Music Trader veteran opens La Mesa record shop: When you think of genius business moves in 2017, opening a used-record shop doesn’t immediately spring to mind. Since the advent of Napster in 1999, the general trend for record stores has been death as opposed to birth. But local shops such as Cow, M-Theory, and Lou’s have all found ways to survive. Now, La Mesa native Nicholas Friesen and his wife Lynn have decided the time is right to open Re-Animated Records. “I’ve been buying and selling collections online, but I’ve worked in stores, too. I know what kind of product just walks through the door and falls in your lap when you have an open door.
Sam the Record Man sign to shine over downtown Toronto square this fall: A restoration project is underway on a giant neon sign that once drew visitors to Toronto’s landmark Sam the Record Man store in the city’s downtown, with plans to have the flashy installation on display by the fall. The sign, composed of two enormous spinning discs on a red background, used to be a familiar sight near the city’s busy Yonge and Dundas square, flashing above the business owned by Sam Sniderman, who was a major promoter of Canadian music. Sniderman’s entire store received heritage status from Toronto in 2007 to preserve the cultural value of the signs.
Other Music Documentary Drops New Trailer Featuring Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig (Watch): For 21 years, independent New York record store Other Music was a mecca for left-leaning music fans and musicians, owned and staffed by hardcore music geeks who made the place into a definitive incarnation of the retail outlet as a tastemaker. And while the store managed to survive as most of its fellow outlets folded in the great post-Napster music-business recession — including the giant Tower Records that was formerly across the street from Other Music’s East 4th Street location — by 2016 its owners saw the writing on the wall and closed it down, prompting many mournful blog posts and even a New Orleans-style second line march from the store to a farewell concert at Bowery Ballroom several blocks away on its last day.
The Incredible Resurgence of Record Players and Vinyl: Don’t believe that vinyl is truly making a comeback? According to Nielsen’s Year-End Report released earlier this year, vinyl LP sales reached 13 million last year, an all-time high since Nielsen started keeping track back in 1991. An even crazier notion is that vinyl records are projected to sell 40 million units this year which could equal close to one billion dollar in sales. This past Christmas you could find LP’s of popular pop artist’s proudly displayed in the music section at Barnes & Noble stores. Even President Obama had a pretty cool turntable setup inside the White House.
Armand Van Helden on today’s DJ culture: “They don’t have to do much up there.” In a new interview with inthemix, Van Helden gives his candid opinion in response to a question comparing the feel of the ’90s rave scene versus now. “For most of the ‘90s, I was a travelling DJ with vinyl in heavy record cases. You didn’t move, you often didn’t look up at the crowd. You would show up to a gig and the guy before you was in full trance-out mode or playing trip-hop. In the moment you had to improvise and come up with a set,” he explained. “It’s a totally different thing to the way DJs are now. It’s all a no-brainer. They don’t have to think about much up there – as long as they don’t fall and twist an ankle while they’re jumping around.”
Hiding in plain sight: 13 secret messages in classic album art: Lana Del Rey has confirmed that the artworks for her four albums are linked and tell a story. The fan theory has circulated around the nether regions of the internet and now the superstar had put paid to the whisperings. :”That’s all true,” she said in her NME cover interview. “That truck [on the cover of ‘Lust For Life’] is the same make and model as ‘Born To Die’. The Mercedes [on the cover of ‘Ultraviolence’] is my own. Being on the road or having a destination was a big part of the songs.” There’s a long tradition of artists using their album art to convey hidden messages, Easter eggs for diehard fans to pick up on. Here are 13 of the most fiendishly clever.
Dark Souls is getting a limited edition record collection with Dark Souls – The Vinyl Trilogy: Bandai Namco has announced that the Dark Souls series will be receiving its very own limited edition record pressing, in the form of the Dark Souls – The Vinyl Trilogy. So get your turntables ready you vinyl, and Dark Souls, fans. This numbered vinyl collection will be limited to 2000 copies, and gathered in a 9 vinyl collectors box, which in total will feature more than five hours of musical entertainment. The collection has been composed by the series composers, Motoi Sakuraba and Yuka Kitamura, who’ve created orchestral Dark Souls themes that will take you into the sinister, twisted and dramatic world of the series.
Indonesian artist makes name designing Pinoy indie records: Bambam Sickos’ art has adorned many a Filipino independent album release. His highly detailed, visceral, and provocative style is distinctive and has caught on with many local bands. Yet incredibly, Bambam isn’t Filipino but Indonesian. “Sickos” is his nom de guerre. Like English graffiti artist Banksy. And this artist has made the Philippines his second home. “I worked in a call center for about five years before I quit because of health issues,” said Bambam. “But I have been living in Manila for the past seven years. I practically live in two countries – Indonesia and the Philippines.” He has since moved on to another line of work but one thing that has kept him busy is something close to his heart – music and album art.
Record Breaking Record for Oxfam: Oxfam Music Southampton are celebrating a big windfall. They sold their most valuable record; an extremely rare psychedelic LP for £1200. The album Pussy Plays by short lived band Pussy has long been considered a holy grail for record collectors and was even reissued by record collector magazine…‘Had it not been for the creased sleeve, with a tear we could have been looking at a lot more.’ Said Rob Milner, the shop manager. That said the figure still beats their previous record sale of £800 for a prog record by Megaton achieved on eBay in 2014 and the £600 for a Johanna Martzy classical LP sold in store.
