Brooklyn, NY | New York record shop Halcyon opens in new Brooklyn location: It’s attached to the Etiquette Café in Williamsburg. New York’s Halcyon The Shop has a new home. The long-running record store, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this month, opened its new location at 53 Broadway in Williamsburg today. The store is attached to the Etiquette Café. It’ll be open every day from 10 AM to 5 PM, with the usual selection of old and new dance music alongside disco, funk, jazz and more. Halcyon will also sell accessories, merchandise and DJing equipment. The shop’s past location was inside the now-closed Output club complex further north, near the Williamsburg-Greenpoint border.
Bel Air, MD | REB Records opens at Armory Marketplace, Bel Air’s business incubator: Beatrice Orsini and her mother, Amy Bauersfeld, combed through the racks during the grand opening of REB Records in Bel Air, looking for LPs that struck their interest. Beatrice, 15, of Abingdon, smiled as she took in the various album covers, including “An American Treasure,” a compilation album of Tom Petty tracks released after the famed rock singer died in late 2017. “I like Tom Petty a lot,” said Beatrice, a sophomore at Patterson Mill High School. “We have a record player at home, so we always try to find cool records.” The family-owned REB Records sells music on vinyl LPs as well as CDs, cassette tapes and 45s — customers can purchase new or used records. The store had a soft opening July 20 and its grand opening Aug. 31. REB Records is the latest business to open in Armory Marketplace, the Town of Bel Air’s business incubator that has a waiting list to become a tenant and has already seen one former tenant “graduate” to the downtown business district.
Cult Sony Walkman Makes Nostalgic Comeback: To celebrate its 40th anniversary, electronics giant Sony announced the new release of its 80s cult portable cassette player. The news was declared at the annual consumer electronics trade show IFA 2019 in Berlin on Thursday. First released in July 1979, the Sony TPS-L2 Walkman was the first portable personal cassette player, changing the way music was consumed. In 2010, the Japanese retailer had sold 200 million units, with cassettes easily surpassing vinyl record sales. Due to its popularity in the 80s and 90s, the word ‘Walkman’ even made an entry in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986. Since then, the company has released various iterations of its Walkman including a gold-plated Walkman released in 2016 for a whopping $3,680.
Chattanooga, TN | Back to the groove: Vinyl records overtaking CDs in local popularity: Vinyl records are back in style. Now, their popularity is sparking something that has not happened in more than 30 years. …Dawnia Powers, the media manager at McKay’s, says more people are collecting vinyl records these days. “They want something collectible. Something they can keep that looks nice on their shelves,” she says. But Dawnia says CDs still sustain power. “You can’t put a record in your car. You can’t play a record in your old school walk man that you take around with you.” Although Lora still buys CDs, she says there’s just something about records. That’s why she prefers them. For the time being, CDs are still expected to outsell vinyl record at McKay’s. So far this year, the store has brought in 43,000 records. But the amount of of CDs is more than triple that.
The Beatles, Stones, and… Olivia Newton-John?: These are the 50 most valuable records in the world: A new project collates the most precious vinyl records worldwide and shares the stories behind them. Whether you’re an avid collector who spends their free time tracking down rarities or just a casual music fan, chances are you own at least one vinyl record thanks to the vinyl revival. If you do, then you could be unwittingly sitting on a goldmine. The latest Lewis Capaldi 7-inch isn’t likely to be worth much more than a Boots meal deal (check back in a few decades), but if your collection pulls from some of the 20th century’s greats (and some more obscure releases), you might want to pay attention. With the help of Ian Shirley, editor of Record Collector’s Rare Record Price Guide, the people at Noble Oak have collated a list of the 50 most valuable records worldwide and why they’re so precious. The roll call focuses only on records that were commercially available, save for a few exceptions, and it features a few surprises.
The Best Turntables for DJs and Vinyl Lovers: To really turn up in the DJ booth, you’re going to need a turntable. Just take it from Australian DJ Alison Wonderland, who’s remixed tracks by everyone from Justin Bieber to Dua Lipa, and whose latest single, “Peace,” is climbing the dance charts. “I love creating the set off the crowd’s energy and I love treating the decks like an instrument,” she says. “It’s always fun to experiment with two tracks on top of each other.” A descendent of the classic phonograph, the word “turntable” may be used interchangeably with “record player” these days, but it does more than spin a disc. “A turntable is what you put your music into and it actually plays the music,” Wonderland says. “You use these to time your songs.” As part of a full DJ set up (which also includes things like a mixer, controller and speakers), the turntable is often the starting point for creating your set.
MondoCon 2019 Exclusive Black Panther Soundtrack Vinyl Records Variant by Mondo: Mondo continues to unveil its diverse line-up of officially licensed exclusives for MondoCon 2019! Check out this epic MondoCon 5 Exclusive Black Panther Original Motion Picture Score on 3xLP vinyl records featuring cover artwork by Martin Ansin. This MondoCon exclusive variant will be the first time ever the Marvel’s Black Panther soundtrack is released on vinyl. Limited to 1,000 copies, this release comes housed in a tri-fold gold foil jacket and the score will be pressed on three 180 gram purple “Heart Shaped Herb” colored vinyl. It will be available exclusively at Mondo’s booth for $45. MondoCon 2019 will take place September 14th and 15th in Austin, TX at the Palmer Events Center. MondoCon Two-day and Sunday Only tickets are available now.
