Liner Notes
May 15, 2013
By Frank Mastropolo / Rock Cellar Magazine
In the 1960s, New York City was the center of the recording industry and home to a wealth of small clubs and theaters that hosted the cream of rock music. Fans could catch bands on their way up at smaller venues with moderate ticket prices.
But 1969’s Woodstock festival changed the industry and superstars began to demand huge fees to appear. Small venues could no longer compete with huge arenas and stadiums for name acts. In a 1971 letter, promoter Bill Graham explained that he would close both Fillmore East and West because of “the unreasonable and totally destructive inflation of the live concert scene.”
“I continue to deplore the exploitation of the gigantic-hall concerts, many of them with high-priced tickets… it turned into the music industry of festivals, 20,000-seat halls, miserable production quality, and second-rate promoters.”
Most of the rock venues of the ‘60s and early ‘70s are now gone; some demolished, others occupied by businesses that could afford New York’s rocketing rents. Rock Cellar Magazine visited 10 of the sites where so much memorable music was performed to see what they’ve become. [...]
Please continue reading at rockcellarmagazine.com
May 11, 2013
By Stephen Thompson / NPR
We get a lot of mail at NPR Music, and amid the ironic promotional cassingles is a slew of smart questions about how music fits into our lives — and, this week, how a regretful fan of vinyl records can re-create her discarded collection.
Kirsten Elbourne Mathieson writes: “I’m big-time regretting getting rid of all of my record albums years ago. Any advice for someone starting from scratch with vinyl after all these years? What albums must be heard on vinyl rather than CD/digital?”
First off, I feel terrible for you, because sometimes the hardest losses to overcome are the ones we’ve imposed on ourselves. Fortunately, your situation is largely reversible, though I’ve got a fairly overwhelming batch of follow-up questions to get us started.
How big was your collection? What made you decide to get rid of it in the first place? Did you replace the music with CDs or digital files, or did it drop out of your life altogether? What is it about vinyl that you miss — the artwork, the warmth of the sound, the smell of the records in your basement, the cachet of the medium? Are there specific albums you miss playing on a turntable, or do you simply miss thumbing through row upon row of LPs? [...]
Please continue reading at npr.org
May 6, 2013
By Alison Nastasi / Flavorwire
What’s the best thing to do when you’re not digging for vinyl? Look at photos of musicians digging for vinyl. Voices of East Anglia featured a few great pictures of stars during the 1960s hanging out at record emporiums, and we wanted to add our own contribution to the collection. We found your favorite musicians in the wild, with wax. If you know of a great photo, link us up in the comments section. [...]
Go to flavorwire.com to view pictures.
April 24, 2013
By Edna Gundersen / USA Today
Record Store Day did record business this year.
Overall album sales were up 3% at independent record stores the week of Record Store Day vs. the equivalent week last year.
And vinyl LP sales were the highest ever the week of Record Store Day, selling 200,000 units this year compared to 147,000 in 2013, up 36%, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
The sixth Record Store Day, staged worldwide on April 20, served up more than 350 exclusive releases, many in limited editions of vinyl EPs, singles and albums.
Vinyl sales, up for five years straight, rose 17.7% in 2012, according to SoundScan’s year-end data, which notes that 67% of purchases were made at indie record stores.
Album sales in all formats at indie stores rose 59% over the week prior to Record Store Day, the biggest week-over-week jump since the event started in 2008.
A look at Record Store Day album sales increases by year (over the prior week): [...]
Please continue reading at usatoday.com
April 16, 2013
By Carrie Battan / Pitchfork
Jack White, the “Record Store Day Ambassador”, has a treat for anyone who visits his Third Man Records store in Nashville this Saturday, April 20 for the holiday: You’ll be able to record your own record at a special booth in the shop. He says in a statement: “I encourage everyone who comes to the Third Man Record Store in Nashville to be able to hear themselves on a vinyl record, and maybe even mail it to someone they love.”
The booth includes a Voice-o-Graph machine from 1947 that records up to two minutes of audio and dispenses a 6″ phonograph disc afterwords, kind of like a Polaroid. Afterward, fans are given the option to submit digital versions of the songs to the Third Man Records website. If you want to go really crazy with it, you can even buy custom-printed envelopes and stamps in the Third Man store and mail it away. [...]
Please continue reading at pitchfork.com
April 10, 2013
By Sarah Schuch / MLive
FLINT TOWNSHIP, MI – “I want to go to a Bob Seger concert,” were the first words out of Evie Branan’s mouth after suddenly awakening from a five-year semi coma, falling and hitting her head on the floor.
“Why would I say that?” Branan laughed. “Maybe my last thoughts were Bob Seger before I had my stroke.”
A spunky 79-year-old, Branan sat at Willowbrook Manor in Flint Township with short, spiky, white hair. She wore an old Bob Seger t-shirt, green eye shadow and a wrist covered in bracelets.
For the past two years, Branan has been eagerly waiting for that Seger concert after she came out of her semi coma on May 7, 2011.
That time has finally come. She is ready with her concert tickets and an invitation for an after party for Seger’s concert at the Palace in Auburn Hills on Thursday, April 11. [...]
Please continue reading at MLive.com
April 8, 2013
By Brian Heater / engadget
For about as long as we can remember, each new CD we’ve purchased has made a trip to our computer for a good, old fashioned ripping, first thing out of the plastic. So the concept of offering up free MP3s with the purchase of a compact disc always felt a bit superfluous (particularly in these days when fewer and fewer are buying music in a physical form). The increasingly popular concept of offering up downloads with the purchase of a vinyl LP, on the other hand, makes an awful lot of sense — after all, it’s a lot harder for most of us to transfer that music onto our PCs. Amazon’s embracing the concept by extending its AutoRip promotion to records, giving consumers a 256 Kbps cloud-based copy of the music they buy on vinyl. [...]
Please continue reading at engadget.com
April 2, 2013
By Glenn Peoples / Billboard
Even though CD revenues have fallen sharply over the last ten years, most predictions about the format have been wrong. The CD’s decline, while painful to companies, has been far more gradual than precipitous. Over the last four years, CD revenues have leveled off just as an airplane would before a soft landing.
The one thing everybody has correctly predicted is that the CD would decline. CD revenues fell 77.5% to $2.5 billion in 2012 from $11.2 billion in 2003, according to RIAA numbers released last week. The deepest losses occurred in 2007 and 2008, when CD revenues dropped over $1.9 billion each year. Total revenues suffered badly as a result in those years, falling 9.4% and 17.6% in 2007 and 2008, respectively. More recent years have not been as bad. After four straight years of deficits that exceeded 20% (from 2007 to 2010) CD revenues declined 8.5% in 2011 and 18.3% in 2012. [...]
Please continue reading at billboard.com
March 27, 2013
From MSN
Rockers Huey Lewis & the News are heading out on tour to mark the 30th anniversary of the band’s huge hit album “Sports.”
The band struck the big time in 1983 with the release of their third album, which shot to the top of the U.S. charts and featured hits including “The Heart of Rock & Roll,” “Heart and Soul” and “I Want a New Drug.”
The record went on to sell millions, and now fans will be able to listen to the tracks live when the band hits the road for an American tour in May. [...]
Please continue reading at msn.com
March 25, 2013
From Spinner
Below is a list of what we consider essential albums to own on vinyl. This list did not come together overnight. It’s the product of years spent scouring record stores, attending concerts, talking shop with music lovers whose knowledge often far exceeded ours, and most importantly, thousands of hours spent actively listening to albums. You should understand that our opinion is simply that — an opinion. But, if you’re at all like us, it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start when putting together a decent collection. Along the way, we intend to give you some tips about where to start with your own collection and point out some reasons why these vinyl records are unique.
Inevitably, some of you will think our list would be better transcribed onto toilet paper and used in a Porta Potty. That’s fine, we won’t take it personally. What we offer you, though, Spinner reader, is an honest attempt at a list of our favorite unique albums on vinyl, in the hopes that you’ll banter with us about what you agree with and maybe some albums that you think we should consider. Keep in mind, a list of 25 albums is only a glimpse through the peephole of what our collection holds, what we know it’s missing, and future albums that will find their way in.
Lists have a funny way of becoming irrelevant in a hurry. The irony of writing this list is not lost on us. It will be a potentially (but hopefully not) outdated list of albums that will be stumbled upon in 2019 only to be ridiculed by someone who, as we write this, is in 5th grade. That’s cool with us. In the end, it’s more about my personal reasoning and the following considerations rather than our very specific list of the top 25 vinyl albums.
So, with that, some albums to consider: [...]
Please visit spinner.com to see list.
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