Stroud, UK | Sound Records confirm move to iconic Stroud shop: The successful vinyl haven Sound Records are set to move to an iconic shop in the centre of Stroud. Sound Records is a partnership between acclaimed DJs and record dealers Sean Roe and Tom Berry – they hope to turn the old Inprint shop into a vibrant music hub. As well as this, the pair say that the move will allow them to “stock at least three times as many records”. They hope to move into Inprint by early March, hopefully in time for the businesses first birthday on April 6. The two DJs say they will host a very special event to mark the occasion, so fans have been reminded to keep their diaries clear. “We have had a brilliant time in Gloucester Street since we opened 10 months ago, but our current home is simply too small to stock all the records we want to provide,” said Tom.
Washington, DC | 12 things to do in the D.C. area this weekend: 10th annual D.C. Record Fair at Penn Social: A decade ago, music industry “experts” were predicting the death of vinyl records. Thankfully, the organizers of the D.C. Record Fair ignored them. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the fair, which fills the cavernous Penn Social bar with dozens of dealers selling mint-condition Beatles records, dusty old soul albums and bargain-basement crates of $1 slabs of wax, which beg you to drop a few bucks on a 1960s calypso compilation or a blue-eyed soul record with an intriguing cover. A group of gurus provides the soundtrack, including Geologist of Animal Collective, “Banned in D.C.” author Cynthia Connolly and D.C. Soul Recordings founder DJ Nitekrawler. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. $5 before noon, $2 after.
UK | B&W partners with Record Store Day UK for new ‘Behind the Counter’ video series. Each episode tells the story of one of the UK’s ‘most intriguing’ record stores. Now until Record Store Day (which is the 13th April this year), Bowers & Wilkins is presenting a new weekly video series about the UK’s most intriguing record stores, in partnership with Record Store Day UK and Classic Album Sundays. The ‘Behind the Counter’ series, which started on Tuesday, will run for 12 weeks, with a new video going live every Tuesday. The series will culminate in a Classic Album Sundays event on Sunday 7th April, hosted by each of the featured record shops, where they will preview exclusive Record Store Day UK releases on hi-fi systems featuring B&W speakers. The first of the twelve episodes – live now and available to watch below – offers a bitesize behind-the-scenes look at Transmission Records in Margate. Will your weird and wonderful local have made the cut?
Blue Note Records Presents the Tone Ooet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series: In honor of Blue Note Records’ 80th Anniversary, the legendary Jazz label is launching the Tone Poet Audiophile Vinyl Reissue Series. Blue Note President Don Was brought in “Tone Poet” Joe Harley—co-founder and co-producer of the acclaimed Music Matters audiophile vinyl series—to produce this new series of all-analog, mastered-from-the-original-master-tape 180g audiophile vinyl reissues in deluxe gatefold packaging. Mastering is by Kevin Gray (Cohearent Audio) and vinyl is being manufactured at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI). The titles were handpicked by Harley and cover lesser-known Blue Note classics, modern era standouts, and albums from other labels under the Blue Note catalog. The first two albums in the series—Wayne Shorter Etcetera and Chick Corea Now He Sings, Now He Sobs—will be released on February 8, with Sam Rivers Contours and Cassandra Wilson Glamoured to follow on March 15. All four titles are available for pre-order now.
Oakland, CA | Diablo Dish: Vinyl Record Café, Bar Shiru, Opens Soon in Oakland: Japanese Jazz Café Coming to Oakland. The Latham Square building at 16th Street and Telegraph Avenue is a Class-A historic building. So it makes sense that Bar Shiru, a Japanese jazz café that plays vinyl records, will be moving in, complementing the older structure next month. (The records will be played on an equally anachronistic analog sound system.) The bar menu—which lists “highballs” rather than “cocktails” to preserve that historic feel—will be extensive, but since there’s no kitchen, only light bar snacks will be available.
