I saw the following quote in this post attributed to KT Tunstall:

“Independent record stores are like a casino where you put down your money and you always win. How amazing to discover gems you didn’t know about, to meet someone more passionate than you are, and to feel at home in a place you may never have been to before. I’m convinced they will never lose their place – Long may they rule”

Love that.

I Googled a bit and found a ton more great quotes from artists about record stores on the Record Store Day site: Record Store Day Artist Quotes.

I love this nuggest sandwiched in Jack White’s quote:

“I trust no one who hasn’t time for music.”

Amen!

Don’t forget to mark your calendar, Record Store Day is Saturday April 17th this year!

I don’t know about you, but I’d rather have the records that I am looking through to be organized. If something’s blatantly out of place, I try to help out the store & fellow record scavengers. I put it where it belongs. Here’s me putting a Prince record in the right place:

So be a pal to your fellow record buyers and store owners and keep the stacks in order when hunting for vinyl.

Cool short video on how vinyl records are made at a new vinyl pressing plant in Cleveland Ohio, Gotta Groove Records. Gotta Groove was started recently by Vince Slusarz, who after his previous position was eliminated, took his manufacturing background, bought some equipment from one of four vinyl pressing plants in the U.S. and launched Gotta Groove.

Hats off to Nick Cavalier and crew for making this cool video.

Magic Hat Brewing is releasing a new spring seasonal, VINYL. The beer will be sold in 22 oz. bombers. Magic Hat says it’s a “malt-based lager” with artwork by Jim Pollock (of Phish poster fame).

Check out their whacky cool video:

Official Magic Hat VINYL Page

WAX.FM was launched a year ago this month, so happy birthday to us!

We quietly launched an updated look and feel a week ago, hope you like it.

The site’s been running like a champ for a year (with the exception of a 5-day outage in August when the domain registrar mistakenly pulled the DNS records )

A few stats from the first year:

Top Vinyl Artists for the First Year

1. The Beatles
2. Michael Jackson
3. Bob Dylan
4. Pink Floyd
5. The Rolling Stones
6. David Bowie
7. Jimi Hendrix Experience
8. Bob Marley
9. Led Zeppelin
10. John Lennon
11. Miles Davis
12. U2
13. The Doors
14. James Brown
15. John Coltrane
16. Bruce Springsteen
17. Nirvana
18. The Who
19. Kraftwerk
20. Beach Boys

Top Vinyl Titles for the First Year

1. Michael Jackson – Thriller
2. Pink Floyd – Dark Side of the Moon
3. The Beatles – Abbey Road
4. The Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
5. Beatles (White Album)
6. Velvet Underground (self titled)
7. Miles Davis – Kind of Blue
8. Beach Boys – Pet Sounds
9. The Beatles – Revolver
10. Led Zeppelin I
11. The Clash – London Calling
12. The Beatles – Rubber Soul
13. Rolling Stones – Let It Bleed
14. Nirvana – Nevermind
15. Bob Dylan – Blonde on Blonde
16. The Doors (self titled)
17. Bob Dylan – Highway 61 Revisited
18. Jimi Hendrix – Are You Experienced
19. David Bowie – Ziggy Stardust
20. Rolling Stone – Exile on Main Street

Still have a lot we want to roll out on the site. Subscribe to the RSS and follow us on Twitter to stay in the loop! Thanks!

Here are the top 20 albums from Paste Magazine’s Best 50 Albums of the Year. Nineteen of twenty of them are available on vinyl:

1. She & Him – Volume One
2. Sigur Ros – Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust
3. Vampire Weekend – Vampire Weekend
4. Bon Iver – For Emma, Forever Ago
5. Okkervil River – The Stand Ins
6. Fleet Foxes – Fleet Foxes
7. Girl Talk – Feed the Animals
   No vinyl that I am aware of, but you can choose your own price to download it from here
8. Sun Kil Moon – April
9. Lucinda Williams – Little Honey
10. Deerhunter – Microcastle
11. The Hold Steady – Stay Positive
12. Of Montreal – Skeletal Lamping
13. Ida Maria – Fortress Round My Heart
14. Langhorne Slim – Langhorne Slim
15. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds – Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!
16. My Morning Jacket – Evil Urges
17. Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy – Lie Down In The Light
18. Death Cab for Cutie – Narrow Stairs
19. Gentleman Jesse and His Men – Introducing Gentleman Jesse and His Men
20. Hot Chip – Made In The Dark

Check out the videos below: Bon Iver’s “The Wolves” and She & Him’s “Why Do You Let Me Stay Here?” Happy Holidays!

Re-post of WAX.FM Holiday Greeting 2008 …

* Great Place to Find Classics from 60’s, 70’s, 80’s … usually $3 (the same records can be $6-$10 at trendy record stores)
* Bargain bin records are 50 cents (usually on the floor below the $3 records) … mostly junk, but can find a few overlooked decent records
* Sign up for mailing list to receive periodic good coupons
* They have some collectibles … varies by store. Personally I’ve found that they have tons at Highland Park store in Illinois, but the collectibles are not usually heavily discounted

Currently HPB has locations in the U.S in:

* Arizona
* California
* Illinois
* Indiana
* Iowa
* Kansas
* Kentucky
* Minnesota
* Missouri
* Nebraska
* Ohio
* Pennsylvania
* Texas
* Washington
* Wisconsin

Look for a store near you: http://www.halfpricebooks.com/find_a_store.html and don’t forget to sign up for their mailing list to receive coupons.

Here’s a re-post of a video from when I first launched WAX.FM