Last Day & Art Show Date Change

The final art show & last day in business is being moved to October 23rd!

1:00-6:00. Live music. Art. Sayonara.

Artists:
We're still asking for donated art to benefit charity.
However, we may still have room for NFS pieces.
If you want to show something without donating it, that is fine.
We'll hang pieces for sale first, then fill up any remaining space with NFS pieces.

Call me with any questions.

~ Clay

Wrapping it up:
The closing sale has been going well. Stock is low, but there are good things to be found. I still have rent to pay, so any business you can throw my way will be greatly appreciated.

Increasing the discount:
The 52.5% off sale starts Friday, October 1st. Original art and screen prints are excluded.

New hours in October:
Wednesday-Saturday: 11-6
Sunday: 1-6
Monday & Tuesday: Closed

October 30th:
The final day. I'm still working on organizing a final art show, with proceeds to benefit charity. I have lots of wall space, so I am looking for donations. I will be donating several items from the 52.5 collection. Please contact me prior to October 25th if you have something that you plan to give. Thanks!

From the desk of Frank Whiteside. Re: More good titles still in stock.

Superior format:

Wovenhand Mosaic
"Great album by weird dude."

Flying Burrito Brothers Burrito Deluxe
"Dead hippies playing country music. Good."

Agoraphobic Nosebleed Agorapocalypse
"Grindcore with a chick, so girls can buy it now. Right?"

Rudy Ray Moore Dolemite
"Ever wish your life was a blaxplotation film? Now it can be, sort of."

Brutal Truth Evolution Through Revolution
"C'mon, 22 songs in 40 minutes. Take off your Disturbed shirt and come to the light of brutality."

Inferior format:

Jack Rose Luck in the Valley
"Last album by a great acoustic player who died too early."

Pentagram First Daze
"Like Sabbath? Prove it, buy this."

16 Horsepower Live March 2001
"Great live show by some badass Christians." (with that same weird dude from Wovenhand)

Killing Joke self titled
"You've seen their shirts for years." note: and a favorite of Clay's

Alice Coltrane Journey in Satchidananda
"John Coltrane's wife, with Pharoah Sanders and Charlie Haden. Do it!"

"Do you have any good stuff left?"

We're getting picked over, but there are still plenty of good titles in stock.
30% off the marked price.

Compact Discs:

Aphex Twin Selected Ambient Works 85-92
Pitchfork review

Lounge Lizards No Pain for Cakes
With John Lurie and Mark Ribot. Excellent.

Nation of Ulysses 13 Point Program to Destroy America

Ween Mollusk

Sin Ropas Three Cherries
With Tim Hurley of Red Red Meat and Califone.

Vinyl:

Eugene McDaniels Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse
Pitchfork review.

Hold Steady Stay Positive

Fetchin' Bones Cabin Flounder
Used copy, near-mint condition

Sigur Ros Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Thin Lizzy Live and Dangerous
essential.

Going Out of Business Sale
starts today! 30% off almost everything
(excluding original art and screen prints).
Beer is BOGOF.

Picture discs!
Took them off the wall and priced them today.

Dear friends,

I've been given an opportunity to end the store lease early, and after much thought have decided that it is an opportunity I cannot afford to pass up. I intend to close 52.5 Records and begin a new chapter in my life. Our last day in business will be November 1st.

My explanation as to why I came to this decision will be a brief one. In short, I have decided to close the store due to a steep decline in compact disc sales. For 10 years, CD sales essentially paid the bills. That is no longer the case. The challenge for me in the past few years has been to find one item, or a mix of items, that will "fit" the store and also sell well enough to make up for the lost CD sales. I've been only semi-successful, but I've had plenty of fun experimenting. Beer anyone? That addition was a success. Chuck Keppler's 16 Penny Gallery recently joined forces with us and we've had some success selling affordable original art and prints. Additionally, vinyl has seen a big upswing in popularity. We're selling more vinyl now than we ever have. Ultimately though, the sale of beer, art, and the increase in vinyl sales are still not nearly enough to make up for the decline of the CD. The decision to close to store was difficult, but it seems to me the obvious decision to make.

Many people go through life without ever having a job that they love. For nearly fourteen years, I've loved what I do. I consider myself lucky. I recognize that my love of this job is only partially due to my love of music (and beer). By far the most enjoyable part has been coming in contact with so many wonderful people over the years. My work has been a pleasure and I am grateful to all of you for it.

Have I buttered you up? Good, because now I am going to ask for your help. The closest thing I have to a 401k is the money I have invested in the store. Now I need to cash it in.

The "going out of business sale" will begin on September 1st. All inventory will be discounted. Additionally, I'll be needing to sell a few items that until now have not been for sale. Please feel free to make an offer for any display item, store fixture, or piece of stereo equipment. Everything (almost) must go!

~ Clay

PS - If any of you have any special 52.5 related memories (great album you bought, band you saw play, anything at all), I would love to hear about it in an email or see it posted on the store Facebook page.

Art Opening This Thursday!

On Thursday, June 24th, 2010, 16 Penny Gallery will be hosting an art opening and exhibition of screenprints by The Cricket Press, inside 52.5 Records, at 561 King Street. The opening event will run from 6 PM to 8 PM and is free of charge and open to the public. The exhibition will run through mid-July 2010.

Brian and Sara Turner have been making posters for nearly a decade. In 2003, they started Cricket Press from a tiny studio in their home of Lexington, KY. Since then, they have created gig posters for hundreds of bands ranging from indie-rock to free-jazz, bluegrass to punk; as well as promotional work for events both local and national.

Together they have created their own unique and quirky vision of the world, translating their characteristic illustrations through the hand-printed processes of letterpress and screen-printing. When they’re not ruining their clothes slinging ink on posters, Cricket Press also spends a good deal of time on numerous design and illustration projects, as well as making various hand-printed goods and ephemera.

All of the pieces in the exhibition will be available for purchase, and Brian and Sara will be on hand the night of the opening to represent their work.

Facebook event page

Latest Arrivals:

The Roots - How I Got Over CD
The Roots release their 9th studio album. How I Got Over takes its name from Clara Ward's gospel classic (made popular by Mahalia Jackson). Vinyl due July 6.

Danzig - Deth Red Saboth CD
Danzig’s first album of new material in six years.

Herbie Hancock - Imagine Project CD
"Herbie Hancock’s Imagine Project is an unprecedented international recording and film project featuring collaborations between music legend Herbie Hancock and a dozen superstars from every region of the planet. It utilizes the universal language of music to express its central themes of peace and global responsibility."

Various Artists - Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine CD
Featuring 12 newly-recorded versions of classic Prine songs, Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows: Songs Of John Prine boasts an enviable roll call of inventive musicians, including My Morning Jacket, The Avett Brothers, Conor Oberst & The Mystic Valley Band, Old Crow Medicine Show, and more.

Eminem - Recovery CD

Steve Mason - Boys Outside CD
"Steve Mason is the mind behind The Beta Band. Boys Outside is a return to "traditional" rock instrumentation and arranging that easily draws comparisons to his early work with The Beta Band on The 3 EPs album."

Macy Gray - The Sell Out CD

Kele - Boxer CD
Bloc party singer/guitarist Kele Okereke’s first solo album.

Robert Randolph And The Family - We Walk This Road CD
Produced by the legendary T Bone Burnett, We Walk This Road continues the Sacred Steel tradition for which Robert Randolph has earned wide praise. Vinyl due July 27.

Soundtrack - 180 South CD
Original soundtrack for 180 South film featuring new music by Ugly Casanova, James mercer, Jack Johnson, Love As Laughter and more.

Stars - Five Ghosts CD

New and/or recently restocked:
David Bazan Live Electrical LP
Deer Tick Black Dirt Sessions CD, LP
Ratatat LP4 CD, LP
Devo Something For Everybody CD
Foals Total Life Forever CD
Gabor Szabo Jazz Raga CD remastered, reissued
Tom Petty Mojo CD (vinyl available for special order)
We are Scientists Barbara CD
Local Natives Gorilla Manor back in on vinyl

Posted the "new hours" and noticed that I hadn't posted anything in almost two months. That doesn't look good. I need to do something about that.

New hours: Monday thru Saturday 11-6, Sunday 1-6. We'll stay open later for art openings. Frank won't be behind the counter on Friday & Saturday evenings now, but you can see him there all day on Sunday and Monday. I'll be taking those two days off from now on. Whoo-hoo! ~ Clay

Record Store Day Redux

April 17th. Record Store Day!

Super Happy Funtime Sale*:
52.5% off all used CDs, DVDs and vinyl.
All new CDs will $9.98 each. (That is "new" CDs, as in not "used". Whether a CD is priced $18.98 or $11.98, you can buy it for $9.98.)
20% off all new DVDs, vinyl and books.
Fine print: *Special RSD releases and CD box sets are excluded.

Special Record Store Day releases:
Here is a list: http://www.recordstoreday.com
Will we have all of these? No, but we're getting as many as we can get our hands on. Because of the limited nature of these releases, we will not sell multiple copies to one customer. If we only receive 2-3 copies of a title, it wouldn't be fair to sell them all to one person, right? Right. You're a friend? Please don't ask for special favors. Thanks.

Random Free Stuff!
ALL used 7" singles are FREE. All of them. Yep. We're giving them all away. Be reasonable though. Leave some for the next guy. 25 records or so? Is that reasonable?
We'll have a table, overflowing with posters, stickers, CD samplers, and other goodies. I can't remember how we did it last year. I think we allow you one item for every 10 bucks you spend. We'll have guidelines of some sort.

Special Free Stuff!
We have a couple of Devo Energy Dome hats to give away to the first folks that buy a Devo record. Duty Now for the Future is one of the special RSD releases. You need that record and you know you need the energy dome.
Tickets: We've got Tickets to My Morning Jacket and Swell Season that we'll be giving away at some point during the day. Details TBD.

Band of Horses Pre-Order:
Infinite Arms is the third album from Band of Horses. It is scheduled to be released May 18th on Brown Records / Fat Possum. We'll be holding a special pre-order event on Record Store Day. Some special laminates (you know, the back stage pass type things) are being made just for us. You'll get one of those when you pre-order. We'll have special pre-order pricing and a few lucky people who pre-order will receive a signed copy of the record when it is released.

In-Store Performance!
Company (formerly KO, now Co.) will be playing in the store at 4:00. So good. Not to be missed. http://www.myspace.com/comusic

I think that covers it. Feel free to call or email me with any questions.

Art Opening:
On Friday, April 16th, 2010, 52.5 Records and 16 Penny Gallery will be hosting The Lyric Show, an art opening and exhibition at 561 King Street from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. This event is free of charge and open to the public.
To illustrate how music can be a powerful muse, artists were asked to create a piece of artwork based on a song lyric that affects them. Because of the wide variety of artists involved, artwork on exhibit will include photography, collage, sculpture, and canvas pieces.
Artists include Seth Corts, Caleigh Bird Goold, Tina Christopholis, Phillip Hyman, Meta Sapient, Hashenda Baxter, Brian Bustos, Constantine O'Donald, Chuck Keppler, Twasted Graffiti, Tim Showers, Angie Brown, Proton, Christina Rodino, Erin Eckman, Matthew Foreman, John Pundt, Justin Cammer, Damian Kessler, Tami Boyce, Paula Woodsworth and Nina Rego.
All of the pieces in the exhibition will be available for purchase, and the artists will be on hand the night of the opening to represent their work.

New this week:

13th Floor Elevators - Complete Singles Collection CD (Snapper)
For the first time the original 45 RPM mono mixes of the 13th Floor Elevators’ seven singles (A and B-sides) have been compiled on a single CD. Completing this brand new package are the four tracks from the ultra rare French Riviera EP -- three of which are unique stereo mixes.

Autechre - Oversteps CD (Warp)
"Their latest work, still very much an Autechre record, shows an oft-overlooked playfulness and a rarely mentioned musicality that comes to the forefront, in what could be described as their most accessible work to date. Between the layers of cold digital pings and fuzzed out tones, there are true chord changes and warm soundscapes being built from the ground up."

The Bird And The Bee - Interpreting The Masters Volume 1: A Tribute To Daryl Hall And John Oates CD (Angel)
"The Bird And The Bee pay homage to one of the greatest duo's of the ‘80s: Darryl Hall And John Oates. Classic material is reinvented through the band’s sleek production and sweet lyrical delivery."

Joe Bonamassa - Black Rock CD (Premier Artists)
"New album includes a duet with BB King, along with renditions of Jeff Beck’s “Spanish Boots,” Leonard Cohen’s poetic “Bird On A Wire,” Otis Rush's “Three Times A Fool,” Bobby Parker's “Steal Your Heart Away,” Blind Boy Fuller's “Baby, You Gotta Change Your Mind,” John Hiatt's “I Know A Place,” and James Clark's “Look Over Yonder’s Wall,” as well as several originals."

Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy & The Cairo Gang - The Wonder Show Of The World CD/LP (Drag City)***
***Not in stock yet! Exepcted this afternoon (03/23)
"For this new album of songs, Bonny Billy & The Cairo Gang together have built a bridge forward, assembled with riffs and bits from Emmett Kelly's guitar and the lyricism of Bonny's heart. But mostly, The Wonder Show Of The World was, in its making, about trust. It's a record made eye-to-eye in a room, close and careful, by and for a few men who wanted to be together, who wanted to make music that sounds as good to listen to as it did to make, and who in doing so forged something new in space, the wonder of you and of them."

Drink Up Buttercup - Born And Thrown On A Hook CD (Yep Roc)
"Exists in a world touched upon previously by Tom Waits, Hans Christian Anderson and Lloyd Kaufman while musically it follows the direct lineage of classic songwriting: Bowie, The Beatles and The Beach Boys' late-‘60s lysergia, early Roxy Music, Sabbath's bass heavy pulse and the crescendos of Arcade Fire."

Goldfrapp - Head First CD (Mute)
"Head First is a speedy rush of synth optimism, euphoria, fantasy and romance."

Let’s Wrestle - In The Court Of The Wrestling Let’s CD (Merge)
"Originally intended as a punk record, In the Court Of The Wrestling Let's developed into more than that, with songs influenced by rock & roll ballads by Roy Orbison and Buddy Holly ("In Dreams," "My Schedule") and the psychedelic rock of Barrett-era Pink Floyd ("In The Court Of The Wrestling Let's"), but overall it still remains a punk rock record."

Love Is All - Two Thousand And Ten Injuries CD (Polyvinyl)
"An eclectic collection of pop melodies, anchored by new wave and punk rock rhythms that are as refined as they are unpredictable."

Radar Brothers - Illustrated Garden CD (Merge)
"The punchiest, most lyrically direct set of songs the band has released to date."

Serena-Maneesh - No. 2: Abyss In B Minor CD (4AD)
"In this age, given the ease of bedroom recording, records like this one aren't made very often. But this is no distended double-album; it may open with the eight-minute groove of “Ayisha Abyss,” which sounds like a caffeinated Can or something from Funkadelic's Maggot Brain."

She & Him - Volume Two CD/LP+MP3 (Merge)
"What began as a fascinating, no-strings-attached collaboration on 2008's Volume One has evolved into a bona fide, touring band, and She & Him are here to stay. Zooey Deschanel and Matt Ward are a comfortable and complementary musical pair; hearing them again on Volume Two feels like getting together with two old friends."

Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars - Rise & Shine CD (Cumbancha)
"Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars were introduced to the world in 2006 by a moving film that documented the band's formation in West African refugee camps and the challenges they faced returning to a homeland racked by years of bloody warfare. For the follow up to their acclaimed debut album Living Like A Refugee, the band began recording back home in Freetown, Sierra Leone, then traveled to New Orleans to work with renowned producer Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Angelique Kidjo, Michelle Shocked, Rickie Lee Jones, Ozomatli)."

The Unthanks - Here’s The Tender Coming CD (Rough Trade)
"It's hard to imagine a British folk outfit with fans like Radiohead, Portishead, Robert Wyatt, Ben Folds, Ewan McGregor and Nick Hornby, but The Unthanks occupy a unique place in music. It's influenced as much by the minimalist eccentricity of Steve Reich, Antony & The Johnsons, Robert Wyatt and Miles Davis, as they are by the traditional music of the North East of England where sisters Rachel and Becky Unthank grew up."


DVDs:

The T.A.M.I. Show - DVD (Shout! Factory)
"Filmed just eight months after The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show, The T.A.M.I. Show introduced rock n soul youth culture to America in the first concert movie of the rock era. One of the rarest and most sought-after performance films from its time, the 1964 concert event featured The Rolling Stones, James Brown, Chuck Berry, The Beach Boys, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, The Supremes and many other American and British Invasion hitmakers in their prime."

Today's biggies:
White Stipes Live "Under the Great White Northern Lights" (CD, DVD, vinyl)
Drive-By Truckers "The Big To-Do" CD (vinyl 3/30)

other recent arrivals:
Emma Pollock, Titus Andronicus, Burning Star Core, Xiu Xiu, High on Fire, Liars, Knife, Jack Rose, BRMC, Alkaline Trio

and the used CD bin has recently been replenished with a pretty solid selection.

Shirts!

Mirror Universe Tapes

Our friends at Mirror Universe dropped off a couple of new tapes:
Kid Trails Winlow and Sacred Harp Feast of the Green Corn. $5.98 each. Yep.

also in today, on shiny digital discs: Preservation Hall benefit, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Ben Sollee, Adam Green, Local Natives, Mumford & Sons

Bell's Hopslam Ale arrived today.

New stuff: Spoon, RJD2, Eels, Laura Veirs, Vampire Weekend, Final Fantasy, Danny Barnes (From the Bad Livers), Hotrats (of Supergrass)

Arriving this week: Water. (We have a roof leak directly over the recent arrival section.) "Drip, Drip, Drip". Not very different from the last Water album. I'm not a fan. The more I listen to it, the more I hate it.