Foxboro, MA | Foxboro man builds on vinyl’s resurgence with record business: Even though it’s now indisputably a digital age, one local resident is still invested in vintage vinyl. Michael Merline, 58, of Foxboro, has made a bit of a business out of collecting – and selling – vinyl records with his two-year-old business called “Record Daze.” “I purchase records that I know will sell due to their popularity,” Merline said. One of Merline’s favorites is his copy of U2’s “The Unforgettable Fire,” which was released in 1984. …In 2024, Merline said vinyl’s resurging popularity likely stems from its enduring appeal as a physical, collectible format in an increasingly digital world. “Many music lovers appreciate the nostalgic aspect of vinyl, as well as its superior sound quality and unique tactile experience. …Despite the convenience of digital streaming, vinyl offers a distinct and immersive way to engage with music…”
Sheffield, UK | Grub Records, a new shop and wine bar, to open in Sheffield: A new record shop and wine bar is opening in Sheffield. Located on Queens Road, Grub Records is run by a consortium of local collectives, including Apricot Ballroom, Control., Footprints Jazz Club, GROUNDWORK and Mondo Radio. The space includes a custom DJ booth—designed and built by the team—and Tannoy Westminster sound system. After a handful of soft launch events, Grub officially opens its doors to the public today, July 26th. The team has also started a Crowdfunder to try and raise £2,500. “Donating here will help us hit the ground running,” the team wrote in a statement. “And allow us to stock the shop with a wider selection of the very best new releases, reissues and compilations, complementing the second-hand stock we’re providing from our collections.” Donate to the Crowdfunder, and browse Instagram for more information.
Buxton, UK | Vinyl revival in community cafe at Zink, Buxton: Zink HQ, in Buxton, will be playing classic vinyl albums every Friday in its community eco-café. Anyone can drop in and listen over a brew or breakfast. Zink runs activities every day ranging from walking to gaming, knitting to a School of rock from its HQ in Buxton where there is also a community eco-café. As well as supporting families in hardship, Zink aims to improve community wellbeing. Paul Bohan, CEO at Zink, explained; “Activities at Zink bring people from all walks of life together to learn, play and experience. Some were developed by local people, others with the help of Sheffield University. It was university researchers who suggested music.” Two vinyl records will be played every Friday. The first at 10.15am might be experimental, less well known or a collection; the second slot at 11.00am is reserved for classic albums so expect anything from Pink Floyd to Dua Lipa, Blondie to New Order, The Pretenders to Harry Styles.
Alexandria, VA | ‘Pretty cool’: Metallica tours Alexandria vinyl record pressing plant the band bought: Metallica’s heavy metal music has been heard all over the world for 43 years — and they recently got their first tour of the Alexandria, Virginia, record pressing plant they own. Last year, when Metallica invested in Furnace Record Pressing, they gained a majority interest in the plant, which has been in business since 1996. Recently, band members James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett and Robert Trujillo were given a tour of Furnace, which is located on Bren Mar Drive, just off the Capital Beltway, near Interstate 395. This week, the band posted a YouTube video of their tour of the factory, which was led by Mark Reiter, vice president of manufacturing operations for Furnace. The band saw the process from start to finish — and heard that the term “vinyl” is a bit simplistic. “It is a very elegant plastic compound,” said Reiter. “It has waxes, lubricants — a lot of those things get activated at certain temperature points. So, it’s a really sophisticated compound.”
Detroit, MI | Jack White’s secret album sells for hundreds on eBay: While Jack White’s untitled, secretly released new album was given out for free, it’s fetching big bucks on the secondary market. On eBay, sales of the album—which was issued to customers at Third Man Records locations on Friday, free of charge, with any purchase in the store—have reached as high as $1,000, and several more are listed on the site for between $500 and $1,000. As of Monday morning, 51 copies of the album had sold on eBay, for prices ranging between $299 and $1,000. Of those, 12 of the sale prices were undisclosed. But the 39 with prices publicly available sold for an average of $494.82. White has so far been silent on the release, which came with no warning. The album was issued on white vinyl in a white sleeve with the words “NO NAME” written in blue on the record’s label, and was only available at Third Man Records.
San Francisco, CA | Dark Entries Records celebrates 15th anniversary with graphic design zine: It covers illustrations, logos and other visual elements from the label’s history to date. Dark Entries, the much-loved San Francisco-based label, is marking 15 years of operations by publishing a zine focused on its graphic design history. The book, Dark Entries Collected Music Graphics, was compiled by label founder Josh Cheon and Eloise Shur-Juen Leigh, who has been responsible for much of the art direction on the label to date. It covers illustrations, logos and typography related to the label to give a breakdown of the visual direction that Dark Entries has taken up to now. …Launched in 2009, Dark Entries was initially established as an imprint to put out reissues of under-the-radar, long-forgotten post-punk, disco and minimal synth records by acts such as Severed Heads, Patrick Cowley and Lena Platonos. More recently, the label has put out more original records by the likes of Sepehr, Bézier, Borusiade and Violet. In 2022, it launched its own record store.
A Place To Bury Strangers release vinyl album with packaging that you can build a synthesizer with: The noise-rock trio’s seventh album is fittingly titled Synthesizer. NYC noise-rockers A Place To Bury Strangers have announced the release of a new album that takes the band’s synth-heavy new musical direction more literally than you might expect. The vinyl version of APTBS’s seventh album, Synthesizer, arrives in a unique cover that can be assembled into a DIY synthesizer. The album’s cover doubles as a circuit board to which you can affix a set of included components, building your own version of the synth heard on every track of the album itself. The synth is no gimmick, either, offering three oscillators alongside a noise generator, filter, LFO and delay module, all triggered by a capacitive touch sensor. In order to build the instrument, you’ll need some circuit assembly skills and some basic tools. Credits for this genius idea go to frontman Oliver Ackermann, who also heads up guitar pedal company Death By Audio, maker of the Disturbance and Germanium Filter pedals, among others.
Como, IT | Transparent Turntable by Per Brickstad Wins Platinum in A’ Audio Equipment Awards: The A’ Design Award, a highly respected and well-recognized award in the field of audio products design, has announced the Transparent Turntable by Per Brickstad as the recipient of the Platinum A’ Audio and Sound Equipment Design Award. This prestigious recognition highlights the Transparent Turntable’s exceptional design, innovation, and contribution to the audio products industry. The Transparent Turntable’s recognition with the Platinum A’ Audio and Sound Equipment Design Award holds significant relevance for both the industry and potential customers. This award showcases the turntable’s alignment with current trends and demands within the audio products market, particularly the resurgence of vinyl and the desire for high-quality, sustainable audio equipment. By receiving this accolade, the Transparent Turntable demonstrates its ability to meet and exceed industry standards while offering tangible benefits to users in terms of audio performance, aesthetics, and user experience.
