Even in these digital days...

Once upon a time every town had a record store and they were there for browsing, talking and a source of unbiased (well mostly) advice. They of course reaped their reward by tempting you to buy things!

In these days of digital downloads, Myspace and and the like you might think that they are no more. It is true that they are now rare but they still exist and, along with the ongoing popularity of live music and vinyl, are determined to fight for a place amongst the new order. In fact they are now more valuable than ever and a resource to be cherished. Those that exist remain places where enthusiasm, shared by the staff, exceeds all else - and it is possible to claim that the pub band you saw last night is the next big thing whilst also admitting the need for an old Donovan album; for research purposes only you understand!
Most now also do on-line sales in a very professional way, and it is something in which they can excel, and I have mentioned many as sources of various items, often on vinyl or otherwise unavailable, already on these posts and they are scattered across the UK. Several are, unsurprisingly, in London. Puregrove is one (and now also a label) that I have mentioned before and this is another.

Rough Trade - a record label and also a record store or two.

This one is not a label but it is in fact the oldest continuously trading record store in the world...

Spillers, in Cardiff since 1896.

What I have never done is to mention that, fifteen minutes walk from home, there is just such an establishment. [Click on the images below to enlarge and these were taken by me yesterday morning.]

In fact there are two parts - the above is the one that specializes in physical digital formats - and a couple of doors away is the other branch...

They all deserve, and really need, your support.

It is supposed to be summer... Virtual Festival 1

It's the 4th July - which is just another day here in the UK, but it is supposed to be a summer day. Is that so? - fat chance!
Worse still, the radio stations have gone to pot as well. It is, and this is clearly an import from the US, the 'High School Prom' season and while that is a fairly recent import in the UK calendar, and with which I do not have a problem, I really wonder if what the radio stations have decided to play "in honor" bears a resemblance to any contemporary trend!
It seems to consist mostly of pop and disco ballads from 1975 -1988, which were all released far before the current protagonists were born. I'm not against the revival of old music, far from it in fact, but I think that this programming is actually aimed at an older audience - probably the parents of those school-leavers.

The radio was turned off early this evening and the advantage of having a sizable music collection of my own, whether currently in vogue or not, became very apparent and I'm old enough to make my own bad choices in music! I did think about the possibility of doing a mid-year 'favourites' list but have decided to do something different over the next few days and that is to try and decide which acts would appear, if I were arranging a festival line-up this so-called summer, and I will exclude any act that I have already seen performing live.

Every festival needs at least one infectious feel-good band and this would be my first choice:

This is a live DVD, recorded at Pure Groove in London in 2008.

In the last couple of years the seemingly impossible has happened and the UK has taken at least some notice of 'country music' if only in the cross-over formats. That said, this has to be one of the most improbable artists to play a part in that change...

This is a promo copy (PROP 05309) of Cock A Hoop (2003).

Since then she has returned to Wales and, as she is bilingual, may well reappear later in this list.

Irresistible vinyl...

I've just had a weekend that involved a lot of listening to music that I already have but some of which I had quite forgotten. The thing about that is that it is a dangerously counter intuitive experience for it reminds me only of more music that I would like. I certainly have the necessary will power to overcome that but only most of the time.
I can be broken down however and it happened this weekend because two of my favourites have decided to gang up on me, which is thus just far too much to resist...

London band The Duke Spirit are back, and while I could have had the Ex Voto EP on CD from Amazon, I have it ordered (on 10" vinyl and also signed) for the same price from the ever surprising Pure Groove Records in Archway, north London.
If that wasn't enough then Glaswegian band Sons and Daughters are also back, with the single Gilt Complex on 7" vinyl.

I can't wait and will review them as soon as they arrive!

These releases may even give some clues to the forthcoming albums by these bands but I wouldn't place a bet on that as neither band has been much inclined to the predictable.