So, there goes happy accident finds and the inexplicable love that can come with them.
I feel incredibly guilty, i'm hardly ever in HMV.
When given the choice i will always head straight for FOPP but seeing as they're owned by HMV they will most likely be shut down first.
So i'll be receiving a kick in the chest cavity first then.
As far as i know, the company has a debt far, far greater than their worth.
Who's going to buy a company in such financial distress?
Nobody, that's who.
I'm sad.
Really bloody sad.
I may be a hermit but when i do venture into the outside world, record stores are my sanctuary.
My little safe haven away from the general public and the angst they cause me.
What will i do without them?
For that matter, what will people like my Dad, who buy music every week and relish in the act of buying an album purely because of the cover - a habit he bestowed upon me and i'm very grateful for, do without record stores?
'The Internet!', everyone will cry.
Sure but i'm sorry, it's not the same.
I've had many a conversation about the act of rifling through racks of undiscovered music and the singular, joyous experience it can be.
People who download everything, don't understand what i'm talking about.
Saying that, i listen to music through Spotify every day, without fail.
Thus meaning i discover new music every day of the year.
Sounds the same, right?
It's not.
With Spotify there's a pattern, a link between every band that i come across and that's fantastic but there are no surprises, like jumping from Crosby, Stills & Nash to Venetian Snares.
Crossovers like this just wouldn't happen and that's where i'm saddened.
Moreover, if this is it for record stores, what about book stores?
It's a dangerous act letting me loose in Waterstones but i need it.
Being surrounded by that many stories in waiting feels like nothing else and it soothes me.
Like a crotchety, literary bear.
Books are to me, what treacle is to Wonderland's dormouse.
With book stores it's the same experience as music, discovering things you wouldn't find while browsing online.
I doubt i would have read half the things i have without physically finding them myself.
But just last year HMV had to sell Waterstones as their debts mounted and who knows if they'll survive if HMV's going under.
As a nation we are crucifying the high street.
Myself included.
We are a country of convenience and right now, i feel pretty uncomfortable with that.
Rant over.
I'm going back to listening to Paul Banks' solo album.
With the notion to try and diminish my grumpiness.
Try, being the operative word.
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