DAILYSESSION

Four New York City Record Stores

Besides maintaining New York’s underground legacy alive and providing DJs, vinyl collectors and music lovers with palatable music environments and copacetic shopping experiences, there are four record stores in New York City that delineate the current vinyl musical landscape.

“Vinyl is the message we are preaching.”

Formerly located and a staple in the West Village, Vinyl Mania opened its doors in 1978. Beginning with a lean selection of Rock Records, owner Charlie Grappone quickly discovered his heart lay with House Music when, from around the corner, Paradise Garage club-goers and DJ Larry Levan started asking for specific records and began to patronize his store. From serving up Disco and House Classics and preserving the sound of music on vinyl, he went on to found one of the most influential labels that has charted and guided the course of House Music. In its heyday great times were had by all. Charlie would sit up front talking to anyone who wandered in, while DJs took requests and played fresh new vinyl. Unfortunately in 2007 after over thirty years of business and building and supporting dance music community and culture, Vinyl Mania closed its doors. No need for despair though, vinyl junkies can find Vinyl Mania’s stock available for purchase on Ebay, Discogs and at Funky Slice Vinyl Shop.

“An oasis from your nine-to-five jobs.”

Since 1996 A-One Record Shop (439 East 6th Street, New York; 212-473-2870) has been a lifeline for record collectors and DJ’s. Focusing on Soul, Jazz, Hip-Hop—and a Disco and House Music selection that has a high turnover—this used record shop is a treasure-ship for anyone who has the inclination to dig for rare and undiscovered gems. Sustained for more than 15 years by loyal customers and managed by local and knowledgeable DJ’s, it features a large collection that calls attention to its variety and an accurate categorization scheme organized by label. While the LP covers adorning all walls and surfaces and eclectic mixes by guest DJ’s and employees are sure to draw your attention, don’t forget to take the time to look through the bargain bins where you might find the slice of wax that could save your life! This independent store is more than a true vinyl shop: it’s a New York institution.

“Holy Grail type records that crazy-record-freak-collectors drool over.”

Founded in 2005 by John Sklute, aka Jonny Paycheck, not only a former producer and rapper in various ensembles but a risk management broker turned record dealer, Good Records NYC (218 East 5th Street, New York; 212-529-2081; Good.Records@gmail.com) is a record collector’s haven that carries Soul, Blues, Jazz, Funk, Folk, Rock, Hip- Hop, Disco, House and International music ranging from Africa to Latin America. Offering the most carefully selected, clean and fresh vintage stock found in New York City while also more than reasonably priced makes this record shop a magnet for vinyl connoisseurs. Trading, buying and selling daily, Jonny and his well-informed staff are always ready to help find what you want and point-out recent arrivals and discerning choices that may be hiding in the bins. With a few turntables equipped for your listening and great never-heard-of tunes playing, this warm space is inviting.

“Keeping vinyl alive…”

With transmissions from New York’s underground, and completing the trinity that includes DailySession.com, an online media source known for its live streaming radio show and Cedar Room Party, where ninjas gather to dance, Funky Slice Vinyl Shop (17 Cedar Street, Bushwick; 347-699-0940) is a membership record listening joint that provides exclusive vinyl weaponry. Not only a boutique record shop but also a community center for DJ’s and vinyl enthusiasts, in this green room you can catch more than sonic waves to reach that elusive Zen Zone that nature yields. Exclusively making stock available from Vinyl Mania ranging from Disco and House to Soul Funk here you will find an impressive collection of wax notorious for its variety and rare grooves. Only for the initiated.

By Jez

By Rolling Stone

Dim all the lights for Donna Summer, the disco diva who lost her battle with cancer today at 63. She was more than just one of the Seventies’ mightiest voices; she was the artist who exemplified the way disco broke out of the gay club subculture to take over the world. “Bad Girls,” “I Feel Love,” “Hot Stuff,” “On The Radio” – these were bold and innovative records, but they not only became global hits, they defined the beat of pop music ever since.

Donna Summer would be remembered as a ground-breaking artist today even if she’d retired the day after she recorded “I Feel Love” in 1977. She wrote the song with European producers Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, who created an electro-dystopian mirror-ball glacier-wave wall of machine rhythm, the musical equivalent of catching a stranger’s dead-eyed stare on the dance floor. Summer’s voice floated over the synthesizers as if feeling love meant zoning out into your own private nightworld of sensory overload. This is what Summer was talking about when she boasted, “I could be a Bette Davis-type actress. Catty, cold, precise and domineering.” It was all there in “I Feel Love.” [Read More]

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS – NY Daily News

WASHINGTON — Chuck Brown, who styled a unique mix of funk, soul and Latin party sounds to create go-go music in the nation’s capital, has died after suffering from pneumonia. He was 75.

Brown died Wednesday at Johns Hopkins University Hospital in Baltimore. Hospital spokesman Gary Stephenson confirmed Brown had died after a hospital stay that began April 18.

Thanks to Brown and his deep, gravelly voice, go-go music was uniquely identified with Washington. That’s where he continued to play the city’s club circuit late in life. [Read More]

Hammock House – The Eastbound L

An unrestrained universe of sound that reimagines the compelling rhythms of yesteryear in combination with sublime, 21st century grooves. The commitment to both tradition and craft has inspired a new genre of House replete with flamboyant arrangements and magnetic beats that seamlessly conjoin to create a colorful, refined, authentic soundscape.

Each track is imbued with the spirit and vivacity of a bygone era — a tangibility capable of inducing a transcendent experience. And interwoven with its inventiveness, are subtly and familiarity. This unique sound is, at once, old and new. So, immerse yourself in the seductive resonance of Hammock House, and be prepared for a long stay.

01 SIEMBRA (JOAQUIN “JOE” CLAUSSELL REMIX) – RUBEN BLADES 10:13
02 MI GENTE (LOUIE VEGA EOL REMIX) – HECTOR LAVOE 11:36
03 FUNK DOWN (JOAQUIN “JOE” CLAUSSELL) – MONGO SANTAMARIA 8:37
04 TAKE FIVE (NICOLA CONTE REMIX) – ROBERTO ROENA 5:22
05 ALEJATE (JOAQUIN “JOE” CLAUSSELL SACRED RHYTHM REMIX) – HECTOR LAVOE 10:39
06 MORRIS PARK (BONDE DE ROLE REMIX) – LENNI SESAR 2:58
07 O ELEFANTE (SHH REMIX) – RAY BARRETTO 8:41
08 I LIKE IT LIKE THAT (AARON JEROME REMIX) – PETE RODRIGUEZ 6:30
09 SAONA (GILLES PETERSON AND SIMBAD REMIX) – NORO MORALES 7:15
10 ME VOY AHORA (SACRED RHYTHM DANCE VERSION) – ISMAEL MIRANDA 7:04

By LARRY ROHTER – NY Times

In a court ruling with significant implications for the music industry, a California judge has dismissed a suit by two song publishing companies aimed at preventing Victor Willis, former lead singer of the 1970s disco group the Village People, from exercising his right to reclaim ownership of “YMCA” and other hit songs he wrote.

Early last year, Mr. Willis invoked a provision of copyright law called“termination rights,” which gives recording artists and songwriters the ability to reacquire and administer their work themselves after 35 years have elapsed. The song publishers, Scorpio Music and Can’t Stop Productions, countered by arguing that Mr. Willis had no legal standing to take that or any other action because he had “no right, title or interest in the copyright” to the songs.

On Monday, Chief Judge Barry T. Moskowitz of Federal District Court in Los Angeles rejected the song publishers’ claim that Mr. Willis was not eligible to reclaim his share of ownership of “YMCA,” whose lyrics he wrote, and 32 other songs recorded by the Village People. The companies had initially argued that Mr. Willis had merely created “works for hire” while, in essence, an employee of the company that managed the group. They also claimed he could not reclaim his share of the song because a majority of the other copyright holders had not agreed, the issue that the judge’s ruling addressed. [Read More]

By JON PARELES – NY Times

Adam Yauch, a rapper and founder of the pioneering and multimillion-selling hip-hop group the Beastie Boys, died on Friday in Manhattan. He was 47.

His mother, Frances Yauch, confirmed his death. He had been treated for cancer of the salivary gland for the last three years.

With a scratchy voice that grew scratchier through the years, Mr. Yauch rapped as MCA in the Beastie Boys, who were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame this year. They offered many listeners in the 1980s their first exposure to hip-hop. They were vanguard white rappers who helped extend the art of sampling and gained the respect of their African-American peers.

While many hip-hop careers are brief, the Beastie Boys appealed not only to the fans they reached in the 1980s but to successive generations, making million-selling albums into the 2000s. They grew up without losing their sense of humor or their ear for a party beat. [Read More]

By Andy Beta – The Village Voice

There might not be a tidier under-five-minute overview of two decades of underground New York dance crazes than the 12-inch single “Disco-Tech (Studio 54 Mix).” KATO, a nom de production ofRonald Burrell, recorded it, and New York’s Nu Groove Records released it in 1990. Aside from name checking the glitzy club, Burrell suspends gauzy synth chords, alights upon “The Hustle,” “The Bus Stop,” “The Fox-Trot,” and “The Patty Duke,” and purrs a line from the Spinners’ Philly soul classic “I’ll Be Around” in a way that never feels overcrowded.

That it’s the least compelling moment on The Burrell Brothers Present: The Nu Groove Years 1988–1992, a visceral two-disc set compiling the work of Ronald and his twin brother, Reginald Burrell (the two were born three minutes apart), released in the years between the closing of the Paradise Garage and the rise of Masters at Work, speaks volumes to the dizzying amount of music the Queens-born twins put to wax in those five years. Primitive and tough, with jazz underpinnings and seductive r&b hooks, it paved the way forward for a scene that had been lagging behind the techno coming out of Detroit and acid house blowing in from Chicago.  [Read More]

By David Hinckley –  New York DailyNews

The two will become one station and broadcast with WBLS call letters at 107.5

After 30 years as spirited and often ferocious rivals, WBLS (107.5 FM) and WRKS (98.7 FM, Kiss-FM) will become one.
In a turn as sudden and stunning as the Yankees merging with the Mets, the city’s two adult urban radio stations announced in a joint press release Thursday that they will become “One Family, One Station.”
Kiss and WBLS began simulcasting at 10 a.m. Thursday, starting with a tribute to the 30-year legacy of Kiss.
As of 12 a.m. Monday they will become a single station at 107.5 FM, under the WBLS call letters.

It is likely this news will not please all listeners, many of whom feel there are already too few black media voices in the city.
The merger is part of a major reshuffling triggered when Disney agreed to acquire 98.7 FM from Emmis.
The complicated $96 million deal essentially lets Disney lease 98.7 FM as of Monday morning, when it will start simulcasting ESPN radio there. ESPN radio is now heard on the weaker 1050 AM signal.
Disney had been thirsting for an FM signal so it can better challenge CBS Radio’s all-sports WFAN (660 AM).
A key factor in this new deal is that WRKS and WBLS have both had financial problems, at the stations themselves and with their parent companies.

Emmis last year also sold its 101.9 FM frequency in New York.

[Read More]

Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival 2012 Weekend Event Profile: Funky Slice Vinyl Shop, The Daily Session and Cedar Room

Eager to open its doors for the first time to the public and participate in The Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival, on June 1, 2 and 3rd; Cedar Room, home of Funky Slice Vinyl Shop and The Daily Session will be serving up wax for your consumption, providing and broadcasting live mixes and finishing the weekend with the most exclusive Dance Party in Bushwick.

A community center for vinyl enthusiasts, connoisseurs and junkies, Funky Slice Vinyl Shop invites you to dig our extensive selection, take advantage of our listening booth and have a listen to our hard-to-find and rare grooves and take home with you a slice of New York’s underground. Making available stock from Vinylmania, offering House, Disco and Soul Funk and other unclassifiable and undiscovered gems, from Friday until Sunday, here is your chance to gain entrance to this membership record listening joint.

All while local DJs deliver The Daily Session—Transmissions from New York’s Underground that keep vinyl alive—enjoy and take part in the green environment that is Cedar Room. Throughout the weekend before your eyes, local, talented artists will be having live art sessions, producing calligraphy, graffiti and cover art.

On Saturday night Cedar Room will be hosting some of the best known and yet-to-be discovered DJs who will grace us with their favorite tunes in an unparalleled sound system. Sure to be a magnet of positive energy this party is open to all participants of Bushwick Open Studios & Arts Festival. Not to be missed!

By Jez

details coming soon!