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'The Force Awakens' vinyl soundtrack is etched with holograms
If you haven't already emptied your savings account on Star Wars memorabilia, Disney is back to tempt you once more. Another version of The Force Awakens soundtrack is on the way as a two LP set that has 3D holograms etched onto the surface of the records. Of course, you'll need to find the proper viewing angle in order to catch a glimpse of the spinning illustrations of a TIE Fighter and the Millennium Falcon. Disney recommends that you just shine your phone's flashlight on the vinyl to reveal the animated artwork.
The trippy, haunting 'Oxenfree' soundtrack is on vinyl
Oxenfree's soundtrack is an electronica daydream that fades into a bumping nightmare; it's the aural interpretation of the sun setting over an abandoned, beachside military base packed with deadly secrets. In other words, it's perfectly suited to the game's haunting storyline and award-winning visual style. Thanks to iam8bit, the Oxenfree soundtrack is now available in vinyl form, including art from comic illustrator Austin James (Wet Brain) and a holographic portal on the front cover.
VNYL's wireless turntable lets your pals follow along on Spotify
Perhaps you've heard of VNYL: the $39 record subscription service that sends you three new albums a month based on your musical tastes. After offering the vinyl aspect of the audio equation, the company is looking to provide the gear you'll need to spin those records, too. TRNTBL (we should've seen this coming), is a belt-driven wireless turntable that connects to your speakers, headphones and other devices via Bluetooth and AirPlay. Despite its claims, the gadget isn't the first wireless turntable, as both ION and Audio Technica have Bluetooth-equipped models of their own.
Recommended Reading: A look at what music does to your brain
The Surprising Science Behind What Music Does to Our Brains Belle Beth Cooper, Fast Company You probably enjoy listening to music while you're in the office, at the gym or to relax in the evening. But did you know just how much playing some tunes affects your brain? Fast Company dives into the science behind what music does for your creativity and overall mindset.
Vinyl sales continue to surge in the UK
The vinyl revival shows no sign of slowing down. Today, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) has announced that 637,056 LP albums were sold in the first three months of 2016. That's a 62 percent increase on the same period last year, and puts vinyl's cut of the UK album market at 3.9 percent, up from 2.1 percent in Q1 2015. Vinyl sales smashed industry expectations last year, climbing for the eighth time in a row to 2.1 million. The BPI now estimates that sales will breach 3 million in 2016 -- possibly 3.5 million -- if the format continues on its current trajectory.
Sainsbury's is stocking vinyl records in 171 supermarkets
Vinyl is back, and it seems like it's here to stay. More than two million LPs were sold in the UK during 2015, up from 1.3 million the year prior. The steady growth since 2007 -- when the medium faced near extinction with 205,000 sales -- has encouraged retailers like Tesco to restock the old format in some of their stores. Sainsbury's is the latest to join the movement, putting 18 different records in 171 supermarkets across the country. The analog collection is mostly classics like The Beatles' Abbey Road and Rumours by Fleetwood Mac, although there's also one contemporary release -- the overwhelmingly popular 25 by Adele.
The pulsing 'Hotline Miami' soundtrack gets physical
Hotline Miami and its sequel Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number have two of the best soundtracks in all of gaming. But for whatever reason, until now there hasn't been a way to get a physical version of the first game's pulsing, futuristic score. As of this writing though, over a thousand people have pledged $75,033 on Kickstarter to change that.
Technics explains why its new SL-1200 turntable costs $4,000
Back at CES, Panasonic's revived Technics brand pulled the wraps off of its new direct-drive SL-1200 turntable. While that announcement surely kicked up all sorts of feelings, the new gear comes with a steep price tag: $4,000. As many have noted, that's a dramatic increase from what Technics' turntables used to go for before the brand was discontinued. What Hi-Fi reports that new materials, including a new motor, and increased production costs are the reasons you'll need to empty your savings account to nab one later this year.
Discogs' vinyl-tracking app goes wide February 29th
Whether you call it "vinyl," "wax," "black crack" or something else entirely, we can all agree that poring over shelves for new records can be a time-consuming, but ultimately rewarding, process. And now, the folks at Discogs are making it easier to see if that copy of the Lost Highway soundtrack you found is the real deal or just another bootleg. Come Monday, the internet's preeminent destination for music collectors is taking its iOS app out of beta.
'Streets of Rage 2' soundtrack was remastered for vinyl release
Vinyl is all the rage (sorry) these days, and game soundtracks are hitting the medium on the regular. One of the upcoming releases is Streets of Rage 2, a title that's widely regarded as having one of the best and most influential 16-bit soundtracks. The audio compositions of Yuzo Koshiro are up for pre-order in three options: 2 x 180g transparent vinyl with smoke and blood splatter, 2 x 180g transparent vinyl with smoke and the traditional 2 x 180g black vinyl. Those first two are priced at £24.99 while the third will set you back £22.99 (that's around $35 and $32, respectively)
What's on your HDTV: NBA ASG, 'Vinyl,' 'John Oliver'
We're finally past the big game, and now the NBA is ready to take center stage with its All-Star weekend. Besides sports, AMC is kicking off the second half of this season of The Walking Dead, and anyone who has been keeping up knows some big events from the comics are right around the corner. HBO has Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, following the premiere of its new Mick Jagger and Martin Scorsese-created show Vinyl, which follows a record exec in the 1970s. The latest James Bond is out on Blu-ray, and Firewatch is here on both PC and PS4. Look after the break to check out each day's highlights, including trailers and let us know what you think (or what we missed).
'Monument Valley' is the latest game soundtrack going vinyl
Monument Valley was one of the most interesting, unique and beautiful games released in 2014 on any platform. Forget that fact that it's "just" a mobile game -- developer UsTwo build an extremely memorable experience, and the game's music contributed heavily to that experience. If you want to immerse yourself in the game's soundscape, the geeky art purveyors iam8bit have just the thing for you -- the soundtrack for Monument Valley will go up for sale on vinyl tomorrow.
Hit indie game 'Axiom Verge' gets a vinyl soundtrack
Game studios have sometimes been a little too eager to get their soundtracks on vinyl, but this is one you'll want to consider if you're a connoisseur. Creator Thomas Happ and Ship to Shore PhonoCo are releasing a limited edition vinyl soundtrack for Axiom Verge, one of the indie game darlings of 2015. While the $22 album isn't as comprehensive as the digital version (likely in order to fit everything on to a single record), the music is only part of why you'd get. Happ is providing rough game sketches and his own liner notes, so you'll have a behind-the-scenes peek at the motivations behind this Metroidvania hit.
Sony's new turntable lets you digitize your vinyl collection
Vinyl is back. Even Sony is getting in on the game with the PS-HX500, a hi-res turntable that allows music lovers to digitize their record collections. The PS-HX500 stores the sounds stemming from your vinyl via USB, up to DSD quality. It features an anti-vibration and anti-skipping design, and it's due to launch in the spring for an undetermined price. (Cue Pink Floyd's "Money.") Check out the PS-HX500 in the video below.
Engineer creates functional concrete 'Satisfaction' record
German engineer Ricardo Kocadag has developed what he claims is the "first concrete record," built from a high-performance concrete developed for high-rise buildings and bridges. The idea was not to dramatically increase the weight of your music collection, but rather to show that the load-supporting material can also be finely finished and detailed. A type of "ultra high-performance concrete," or UHPC, it's often used on unusually-shaped, detailed structures like the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris.
Columbia House hopes you'll come back for vinyl records
To put it mildly, Columbia House has seen better days. The mail-order service went bankrupt this summer, and it's hard to see the allure of regularly buying movie discs when downloads and streaming are within easy reach. The company thinks it has an answer, however: it's restarting the Columbia House Record Club with a focus on vinyl records. It's betting that the resurgence of the old format and the popularity of subscription services (think Birchbox or Lootcrate) will draw in a younger audience. Columbia hasn't nailed down the launch details yet, but it'd return to the outlet's roots with membership and steep discounts.
Video game tie-ins shouldn't feel 'cheap'
It used to be that if you loved a video game, your options for showing it beyond buying the cartridge or disc were pretty limited. Now there's a whole cottage industry for gaming fandom. Want a rad vinyl soundtrack for a hyper-violent indie game? Say no more. How about an evocative statue showcasing the duality of a game's strong, female protagonist? You're covered there, too.But for every one of the former, there were seemingly a dozen tasteless cash-ins. When these brand extensions are done right, we wind up with heartfelt keepsakes or ways to keep a game in our lives while we're away from the controller. But when a company blows it, you get crap like tacky game-branded mini-fridges.
Tesco puts more vinyl on supermarket shelves
Vinyl's recent resurgence shows no sign of slowing down. In the UK, Tesco has decided to back the format by stocking 20 records in 40 of its supermarkets. These include Coldplay's new album A Head Full Of Dreams, the soundtrack from Guardians of the Galaxy and classic releases such as Nirvana's Nevermind and The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It follows a smaller trial earlier this year when Tesco stocked Iron Maiden's The Book Of Souls in 55 of its biggest Tesco Extra stores.
Oddball machine makes 'analog' techno music with vinyl records
Many techno DJs are used to playing music on vinyl, but creating it? That's another matter. However, Graham Dunning has found a wonderfully strange way to make that idea work. His Mechanical Techno device produces full-on dance tracks by driving several heavily modified records at once with a turntable, with each record relying on unique triggers to produce a sound. Electrical contacts will produce a synth sound as one record spins around, for instance, while piezoelectric triggers create that all-important beat on another disc. The result is techno that's at once analog and not. It sounds digital, but it has the imprecision and unpredictability that you'd never get from software.
Vinyl brings in more money than YouTube for UK music labels
YouTube views aren't translating into profit for British musicians, and even vinyl sales are bringing in more money. According to The Guardian, that is what British music industry association's (BPI) head honcho, Geoff Taylor, claimed when he spoke at the Music Futures conference in England. Unfortunately, he didn't back that statement up with exact figures, but he did say that BPI members garnered 14 billion YouTube views in 2014. Back in 2013, the organization reported that its artists sold enough vinyl LPs to earn a revenue of £12.1 million ($18.4 million), which was the highest the format has ever reached since 1994.
