Keith Hudson’s Classic 1974 Album Back In Print
By: Carter Van Pelt New York City is home to some of the best used record shopping in the world, and because of the longstanding Caribbean communities in the 5 boroughs, reggae, dancehall, and soca records abound. While stalwarts VP Records, Charlie’s, Jah Life, and the African Record Center (the oldest in the Northeast) have been continuously operating for 40-55 years, the relative newcomers that have evolved from e-commerce platforms…
Vinyl Heritage Month (the month of April) is drawing to a close, so our last newsletter in this series looks at some of the record stores you need to know. Though they are few, they hold the mantle between pressing plants who press vinyl, and buyers who play wax. Here are some of the stores you should know: London: LionVibes – one of London’s only dedicated Reggae record shop…
VP Records’ celebration of this year’s Record Store Day could be felt from blocks away. The first signs of it arrived as tremors coursed through the concrete, carrying familiar reggae bass lines out into the cool Saturday afternoon. The closer you got, the clearer the music became – yes, there was no mistaking the voices of legends like Half Pint, Dennis Brown, and so many others, erupting from the vinyl-fuelled…
With vinyl sales ever increasing, a common question is ‘what turntable to buy?’ There is no easy answer and ultimately it will depend on how hard you want to chase vinyl’s potential for high quality audio. ‘Potential’ is the operative word, as most middle/low budget vinyl systems will not outperform CDs or digital streaming. Vinyl can, however, offer a sublime experience for those willing to invest even a few thousand…
As we continue to celebrate the mainstream resurgence of vinyl records, one of the most compelling reflections of the format’s relevance is that last year marked the first time since 1987 that vinyl record sales topped those of CDs, according to a new report. In 2022, revenues for vinyl record sales grew 17% to $1.2 billion – the sixteenth consecutive year of growth – accounting for 71% of physical format…