Quick Quintet: More Music

I used to love buying records. There was the trip to the record shop in Marlow, Maidenhead, High Wycombe or even London, flipping through racks of vinyl while feigning nonchalance and knowledge. And then bringing the thing home in a big bag and playing it over and over again on the turntable; scrutinising the sleeve notes and memorising the lyrics - you'd invite your best mate round or take the record to their place and you'd sit in semi-silence in a darkened room drinking cheap Soave from a porcelain mug and absorbing the ambience. No? Just me then.

Anyway, I don't buy much music now. I pick up the odd thing through the music press, personal recommendation, or random radio station, but the mainstream junk does very little for me. I don't own an i-pod or download music to save to my computer; I'm old-fashioned enough to like to hold the real deal in my hands, taking in the artwork and design, and listening to it all in the order the artist intended. So yes, it's been a while, but the latest albums (I still yearn to call them records) I've bought are as follows:

The 5 Most Recent Musical Purchases:

1. Let England Shake - PJ Harvey
2. Suck It and See - Arctic Monkeys
3. The Horrifying Truth - I Am Giant
4. Hollow - Cut Off Your Hands
5. Build a Rocket Boys! - Elbow