Hold the wrecking ball: Hollywood’s Amoeba Music is here to stay — for now: Since 2001, Amoeba Music in Hollywood has stood as a beacon for resilience in an industry disrupted by digital downloads and streaming music services. This week, the store had to take to social media to assure fans that the multi-level mecca to independent retail would not be the latest casualty of a struggling industry. “We’re going to remain in our building for the duration of our lease — which is several years — and Amoeba and the building owner are open to us potentially staying longer,” the indie retail giant posted Monday evening on Twitter.
Launching in a Shipping Container, Contact to Join a Constellation of Oakland Record Stores: Tentatively scheduled to open in October, Contact is one of five retailers and eateries anchoring the incoming MacArthur Annex at 40th Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Way, a complex of 27 shipping containers marketed as offices for “artists and entrepreneurs.” A beer garden, Arthur Mac’s Tap & Shack, and an as-yet-unnamed café run by the owner of nearby Subrosa Coffee will occupy a standalone building on the same lot. (They’re expected to open later than Contact, this winter.)
This band undercut the Discogs sharks trying to flip their record: Limited to 250 copies (50 of which the band hoped to sell at gigs), Cambridge-based four-piece Psychic Lemon’s self-titled debut wad released earlier this year and quickly started multiplying in value online, with the splatter variant on transparent yellow vinyl demanding the highest interest. Posting on Reddit, the band were appalled to find copies going for $60 (roughly £45) online and decided to flood the market with their remaining copies at just £13. Greeted with near universal cheer, the 15 copies left appear now to have all sold out.
A previously announced CD set, Lou Reed: The RCA & Arista Album Collection, assembling 16 live and studio albums that the late musician recorded from 1972 to 1986, is set for release on October 7. But a newly announced vinyl LP edition called Lou Reed: The RCA & Arista Vinyl Collection, Vol. 1 is coming November 18. The vinyl set cherry-picks six classic albums from Reed’s years with the labels: 1972’s Transformer, which features “Walk on the Wide Side”; 1973’s celebrated concept album Berlin; 1974’s famous live album Rock n Roll Animal; the often-autobiographical 1975 record Coney Island Baby; 1978’s dark classic Street Hassle; and 1982’s acclaimed The Blue Mask, which saw Lou returning to a small-band format. Each disc will be pressed on 150-gram vinyl.
Obituary: Vinyl record expert David Frankish: David Frankish, a man with a seemingly encyclopedic knowledge of the vinyl art form, has died aged 76…David showed early promise as a member of the Thespians and was known to many DJs in the town as the man behind the counter at Woods music shop, followed by a spell at Bradleys records. He spun the 45s himself mainly at The Boy and Barrel and The Greyhound and became the manager of the DJs at Johnny’s various venues. His knowledge of the vinyl art form was legendary in the town.
Original Wicked Cast Recording Goes Vinyl: The original cast recording of Broadway’s Wicked, which will celebrate its 13th anniversary at the Gershwin Theatre October 30, is now available in wide release as a double LP via Verve/UMe. Upon its release in 2003, the album became the fastest-selling cast recording in years and went on to dominate the #1 spot on Billboard’s Top Cast Albums Chart for more than six years. The album, currently at #2, has been on the chart 557 weeks, including 333 weeks at #1, presently the record since the chart was established in 2006. It was certified double platinum in 2010 by the Recording Industry Association of America.
