Happy National Vinyl Day to both seasoned aficionados of the turntable era and to the new crowd of LP enthusiasts! Despite the existence of myriad streaming platforms, vinyl is undergoing a notable revival, according to Neilsen Soundscan’s numbers, especially this year. Vinyl sales increased 53 percent more this year from January to March than it did last year. In fact, vinyl sales surpassed 9 million for the first time in 20 years earlier this January. To celebrate, play your waxed stacks all night long, buy a new record, or sign The Vinyl Records Stamp Position in support of vinyl survival.
Have you ever noticed how the number of mega-blockbuster film debuts dwindle as Summer transitions into Fall? Read the New York Times’ detailed explanation of the film industry’s strategic movie release schedule in this article, which notes reasons for the increase from 10 films a couple of months ago to nearly two dozen set to premiere this Friday. According to distributor Dylan Marchetti, it’s “a lot of logical thought and pure unicorn dust.”
Earlier this summer, artist and pyrotechnic expert Cai Guo-Quiang ignited a particularly tall ladder. The Sky Ladder, stretching to 500 meters, was lifted above the Huiyu Island Harbour, in Quanzhou, China by a large helium-filled balloon, burning for a span of 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The artist conceived the project long ago as a child and it took him four attempts to finally realize his vision. Watch the dazzling spectacle here.
“Why use a violin when you can use a lawnmower?” says widely acclaimed musician/producer, Matthew Herbert, about his next project — “a new album – that’s a book.” Crowdfunding via Unbound, Herbert believes that today’s music can now be made from anything, hence the lawnmower example. Regardless of whether or not that means music should be made from anything and everything, Herbert has decided to create a “manifesto for sound,” a book that will describe rather than perform his compositions. Meanwhile, to try your own hand at making unconventional music, download Coldcut’s free new music making app, Ninja Jam, for the iPhone and Android. Sound sources will literally be at your fingertips.
Slice Harvester by Colin Atrophy Hagendorf is a must-read for every New Yorker, city visitor, and/or pizza lover. What started as a modest pizza blog in 2009 by a punk New Yorker evolved into a published tale of man who has savored every NYC pizza parlor’s prime triangular treat. Replete with detail, sarcasm, and poignancy, this “memoir in pizza” is (perhaps surprisingly) the furthest thing from trivial. Learn more about the book at NPR. And though “Pizza” was not among The Guardian‘s list of Republican candidate lookalikes, some of the selections — like ALF — were just as unflattering.