Okay, I’ll admit it. I have more vinyl and rock memorabilia in my home than tunes in my iPod. Some stuff the Rock Hall might be envious of…Beatles albums in mono (no, not the illness!), ticket stubs from Cream at Madison Square Garden ($4!) and The Doors in Asbury Park ($3.50!), a program (somewhat tattered and tear stained) from seeing the Beatles at Shea Stadium, Country Joe and The Fish’s LP “I Feel Like I’m Fixin’ To Die”. The music collection is filled with everything from rock to country to bluegrass to holiday tunes to classical. And yes, I still have a working turntable hooked up to our stereo system.
When ambition moves me and I’m in my what should I do with this stuff frame of mind, the topic often turns to these artistic, eclectic and somewhat ancient forms of musical entertainment. And somewhere, wedged between the Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” and Beethoven’s classics lies the phrase what will they think of next! They, of course, being the Rhode Island School of Design and their graduate Jeff Davis. As part of a graduate thesis project, Jeff and his company, Vinylux, began breathing new life into these “obsolete piles of records” (Hey, I resent that!).
Putting chips in their Stepped Bowl and using the LP Coasters is a real conversation starter at parties. Their complete line can be viewed at www.vinylux.net, and includes such items as a Smooth Bowl, Stepped Bowl (pictured), LP Clock, LP Coasters, LP Snack Tray (pictured), Album Cover Note cards, and 45RPM Clock. You can even pick your genre, with choices that include rock, soul, jazz, blues, 80’s pop, disco (finally! a good use for disco music!), crooners, divas and more.
Their revived record products utilize as much of the vinyl and album covers as possible. (And listen to this, Mother Earth lovers ~ their products are made in the spirit of repurposing ~ left over material is recycled: the off-cut vinyl from the coasters is collected by plastics recyclers and re-processed, and non-usable album covers are converted into recycled paper. They’re committed to using post-consumer materials whenever possible, as well as non-toxic printing inks and minimal packaging. Very cool!)
When ambition moves me and I’m in my what should I do with this stuff frame of mind, the topic often turns to these artistic, eclectic and somewhat ancient forms of musical entertainment. And somewhere, wedged between the Rolling Stones’ “Sticky Fingers” and Beethoven’s classics lies the phrase what will they think of next! They, of course, being the Rhode Island School of Design and their graduate Jeff Davis. As part of a graduate thesis project, Jeff and his company, Vinylux, began breathing new life into these “obsolete piles of records” (Hey, I resent that!).
Putting chips in their Stepped Bowl and using the LP Coasters is a real conversation starter at parties. Their complete line can be viewed at www.vinylux.net, and includes such items as a Smooth Bowl, Stepped Bowl (pictured), LP Clock, LP Coasters, LP Snack Tray (pictured), Album Cover Note cards, and 45RPM Clock. You can even pick your genre, with choices that include rock, soul, jazz, blues, 80’s pop, disco (finally! a good use for disco music!), crooners, divas and more.
Their revived record products utilize as much of the vinyl and album covers as possible. (And listen to this, Mother Earth lovers ~ their products are made in the spirit of repurposing ~ left over material is recycled: the off-cut vinyl from the coasters is collected by plastics recyclers and re-processed, and non-usable album covers are converted into recycled paper. They’re committed to using post-consumer materials whenever possible, as well as non-toxic printing inks and minimal packaging. Very cool!)
My LP Snack Tray was created from Elton John’s “Tumbleweed Connection”, and the Stepped Bowl from Barbra Streisand’s “Greatest Hits” (which, coincidentally, includes the song “Second Hand Rose”). These are must have’s for your patio parties…and make perfect gifts for that hard-to-buy-for everyone on your list.
Bev’s Bites: Don’t forget to support your favorite local stores that might carry these gadgets…call around and see who has them in stock or can order them for you.
Bev Shaffer is a chef, food writer, cookbook author, and culinary instructor.
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