collectors even though many of the storefronts had disappeared. Now with the resurgence of records, many of the youth are discovering that it is more satisfying to own a physical copy of the music they love rather than clicking a button on their phone and listening through earbuds.”
Houston, TX | Breaking Records: Two Houston Venues That are Revolving Around Vinyl. Vinyl music has outsold CDs for the second year in a row, indicating an upward trend; but it is still a long distance away from its glory days. Its’ growth, however, is probably greater than what many speculate, with vinyl sales accounting for 40% of physical sales in the United States in 2023. To put things in perspective, the RIAA accounts vinyl for 8% of all record sales once you include streaming, but growth is growth. Streaming is king, but its use is hindered greatly when there is no internet. This last week had a lot of people grabbing physical media as power was slow to return and access to the world wide web was limited. If you were lucky enough to have access to electricity, water, and air conditioning, the ability to pass time with some form of entertainment after dealing with hurricane aftermath became extremely important.
Discogs appoints Community Advisory Turntable user group to help shape platform’s future: The collaborative group is composed of Discogs users and record collectors. Discogs has appointed a new Community Advisory Turntable user group to help shape the platform’s future. Announced back in March, the Community Advisory Turntable supports the people who discover, collect, catalog, buy, and sell music through Discogs. Composed of real users and record collectors, the aim of the collaborative group is, according to Discogs, to “increase transparency and improve communication about shared goals, challenges, needs, and priorities.” The board’s ten members include DJ, producer, and self-described “synth nerd” Brittany Benton, several shop owners including Louis Rooney from Rook Records in London, as well as Discogs founder and CEO Kevin Lewandowski. Discogs said that the individuals represent all facets of its community—“record collectors, independent sellers, and music archivists alike.”
Phoenix, AZ | Phoenix teenager is one of city’s top lowrider scratch DJs: “This is definitely a male-dominated industry, but times are changing,” says DJ Nina G. At just 19 years old, Angelina “DJ Nina” Garza is making soundwaves in the DJ scene from metro Phoenix to Los Angeles with a dope twist: spinning vinyl records in an era dominated by digital music and apps. Unlike many of her teenage peers, Garza deeply appreciates the classic, tactile experience of vinyl records. “I do have two full milk crates of vinyl,” she says. “They are a big mixture of music such as Amy Winehouse, Too Short, Tom Petty, Evelyn Champagne King, Hi-C, and Tony A—along with small scratching audio vinyl.” The latter of the vinyl list has specific soundbites to help create scratch sounds with her two turntables. The art of scratching is when Garza moves the vinyl record back and forth rapidly. …Garza’s hand-eye-ear coordination of the analog vinyl records is audio artistry in motion.
Indianapolis, IN | Indiana record label puts unique spin on vinyl: Chris Banta doesn’t just listen to vinyl, he puts stuff inside it. From glitter to sand, snakeskin to candy, and just about any kind of liquid too. “We always love anytime we do liquid-filled records,” Banta said. “I mean, they just look so good. There’s a thousand other things you could do.” Unusual things like blood, tears, maggots and even scorpions. “Scorpions are big, chunky boys,” Banta said. “There’s actually some tech development in the height and figuring out how to get those in there.” Banta describes that process as, “trash engineering.” “You’re just trying to constantly solve these problems that you wouldn’t even think would need to exist,” Banta said. “But [when] you do it for nine years, you start to figure some stuff out.” Figuring stuff out is one of Banta’s strengths. Long before he was loading up LPs, Banta founded Romanus Records, a record label home for his own band, Brother O’ Brother. “I just wanted the coolest vinyl,” Banta said.
Selena’s Remastered Version of ‘Amor Prohibido’ Reigns on Vinyl Albums: The first Tejano album to reach No. 1 on a Top Latin Albums, also hits the top 10 on Top Album Sales, and re-enters the top 10 on Top Latin Albums and Regional Mexican Albums charts. As Selena’s fans celebrate the 30th anniversary of her No. 1 album Amor Prohibido, the set’s remastered version makes its No. 1 debut on Billboard’s Vinyl Albums chart (dated July 20) following its first pressing on vinyl. Released via Capitol Latin/UMLE, it is the second Latin album to debut atop the list in 2024 after Kali Uchis’ Orquídeas in January. Amor Prohibido blasts in at No. 1 on Vinyl Albums scoring the Latin legend her second No. 1 on the 13-year-old tally. It follows the No. 1-peaking Ones, which spent one week in charge in 2020. Amor Prohibido bows with 10,000 vinyl copies sold in the U.S. during the July 5-11 tracking week, according to Luminate. Selena almost doubles her previous largest week on vinyl, notched in 2020 when Ones sold 6,000 copies in its second week on the chart (July 18, 2020-dated list).
Worcester, MA | The Worcester Record Riot! Over 10,000 vinyl records in one room! At The Auburn Elks, Sun July 21st! The Worcester Record RIot RETURNS! It’s a MASSIVE vinyl record POP-UP sale! Over 40 dealer tables in one room! Great music and family fun. LPs, CDs and 45s. Door prizes too! Don’t miss it! A giant record store lands in Auburn MA! Dealers from far and wide converge for a giant music sale! LPs and 45s and CDs too. All types of music from punk to funk to country to classic rock, hip hop, soul/jazz and more. Dust off that turntable and come on down. Regular admission starts at 9:30 AM ($5) with early admission at 8 AM ($10). Don’t miss the BIG VINYL DIG!
