It’s a Living Thing

Possibly the main realisation that time is creeping on is the fact that I now own a copy of ELO;s Greatest Hits. A band that was recently voted as a guilty pleasure – though they may never have been a credible band, they do have some virtue.

My younger self would have had recriminations about announcing that particular fact. In all likelihood my younger self would have consulted that arbiter of style - the NME and deemed the purchase un-cool for my collection and bought something they’d recommended, like Menswear.

Over the years I have put together a fairly substantial record collection of varying styles and genres, which by and large - I probably enjoyed at some point and there has been some raeson why they have come into my possession.

While I was off work recently, I have been sorting out the clutter that is my life and I have been having a clearance of stuff that I have accumulated over the years. There is still a lot of rubbish gathering dust in my house, but it’s a start.

The main theme I have noticed is the amount of records that have been put in the pile for removal; are bands that I have bought on the recommendation of the NME.

I used to be an avid reader and trusted their opinions by and large (Another realisation that I’m getting old is that I have now graduated onto reading Uncut - instead of the NME).

The records I have put to one side for removal all have the recurring theme of being the ‘next big thing’. That’s why I own records by Gay Dad, Tiger, Ultrasound and Andrew WK. All records I’d bought on the recommendation of the NME.

The process of chucking them out also gave me the chance to listen some the tunes again. I have to say fairly few survived the cull. A number were posted on ebay with mixed results saleswise.

I'm still stuck with a good number of the records and plan b which will see me deposit the majority of them at the local charity shop.

I'll still consult nme.com or buy the NME, but in this multimedia media age I hope I will be a little more selective - to avoid a similar cull next year.