Brew-Tang

Brew-Tang is the coffee shop downstairs at the School Of Electronic Music. It's run by an affable guy called Aidan, who has an unhurried approach to commerce. In fact, and to be honest, I'm not quite sure how he stays in business.

Occasionally, he will do a little something to encourage trade: there's a small A-board out on the pavement, for example, and sometimes he'll have a DJ playing. There's also a rack of t-shirts but it's not quite clear whether they are for sale or have just been left in the foyer by someone else.

The latest addition is some racks of vinyl records, which Aidan told me someone bought from a charity shop. With a shrug and a smile, he explained they were a mixed bag, and there was no actual selection process in their purchase. 

Three records caught my eye. One was by Madonna, and I only really noted that because the Minx is a fan. The second was the Johnny Cash album, which I assume is related to the odd, 1969 documentary of the same name. Cash was the first artist who I discovered for myself, when I would have been ten or eleven and living in Hong Kong. I would buy bootlegged cassettes of his music at the market called The Poor Man's Nightclub.

And then there's the Roy Orbison album. He was one of the artists that my day would play us when we were young, along with The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys, Simon And Garfunkel, and, until my mum put a stop to it, Dr Hook. It was only many, many years later that I came to realise what good taste he had and how his listening switched me onto music.