Whither the Good Music?

Whither the Good Music? #

9 August 1998

“Summer has set in with its usual severity.”

— Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 9 May 1826

OK, I concede, I briefly left the house this weekend. I couldn’t help it, we really needed some milk. Oh, and The Sunday Times (the internet version is all very nice, but just not the same, really, is it?). But apart from that brief jaunt to the nearest Sainsbury’s, I have resolutely stayed in the house and garden and relaxed in my own way. That has, unsurprisingly, involved numerous sessions on the web, especially to the online music and book stores. The delectable items I’ve ordered include:

  • Rough Guide to The Millennium The Rough Guides people have a wonderful website, which you really should go take a butcher’s at.

  • Half Man Half Biscuit - Four Lads Who Shook The Wirral I was teased and tempted by the tracks I’ve heard Uncle John Peel playing. I decided I couldn’t live without a copy of Four Skinny Indie Kids any longer.

  • Various - A Tribute to Spacemen 3

  • Roy Montgomery feat. Kirk Lake - London Is Swinging From His Neck

  • Jack - Pioneer Soundtracks

  • Labradford - Prazision

All the above were ordered from Rocket Girl, the new venture by Vinita, one of the four partners in Che Trading, who happened to send me their new newsletter this weekend.

I can’t remember how I coped before the abolishment of the net book agreement, and my discovery of the web. Ah, but I studied in a city (Nottingham), where it was much easier to find good books and records. Now I find time for the occasional visit to a shopping mall, where the shelves are full of Boyzone and Terry Pratchett (not that there is anything intrinsically wrong with Boyzone and Terry Pratchett, as such, but, well, a bit of variety here and there would be nice (are you listening, HMV?)).

“Your music buying is obviously slowing down! Saying that I haven’t bought a cd for about 3-4 weeks now - just shit all out there!!”

– Richard, today (email)

There’s no doubt that my listening habits have mellowed (for which read - “gone really boring”) since leaving uni, simply because it’s more difficult to find the time to travel to the decent record stores. Maybe I’ll try to make more of an effort to keep my collection up to date and, for want of a better word, “trendy”. So, if anybody has any ideas of new, fresh music that I might enjoy, please mail them in this direction!