The Piccadilly Records newsletter is always worth a read every Monday morning as Philippa and the team tell you not only what has arrived in the stock room, but the ongoing fortunes of The Manchester Stingers WFC and suggestions for a top night out in Manchester and so forth. Given the rate at which certain limited issues sell out these days, you’d be advised to read it as soon as it comes out, and by popular demand you’ll now see a handy summary of  ’staff picks’ and find out what’s new in each department.

I hope Philippa won’t mind us reproducing her introduction to todays newsletter which makes a rather salient point about owning a large collection of ‘Physical Product’ as opposed to a hard drive full of mp3s of dubious origin. As she points out, the difference is that the latter has some value, and given that most releases are now in fairly limited quantities now is the time to start looking for the collectables of the future.

“As a vinyl junkie who has been buying wax since the late 70s, I now have a whole room given over to flooor-to-ceiling shelves of records. I sleep in the smaller back bedroom while my records get the comfort of the master bedroom up front. Meanwhile my friends have 20,000 tracks on something smaller than a fag packet. I spent years hauling boxes of records up and down nightclub stairs, while today’s DJs skip along with tiny shoulder bags of downloaded tracks on burnt CDs.

Sometimes I’ve felt like the person who went with Betamax while everyone else chose VHS. But not anymore, because I have now discovered Discogs. Working here for 24 years has meant that sometimes I’ve got a bit over enthusiastic in my purchases, ending up with a mix of cherished gems on the one hand and un-opened, still sealed, mint condition shelf fillers on the other. I might have a a whole room full of records, but it’s a room full of records that’s now making me money. So here’s two fingers to the downloaders – your collection of tracks is worth zilch. And it doesn’t look as good. And it doesn’t sound as good. And it doesn’t exist outside your iPod. Record collections (on vinyl or CD) rule!

So fellow record collectors, check out this week’s list of new music – there’s some really special releases on it, from the Soft Pack 45 to the new Gil Scott-Heron LP, from the latest batch of rhythm & blues sevens to the bang up to date UK garage-dubstep-techno crossover CD compilation from Fabric Records. Add to those future gems right now.”

Listen…the snow is falling and it all feels very seasonal over at Record Shop City towers. Those old Phil Fearon albums have made great tree decorations and we’re enjoying a drop of ‘55 vintage Rock n’ Roll thanks to some purchases made at the Manchester VIP Record Fair.

There are just four shopping days to go before Christmas and it’s too late to order from Amazon now (as if you would!) but you can always visit one of the fine stores featured on the site for last minute gifts for your music-loving friends and loved ones. Don’t forget many of the shops we feature here also sell books, DVDs, T-shirts, mugs, memorabilia and even Christmas cards too.

A trip into town the other day revealed that Café Pop has had a “revamp” and no longer sells  records, hence they have now had their page relegated to the ‘nostalgia section‘ of the site. A shame as they had been a useful stop on the crate-digging tour and the little café upstairs was a great spot for a brew and some interesting 45s. On the plus side, visits to Piccadilly, Vinyl Revival, King Bee and Beatin’ Rhythm all revealed busy shops shifting lots of records and CDs. You can’t wrap up some torrented mp3s and put them under the Xmas tree can you?

On the subject of Piccadilly, do check out their shiny new Website which has now gone live with loads of news of new and future releases, top 50 albums of the year and staff picks all in large, easily readable text! If you’re visiting in person don’t forget to vote for your favourite record of 2009 which you can do by writing on a board with a pen! Nobody has voted for Rage Against the Machine yet I notice…

Don’t forget to use the comments pages or email admin@recordshopcity.co.uk and give us your feedback about RecordShopCity. To all of you who have visited the site we wish you a very festive Merry Christmas, keep supporting the fine music shops of Manchester in 2010 and we hope you all discover some exciting new music or uncover some rare nuggets in the new decade!