The vinyl front...here...

Well, the new scheme to set up a vinyl listening area is gathering pace. Earlier, during a visit to a local supermarket store, I purchased a home cinema surround system which I constructed with sagacity before plugging in my turntable. It sounds wonderful. Ironically, perhaps, the first song I blasted out of my new speakers was the sublime It’s Better This Way by The Associates from the peerless Sulk long player. I’ve also been spinning - literally, pop-pickers - some Go-Betweens and some Fall 33 and a third treats. The plan is to buy some ‘new’ vinyl soon. I browsed the racks in the city’s numerous charity stores yesterday and will begin my collection in earnest during the half term holidays. I expect Stroud or Cheltenham might have a few treasures hidden away in the rear of their Age Concerns and Oxfams. As I mentioned recently, I don’t really want any brand new products or recent releases but am keen to snaffle some old recordings, things I wouldn’t normally think of owning. A Glen Campbell Greatest Hits album caught this eye and I warmly held a Tony Bennett recording in the Mind shop which I contemplated owning. I may return.