avalanche records

Archive for November, 2016

A few things have become clearer and I’ll cover them briefly here. I knew I would have the wherewithal to have the centre up and running in some way by March but I’m thinking it would be best to hold out and get the best location possible. The centre will undoubtedly be a destination but I really want to have people who pass by to be enticed in too and for that there needs to be people passing by ! I have a preferred location and will persevere with that for now. I am still working to a March deadline and that with support is possible. 

My intention had been to use Avalanche’s reputation and contacts to help establish the centre but then let the centre stand on its own two feet. However all the people I have spoken to have said that the Avalanche name should not be lost as that is an asset to the project and I have no problem with that at all so long as it is clear it will be a different type of Avalanche.

The intention will remain to be even-handed among all the genres we intend to cover but as has already been well documented contemporary rock and pop as I have to call it is an area that has little to no representation among lobbying groups so it may be necessary to fight that corner sometimes just to make the playing field level. You only have to look at this year’s BBC Sound of 2017 to see what happens both in terms of geography and genre when lobbyists get their way.

I met with the Scottish Music Centre (“a member development organisation with classical members and two youth music projects” according to their press officer) in Glasgow who were concerned that folk might think the centre was dedicated to them and suggested a name change. Considering “The Only Fun In Town”. 

The response has been fantastic and the centre has been offered many items and in particular photos that haven’t been seen for decades but I now need to get the finances in order as it simply isn’t possible to dedicate this much time to a project of this size without some assistance. Moving forward when dealing with bodies like Creative Scotland and Edinburgh Council they look for evidence of support from the public.

To be fair everybody thinks it is a great idea but these days there are such limited funds out there that being able to show public involvement and engagement helps a lot. To this end I will set up a simple donation button and will see what the response is. Even a small donation will help with the “engagement” numbers and that old cliche about donating the price of a cup of coffee will hold true. I’ll prepare a mission statement much as I did when we moved to the Grassmarket and take it from there.

1.= Conor Oberst – Ruminations

1.= Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker

3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree

4. Mogwai – Atomic

5. Frightened Rabbit – Painting Of A Panic Attack

6. Emma Pollock – In Search Of Harperfield

7. The Filthy Tongues – Jacob’s Ladder

8. Teenage Fanclub – Here

9. PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project

10. Steve Mason – Meet The Humans

11. David Bowie – ★ (blackstar)

12. Explosions in the Sky – The Wilderness

13. King Creosote – Astronaut Meets Appleman

14. Biffy Clyro – Ellipsis

15. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool

16. Richmond Fontaine – You Can’t Go Back If There’s Nothing To Go Back To

17. Modern Studies – Swell To Great

18. DJ Shadow – The Mountain Will Fall

19. Savages – Adore Life

20. Minor Victories – Minor Victories

Simply couldn’t decide between the top two and what fantastic albums they are. Leonard Cohen knowing he is dying produces one of the best albums of his career and Conor Oberst returns to form just when it looked like he might never produce another truly great album again. Another year Nick Cave could easily have been at the top !

Thanks to everybody who came along yesterday (Saturday 19th) to St Mary’s Street, Avalanche really couldn’t ask for better regulars. If I have a worry it is that there was no passing trade even on a Saturday something that wasn’t a total surprise after our time there last year. It did of course coincide with the festivities starting around Princes Street and as I’ve said for many years now the harm this causes to businesses outwith that enclave should not be underestimated. It will be interesting to see how The Arches fare this year.

I also had people in to chat about the History of Scottish Music Centre which was good to see. As the Tron proved it isn’t just about footfall but the right footfall and the vast majority of Edinburgh’s visitors definitely seem to fall into the “tourist” category. Edinburgh should really consider following what every other major city does and actively aim to attract those who want to see beyond the tartan tat shops and the castle. Again a big thanks for all the interest and support.

Some of you may remember I did originally intend to have a small selection of stock in Gerry Gapinski’s new gallery shop in St Mary’s Street but in the end I settled for simply using it for our click and collect as there really wasn’t the space. However after a pop-up shop I had hoped to get from the council in time for Christmas fell through he’s kindly offered me enough space to offer a decent selection of vinyl, CDs, DVDs and one or two other things more of which later. We’ll struggle to find space for posters but we will reassess that once everything else is in.

The shop will also act as a point of contact for the History of Scottish Music Centre and I will be about Thursday to Saturday. More on the HofSMC also very soon. This really is just a brief cameo to help me clear stock but I’ll bring in all the Discogs stuff which is a 1,000 plus interesting items straight away. There will be a large rack of Scottish band CDs and of course Avalanche t-shirts. I saw Gerry today to provisionally work out some space and we’ll have something in place for this Thursday. 

Those who don’t know the shop you won’t be able to miss it ! There is a large bull’s head above the door going back to when it was a tannery. If anybody has any memorabilia that they think might be of use to HofSMC do pop in for a chat.