No, this is not the name of my new band, although it does have a certain ring to it. But, with the EU referendum a mere 7 weeks away, I thought I ought to raise the important question that no-one has yet asked. Namely, what impact will Brexit have on the free movement of vinyl across Europe?
But, before I talk about that, I wanted to talk about a great little record collection I came across recently from a really nice guy who was about to go travelling and wanted to clear his flat of all unwanted/unneeded items, presumably so he could rent it our. When I arrived, the place had furniture all over the place, and boxes half packed, but amongst this mayhem, I found 30 or so records of pure quality. It was clear that this guy loved his vinyl, had looked after it carefully, and more importantly, he had great taste!
Now, none of his records were mega-rare, but they were an interesting collection, which presumably gives an insight into how his taste had changed over the last 10 years. For example, there was a lovely copy of the Arctic Monkeys At The Apollo box set which really caught the eye, released in 2008, and captured some of their live shows from 2006. There were only 5,000 of these produced, so quite rare.
As time went by, so his taste evolved a little, with a really nice copy of The XX’s debut album XX which was in lovely condition. I’m guessing this was from around 2009, and what made this especially nice was the fact that the original poster was still neatly folded inside the sleeve. So, he’s still into his indie stuff at this point, but then something started to change, and his musical taste changed to. I am left wondering if he had left university and moved to London to work, maybe starting to find new musical influences. Or had he met the love of his life. I’m not sure, but his music was moving!
To demonstrate this subtle change in his musical taste, I came across an album by an Australian band called Bag Raider ( had he been travelling after finishing his degree and heard this band while down under?). It is not guitar indie, but much more electronic dance music, so a major change from just a year before. And it continues in this direction with the brilliant Gorillaz album Plastic Beach, which whilst having the guiding hand of Britpop darling Damon Albarn, is undoubtedly a stunning album of electronic dance music.
I’m not sure what happened between 2010 and 2013, but by 2013, he was getting into some really new territory, and I offer the double coloured vinyl release of Cut/Copy’s Free Your Mind as evidence of this. As one reviewer said of this album:
“Every Cut Copy album has it’s own feel to it. This album in particular though is very hard to pin. It combines New Wave/Synth Pop with Electro/Dance. I love the feel it provides the listener. 100% playable 200% all-around! 10/5!”
Who can tell what was happening in my record sellers mind, but he had graduated through indie to dance and beyond. The funny thing is, this is the last album that he had bought, or at least was in the collection. I wondered why he had stopped. Was it because he was now streaming his music or could it have been the beginning of the desire to go travelling again? Had the lure of the bright lights which had provided so much hope and opportunity just a few short years ago dimmed, and his thoughts turned to packing in his job, selling all the possessions that reminded him of his past, that reminded him of the dull 9-5 routine, the tortuous commute to the digital centre of London, and heading off to far off distant shores where he could relax and find a new direction?
I will probably never know, but whatever his reasons, he was a really nice guy and I just loved his small but beautifully formed record collection. I hope that he enjoys his travels and finds what he is looking for.
If you are interested in selling any of your unwanted vinyl, please get in touch. I promise not to over-analyse why you are selling!! I also want to say thank you to all the people who have contacted me recently with details of their records for sale. There are some fantastic collections out there and I will get round to see them all. Thanks again!!
Sell Your Unwanted Vinyl 