Clash to seek out UK's best music stores

In a time when even HMV and Zavvi are closing stores in submission to the domination of internet shopping and downloading, is there any real hope for our independent music stores?

Online shopping for music is faceless and subversive of everything it stands for: in exchange for illusive money that may or may not exist from your representing chip ‘n’ pin card, you receive infinite 'sounds' that float in cyberspace. That is your transaction complete. No please. No thank you. No mild shop-keep banter. Nothing to carry home. No walk home. No passion.

Online shopping has ripped the soul of the music industry straight from its arse, and left a faceless bank of chimerical music in its place.

The survival of the record shop has directly correlated with the driving force of online music sales and even the under-cuttings of supermarkets. The vibrant hubbub of the local record store seems irrelevant when you can pop to Tesco for milk and come back with 'Rave Classics 08'.

And then there is eBay. There is some serious interaction on eBay. Find some second-hand vinyl you like and thus follows an endurance test of cyber networking. Bidding, bidding again, leaving the screen for a cuppa to return and find your last bid was out-bid by a higher bidder. Let’s not forget, everything about you is judged by your seller rating. So disorganised/busy people who don't distribute vintage Level 42 vinyl on time are permanently branded the purest, fraudulent evil, to the eyes of the auctioneering network.

One thing is for sure: the independent record stores that do still exist are held closely within the hearts of the community surrounding them. For this reason, in 2009, Clash plans to turn Britain inside out, upside down, tap on its shoulder and trip it up, until we have found the best record stores on this fair isle.

Fight the corner for your local and let us know where YOU want us to visit. No town avoided, no store ignored.

Name your favourite record stores – the outlets we need to call at – by registering with ClashMusic.com and commenting below. Alternatively e-mail joe@clashmusic.com with details of the store in question.

We look forward to hearing your suggestions before we book a load of train tickets and get some serious investigating underway.