It's not that there isn't good stuff out there either, I know if you dig deep enough there are always plenty of great bands on the fringes like Remodel and Gaggle (who released a beautiful-looking record on Record Store Day in April). Laziness is a big part of it though, because I don't go out and consume all the main music mags as I did when a teenager but I still in my soul of souls, dig music.
Having given it some hard thinking time I'm pretty sure it's all about the music buying experience. CDs started it and MP3s killed it. It's all about the vital contact with the record, the product and the artwork which you held with such esteem in yesteryear. All that has gone. Pressing a couple of buttons and downloading something on iTunes is as soul-less as it gets. No artwork, no pleasure. Just the same damned gadet in your hand that eats up a ton of money every month and dictates our lives increasingly.
What I miss is walking into your favourite record shop - the music lovers equivalent of walking out at Wembley - is being excited about buying something. Something you didn't know yet, but there were a world of possibilities. Stuff you heard talked about by other bands maybe, something with a great name, or just artwork good enough to draw you to your back pocket and payment counter.You would build a rapport with the staff because you were in there but seldom bought anything - probably the reason why they all went to the wall.
The Indie store has long gone. The independent outlets that had racks of vinyl and band t-shirts draped from every wall are long gone in the real form. Rough Trade has now become a musique boutique, where coffee is served and vinyl can be found in the extortionate section. Like 2nd hand (now: vintage) clothes and smoking, buying music is no longer a cheap and pleasurable pastime.
Back in a time when it was, here are my five favourite record shops and why I like them.
Penny Lane Records, Chester
Sadly, no image as Penny Lane shut its doors in 1991. Certainly not the biggest shop in the world, but it was dark, only ever displayed (for the most part) vinyl and was more a place to bump into your mates than buy anything. It always had some great vinyl including limited edition stuff or coloured vinyl and due to the great mass of the local populous being musical retards, it was always likely that record you've been coveting would be there next Saturday.
Probe Records, Liverpool
The old haunt of Pete Burns and Half Man Half Biscuit was always great for a music splurge. In this world there are only three occupations that are paid to be aloof: supermodels, American coffee waitresses and indie record shop workers. Probe had (and probably still do) more sneers than stock. always good for general indie stuff and amazing for punk.I used make special trips to Probe when I had saved up enough money to buy a bit of music. Going there to buy one album doesn't do the whole experience justice.
Alans, Wigan
Only visited it once but was home to a record label which occasional held gigs, mainly by label bands like Drive. This was to my mind the coolest thing a shop could ever do. I bought Dinosaur Jr's 'Freak Scene' 7' single, which I still own. The fact that it had most 80s American hardcore stuff and stocked Maximumrocknroll made it pretty cool. Now a skate shop.
Vinyl Exchange, Camden
Nothing special just loads of well ordered 2nd hand vinyl clearly laid out and a brilliant and cheap place to re-buy old vinyl favourites that have gone walkabout - A vinyl paradise, like a 'music' should be.
Adrians, Wickford Essex
Another record shop that I only visited once but it had a great selection of vinyl across all genres. I remember seeing their adverts in Melody maker and NME as a teenager but never oldered anything from mailorder. Pre-internet, mail order was always a slightly precarious transaction. The staff were friendly were really knowledgeable, and having done a quick google search it's still open which is great to see.
0 comments:
Post a Comment