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Read Shirley Manson’s Love Letter to Dying Record Stores

garbage, shirley manson, record store day 2013

Garbage reportedly hit the studio earlier this year to start work on new music, following their 2012 comeback effort, Not Your Kind of People. “The good thing now is we don’t even need to think in terms of an album, so we’re just thinking in terms of new music, which actually really works in our favor,” frontwoman Shirley Manson said at the time. “Historically, we’ve worked slow because we’ve toured so much — we go and spend a year making a record, then we go back out on the road. Now we realize we can do two or three tracks, release these tracks and then go on the road.”

Now it looks like fans are about to get the first whiff of the alt-rock lifers’ new material, courtesy a Record Store Day 2013 exclusive. The “Only Happy When It Rains” foursome revealed today (March 5) that they’ve got something in the works for April 20, but wouldn’t reveal details. According to a press release, more information is on the way.  

To make up for that tease, though, the cross-continental crew shared a quick three-and-a-half-minute video capturing the band’s favorite record shop-related memories. Manson recalls buying her first vinyl (David Bowie‘s soon-to-be-reissued Aladdin Sane), guitarist Steve Marker discusses his old job of running a Mamaroneck, New York record store, drummer/producer Butch Vig admits that he still owns his first-ever LP (the Who’s Tommy), and bassist Duke Erikson gives a shout-out to Homer’s Music, a well-known music geek haven located in Omaha.

That video comes paired with a personal statement from Manson. Following the lead of Record Store Day 2013 Ambassador Jack White, the Scottish singer penned a passionate plea on behalf of the annual vinyl love-fest.

“RSD champions the idea of small business versus the sprawling corporate beast that invades every corner of our towns, our cities and our countries around the world,” she writes. “It celebrates the notion that music is precious and sacred and still of worth even though it may fail to ‘research’ well or accrue large amounts of radio ‘spins.’ It dares to suggest that music can and will engender excitement, passion and salvation despite never being attached to an international brand or a globally recognized pop star known only by their first name. It’s a day that honours the mystery, the romance and the dying art of record making.”

Manson adds, “In a world like ours, where we live increasingly isolated lives behind the lonely glow of our computer screens, RSD reminds us all that an independent record store is worth protecting and fighting for. They are a haven and a harbour for all curious and wandering souls. We need them. Let’s love them. And keep them.” We just thought of a movie she should see…

Read Manson’s entire statement below and watch Garbage’s Record Store Day endorsement up top.

Someone wanted to know, someone asked the question: Why is Record Store Day so important?

Well, there are a myriad of reasons why RSD is important, not just to me as a musician but as a member of a society that is becoming increasingly more regulated and homogenized to within an inch of our lives.

Are we, such wild creatures as we are, soon to be forced into such uniform lives that we all eat the same things, listen to the same things, read the same things, think and do the same things? Or do we fight to hold on to our individuality, our identity, our independent spirits, thoughts and ideas?

RSD champions the idea of small business versus the sprawling corporate beast that invades every corner of our towns, our cities and our countries around the world.

It celebrates the notion that music is precious and sacred and still of worth even though it may fail to “research” well or accrue large amounts of radio “spins”.

It dares to suggest that music can and will engender excitement, passion and salvation despite never being attached to an international brand or a globally recognized pop star known only by their first name.

It’s a day that honours the mystery, the romance and the dying art of record making.

A day that celebrates the notion that something as seemingly insignificant as a song or a piece of music can stand up against something very big and powerful. And it promotes the belief that time spent exploring a small, lovingly curated record store, discovering artists, music and ideas can arm you against anything that ever threatens to overwhelm or engulf you.

In a world like ours, where we live increasingly isolated lives behind the lonely glow of our computer screens, RSD reminds us all that an independent record store is worth protecting and fighting for. They are a haven and a harbour for all curious and wandering souls.

We need them. Let’s love them. And keep them.