Did you know that RecordsOnWalls can display gatefold album art? There’s nothing else in the world that can make your double LP’s and gatefolds look so good, while still being accesible for playing on your turntable. This is a revolution in vinyl record style. Gatefold records on your walls!
There’s great art on the gatefolds as well as the covers, and RecordsOnWalls offers a way to display these gatefolds – as long as two record frames are mounted next to each other.
Alright.. For those of you who are curious, the album that is open as a gatefold in the middle is In The Future by Black Mountain.
I received an email recently from a customer, Graham from Halifax, who had some neat new ideas for displaying records. With his permission, I want to share them with you. The first photo shows how the record frames can be staggered, as if they were bricks. And this effect looks great, in my opinion, especially with the asymmetry (2 LPs on the top and bottom, and 5 in the middle). The second thing that caught my eye was the middle row of albums in this creative display. It has a neat pattern of closeup / band of four / closeup / band of four / closeup. Very cool idea which also works very well, in my opinion. And to top it off, the middle row has all American artists, and is sandwiched between some good old fashioned ‘Can-Con‘ (Canadian Content, for our friends south of the border). Got Goddo? Yes!
This second photo showcases an awesome selection of classic albums from the U.K. And again, a very creative display that fills the space between an entrance and a bookshelf nicely. These two pics are good examples of what I personally love about these record frames: they let you be creative and have fun with your record collection. I’ve spent several hours going through my collection trying to pick out great combinations based on color, themes, and other (more abstract) connections. And the best part is that you get to repeat the fun whenever you feel like switching up the display. So thanks again to Graham for sharing his awesome displays! And please feel free to email me if you have any display pictures to share, and I’ll be sure to blog about it.
I just wanted to drop a little tidbit of good news.. Our record album frames are now available in the United States at two locations (Brooklyn & Los Angeles), as can be seen on our store locator.
Turntable Lab will have them available in the next couple of days at those two locations, just in time for the holiday season, which is neat. To be honest, I haven’t pursued too many record stores, but I’m grateful to those that have approached me about the record frames. So if you’re a record store owner, feel free to drop me a line. I’ve been primarily focused on making them available online, but it’s always nice for someone to be able to see and experience the frame in person. I am planning on adding another youtube video in the coming weeks that will hopefully give everyone a better look at the product.
And to commemorate every post, I need to add a bit of media, and in this case, the song California Bound by my favorite artist of all time, Mr. Frank Black Francis:
I’ve been using posters for the in-store displays which are beautiful, but were missing something. They weren’t really letting people actually try the product in the stores, which was unfortunate, because the functionality of the frames is such a big part of the product. So I used the poster as the base inspiration, and I basically shrunk it down to the size of a record album cover. So now, the poster actually sits inside the frame, so people can actually try the product in the store. And notice the new pictures featuring the album Now, More than Ever by Jim Guthrie.
I will be calling some more stores early next week as soon as the posters come back from the print shop, so hopefully the frames will soon be available in select stores across Canada and parts of the US soon. If you have any suggestions for the in-store poster, shoot me an email, or a comment on facebook. Thanks for reading!
I’m new to this whole advertising and marketing game for these record album frames, and to be honest, it’s a lot tougher than I thought it would be. I put together my first animated gif for the lp frames and I thought I would show it off to the world wide webs. Again, many props go to Giulio for helping me out with some graphical magic and tips. If you have ideas on how to get the word out there (where to advertise, design ideas, etc), let me know.
Jim Guthrie is one of my favorite singer / songwriter’s ever. It’s honestly a crime that he’s not as well known as he should be, because there are very few artists who can write a melody as catchy as he can. The reason I contacted Jim is because I was thinking about making some new packaging for the frames, and I wanted to have the artist’s permission, and I figured that it might be tough to get Kurt’s approval (and I’m not sure that a seance would hold up in court). I was very excited to receive an email reply from Jim saying that he would be willing to give me permission, and was free to meet up for the record swap and he even had a bit of extra time to talk music with a fan.
The picture included here is of Jim holding his 2003 masterpiece Now, More Than Ever sitting nicely in one of our frames (and the background picture is actually one of Jim’s own photographs). This album is a great early example of the “indie rock + orchestral arrangements = pure awesome” formula, which has seen a huge amount of popularity in recent years with the likes of Sufjan Stevens and the Arcade Fire. We actually chatted about Jim’s connection with the Arcade Fire during a brief tour for Now, More Than Ever when they opened for him for a few dates. Owen Pallett, who is responsible for the string arrangements on Now, More Than Ever, all of the Arcade Fire albums, and many more, actually met the Arcade Fire through Jim at these dates, which is a neat little tidbit of Canadian indie rock history.
Jim was also kind enough to offer me a copy of the Human Highway album (Moody Motorcycle), which also has an incredible album cover in it’s own right. It is a beautiful piece of musical work as well, so I would definitely recommend checking it out. Overall, I was completely overwhelmed by Jim’s kindness, especially with his time, and it was great to talk about all sorts of things both music related and otherwise (he’s currently working on music for an independent iPhone game called Sword & Sworcery, which should see release soon). Like I told Jim that day, one of the main reasons I’m in this frame business is so I can have a legitimate excuse to sit and talk music with fellow fans and musicians alike. If you’re interested in hearing more of Jim’s tunes, you can check out his first two releases here, or check out his homepage for a complete discography.
In case you’re curious, I brought Jim a couple albums for the swap (vinyl for vinyl seemed right) which I thought he may not have heard before, namely, Paradise by My Disco, and Sound on Sound by Bill Nelson’s Red Noise. Hopefully he will dig them.
*Edit* I forgot to mention that the Now, More Than Ever reissued vinyl edition is only available from a U.K. label called 3 Syllables. But Jim also drops off a few records periodically in Toronto, so be on the lookout (they go quickly).
Here’s a shot of me chatting up a customer at the musical collectables show in Mississauga. We had a great time talking to a lot of music lovers and record collectors. And to be honest, I was a little overwhelmed by all of the positive feedback for the frames. Thanks to everyone who took the time to stop and check out our product.
There is an incredible amount of vinyl at these kinds of shows, so if you’re just getting into vinyl records, these shows are a great place to jump start your collection. And for those who have been collecting records for sometime, they are the place to go to fill those gaps in your collection. There is often a noticeable lack of new vinyl, but the sheer amount of wax there should satisfy any vinyl enthusiast.
The LP frames are ready for your enjoyment and can be purchase in the online store. Presently we are shipping to Canada and the continental United States. I’m a little saddened by the shipping costs from Canada, but what can I do.. My goal is to bring you these frames as affordably as possible, but big business always wants to have a piece of the action making it difficult for the little guy (and I’m referring to actual big business, not the amazing rock band from Los Angeles / Seattle area). Well, nothing has stopped me so far, so I hope to overcome these issues and figure out a way to reduce these costs over time.
I don’t really have a picture to post with this news announcement, so I thought I should commemorate this fine occasion with one of my favorite rock pictures. My friend G, the real Big Business, and me (Nashville, 2005).
