Jack White Is Releasing An Exclusive Vinyl Record That You Can Only Get By Buying Detroit Tigers Tickets: There are two things in this world that Jack White seems to love above everything else: vinyl records and baseball. Thus it was only a matter of time that he found a way to bring those two oldest America traditions together in some way shape or form. Today, the Third Man Record boss announced that he was going to release a brand new single from a group called the Dugouts titled “Strike Out.” The only catch? If you want to own a copy of the seven-inch vinyl, you have to first buy this exclusive Detroit Tigers ticket package.
Record store Antikka—The Vinyl Cafe to open on Queen West: There will soon be another place to buy vinyl along Queen West when Antikka – The Vinyl Cafe opens in mid-September. Located at 960 Queen West next to Oliver Spencer and Fred Perry, the combination coffee/record shop will offer rock, blues and jazz bin-flipping plus an old Armenian tradition of making coffee over hot sand (apparently the first of its kind in Toronto). According to owner Razmik Tchakmak, a record collector and session musician, Antikka will also feature live music on the patio starting next summer. “I have visions of Antikka becoming a hub for all sorts of artists across the Toronto area,” he says.
Iconic Hollywood record store Amoeba Music could be forced to move: Last year, Amoeba confirmed that their current premises had been sold back in October 2015 for $34 million, but said that “the building owner [sic] are open to us potentially staying longer.” These new proposals suggest that GPI are now looking to move forward with their plans for the site. The above proposals will still require approval from the city before anything is confirmed. According to the proposals, demolition would take place in mid-2019, with the building’s completion aimed for 2021. Since opening in 2001, Amoeba Music Hollywood, which covers 24,000 square feet, has become a mecca for crate-diggers. The store has two other locations in California and all three are renowned for their rarities.
World’s smallest record store is in Batchawana Bay: It’s called Oosik Records — ‘Oosik’ is the Inuit word for the bone in a walrus’ penis. The shop is an old, formerly-refrigerated meat trailer on the side of the Trans Canada Highway, about 70 km north of Sault Ste. Marie. Batchawana Bay’s Al Bjornaa started the shop in June 2017 after his uncle gave him the trailer, which now sits in his front yard. The tiny trailer is stacked from floor to ceiling with around 1,000 records, 500 tapes, 8-tracks, books, art work, old record and cassette players, stickers, patches, and other odds and ends. “We’re not a normal business,” said Bjornaa. “We’re basically open all the time.”
A new record pressing plant has opened on an island in Canada: Kaneshii Vinyl Press has launched operations on Eastern Canada’s Prince Edward Island, reports A Journal of Musical Things. Kaneshii is the latest in a series of plants opening around the country over the past year, following Microforum in Toronto and Precision Record Pressing in Burlington. Like Microforum, Kaneshii will use machines from Viryl Technologies, known for creating the world’s first fully automated pressing machines. The factory will solely press 12”s initially before expanding to 10” and 7” production later in the year.
