586

On the third floor of Commercial Union House on Northumberland Street among a lot of wall art is 586 Records. It's been there four years and I didn't even know it existed. A record shop in Newcasle that I knew nohing about.

586 is the Area code for Macomb County, Michigam and a song from the New Order album "Power, Corruption and Lies". I spoke with Tony the owner who was extremely friendly and pointed out the Dub and Reggae section when I said that was what I was looking for, nothing in particular but Dub does lend itself to vinyl I also looked through the Disco 12" singles but while there were a few that piqued my interest I was looking for Giorgio Moroder or Motorik based music and couldn't see anything obvious.

I then cam across "From The Makers Of" a three LP Status Quo best of in a Blue Metal Box. It turns out it's not particularly rare (yet, although it seems to have been reissued in a box so my metal tin may be a collectors item) but it is a very impressive pack with a decent selection of excellent early Quo songs tracing their progression from psychedelic pop through their excellent three chord rock and roll phase up to "Rockin' All Over The World". I still love "In My Chair", "Down The Dustpipe" and "Gerdundula" so well impressed with picking that up.

The shop is light and airy and you walk past a lot of wall art as you move up to it.

This is yet another record shop in Newcastle, so now I'm aware of these in the town centre:

• RPM
• Reflex
• Beatdown
• Long Play Cafe / Empire Records
• Beyond Vinyl
• Vinyl Guru
• 586

plus spectial mention to Oxfam at Jesmond ( I used to work there briefly and the manager Katie knows her stuff , Pop Recs in Sunderlan and there are record shops in Durham, Hexham and Gosforth,  and if you are pushed HMV is not bad for a high street shop.

Please comment with any I've missed.

So do we go for something by Status Quo or 586 by New Order? Quo win this time.

You Can Guru, You Can! - Visiting Vinyl Guru?

You know what they say about buses, well it's not usually true of record shops, but the take off of Vinyl sales kicked off possibly by the rise of Record Store Day seems to have sparked that in Newcastle.

I noticed Beyond Vinyl while wandering around the Clayton Street / West Road area where Kazbat's Den  and The Star and Black Swan are located and was well impressed. They have plans similar to the excellent Pop Recs in Sunderland.

On Record Store Day I recommended Beyond Vinyl to Kirsty and Mark as Mark is into Vinyl, and she phoned me to ask where it was as they had just come out of Vinyl Guru. I asked them where that was and they told me and was shocked because I was completely unaware of it. So that's two  new vinyl record shops in Newcastle and if you rope in Empire Records / Long Play Cafe which has been around for twelve months or so that is three new vinyl stores in Newcastle to sit alongside RPM, Reflex and Beatdown, though I still miss Volume and Hitsville USA.

Anyway I finally got to visit Vinyl Guru yesterday and the guy was friendly and knows his stuff. They have a growing selection of new and second hand vinyl, one piece that I am very tempted by but managed to resist. They have a complete section for Bowie stuff and lots of vinyl related artwork and accessories. This means you have two excellent vinyl record shops within two hundred yards of each other.

They are also invoved in a Punk Art Exhibition "Never Mind The Punk 45" with Gallagher and Turner at The Late Shows in Black Swan this weekend so they are not a one trick pony.

The title comes from "The Hare Who Lost His Spectacles" interlude from Jethro Tull's "Passion Play" the excellent follow up to "Thick As A Brick". I was surprised to find a video for this on Youtube so thought I would include it, it is rather silly but some of the music is excellent.

Newcastle now has a healthy number of excellent Vinyl shops as well as a brilliant music scene and is one of the many reasons I stayed when I came up in the late eighties. Things have changed and a lot of those have been majorly for the better.

Acting Like Magpies

While out for tea last night at Bar Loco I was talking with Juliet and Kirsty about stuff such as technology , and kirsty said that people spent money on new technology these days because often people don't have kids and therefore they have more disposable income and that disposable incime often goes on new tech such as the latest phones, TVs or Blu-Ray boxed set.

Because my daughters are independent I also fall into that category, but I remeber many years ago getting into the stage of buying DVDs because they were so cheap (and I thought I might watch them) , and I saw a Hugh Grant DVD , I think it was "Words and Music" in HMV for £1.99, I picked it up and thought , "But where would I put it?" , the shelves were full. I don't often buy DVDs these days being so lazy that I can't be bothered to get up , find the DVD, put it in the player etec etc, when I have digital content at the touch of a few buttons.

I do the same with CDs though it's slightly different, I will buy CDs at a gig to support bands who actually put the effort in to to turn up and perform. In recent years I saw The Jackhammers as part of a three band line up for £2 at  The Central. There were twenty people there, they were the headliners from Glasgow, so the take was £40 , so I bought some CDs thinking how do these bands do this.

I also buy from local record shops such as Reflex and RPM because if you don't then one day you won't be able to buy anything except the latest Now and X-Factor compilations from Tesco. Sometimes Andy and Marek's recommendations hit the nail , sometimes they don't , but I love walking into the sops hearing something and wondering what it is , and often end up buying the record.

Anyway to get to the point of this post, my #AlbumoftheDay yesterday was David Bowie's "Blackstar". I bought it when it came out but didn't know it inside out and though it was time to revisit. One song on the album is "Sue (Or In A Season of Crime)" jazz based and reminds me a little of The Bonzo Dog Band's "Big Shot" in feel (and without the comedy, though Bowie does have a sense of humour), and that slots seamlessly into the middle of the album. The album is around forty minutes, ideal for vinyl and opens with the eponymous title track which consists of two interwining pieces one brooding two chord atmospheric and the other almost pop stretching out for almost ten minutes. The other standout for me is "Lazarus" which is Bowie's obvious last song, he knew what was coming. The rest of the album could be considered Bowie filler but still high quality , but the two standouts alone make this an essential purchas and essential listening.

The thing is with downloads, you can acquire stuff legally (or illegally) and let it just sit on a hard disc , unwatched or unlistened to, and a lot of people do that, the point being tou have the said item , you don't experience it.

Anyway I am still thinking "Blackstar" but have been listening to more stuff which I will be writing about in the next few days. I leave you with the amazing video for such an amazing song, and yes it does last ten minutes.

It's Friday, the weekend is nearly hear , so go out enjoy yourslef and have a great day.

Loving Life with a Glamorous Owl and Medusa

While it's nothing earth shattering there were a lot of nice things going on today. This follows on from yesterday where I heard a friend had an offer on a house accepted , and was so pleased for them, and they were happy. And yesterday was extremely good.

And then today I had tasked myself with getting some new jackets , and after trailing through shops found a pair of linen ones in John Lewis and when I got to pay found they were half price , so it was effectively 2 for 1.

Glamorous Owl Candle

I wandered through the Grainger Market stopping off in Reflex and a chat with my mate Phil who works in there, then down through the Bigg Market towards RPM and noticed a shop that had replaced the beloved Attica , The Glamorous Owl and it is a wonderful and joyous place full of locally produced things  and the people are wonderfully welcoming. You have to visit this place it really is a jewel.




Then on to RPM where Marek told he had something coming in , a collection of local 60s / 70s vinyl coming in , which should be very interesting.

Medusa on a Man

Then in Fitzgeralds was served my a waitress who had the most amazingly stunning Medusa Tattoo , a true work of art , but I was too much of a gentleman to ask her for a photograph of it , but it was very impressive.

Anyway , the Joe Walsh song should suffice for the soundtrack to this post because the title sums up my feelings today even though I am very tired,

Oh and Preston won today which is always puts a smile on my face.

So enjoy the rest of the weekend. I know things are going to get much, much better

Coincindence and Connections

Yesterday I went to have my annual opticians eye text , and , with contact lenses it's still 20/20, despite being advised around 2003 that I would probably need to switch to wearing glasses. My opticians are excellent ( C4 Sightcare in Newcastle), I was mentioning the extremely excellent aftercare service from GPORetro and it turns out my optician is a jazz enthusiast and a frequenter of Reflex in Newcastle , we both agreed that John Coltrane's Giant Steps is tedious in the extreme but I told him that Miles Davis' Bitches Brew was worth revisiting as it sounds amazing , he wasn't two sure but said he will try it again. You don't tend to think of people who look after you in one way or another have lives outside what they do for you , and my optician is a vinyl enthusiast and a jazz musician. It's amazing what talking to people can reveal, and can make over the most mundane of things (like eye tests) go very quickly.

Think Outside

This weekend saw me mow the lawn this year for only the second time , and it's nearly June. The weather is nice and we have the Newcastle Unity Festival next weekend , followed by Preston North End's play off final against Swindon , then a Pop Will Eat Itself gig at the Riverside.

Thing about talking with people is they can put you onto good things it one way or another, like Meg Mac , and amazing singer who I had never heard of and now have to find more of her stuff. Enjoy
the excellent song above , just ordered the EP from Amazon.

 If you isolate yourself from people you never see or hear things like this. There is so much we miss out on , and let's face it we can't experience everything , but nothing beats the feeling of finding something amazing that you were unaware of. Anyway still have lots of chores to do but good music to listen to while I'm doing it and thankful for every friend I have.

Everything is Happening and Summer is a Coming In

RSD 2015

Sorry I've not blooged for a while , no real reason apart from laziness , but it has been remarked upon , and I need need to post something given how much is happening this week. So here it is.

This week I started my new job which is basically a 9 to 5 scenario with decent flexibility and good people to work with and it's been very enjoyable so far, managing to track down a rogue tenner in half a million quid to balance a book. The thing is , this new job has given me back about ten hours a week that I wont be on a train and maybe £3K a year I don't have to spend on travel.

This has come at an opportune time because tomorrow , as well as being my great friend Craig and Sheena's birthday it's also National Record Store Day , so I will be in and around Newcastle visiting RPM , Reflex , Beatdown  but may not get to the excellent Pop Recs in Sunderland although I'm sure they won't miss me there. Some great memories of previous days include getting a Facebook message from my great friend Mike asking if I could pick up a copy of the Clash's London Calling about ten to five. It was the most sought after item of that day, so had sold out when the shops opened , although one did turn up in Reflex a couple of weeks later which I snaffled immediately and dropped off.

WBN 2015

This week , also , it's World Book Night on Shakespeare's Birthday (23rd of April). Just 18 books this time but a bit of a trek by public transport to pick them up tomorrow , mine is Roddy Doyle's "Dead Man Talking"  a short , easy to read book , which I shall be distributing around Newcastle on the 23rd.

There are numerous gigs coming up as well including William Control , Public Service Broadcasting , Rhombus and Jordan Reyne, and PSB's excellent go is certainly appropriate for my life at the moment.

As well as that summer is on it's way so the garden will need it's first mow soon and the grass is now growing fairly healthily.

So I'm going to bed now , enjoy your weekend I certainly intend to

It's Never Too Late

Yesterday morning I couldn't sleep and posted something on here, but it caught up with me and I was not feeling too good last night. So had a sensible amount of sleep and overall probably have had what could be termed a reasonably relaxing weekend. But it's never too late or too early to write a blog post.

Ready to Rip

I've caught up on stuff , sent off some official stuff , bought some stuff , eaten some stuff , read some stuff and probably forgotten some stuff.

The weather has been cold but I think it is getting warmer.

This week is another busy week with hospital appointments, meetings and more taking up all the free time I have at the moment, but it's good to keep busy.

Have Amp Will Make Noise

I also treated myself to a new Blackstar amplifier from GuitarGuitar , which I shall have a play round with tomorrow. as well as transferring some vinyl to MP3 , in particular Women In Revolt and Gary Wright's Wonderwheel after getting some seven inch adapters from Reflex which were not exactly cheap, but vinyl accessories are necessary to it's enjoyment.

Anyway I found "I Know" on youtube for you to enjoy before I hit the sack.

So goodnight , and hit the ground running for this week , and have a totally brilliant one. That's what I intend to do.

Frozen But No Snow But Some Otway

Well woke up this morning to a frozen landscape, frosted rooves and cars, footpaths like a skating rink but still no sigh on snow. I was quite surprised to see someone saying "Right that's Christmas Over" around mid day on Christmas Day, well not in our house , there#s twelve days of Christmas I seem to remember, and I will keep the spirit of Christmas going all year round , caring and helping where I can , friends family and those less fortunate than myself, and let's face it , I am fortunate.

Grainger Market

I'm still suffering from a cough , cold , runny nose, sneezing etc etc but am coming out of it and tomorrow will be a day back at work, clearing all the stuff I've not looked at over the past four days.

I managed to get out for a couple of hours yesterday and get some food at the Grainger Market and some CDs at Reflex.







I suppose my only disappointment was that John Otway didn't hit number one (you can buy it here) , instead some faceless X-Factor contestant hit number one. I do feel sorry for the contestants because who even remembers who won last year's on the years before. The only talk is of the the judges and Simon Cowell, which is all that matters really, anyone can be a contestant.

Anyway , it's Sunday Morning, the sun is shining and I am looking forward to another relaxing day as I sip on my nettle tea and sign off this post. Have a most excellent day everybody.

Good National Record Store Day

Buy More Records

Well although I didn't see anyone I knew apart from the guys at Reflex and RPM,yesterday was an excellent day. I'm writing this at 3 am just because I was awake and it's the middle of the Easter break which means I can actually lie in today.

Although later on I may be painting decking, depending on the weather. I hope it last a bit longer than in previous years when I finally do it , though I will publish photographs (of the said decking!)

I remember selling my EMI version of Anarchy in the UK by The Sex Pistols for £30 then buying the album on Virgin for £3 , the import single for £1.50 and still having £20 to spend! which brings me on to ....

Stranglers

....I got a copy of Peaches by  The Stranglers from Reflex which was doing some extremely brisk trade, and just wish that certain shops to adapt the speed and courtesy of the guys there, they also had free sweets and chocolate which I forgot to partake of, but they had lots of excellent stuff. I see a lot of copies of the disc were on ebay going for a fortune but you can get their first six albums plus a disc of rarities for under fifteen pounds here. While it's nice to have limited editions, for me it's always been about the music.

Cake at RPM

RPM was rammed as they had cake, DJs and and bands in the courtyard next door, and at certain points the shop was in a one in one out situation. I browsed their second hand vinyl, and saw a second hand copy of the second Roxy Music album "For Your Pleasure". I have the CD, but was thinking about it while I looked round the delights in the  and listening to the rockabilly from the in shop DJ, I went back and it had gone , c'est la vie.

Still it was a great atmosphere and I could have spent a lot of money, which I will do when it's a little quieter.

Good Turnout

Anyway had a nice meal at the Stand , just missed my friend Jon and his daughter Aoife, though he sent me a lovely picture of her, face painted as a lion enjoying orange juice,

Came home and cleaned the decking again so it should be ready for painting today or tomorrow. So after this I am going back to my bed, and going to have a bit more sleep.

The Seven Hundred and Two Days For Your Diary

This is my seven hundredth blog post and this morning I was informed that I have eighteen copies of The Humans by Matt Haig to give away on World Book Night 2014 on April 23rd, that's a Wednesday this year. I have some ideas how to schedule it and this year I have less to go round so I will make sure none get wasted, on people who's cultural highpoints are Top Gear and Bake Off programs.The premise sounds brilliant:

"One wet Friday evening, Professor Andrew Martin of Cambridge University solves the world's greatest mathematical riddle. Then he disappears.

When he is found walking naked along the motorway, Professor Martin seems different. Besides the lack of clothes, he now finds normal life pointless. His loving wife and teenage son seem repulsive to him. In fact, he hates everyone on the planet. Everyone, that is, except Newton. And he's a dog.

Can a bit of Debussy and Emily Dickinson keep him from murder? Can the species which invented cheap white wine and peanut butter sandwiches be all that bad? And what is the warm feeling he gets when he looks into his wife's eyes?"

Sounds brilliant doesn't it? I do have my copy on order and will have it read before the give away occurs.

On 19th Of April (I think because it doesn't tell you the date on the site, just a countdown) it's National Record Shop Day, well that's what I call it , so I will be visiting Reflex and RPM and Beatdown and JG Windows in Newcastle and buying some product. These days are now very big and great fun, with lots of events, and I'll post more in the run ups to both of these events.

Time for bed now, happy seven hundredth post to you all, and it the words of James .... "How Was It For You?" , here's to the next seven hundred.

Rainy Day

Turkish Grand Bazaar - Grainger Market

Well today started with blue skies , but very cold, now we have a bit of rain. It's nice to have a restful weekend . I visited the Grainger Market  and got some amazing bookmarks from the Turkish Bazaar, which I instagrammed at Christmas as well.

I then wandered past Reflex and saw an impressive looking Ron Kavana boxed set for under three quid  called "Irish Ways - The Story of Ireland In Song, Music and Poetry". It's available quite reasonable on Amazon as well here

CDs from Reflex plus a Bookmark

Obviously this talk of music as well as bookmarks means I do need to put something relevant to the post on here, but should it be British Sea Power or Ron Kavana?

I love both these artists  and recommend both to everyone, and you can find lots of both of them on Youtube.

But having thought about the British Sea Power
 preview of the album I've bought would be a perfect addition to this post, and it could whet your appetite if you don't know them.


Anyway I will leave you with this as I get off to bed, sleep well all.

A Mere Skirmish With My Left Hand ... and Other Stuff

I am right handed, but it's amazing the sort of things you need your left hand for. Late last week I flayed part of my left index finger with a potato peeler, which was very painful. But simple things like washing up, showering, washing, shaving became very difficult as plasters were washed off skin was caught and bleeding and pain ensued, not nice.

Anyway I have managed to smooth it off so it wont catch and I don't need a plaster on it.

It other news Rough Trade have opened a major record shop in New York (see here), and it is reckoned that there will be a major renaissance for record shops which is great news. They were always a great place to socialise and discover new stuff, and we're lucky in Newcastle that we still have some decent ones such as RPM and Reflex.

Eusebio 1966

Sad news in the deaths of Phil Everly and Eusebio, but the older you get the more these things seem to happen. We still have recordings and memories of them. Pity I don't have a video of Eusebio goals set to an Everly Brothers song though I'm not sure which one it would be, maybe "Walk Right Back".

Anyway enjoy the rest of the first weekend of the new year.

I'm In Love With Rebecca Cother......

Well her wonderful paintings and images......

There's a lot of things that I didn't intend to do this wonderful day. Yesterday I visited the Divine Bodies exhibition at The Laing , took some photos which ended up on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

Todays CDs

I went to Reflex and ending up buying 9 CDs of 50s and 60s soul and rock. I have a lot of the tracks but the collections looked so good I just had to have them, listening to one of them now. And rather good it is too.

The weather is still fantastic, and I've just remembered I need to design a card for my friends 50th birthday fairly promptly as it's his birthday on Wednesday.

Alan is scared of flying

Anyway  back to the lady in the title of the post. She's an artist as well and started following me on Twitter . I had a quick look at her website on my phone and was instantly enchanted by her wonderful images and paintings. Really they are beautiful and you can just fall in love with them , I challenge you not to. Some are funny, all are inventive and just beautifully presented.

Owl-Vis

I've took this couple of examples from her website which you can visit here, or her facebook page which is here. I just love all these paintings and in our twitter exchanges turned her on to the brilliant Kelly Richardson, who is responsible for som amazing installation art pieces.

I saw her amazing Mariner 9 at Whitley Bay's Spanish City. Anyway I promised Rebecca she'd be the subject of my next post and this is it. Go visit her site , and be as enchanted as I was with her paintings. Have a brilliant day all!!

Books and Records and Ali G

Well I've jusst finished the excellent Tony Benn biography by Jad Adams , discovering lots of things about someone who must be close on the most respected politician ever. The book is surprising readable obviously helped by it's subject mater or an caring idealist , a stunning orator who had the intelligence outspeak opponents without ever getting flustered. His encounter with Ali G / Sacha Baron Cohen  showed him taking matters seriously rather than pandering to sreotypes resulting in Sacha Baron Cohen writing to Benn thanking him for being the only person to react with skill and integrity to Ali G's inane stereotypical questioning.

Anyway this means I've started "A Little History Of The |World" by Ernst Gombrich which is the book I've chosen to distribute on World Book Night on Tuesday April 23rd 2013 on my train back from work between Darlington and Newcastle. The preface tells of the genesis of the book which is entertaining in itself , I was going to tell you about it but the copy on the Amazon page does that very well , so I'll include that here:

"In 1935, with a doctorate in art history and no prospect of a job, the 26-year-old Ernst Gombrich was invited to attempt a history of the world for younger readers. Amazingly, he completed the task in an intense six weeks, and Eine kurze Weltgeschichte für junge Leser was published in Vienna to immediate success, and is now available in twenty-five languages across the world. Toward the end of his long life, Gombrich embarked upon a revision and, at last, an English translation. A Little History of the World presents his lively and involving history to English-language readers for the first time. Superbly designed and freshly illustrated, this is a book to be savoured and collected. In forty concise chapters, Gombrich tells the story of man from the stone age to the atomic bomb. In between emerges a colourful picture of wars and conquests, grand works of art, and the spread and limitations of science. This is a text dominated not by dates and facts, but by the sweep of mankind's experience across the centuries, a guide to humanity's achievements and an acute witness to its frailties. The product of a generous and humane sensibility, this timeless account makes intelligible the full span of human history."

I've said it previous posts why I chose the book and have started reading it , and finding it well written , in terms a child could understand, really a book that should be in every household especially if there are young children. It is the sorting of book theat stimulates interest and inquisitiveness and will inevetibly have them asking "Why?" in a good way.

Three days before that it's National Record Shop Day which will mean long queues out of RPM , Reflex and Beatdown in Newcastle and bands playing and street entertainment and chasing limited editions onf vinyl artefacts worldwide.Every year it's getting bigger and better , and as for the demise of record shops , don't believe a word of it , the best ones are still with us . I was recently surprised to find excellent record shops in York and Bakewell , and as long as a shop is welcoming and able to adapt they will attract customers. Often people complain about the cost of music and I point outthis fact:

In 1975 Pink Floyd released Wish You Were Here in an unfeasible shrink wrapped plastic bag, containing postcards etc (maybe that was Dark Side of The Moon which did contain posters and stickers). Anyway I'd just left school and was geeting job seekers allowance which was £3.25 .... the same price of the new Pink Floyd album. Needless to say I didnt go out that week.

So if albums had kept pace with Job Seekers Allowance the cost of an album would now be around £60 !! I recently took deliver of The Blue Oyser Cult's Columbia Album box set (17 discs) which cost me £46 and that was funded by a MyVoice voucher and Hilton Honors voucher so I didnt rwally even pay for it. So music today is better value than ever.

Ironic

Although Alanis Morrisette got it completely wrong, I'm here in Cromford reading a book about reggae called Bass Culture by Lloyd Bradley and I'm unable to actually go to a record shop and browse for reggae because there are no record shops within 20 miles of here.I know this thatnks to an excellent app called The Vinyl District

Scarthin Books Amazing Shop Sign

Well you could say Scarthin Books has a selection , but it's Naxos Classical and there is a clue in the name of the shop that tells you that it specialises in books. Bakewell has a musical instrument shop that has a few CDs and there's a few charity shops which have second hand CD sections.

The thing is economics and the fact that people's habits mean that record shops have to try harder , and the good ones are still very good.And there's always online if you dont have physical access.

I used to go to record fairs but todays digital age means that I can track down most things on line , and at my age I actually have virtually everything I want musically , but still look forward to new bands and new albums.

I stll love going into RPM or Reflex in Newcastle and hearing something new that I immediately buy. That's how all record shops should be. That's Entertainment I find more relevant than HMV.  HMV don't seem to know what they are selling , giving most of their floor space over to iPod docks.

Anyway this post has wandered a bit but I'm going to read more of Bass Culture and enjoy the rest of my holiday!!

You Wait Ages For A Bus .....

.. and then three come along at once. Well it's not quite that but nearly. Last year on World Book Night I gave away my books on the Tyneside Metro , if you click on the labels below you will see what happened then.

Initially this year I was going to do the same thing with Bill Bryson's "Notes From A Small Island", but this year World Book Night is on the 21st of April which is coincidentally National Record Shop Day as well as being the first High Bridge Quarter Festival.

So the idea is that I'm going to join in the festivities at High Bridge concentrating on  RPM records and giving away my books at the festival . I've been joining in National Record Shop Day for the last couple of years and had a great time seeing some great bands , getting ice cream great food and meeting great people.

This year looks like it's going to be the best ever and if you catch me you might get a copy of the book. Check out the High Bridge Festival site by clicking on the poster.

Reflex in Nunn Street and Beatdown up near The Five Swans will also be having lots of events and special stuff for sale so get yourself down and have a wonderful day. Great music , great company , great books , great food all guaranteed!!

National Record Shop Day - 2011

This Saturday is National Record Shop Day , where wall the independent record shops put on events , record signings , sell limited special edition records , usually on vinyl , and have a good time. In Newcastle we still have the following that are worth visiting on the day:

• RPM (back of the Old George off the bigg Market)
• Reflex (Nunn Street part of the Grainger Market Building)

From Reflex's Page:

"REFLEX is once again proud to be involved with Record Store Day. On Saturday 16th April, we will be throwing our doors open at 8am (brought forward an hour early by the organisers) and offering up hundreds of exclusive records, CDs and memorablia, only available over the counter in Indie Record Shops across the UK.  All releases are only available in the shop on the day, no mail-orders will be taken and no pre-orders/reservations can be made.
There will be entertainment on offer including Mod new boys The Master Colony and others TBA, with guest DJs and refreshments available. Come and join us for what will prove to be a great day and get your hands on as much exclusive product as you can carry!"

Also try out

• Beatdown (Ridley Place)
• JG Windows (The wonderful Central Arcade)

And while your at it check out the excelelnt Groupon and you might get a cheap meal out or some other bargain!!

Another One Bites The Dust...

A pleasant day in York yesterday was marred by the fact the Track Records another independent record shop had bitten the dust (see here for the ongoing saga) . This means there is an "award winnng" DJ shop which seemed to specialise in non descript T Shirts , HMV, and charity shops as the only palces to buy music left in York. This is happening everywhere , and while the internet is a convenient place to shop , and downloading is convenient, if we dont watch out we'll only be able to buy what Tesco deem suitable for us. The non changing Top 30 , X-Factor future seems to be getting closer by the day.

I really don't know what the answer is, I try and do my bit by buying from Reflex , RPM , JG Windows and Roots 2 Music in Newcastle (Spin is still going online only) , but I'm just one person and to quote Joni Mitchell:

"You Don't Know What You've Got Til It's Gone"

Maybe Maximo Park at RPM have the right idea - "Apply Some Pressure":




Suggestions on a postcard please