Record Store Day 2017

A very happy Record Store Day to you all. I had been hoping that this year I would be able to give the festivities a miss and that there would not be anything on the list of limited edition releases that I wished to procure. Regrettably RSD dangled a Coheed and Cambria shaped carrot in front of my face. I trekked to West Norwood to The Book And Record Bar to pick up their only copy of "Good Apollo I'm Burning Star IV Volume One: From Fear Through The Eyes Of Madness". Thank you to them for taking the time to order it in for me.

The record is littered with rifftastic bangers and the double vinyl is lovely. My fear of missing out is particularly strong when it comes to RSD, I must admit. It's a real character flaw. I might well have been able to pick up a copy from Banquet Records online next Friday, or at the merch stand at Coheed's Koko show in June. But I refuse to take that risk, dammit. Banquet remain my record shop of choice but the four and half hour wait in a queue to get into the shop on RSD 2014 remains pretty fresh in my memory. 

I would have gone closer to home but regrettably that option wasn't available. I'm still somewhat irked that Head in Bromley (my previously most local independent) went to the wall last month, ostensibly from what I understand was The Glades shopping centre's desire to hike up their rent. Still a representative from The Glades said it would all be fine because HMV would be moving in. As though HMV leaving their two storey premises on Bromley High Street to replace Head, leaving one media retailer on a small premises in the town represents a positive outcome. A hearty "fuck you" to The Glades is in order, one feels.

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