Loves Park, IL | Loves Park record store burst in flames, cause unknown: CD Source record store catches fire and firefighters work to get ahead of the flames. One of the Stateline’s oldest buildings goes up in flames early Tuesday morning. “Something so similar going up in flames like that, it’s just like a very tragic feeling,” said Skyler Davis, the owner of Culture Shock, another record store on the Stateline. Firefighters responded to the smokey scene a little after midnight as a fire turned CD Source into rubble, along with the irreplaceable antique CD’s and records once found inside the store. “It’s really sad to see a store like that having vintage and used items. With the rarity and the collectable features of them,” said Davis. He says he was rattled when he heard about the fire. Davis grew up shopping in the store and says it’s where he discovered his love for music. Davis calls it a staple of his teens and seeing it burnt down is like losing a piece of his adolescent years.
Brookfield, IL | Records with a side of succulents in Brookfield: Since the turn of the millennium, there’s been no shortage of digital music platforms and streaming apps to make our favorite songs easier and more convenient to enjoy. At the same time, there’s been a resurgence in the retro technology of vinyl records and artistic album covers, that the once dwindling medium is here to stay. There’s one man who’s banking on the vinyl revival and sees the potential for creating a small mecca for music aficionados in Brookfield — Dylan Kloska. The Chicago native, who has a background as both a musician and a record shop employee, says that after a year of successful pop-up shops selling both albums and small houseplants — another apparent mainstay of millennial culture — he was ready to take the plunge and turn his business, Vines & Vinyl, into a brick-and-mortar enterprise at 3730 Prairie Ave.
UK | National Album Day 2022 – Exclusive Debut Albums and Additional Ambassadors Announced: National Album Day today announces a list of exclusive debut albums that are being released or re-issued on vinyl and CD to coincide with this annual event celebrating the art of the album. The titles, which will be available to purchase in participating UK indie stores, HMV and Fopp, Amazon and other outlets on the day, can be pre-ordered now. Multi-platinum selling singer-songwriter Jake Bugg and Pip Millett, one of Manchester’s most exciting homegrown talents have also been revealed as the latest artists to be confirmed as National Album Day ambassadors. With Jake’s debut reaching a pinnacle 10 year anniversary on National Album Day and Pip is set to release her much anticipated debut, When Everything Is Better, I’ll Let You Know this October, they will join Franz Ferdinand, KSI, The Mysterines, and Sam Ryder in championing their love of the album.
Memphis, TN | Memphis Record Pressing Predicted to Become North America’s Largest Producer of Vinyl Records: Memphis Record Pressing, located in Bartlett, Tennessee, and founded by Brandon Seavers and Mark Yoshida, is predicted to become North America’s largest producer of vinyl records by 2023. Pressing around 130,000 records a day, Memphis Record Pressing is poised to produce over 10 million records this year. Brandon Seavers, co-founder and CEO of Memphis Record Pressing, said, “It’s a humbling experience for me, and for Mark as well, to see where we are today. Literally every day when I drive up, I say, ‘This is not real. There is no way that we are manufacturing a legacy, analog format/medium in the 21st century, and we’re actually breaking ground and constructing a new facility to do this.’” Memphis Record Pressing was founded in 2014 by Brandon Seavers and Mark Yoshida. The pair of entrepreneurs first joined forces in the late 1980s to operate Rockingchair Recording Studios, owned by Yoshida. In 1997, they co-founded AudioGraphic Masterworks, a CD and DVD manufacturing facility.
AU | These Aussie Classics Are Being Reissued On Vinyl For Ausmusic Month: In honour of Ausmusic Month coming up this November, big-dog record label Warner Music is reissuing a bunch of homegrown classics on vinyl. The company has revealed a girthy list of Aussie LPs that vinyl vultures will be able to add to their record crates in a few weeks’ time, including classics from Regurgitator, Goanna, Choirboys, Dannii Minogue, Taxiride, Frente!, george, Warumpi Band, Sunnyboys and Leonardo’s Bride. Here’s the rundown of all the reissues you can get your hands in anticipation of Ausmusic Month.
What you need to know about buying and selling old vinyl records: The world of dealing in vinyl is a tricky and fascinating one and if you’re sitting with a box and are planning to discard it, maybe this dummy’s guide to selling vinyl will be able to show you how. Get to know your product. The plural of vinyl is vinyl, not vinyls and records are also commonly called LPs (long plays). Vinyl is not called discs or black circles and only when it has a picture on it do we call it a picture disc. It also got its name from the material that it’s made from, which is PVC (polyvinyl chloride). What is grading and how does it work? Nothing is more important in determining the value of a vinyl, than its condition. As a standard, always keep in mind that most collectors have an inflated sense of the condition of their LPs. It’s therefore good to familiarise yourself with the grading of vinyl.
Audio-Technica’s new cheap record player with Bluetooth is a modern vinyl dream: An all-in-one turntable setup? Yes please. At IFA 2022, Japanese audio specialist Audio-Technica has taken the wraps off two new affordable turntables that both feature Bluetooth connectivity. Coming in at £280/€329, the all-new AT-LP3XBT is the successor to the brand’s hugely popular AT-LP3 turntable. The deck can connect cable-free to the wireless speakers or headphones thanks to Bluetooth 5.2, with the turntable supporting Qualcomm’s aptX high resolution audio codec. As well as packing in Audio-Technica’s trusty AT-VM95C stylus cartridge there’s also a built-in switchable phono/line pre-amp, a hydraulically damped tonearm, plus a removable hinged dust cover. Available from today, the AT-LP3XBT comes in both black and white color options. Up a further notch in the new range is the AT-LPW50BTRW, which is priced at the more expensive £419.99/ €499.
