Record Store Day – April 19, 2008
“On Saturday, April 19, 2008, hundreds of independently owned music stores across the country will celebrate Record Store Day. On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally.” There you go, April 19th I expect all of you to visit an independent music store in your area and buy some music; records, cds, 45s, posters, tshirts – hell, consider getting a new turntable, the kind with the USB plugs so you can rip that new vinyl! I’ll be swinging by my neighborhood store, Euclid Records for sure on that day (and likely before…) – the thought of not having that as an option terrifies me.
An historic auction of millions of records, cds, etc
With a starting bid of US $3,000,000.00 this is one crazy eBay auction. Described as “The World’s Greatest Music Collection (3 Million Records, 300,000 CDs, 6 million+ Song Titles)”, you’re ostensibly buying a record store. In an interview, “Paul Mawhinney, owner of the Record Rama Sound Archives in Pittsburgh, Penn., is selling off what he calls “The World’s Greatest Music Collection” — as a whole — with a starting bid price of $3 million US ‘I want the history of American popular music to be available for future generations.’—Paul Mawhinney This is my life’s work,” the 69-year-old music enthusiast told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I’ve had a lot of people that wanted it, but they didn’t have the right kind of capital.” Looking at the pictures, it looks exactly like the old school record stores I’d seek out when I would be in towns like Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver and LA. There aren’t many like this anymore, which makes me appreciate my neighborhood Euclid Records all the more. In the end, what I like about this auction is the seller’s mindset that the music belongs to everyone, and is not just some commodity. “Mawhinney says he’d like the collection to be available to the public, which is a proviso of the sale. “I want the history of American popular music to be available for future generations,” he told The Toronto Star. The buyer is required to either donate the collection or create a public space for people to access it.” It sounds perfect for the Library of Congress, but apparently they didn’t have the funds.
Best music of 2007
It’s that time again, our annual list of our favorite music from each year. New for 2007’s best of list is far more detail and interactivity than before, and it’s even linked to the fak3r’s aStore at Amazon in case you want to pick up any of the recommendations from the page, how convenient!. As always, scroll to the bottom for picks from years past. Leave comments here if you have ones you disagree with, or ones we missed. See ya next year…
Hi, I'm fak3r and I've been online for over 15 years, blogging for 10. I work with open source software, various hardware and whatever else that I can hack on. I enjoy learning by doing, painting infrequently and listening to more music than the law allows. Feel free to follow me and comment on my thoughts and ideas; we're all in it together kid.
