Tag Archives: Vinyl

Art

Patti Smith Shops For Coltrane

June 20 – 11:48 am

The above photo is from an excellent collection called “Famous People Hanging Out With Their Vinyl“, courtesy of Dangerous Minds.

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Geek

Gizmodo loves Vinyl

February 10 – 1:38 pm

For some reason or another, in the last couple of weeks, Gizmodo has had a lot of posts dealing with vinyl and the gadgets that work with it.  I thought I’d do one big post with all of this stuff to help condense it all, and hopefully you find it a little interesting.

Make your own Vinyl

gramokit

If you’re looking for the chance to make some low-fi records at home, then this may be the product for you.  It’s cheap, too.  Only $170 + vinyl.  Giz says that “To record your own records, sing into the horn and the bamboo needle cuts the grooves into a new piece of vinyl.”  Not exactly rocket science, but something that’s not really in the reach of most bedroom emcees.

The product, by a company called Gakken, seems somewhat legit.  Obviously I haven’t tried it yet but it may be worth exploring if you’ve got some money burning a hole in your pocket.

REALLY portable record player

500x_linosao

This, while just a concept, is extremely badass.  Once you’ve used the Gakken press to make a couple of albums, say you want to bring them along to your buddy’s house to show them off.  Only your buddy doesn’t have a turntable.  Have no fear!  Pyott Design has your back.  The player, as you can see above, is not huge and folds up quite nicely.  Plugs into your USB for power and for audio playback.

Just the type of thing, strapped to a netbook, that you could probably use to test some albums while you’re out digging.

Turntable for those who don’t really want turntables

500x_459_01

This is a nifty idea for those who want to keep the romance of vinyl but whose records have slowly gotten unplayable, or for those who simply want to create the illusion of being a vinyl lover.  Now, it’s not something I endorse by any means.  If you’re a digital music person, there’s no shame in admitting that and in setting up your system to reflect that.

Gizmodo explains it:

Inside the fake player he placed an RFID reader, which gets the information from the RFID-tagged record. Once it detects it—and the user moves the tonearm into position—the record player starts reproducing a playlists.

It’s quite the idea, and would probably be fun for a minute or two.  Regardless, I just think it’s an interesting way to blend old and new technology in an unexpected way.

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Cool

David Sedaris releases new audiobook on vinyl

December 2 – 5:45 pm

David Sedaris

Here’s further evidence of vinyl’s slow resurgence as a viable audio format (a theme we’ve discussed often here at 4080): Hachette Book Group recently announced it will release David Sedaris’s latest audio book, Live For Your Listening Pleasure, on vinyl (in addition to other formats).

But is it really because vinyl is once again in the ascendancy?  (In its report on the story, the New York Times notes that “[vinyl] albums are enjoying something of a renaissance, posting $57 million in sales in 2008, more than double the previous year and the best for the format since 1990.”)

Apparently not.  According to a Hachette representative, the company was “drawn to the idea precisely because it was quirky. Mr. Sedaris’s “audience is very attuned to irony and is going to find this funny,”” the rep said.  Hilarious.

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Awareness Geek

Vinyl – Allan Zweig

October 23 – 2:44 pm

This is shaping up to be some sort of oddly riveting film about record collectors.  It really doesn’t glamorize the habit, but really gives you a good idea of the people behind this.

Not every record collector is some dope ass DJ in fly gear, digging through crates to find a decent sample.  In fact, the vast majority are amateurs.  But there’s also the forgotten class of perfectionists, bordering on OCD, who search forever for mint condition albums.  There are also those who search for the rare albums just because they’re rare.  The one-time pressings, the original album for some obscure promotion.

These Vinyl Junkies can’t help themselves.  It’s a compulsion that they can’t ignore.  

 

After a little googling, I found this.  Not sure if it’s legit or not, so if it’s not please let me know and I will remove the embed.

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Cool

How records are made

October 9 – 7:51 am

Lazy weekend of videos for you people out there.  Here’s a little documentary on just how those glorious LPs get made and wind up making you so happy.

I think it would be amazing to own the master record of any of a number of my favourite albums.  There’s something special about having the very first edition of something.

 

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Quick

A history of 78 labels

December 10 – 6:16 pm

Ever wonder how the labels on your records evolved over time?  Well have no fear, thanks to a find on Metafilter 4080 Records presents to you Ted Staunton’s archive of labels.

Some interesting labels in there, all arranged by decade.

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Music

Enormous mp3 collection

August 1 – 5:20 am

4080Records, thanks to some wonderful contributors, has been shown a website that will blow your entire mind.

Some enterprising fellow has been digitizing all his old LP’s.  Travesty, you say?  Sure, until you realise he’s been carefully categorizing and labeling them and putting them online as downloadable mp3s.

Aptly titled “My collection of 78 rpm records“, it’s got a ton of jazz and blues for your listening pleasure.  As well, he’s got quite the collection of foreign music, including some folk songs from various countries.

As you all know, sites like this don’t tend to last too long, so head over and grab what you can.

Check it out here.

Jelly Roll Morton – Fish Tail Blues

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Count Basie – Good Morning Blues

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Music

Vinyl really is making a comeback

July 4 – 4:34 am

I know this isn’t exactly rocket science, but it’s a pretty cool look at the ever-growing trend towards vinyl.

The Boston Globe is discussing why exactly vinyl sales seem to be skyrocketing at a time when CD sales are dropping off to the point where record companies have to sue people to make a profit.

What’s stunning is that turntable sales are up 500%, and vinyl is up something like 80% from the same time last year.  Now that’s got to be put into perspective, because despite the huge percentage increase, the sheer number of units being moved isn’t that crazy just yet.

A lot of bands are getting in on the action, releasing vinyl versions of their albums in advance of the other, more familiar types. I’m sure most of you can totally relate to just how dope vinyl can be.  I know i can,m even if it’s not at all hip hop.  Hell, I just grabbed a Norman Greenbaum LP, and obviously no one’s confusing him with hip hop!

Either way, read the article here.

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Art

Recycle your CDs into LPs

May 27 – 1:45 pm

Apparently you can use a record cutting machine to make a record out of more than just vinyl.

Thanks to the magic of the internet, about six different sites have informed us of something that went down at the FutureSonic festival.  A man named Alexi was on hand to create what he calls recycled CD art.  He used his record cutting machine to take an audio file that the customer gave him and etch it into an old CD.

This made this old CD/DVD/piece of plastic perfectly playable on a turntable.  But it is completely out of the reach of most people.  Unlike a CD burner which you can get for $15 on ebay, a Vinyl Cutting machine from Vestax will set you back about $10,000.

Despite how wicked this is, unless you’ve got a machine like this in your garage, or can get one at auction, it’s probably not exactly practical.

But damn it’s cool.

[Sources: Gizmodo, DailyDIY, SlipperyBrick.  Originally from: FutureSonic]

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Cool Featured Music

Happy Record Store Day! (in Advance)

April 16 – 1:51 pm

http://www.recordstoreday.com/

April 19 is the official Record Store Day!

This completely caught me off guard. I really had no idea there was a record store day, but now that I know I’ll definitely make sure to celebrate it.

In case you don’t know, Record Store Day is meant to celebrate hundreds (if not thousands) of independently owned record stores. The ones you go to all the time, that has that girl or guy behind the counter that knows a little too much about music. Or, if you’re unlucky, just walk by and always wish you could go in.

Before I explain any more, here is a link to find out if your store is participating. By going to the website, you can also sign your store up to participate. It may be too late, but it’s worth a shot!

A lot of big name artists are participating, and part of the rationale is a desire to almost “combat” the closure of all kinds of record stores. The growth of ITunes and digital music is, in a lot of ways, killing the independent record store. There are, and will always be, hardcore fans (such as us here at 4080) that will continue to dig in the crates as much as we can, but without additional support not nearly as many can survive.

They even have a youtube channel, at http://www.youtube.com/recordstoreday that showcases videos from bands and fans to support the cause. So check out some of the videos.

On TOP of all these wonderful links and entertaining things, I have another special surprise for you. CBC Radio 3 has been running a contest to determine Canada’s best record store. You can vote here. According to the Edmonton Journal, the finalists are:

Edmonton’s Sound Connection, a haven for used vinyl, is one of five finalists – along with Meow Records in Prince George, B.C., Taz Records in Halifax, Backstreet in Saint John, N.B., and Back Alley Music in Charlottetown.

So that being said, Happy Record Store Day! April 19, go find a little record store (not one of those big chains), and buy something. Anything. It doesn’t have to be a record. It doesn’t even have to be music. Just find something and buy it. Or hell, just GIVE them money if you REALLY can’t find anything. It doesn’t matter if they’re officially participating in the day, they could probably use your business anyways.

For those of you in the Montreal area, please check here for some wicked stores to check out.

For those of you not in the Montreal area, you can usually find anything you want here. The Global Electronic Music Marketplace will let you find enormous amounts of vinyl and CD’s and order them from various little record shops. So keep an eye out on that site. I’ve found some stuff there that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.

On that note, I’ll leave you a little quote by Brother Ali about record stores

Brother Ali

“I’ve always loved independent music stores because the staff is usually there because of a genuine love and appreciation for music. They’re more in-tune with the customers and I’m willing to pay the extra dollar or two for the service they provide. Some of my greatest music discoveries have come from picking up an album at an indy store and the cat behind the register saying “You like this man? Have you heard of so-and-so?” I prefer to shop where people understand me and the music- the music i like.”

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