Vinyl Pressing Plants in the USA

Press Vinyl has an impressive collection of vinyl pressing plants in the United States. A couple of the sites that have ceased operations have had their links removed (as far as we can tell) and there was a 404 Not Found in the list (a simple case of a link not working, the actual site is live).

If you’re looking for a pressing plant that does vinyl and want to comparison shop, Press Vinyl’s list is a definite good place to begin.

While we’re on the subject, you might also want to check out the rather awesome Secret Society of Lathe Trolls, who are the biggest vinyl junkies on the planet. That’s because this forum is all about creating your own vinyl rather than simply collecting other people’s work. Bravo!

Ghost In The Machine Cassette Tape Art

Anybody with a bit of artistic talent and some skills creating stencils can make an old scratched-up vinyl record into a work of art. But it takes a far steadier hand and considerable imagination to make a portrait out of CASSETTE TAPES.

Ghost In The Machine has a whole collection of portraits including this awesome reproduction of The Clash album artwork for London Calling. There are also some very well done portraits created using what appears to be Super-8 film. Nice work indeed. Have a look at the gallery of images at the Ghost In The Machine Flickr page.

Turntabling in HorrorHound #27 “The Sounds of Argento Part 2″

by Joe Wallace

Turntabling strikes again in the pages of HorrorHound magazine. In issue 27, the Vincent Price edition, you’ll find part two of my Sounds of Argento article, which has gotten some very kind words from horror soundtrack lovers across the country. THANK YOU!

Turntabling has long been proud to be associated with Horrorhound in any capacity, from simply attending the Horrorhound Weekend shows to running the Turntabling booth there, and now in the pages of HH these last two issues along with regulars Jon Kitley from Kitley’s Krypt and Matt Moore who does the always fun Tapes of Terror column.

HorrorHound doesn’t have a regular soundtrack column, but they might be tempted to add one if enough people wrote in to suggest such a thing. Drop ‘em a line at contactus@horrorhound.com. In the meantime, have a look at HorrorHound #27 and not just for the Sounds of Argento article–this is a VERY solid issue!

Turntable Anatomy 101

There are plenty of excellent guides to the turntable online, so I don’t need to rehash anything here, but I will just say for the record that one of THE most extensive and comprehensive guides to record players is the Turntable Basics post at AudioJunkies.com.Wow, that is extensive! A great start for newcomers to turntables, indeed.

I can’t tell you how many people I’ve run into at conventions and shows (not record collector shows, mind you) who are completely surprised that not only is vinyl in vogue once more but that thousands of new vinyl albums are coming out, both reissues and new material.

Not sure where these people have been hiding since even Best Buy carries vinyl these days, but at EVERY show there is at least on surprised punter.

So let’s answer a few basic questions: Is there new vinyl coming out? Yes. Do companies still manufacture turntables? Yes. Do these companies still make replacement record needles? Oh yes indeed!

If there’s one thing I would strongly urge people reading this to do who haven’t done so already, it’s to purchase a turntable and get back into record collecting. Simple fact–at almost every record store there is a bin of cheapies, some for a dollar apiece.

That makes getting into vinyl and collecting new-to-you music FAR CHEAPER than downloading single MP3s. I love MP3s for their portability and ease of use as a DJ, but vinyl is still my hands-down favorite for the whole music listening experience including the artwork, which is far more enjoyable in those 12×12 formats.

–Joe Wallace
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Turntabling in HorrorHound Magazine #26

by Joe Wallace

Turntabling readers who are also fans of HorrorHound Magazine will discover a little surprise in issue 26. On pages 50 and 51, you’ll find my article, The Sounds of Argento discussing the Italian Hitchcock’s work with Ennio Morricone, Goblin, and Keith Emerson. It’s the first of a two-part series and I’m very pleased to appear in the pages of HorrorHound, which just celebrated its five-year anniversary.

Issue 26 of HorrorHound hits the newsstand at a great time–HorrorHound Weekend in Cincinnati is November 12-14 and Turntabling will be there with plenty of rare soundtracks, vintage vinyl and many other goodies. Many thanks to HorrorHound magazine for hosting Turntabling–both in print and at the show.

And lest you think I only want you to read HH for the soundtrack info, you should know that issue 26 is crammed full of other goodness including the Psycho retrospective. It’s great to see a modern horror mag that devotes much space to more “modern” films giving Hitchcock his due.

Personally, my favorite parts of HorrorHound Magazine are the regular Video Invasion and Kitley’s Krypt features. Those two alone are well worth the cover price. Grab a copy from your favorite bookseller today and see what I mean.

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