Pittsburgh, PA | Calling all audiophiles: Pittsburgh’s best record stores: Despite the rise of streaming platforms and other accessible forms of finding music, record collecting has seen a recent resurgence. Peer into any Urban Outfitters and fresh pressings of classic hit records reside alongside vinyls of some of the hottest modern artists of today. Any Pittsburghers who’ve fallen under the spell of the “vinyl revival” have a plethora of places to choose from that sell both new and used records, catering to customers seeking a legendary grail record or just their favorite album. Not everyone collects vinyl, but keep reading — some of these locations host books, CDs and other offline entertainment mediums. Be sure to keep this list handy next time Record Store Day, held the third Saturday of every April, rolls around.
Dallas, TX | Spinster Records to move into heart of Bishop Arts: The Spirited Oak Cliff Record Store And Hi-Fi Shop Will Move Half A Mile Down The Road In October — But Not Before Sending Its First Location Off Proper. Right around New Year’s Eve, Spinster Records owner David Grover had something of an epiphany. He’d been booked to DJ the Bishop Arts District’s outdoor festivities for the calendar-turning holiday — and, all throughout his set, people just kept coming up to him to ask about the Spinster Records sign he’d set up beside the table holding his turntables. The crowds all wanted to know one thing: Where among this neighborhood’s trendy restaurants and adorable boutiques was this record store? A little ways up the road, he sheepishly replied before directing each person who asked to his shop, which has sat about half a mile down the way from the Bishop Arts District at 829 West Davis Street since it opened in 2014. Grover didn’t really expect anything major to come from those polite bits of promotion, but his store’s sales figures proved him pleasingly wrong; that week, Spinster’s sales were three times what he’d anticipated them being. “That,” Grover says now, “was my ‘Aha!’ moment.”
Lansdale, PA | Entertainment industry survivor, Downingtown resident Mark Evans releases debut album at Chaplin’s in Spring City: South Jersey native Mark Evans’ circuitous creative journey through a wide range of acting and musical projects culminates with a vinyl release party Aug. 24 for The Mark Evans Band’s debut album, “Carousel.” “When we started recording these tracks, and the direction it was taking, it was gonna be … vinyl from day one. I miss vinyl. There was only room for … the best of the session. An album is like a Broadway show, a play in two acts. Side one had to take you somewhere, and end on a strong enough note for you to want to pick up that needle, turn the record over, and begin a new journey with side two,” said Evans, who has called Downingtown home the last three years. The album’s cover art even depicts the underside of a carousel roof as a record. Inside are pop/rock songs that sound like they could have been released between 1966 and 1973. “That sound still moves me,” Evans said.
Giving new life to Nepali music (and musicians): Imagine listening to the late music maestro Narayan Gopal’s recordings on high quality stereo vinyl. The sound of the yesteryears captured and reproduced in the most primitive of the formats where the whole ‘analogness’ of the music is preserved. Now imagine not having to scrounge through other people’s collections or antic shops to buy them. Instead, you could have them with the click of a button or find them at a convenient spot near you. That’s exactly the intent of the Wild Yak Records—an initiative of three friends who connected with each other through their common love for vinyl and music. Sushil Koirala, Kiran Byanjankar and Neeraj Prasad Gorkhaly are the men behind the Wild Yak Records, its inception made possible by their common love. They are spread across the globe—Koirala is a public health professional based in Bangkok, Byanjankar is a restaurateur in Chicago, and Gorkhaly is a scientific policy advisor in Washington DC. What also brings these men, all in their early 40s, together is their common root as the rebellious “thrash metal” generation of Kathmandu in the early 90s.
Frankie Knuckles and Erik Kupper’s Directors Cut Collection II announced on 2xLP: Frankie Knuckles and Erik Kupper’s Director’s Cut Collection II is being released on double vinyl, this September via Sosure Music. The album collects 8-tracks, featuring four originals and reworks, as well as Director’s Cut remixes of tracks by Hardsoul, Spencer Parker & Dan Beaumont, Soulful Session and Lou Rawls. Director’s Cut II follows the first instalment in the series, which was released in May 2019. A portion of proceeds from the album will go toward The Frankie Knuckles Foundation – a non-profit dedicated to music in schools, LGBTQ youth homelessness, AIDS research/prevention, and diabetes research/education.
Ozzy Osbourne solo albums collected in huge vinyl box: An expansive new vinyl box set from Ozzy Osbourne will include 1986’s long-out-of-print The Original Sin and a disc of hard-to-find rarities. See You on the Other Side, set for release on Nov. 29, includes 16 Osbourne solo albums on 24 hand-pressed, 150-gram multi-colored splatter vinyl pieces. Pre-orders begin today. The complete track listing for Flippin’ the B Side is below. See You on the Other Side also features 1980’s Mr. Crowley EP, 1990’s Just Say Ozzy EP and concert recordings like 2002’s Live at Budokan, as well a completely remastered No More Tears. Black Rain, Down to Earth and Scream have never appeared on vinyl in the U.S. There are also 10 posters and a certificate of authenticity personally autographed by Osbourne, among other goodies. “This one’s the most elaborate collection so far,” Osbourne said in a news release. “It’s very well thought out and well put together. It’s got everything in there that you possibly could want, and some surprises along the way. The sound of a vinyl record is different, and I do believe that vinyl sounds better.”
