avalanche records

Archive for December, 2010

No I wasn’t dancing at the front with the other middle aged men reliving their youth but a part of me wanted to. Given I get poked in the back by my kids just for tapping my toe to music it was never really an option though the thought of embarrassing them with some “dad dancing” did cross my mind.

Much more later but for now can I just thank everybody who made it such a great night. It really was a success at every level from the turnout to the bands’ performances. The Picture House was I think a very fitting setting for the Scars return and they certainly rose to the occasion. As I said much more to follow.

Despite several updates the basket still doesn’t work. There is meant to be a brand new version soon but one way or another I will have something in place as quickly as I can. I have been loathe to spend time updating the shop when there was a chance we could lose it all if we switched to something new but with so much good stuff out recently it has to be done. Thanks again to all of you who have bothered to send your orders via email.

We have a phone line and we can now take credit cards. Not sure if we will keep the number but you can now phone us on 0131 659 7708 .

Kid Canaveral have had to cancel at the last minute so their drummer can attend at the birth of his baby. Good friends of the Scars Shock and Awe have kindly agreed to replace them. Weather is looking good so there will be no excuse for missing one of the gigs of the year !

I have added a FAQ to band registration about the criteria for us stocking a release. These Fading Polaroids dropped in their CD today and they will vouch that despite my reservations that they veered closer to prog rock on occasions than I would personally feel comfortable with we were more than happy to stock their CD. Good name by the way which always helps and good song titles so they are halfway to stardom already !

PS Yes that is a fading polaroid and not a picture of the band

After the first week’s trial we decided to postpone the full launch to January mainly because of the bad weather. We also ran out of chocolate and our new delivery took over a week to appear not arriving until Christmas Eve. This was more important than you might think as Red Dog next door and our biggest customer love mochas as much as they love nicotine. We should also be getting a big comfy settee for the back of the shop. That too has been delayed by the bad weather.

You will find the provisional chart by hovering over the 2009 header. Already in the last few days Joanna Newsom has been caught by those below her and may drop out of the top 20. The updated chart will appear at the end of the week.

WE ARE CLOSED ON THE 25th AND 26th AND BACK OPEN AS USUAL AT 11AM ON MONDAY 27th.

More of the Admiral Fallow album arrived in the post two days before Christmas just as I was starting to think they had maybe been lost forever in the black hole that is the Royal Mail sorting office. Maybe one day our There Will Be Fireworks albums will appear !

Stuck on a train but just glad to have a train to be stuck on I had a rare chance to actually read something. Pulling The List from my bag I saw they had quite appropriately made a list of their 100 top creative Scots. Carefully reading through the list I came to the end realising that no record shops had been mentioned. Then realising the title was “Top Creative Scots” that seemed more than fair. I’m sure Stephen Pastel at Monorail would quite rightfully claim to be creative but certainly neither myself nor Raymond at One Up in Aberdeen for instance would I think claim to have a creative bone in our bodies. Influential maybe. Good at spotting creative talent hopefully.

However I then checked back to find most of Scotland’s promoters listed along with labels, publishers and bloggers. Bloggers will I’m sure point to their “creative” writing but while promoters, publishers and labels do a very important job spotting talent and that itself is a talent it is not I think a creative one. If it is then the few remaining record shops should all be in the list too as wading through the mass of music produced these days to spot the hidden gems is an art in itself. So if this is a list of  creative Scots and those that support creative Scots then why no record shops ? And while I’m asking why no Vic Galloway ? Having said that there is no Ian Rankin or Gordon McIntyre/Ballboy who qualify on several counts in any year. Matthew Young more important than Neil Pennycook ? Tracer Tails more important than Dan Willson ?

Going back to the introduction I saw that “The Hot 100 is a list of Scots who’ve made a sizeable creative splash in 2010. It includes musicians, artists, writers, actors, fashion designers, technological innovators, shop owners, festival directors, record label heads and one mad cyclist”

I suspect most folk spent 2010 waiting for record shops to drown rather than make a splash so maybe that is the answer but now I think about it given how “creative” shops have to be to survive these days maybe we do qualify. Clearly we just didn’t splash enough.

Anyway the next time a band asks me to recommend a label I shall send them to LuckyMe (No.5) who it appears are very important indeed !