Edinburgh, UK | A Crate Digger’s Guide To Edinburgh Record Shops: The Scottish capital is simply stunning, from medieval lanes to mountainous surrounds shadowed by the beautiful Edinburgh Castle. Beneath Edinburgh’s historically drenched touristic wow-factor lies a diggers treasure trove, with a plethora of record shops scattered across the city that will keep all types of collectors busy. Last week we went on an Irn-Bru powered record emporium marathon and along the way met some fantastic music sellers, visited some insane collections and are pleased to report back this guide of the best record shops in Edinburgh…
Dallas, TX | This Retro Vinyl Record Store In Dallas Is Actually A Full Bar: They’ll bring the music and the beers. Vinyl records are making a comeback but with so many streaming services so readily available to us, it might be hard to remember where the best record stores are. There is a record store in Dallas that knows how to keep the vintage party very much alive. Off the Record is a record store fused with a bar in Dallas that doesn’t only have tons of great music but also tons of great boozy drinks. Off The Record has the coolest old school records but that doesn’t mean you won’t find new albums on there too. The shop has a wide selection of music so there is something for everyone. Often, the shop has tons of events and at times turns into a full-blown party. During their events, you can not only check out the records but listen to them right there too. There is a dance floor in the shop and at times there are even themed nights. You’ll find around 24 different types of beers from both local and international brewers at their tasty bar. Drinks start at around $5 and with 2,000 records to choose from, this record shop can’t be beaten.
Fresno, CA | ‘Not Just a Quilt Store’ comes to Palm and Shaw. Record store to follow. Even as quilting shops around the country close, a Fresno stitchery found education, outreach and even a record store as a way to bring a once-shuttered anchor location in North Fresno alive again. Kiki’s Quilt Shack opened at 5747 N. Palm Ave. Aug. 1, taking over the former Walgreens space that had been vacant since 2012, when it moved to Palm and Shaw avenues. …Alongside the 4,000 bolts of fabric will be a revival of Spinners Records in a separate, soundproofed section of Kiki’s. Massengale closed the Tower District store in 2016 when the Kiki’s venture turned out to be bigger than he expected. Massengale wants to create a “Chicago Speakeasy” feel with a lounge, coffee and juice bar where guys can hang out and “listen to groovy tunes” while their wives shop. Spinners will open in October. He likens the mechanics of record players to the sewing machines used at Kiki’s, and they offer repair services on both types of machines.
Charlottesville, VA | For the record: Let us now praise our local vinyl shops: When I saw that Best of C-VILLE was bringing back its best-record-store category, I was excited, because boy, do I like buying records. But I can’t pick a favorite; I think the right answer is that the town needs them all. Charlottesville is changing in many ways, some for the better. But what I really like is living in the kind of place that can, for now, support multiple record stores—and not just because I like to shop there. …Record shops are places of business, so please go and buy some things from them. That’s the deal: We have to support them so they’ll stay open, which is good for everybody. It helps preserve Charlottesville’s identity as a place that cares about the cultural artifacts these stores sell, and we’re a less interesting place without them. I hear you saying, “But I don’t want to pay for music.” Or, “But I pay for a streaming service, and I can listen to what I want and it gives me recommendations.” I would counter that the people who sell records in this town make better recommendations than the algorithms do, and those recommendations are worth paying for.
Dundee, UK | ‘Mind blowingly-good’ Dundee album launch to honour Angus man who took his own life: Dundee University graduate and former civil servant Graeme Scott, 39, who was employed by Skills Development Scotland and worked as a careers adviser at Webster’s High School, Kirriemuir, and Carnoustie High School, died following a battle with depression. In June his friend and former band mate Andy McDiarmid, 37, formerly of Newburgh, Fife, and now of Glasgow, collaborated with Assai Record Shop in Broughty Ferry to create and promote an LP of Graeme’s songs. The aim was for proceeds to go to Scottish charity Brothers in Arms to raise awareness of mental health issues amongst men. Andy confirmed that, following an appeal through social media channels and in The Courier, An album called ‘Back on the Outside: The Songs of Graeme Scott’ will be released at Assai Record Shop in Union Street, Dundee, at 5pm on September 28.
Latest Audio-Technica turntable makes playing vinyl records easy: Record players don’t have to be complicated. …The successor of the popular AT-LP5, the new record player builds on the classic design of turntables from the 60s and 70s, while allowing you to digitize your entire vinyl collection via a USB output. A cable to connect the AT-LP5 to your PC or laptop is included in the box, as well as a download link for music recording software Audacity, which can be used to convert your precious records to MP3, WAV, and other digital formats. Audio-Technica is famed for its turntable cartridges – and as such, the stylus of this record player is fully customizable. It comes with the new AT-VM95E Dual Moving Magnet stereo cartridge, which is pre-mounted on an AT-HS6 headshell – this means your setup is pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. However, you can swap this cartridge out for any in the VM95 range if you’re looking for a different stylus shape or material. There’s no need for an external amplifier (instead the AT-LP5x relies on a built-in phono/line preamp) so you can plug it straight into your computer, stereo, or speakers – no complicated setups necessary.
A Decade of Music Is Lost on Your iPod. These Are The Deleted Years. Now Let Us Praise Them. From 2003 to 2012, music was disposable and nothing survived. …The Deleted Years, by my count, ran from 2003 to 2012—give or take a year or two on either side—from the time the Apple Music Store opened to right around when we really started to use Spotify. In the early years of the new millennium, the music industry was crashing from its decadent late ‘90s peak, and record stores were beginning to drop like the early victims in Contagion. Napster was taking a chunk out of sales, though some of us still purchased music, whether to assuage our guilty consciences or because the peer-to-peer services were too unpredictable. But if you were an early adopter of Apple Music Store, as I was, everything you bought from 2003 to 2009 is stuck on a dusty iPod for which a charger can no longer be found, or on a MacBook that’s three MacBooks ago. Whether you bought that whole first Kaiser Chiefs album or just plunked down the 99 cents for “I Predict A Riot,” you don’t have it anymore.
AB5 Could Crush Independent Music in California: California lawmakers are poised to vote on Assembly Bill 5, which is largely aimed at “gig economy” jobs such as ride-sharing companies like Uber and Lyft and is designed to make it more difficult for such companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. But the bill, scheduled to become law on Sept. 13, could have an adverse effect on the music industry, as this guest column — co-written by RIAA Chairman/CEO Mitch Glazier, A2IM President/CEO Richard James Burgess, and for the Music Artists’ Coalition, Azoff Company Co-President Susan Genco and attorney Jordan Bromley — explains. …If you care about allowing independent artists, songwriters, and labels to remain in California, we need your help. Call your local state legislature, your union, the AFM. Tell them how important it is to you that we keep the music in California. Ask them to support an exemption to AB5 for independent recording in California. But hurry: The bill becomes law on September 13.
