I lived in Nottingham from 1995 until about 2000. The main reason for moving there was for the music- there was an excellent DIY/Hardcore (punk) music community, members of which I'd got to know through chance (living next door to in Newcastle, for example) and by putting on shows in Oxford. In addition Notts had a wicked array of record shops- from Way Ahead to Rob's Records to the reggae shack (the name of which eludes me) just off Alfreton Road- all tastes were catered for.
Over the years the number of shops dwindled, whilst others sprung up for short periods (JP Morrow's Cage Records upstairs in Non-Stop being one. John Paul used to keep a pillow behind the counter it was so quiet) but Selectadisc remained a constant, as fixed and as permanent as the lions overlooking Old Market Square.
Sure, the staff in the 12" shop could be twats, but everyone in the album shop up the hill were fine and dandy and it was the centre of Nottingham's musical activity, a hub in those pre-Internet days.
Few other cities have anything like Selectadisc (that is, a genuine non-genre specialist independent record shop): Leeds' Jumbo Records is good, carrying a range of stock, but its not (can't be, due to space) as deep as Selectadisc; Manchester's Picadilly is on a par (and there are the other shops on Oldham street to trawl through); Birmingham's shops on the other hand, were almost universally shit when I lived there- I used to have to make trips to buy stuff in Nottingham to get my fix.
So that it is closing is a sad day not just for Notts, but for record/ music buyers in general- if they can't stay open, I doubt there's much long term hope for many of those that remain (shops mentioned above excepted, fingers crossed). Maybe genre specific shops will be fine- Tribe (UK Bass musics) seems to do OK, for example, but in such establishments you rarely come across the unexpected or broaden your listening palette. Rather you dig deeper and refine that which you already know.
Which isn't always a good thing.
Just ask my non-reggae obsessed better half
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