The Front

Echo beached

IA" I; i .,,i " I!" “I in u I- I" “t, ~ r - t“ I i' H ". , it:

.. “ficm‘ “I 1;; V i. LR". ’. Paying homage to a Glasgow institution

As the internet forces one independent record shop to close, are others set to follow, or do the bigger chains have more to worry about? Words: Ruth Hedges

he beginning of December marks the end of an era with the

closure of record shop Echo on Glasgow's Byres Road.

After 28 years of dedicated serVice to music lovers. Mike and Steve McNaughton will be locking the doors and handing over the keys to a cheap flight centre. They are blaming the effects of downloading from the internet and theft of CD cases for their covers

as the main reasons for shutting up shop.

And they predict a similar fate for other small. independent record

shops. "We fear that in five years time there may not be many music shops of any description left. The consumer has now been presented With all the things necessary to become the manufacturer.‘ say the McNaughtons in a recent statement. So now that we can download albums and CD covers off the net. is it true that all we need are some plastic cases? Are music outlets really Superfluous to reguirement. an antiquated mode of exchange?

Not according to the owner of Edinburgh's

Record Shak. the mono-monikered Dave. 'The internet's had a huge impact but when video came out in the early 805 it was supposed to be the death knell of cinemas but it wasn't. I think there is space for independent record shops and there always will be.‘ While

Are music outlets really superfluous, an

talking to Dave a steady stream of peOple came into the shop. Record Shak put on tracks for them. and they chatted about the muSicians and the aibums.

Dave believes that this personal touch will be the factor that keeps them afloat. ‘One of the things that we offer and I think people like is that they can come up and say: "Can I hear this?" You can't 00 that in a lot of places. It's a human thing. You can download stuff. but the human interaction part is imponant.‘

Perhaps the bigger stores have more to worry ab0ut as their impersonal serVice c0uld easily be replaced by a quick search on the net: particularly when Sites like wwwplaycom Or amazon can give you the same for cheaper. or Napster-like Sites let you have it for free. For this

reason Dave seemed slightly mystified as to why Echo is being forced to close down.

9 'Glasgow has dOuble the population and it I hardly seems to be able to keep these kind of

independent shops. Edinburgh for some reason seems to SuppOrt a lot of independents'

Byres Road is a student area and the loss of Echo will be significant. but it is strange. Maybe. as Dave says: ‘They're just tired of it.“ Whatever the reasons. it Will soon be yOur last chance to pay homage to this Glasgow institution.

plum role for Ewan

Kath and Mart celebrate

4 THE LIST 28 NOV—12 Dec 2002

Talent Scots

Our film industry continues to throw up hot new actors. Words: Ruth Hedges Picture: Alan Wylie

cotland's yOungest stars are in the ascendant after scooping some of the

most prestigious awards at this year‘s BAFTA Scotland New Talent 2002. Best

Actor Award went to Martin Compston for his outstanding performance in Ken Loach's Sweet Sixteen.

The Greenock lad. who has given up a future career in football after getting his big movie break from Loach. is getting used to a new kind of trophy. Pictured here with Kathleen McDermott who won Best Actress for playing Lanna in Morvern Cellar. Compston was nominated for best actor at Cannes. where Sweet Sixteen won Best Film. and catapulted the 17-year-old into the limelight.

TV-wise. The Book Group won two awards: Best Television Performance with Rory McCann and Best Television Entenainment. In the Short Film categow Becky Brazil's film Best Man walked away with three awards: Best Short Film Screenplay. Best Short Film Director and Best Short Film Performance. Late Night Shopping. just squeeZing in for eligibility. romped away with Best Feature Film. Best Feature Film DirectOr and Scottish Screen Outstanding Achievement Award.

COMING SOON

I As the final series of Sex and the City prepares to jiggle into the New Year. the series Creator is looking beyond its climax. Darren Star has written a new character for Alicia Silveretone who will play a New York lawyer who acts as a matchmaker for her friends while having absolutely no luck with the lads herself . . . Jodie Foster is getting an all-star cast together for her next directorial venture. Flora Plum. Ewan McGregor and Meryl Streep will appear in a love story about a circus freak during the Depression . . . The glorious success of Channel 4's Faking it has led the BBC to come up with their own version. Each week The Good, the Bad and the Ugly pits a successful professional. a disastrous failure and a rank amateur together as they apply for the same job . . . As Boy George sees his life flash before his eyes with the release of a 73- track box set to commemorate 20 years of Culture Club (no. I can't imagine more than two of them will be listenable either). he is only intent on looking to the future. Mr O'Dowd will make a guest appearance as himself in the Hogmanay Hollyoake.