Classical Britain

The Last Classical Music Store

Brian Reinhart | Texas Monthly | 25th February 2022

Bittersweet account of a visit to one of the last known music shops to specialise entirely in classical music on CD. Many regular customers are older and don't like streaming. The vastness of the classical catalogue makes it difficult to diversify into selling CDs online — without the expert in the shop to help, how can someone know which recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony they want? (1,195 words)

Does Britain Exist?

Tim Watkins | Consciousness Of Sheep | 24th February 2022

Provocative musings on the shifting geopolitics of the British Isles. The era of imperial Britain and even the United Kingdom is over, it is argued here. These entities are merely "a brief interruption of simpler and far more localised political entities such as the Norman duchies and earldoms or Anglo-Saxon and Celtic kingdoms". Chances, are a new Wessex will emerge in the south (1,913 words)

Video: Arooj Aftab: Tiny Desk | NPR Music. Sultry set from the Pakistani singer and an accomplished ensemble of instrumentalists, performed live in a deserted convent in Brooklyn, New York (22m 13s)

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Afterthought:
"Fashions come and go; bad taste is timeless"
— Beau Brummell