Obsessed Miscreants Willing to Garner Realities,

I have bought another two pieces of vinyl, which means I now have a collection of five. I don’t know what the role of the vinyl 7” is. To me, it’s just a gimmick and something to collect, I certainly don’t intend on playing the records, the record player is at the back of a cupboard and I don’t have any space to keep it out – in any case, I want to keep my vinyl in mint condition. I don’t know why.

I suppose I have to buy something in its vinyl format if that’s the only format it’s available in.

My first piece of vinyl was Local Man Ruins Everything by William Campbell & Kevin MacNeil. It was only available on limited edition, etched vinyl. It’s a poignant, poignant record. Steve Lamacq made it his 6music Record of the Week, it’s the only time that he’s ever been in the right. I had to have one of the 500. I transferred the song from vinyl to mp3. Fortunately, for the rest of The Bellyaches massive, it’s currently available on MyArse, and it seems that version has been ripped from vinyl too.

The second 7” which I purchased was Funny Little Frog by Belle & Sebastian. It cost 99p and I bought it to commemorate my attendance at my first proper gig. It was a pointless gesture; I was going to buy the album on CD anyway. I think I wanted them to get a good chart position too.

I then bought the double A side, Nazi Girls/Painting New York on Our Shoes by Poppy & The Jezebels. I had to, it was only available in limited edition red vinyl and the song was stuck in my head. The fact that the record came with a minidisc CD incorporating the two songs perhaps underlines the superfluous role of vinyl in the industry.

Finally, I’ve taken to buying all the My Latest Novel singles, it just so happens that some of them are all available in the vinyl format. I love My Latest Novel and I really want to hear the B-sides and the bits and bobs that weren’t included in the amazing Wolves album. I’ve sourced Sister Sneaker Sister Soul on limited edition brown vinyl and The Reputation of Ross Francis on limited edition grey and red vinyl.

From this short summary, it is possible to glean that only completists need vinyl. If institutions such as 6music’s MINT and Artrocker magazine are trying to promote the role of the 7” single, why aren’t electric retailers trying to promote sales of record players?