Viva Lewes Issue #148 January 2019

BITS AND BOBS
RULE 1: EVERYONE TALKS ABOUT ALBUM CLUB
Back in June 2018,
music publicist Del
Day and musician
Danny George
(pictured, Danny
right) took over
Union Music Store
from founders Stevie
and Jamie Freeman.
In some ways,
little has changed.
It’s still very much
the antidote to
mainstream online retailing: a local record shop
where the owners love discovering new music
and sharing their knowledge. Despite this,
they’re also happy to order anything you want.
“We’re not snobs but we’ve only got a certain
amount of space to play with”, Danny admits. It’s
what Del describes as a curated approach. “We
want it to be a shop where you can pick a record
up and we go ‘that’s a great record’ and genuinely
mean it. It’s becoming a little arts hub here for
us – and we’d like to extend that.”
Look closer and you’ll spot a broadening of
genres, heralded on my visit by the jazz trumpet
of Lee Morgan greeting me as I walked through
the door. “Since we moved in we’ve expanded the
range of stock”, Del tells me, “so rather than just
being a specialist Americana / Country shop, we’ve
now got world, jazz, blues, some classic rock and a
lot more interesting left-field records.” You’ll also
discover loads more vinyl albums – “we’re probably
80% new and used vinyl” – and, if you turn
up on (usually) the last Wednesday evening of any
given month, there’s a good chance you’ll find a
session of the shop’s Album Club taking place.
Album Club is “essentially like a book club”,
Del explains, attracting an even mix of men and
women. You buy a
copy of the month’s
chosen album –
obviously the shop
would appreciate
your custom but
what’s more important
to them is
that people obtain a
physical copy rather
than relying on
streaming services
– and you listen to
it as much as you can. “It’s about embracing the
art form again and actually cherishing buying the
record. And this gives you a chance to reinforce
that.” Whoever turns up for the meeting will find
the kettle on and beer in the fridge. “We meet
in here at 7.30pm; we play back the record and
we discuss it for about two hours”, says Del. “It’s
basically a chance to nourish that artistic element
in your head.” There’s no fee and no obligation
to stay until the end.
Union Music Store has hosted five album club
meetings so far, from Damien Jurado to Janelle
Monáe. January’s meeting will be listening to
Merrie Land, the latest album from supergroup
The Good, the Bad & the Queen. Yes, it’s a
diverse collection – but what’s the point? Del
has a characteristically matter-of-fact answer.
“It’s a little bit of publicity for our shop, it’s a
way of embracing the art form, which we think
is really important, and it’s also a social event. It’s
immensely enjoyable. I really look forward to it.”
Mark Bridge
Union Music Store, 1 Lansdown Place, Lewes.
Union Album Club meets on (usually the last –
check with the shop) Wednesday evening of the
month at 7.30pm. unionmusicstore.com
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