On yet another day celebrating consumerism (I’m talking about Record Store Day, fact fans), I choose instead to celebrate a truly excellent playlist on Apple Music. Normally Apple’s attempts at curation leave me cold, but it turns out that this playlist of music produced by Dave Cobb is a treasure trove of the familiar and unfamiliar, full of surprise and delight. Who’s Dave Cobb? You might ask. Well, he’s the guy who produced all these tracks, many of which are great. “Cover Me Up” by Jason Isbell, for example. “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton. “The Joke” by Brandi Carlile. “Parking Lot Pirouette” by Amanda Shires. And, delightfully, “You Can Have the Crown” by Sturgill Simpson. I’d forgotten about him, you see. He’s great: original, and funny with it.

Well, I’ve been spending all my money on weed n’ pills
Tryin’ to write a song that’ll pay the bills

And also:

Oh, I sing ’em real pretty, sing ’em real sad
And all the people in the crowd say “He ain’t half bad”
Well, they call me King Turd up here on Shit Mountain
If you want it you can have the crown

Anyway. Dave Cobb. Great playlist, which you can get on your phone, in your car, in your smart speaker and in your ears. No need to queue up at a record shop to buy some overpriced plastic and cardboard that will sit on a shelf in your house.

Record Store Day? Always leaves me cold. It might as well be Music Shop Day or Tyres and Exhausts Day. I never felt at home in record shops. The people who work in them are usually arrogant little shits, as portrayed in that John Cusack movie. It’s the same in guitar shops isn’t it? The last people you want to give your money to, in a long line of people you don’t want to give your money to. People like estate agents, butchers, high end cookshops, phone shops, and so on.

Britain is a nation of small shopkeepers and they’re all bastards.