Plenty more Swordfish (and gigs) in the city

One of Swordfish's busier days...

Heard some great news from one of the owners of Swordfish Records - the last remaining independent record shop in Birmingham City centre - at Mostly Jazz over the weekend. Regular readers may recall a post from last year announcing that they were closing. Now, after a little renegotiation with an understanding landlord, they’ve decided to stay open. Hurrah! Given that HMV is ditching music in favour of flogging dishwashers, cat food and suppositories, Swordfish could well soon be the only place to physically buy music in Birmingham. If you’ve never been in there pop along (if you have, pop back). You’ll find them in Temple Street (just up the hill a bit from Tesco Metro on the left hand side). Gaz and Mike (the dudes behind the shop) really know their stuff and are quite happy to chew the fat for a few hours, recommend the kind of cool shit you need to hear and track down hard to find releases for you. They’ve got a pretty impressive collection of bargain second hand vinyl too...

In other great news (via the good folk at Conteract Magazine) the old Birmingham Academy / Hummingbird venue is reopening as a live music venue in September as the Birmingham Ballroom. Relax, it ain’t going to be a strictly come dancing joint. Instead the owners seem to be promising an alternative to the big corporate boys behind the HMV Institute and O2 Academy. If they can do a pint at less than a fiver that’ll be a bloody great start. Hopefully they’ll hook up with local brewers too and serve up something a little more palatable than Tuborg, Carling or Strongbow. Rancid donkey piss strained through an incontinent tramp’s Y-fronts would be an improvement. Sign up to the Ballroom mailing list here.