Rock ‘n’ roll will never die … and neither, it seems, will vinyl: In the nearly two decades John Hackett has owned CDs 4 Change, the music industry has changed dramatically. With the rise of digital music, sales at Hackett’s store suffered. But a new musical trend has given his store renewed life. Salvation has come in the form of vinyl records. “It’s nuts how popular vinyl has become again,” Hackett said. “I’m thinking that I should be changing the name of my store, you know?”
New Bed-Stuy Cafe Will Offer Up VHS Tapes and Vinyl Records: If you’re looking for an addition to your VHS, record or cassette collection, this new Bed-Stuy cafe has got you covered. Playground Coffee Shop, a new cafe and event space slated to open at 1114 Bedford Ave. by September, will sell printed zines, cassettes, VHS tapes, and vinyl records, according to its owner. Zenat Begum took over the location from her father, who owned and operated hardware store Abedin Building Supply & Renovation Corp. at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Quincy Street for the past 20 years, she said.
The Return of A Vinyl Affair record fair comes to Wellington: Capital city record buyers put this one in your diary – Saturday, August 27 sees the next instalment of A Vinyl Affair, Wellington’s Record Fair. With stalls for you to peruse, the vinyl fair runs from 10am to 4pm at the San Fran, 171 Cuba St, Wellington and features vinyl enthusiasts selling new and second-hand titles. If you’re a crate-digger you’ll want to head up for a look – there are bargains to be had.
Collectors going mad for vinyl: Boxes of vinyl records were thoroughly searched for hidden gems by collectors at the Mount Record Fair. Organiser Brian Wafer, who organises fairs around the North Island “from Palmy to Thames, I leave out Auckland and Wellington” said yesterday had been a fun, busy day for all involved. Vendors had come from Tauranga, Rotorua and Auckland and had a huge range of music for all tastes, “good or bad.” The records ranged from locally produced albums of the kinds of bands you would only see down at the local pub to classics like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd.
A giant leap for Stephen Hawking- Cambridge professor features on first record played in space: Third Man Records, the former White Stripes frontman’s record label, strapped the contraption to a high-altitude balloon, which was launched towards the stars on July 30. It played a recording of A Glorious Dawn by composer John Boswell, which features a sample of Prof Hawking discussing the history of ideas about the shape of the universe, as well as the voice of American astronomer Carl Sagan…“We hope that in meeting our goal we inspire others to dream big and start their own missions, whatever they may be.”
Furutech’s SK-Filter removes static to make your vinyl sound better: If you’re an avid vinyl enthusiast you’re probably aware that as your records spin they generate a static charge, which affects sound quality. There are a few methods of getting rid of it, such as an anti-static gun or certain microfibre cloths, but Japanese audio brand Furutech believes its new product is the ideal solution. The SK-Filter claims to remove unwanted static charge while the record is playing. It uses a patented material called Thunderon, which sees a very fine acrylic fibre chemically bonded with copper sulphide. Furutech says the resulting conductive filament can discharge static electricity in the air whenever it comes into contact with it.
Eric Church Finds His Escape in Vinyl Records: Just like his single, “Record Year,” is about, Eric Church uses the vintage love of vinyl to forget about his worries from time to time. In a world where everything seems to be automatic and it’s hard to get away from the quick-paced lifestyle, Church seeks out vinyl to help him stay leveled. “For me, with vinyl, it’s escapism,” he explained recently. “I mean, we make music so rushed now. It’s so frenetic. I never view music that way. I’ve always viewed it as a way to escape from what’s going on. When it’s 99-cents download now, [laughs] all these things that go one with how we consume it, it’s just weird to me.”
