Atomic Glass appears to be closed: In recent-ish news that will likely bum out some Milwaukeeans and secretly delight others, it appears that Atomic Glass, 1813 E. Locust St., is closed. As of Tuesday morning, the windows of the East Side head shop are papered over and all signage is removed. The store’s listed phone number is disconnected. Atomic Glass opened in 2009, less than three months after the much-lamented closure of the building’s previous tenant, Atomic Records. Atomic Glass’ blithe appropriation of Atomic Records’ iconic 25-year-old name and logo didn’t sit well with many Milwaukeeans (including Atomic Records owner Rich Menning), nor did the thought of a glass shop, of all things, subbing in for a beloved record store.
One man’s vinyl obsession: Gavin Godbold calls himself a die-hard collector, but there would be many others who think maybe he’s gone a little too far. The Bluff local has eight record players plugged in at various places throughout his home, ready to go whenever he might need them. This may sound excessive, even for a music nut, but it makes sense when you learn that Gavin’s vinyl album collection goes beyond 600,000. Gavin said his music obsession began at the tender age of six weeks. “My cousin was doing music,” he explained, “and he noticed when music was playing, I would stop carrying on and crying.” Fifty years of collecting later and Gavin’s love of music, especially on vinyl, has only grown stronger.
The Stories Behind The 25 Best Album Covers Of All Time: You know that warm sound you get from listening to Vinyl. Lovely isn’t it. But the artwork that accompanied some of those best album covers was also amazing too. I would even say the artwork is an essential part of those great albums, indelibly linked to the lyrics and music contained within (can you imagine The Beatles’ Sergeant Pepper’s album without that cover?). Each of those great album covers had an interesting story behind them. So here are the stories behind the 25 best album covers of all time.
Technics Unveils Premium SP-10R Turntable, The new edition of the first direct drive turntable ever is set to launch next summer: Panasonic has announced the Technics SP-10R—a reissue of the brand’s iconic SP-10 model. Originally released in 1970, the SP-10 was the first Technics turntable and the first direct-drive turntable to hit the market. The new SP-10R is a luxury item, with Panasonic’s press release dubbing it Technics’ “most premium analog, direct-drive turntable to date.” It comes with a separately-housed power supply and a remarkably low wow and flutter rate of 0.015 percent. Revealed at the IFA 2017 trade show in Berlin, the SP-10R is set for a summer 2018 launch. The price has not yet been revealed.
A return to turntables: Which? takes first look at the Roberts RT100—Radio brand branches out into vinyl market with a new £250 turntable: Roberts’ move into record players is a sign of just how popular vinyl has become again, and it isn’t the only big brand that sees a future in the format. In June, Sony announced that it was to re-open one of its old vinyl-pressing plants in Japan to keep up with the growing demand. The slow but steady stream of companies getting back on board with vinyl proves that there’s more to the trend than just throwaway nostalgia. However, that hasn’t stopped some unscrupulous manufacturers from taking advantage, producing cheap, poor-quality products. We got our hands on a sample of the new Roberts RT100 to get an idea of whether it’s a genuine hi-fi product or just another cheap pretender.
This new all-in-one turntable promises high-end sound quality: THE+AUDIO has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund its new, high-performance all-in-one record player and digital sound system, THE+RECORD. “Designed for the discerning audiophile”, the turntable boasts the ability to play vinyl, rip your records to USB, as well as having connectivity to play your digital music via bluetooth and USB. While all-in-one record players, such as the ubiquitous Crosley suitcase turntables, compromise on sound, THE+RECORD hopes to offer a higher-end experience. THE+RECORD, which comes in maple and walnut veneer versions, features a belt-drive Pro-Ject turntable, Pro-ect Carbon fiber tonearm, 2MM red Ortofon Cartridge.
German-born inventor Emile Berliner was the man behind the birth of the vinyl record: …those flat black plastic discs may have been cylinders if it hadn’t been for the inspiration of one man, Emile Berliner, who 130 years ago today filed for a patent of a device that played flat, disc records. He called it the gramophone, a competitor for Thomas Edison’s phonograph that used a wax cylinder for recording. While Edison’s name is well known, Berliner is not nearly as famous. But he was also a brilliant inventor whose gramophone arguably had a greater impact on music today. He is also credited with several other inventions and was the founder of Deutsche Grammophon, the world’s oldest surviving recording label.
