Plastics

It was during his time as a student and on several trips abroad, when Manuel C. Puñonrostro He started to save plastic bags every time he visited a record store. A small souvenir to remember the treasures that fell from each purchase. A hobby that continued on his return to Madrid and continued to grow with stores throughout Spain until one day he realized that his stuff could begin to be considered a collection. From that collection was born the idea for this interesting book, which is nothing more than a powerful nostalgic vehicle to remember everything that these stores have given us over the years. PLASTICSedited by The Fonotecapays a nice tribute to the much-missed network of establishments that flooded the country and that unfortunately continues to diminish today.

There are about 200 bags and a few stories behind them that allow us to look back and claim those spaces that are becoming less and less common every day, which turned every city, every town or every neighbourhood into something more than a refuge for music lovers. A place that not only offered a vast collection of vinyl, CDs or cassettes, but also served as a meeting point for music lovers, where music was shared and experienced. A cultural sanctuary of continuous discovery where we could go regularly to get lost in its bins and see what was new, what offers there were or the recommendations of our trusted shop assistant. These were not times of the Internet, nor did we have the current overdose of prescribers; our own work was enough, searching in magazines or on the radio, listening to our most knowledgeable friends, looking in the shop windows or venturing through its shelves. That has been lost. Digitalisation and the immediacy of streaming have redefined the relationship we have with music, transforming that tangible and almost ritualistic experience into a practically mechanical act of instant and often fleeting consumption. A transition that has made what were pillars of the urban cultural fabric practically disappear from the landscape of our cities. Many will say that not everything is lost because many of these veteran stores are still standing and even, from time to time, new ones continue to open. In the end, their survival depends on us maintaining the commitment to keep them alive. We will win.

PLASTICS looks to the past, but also has an eye on the present. Without a specific order, neither alphabetical nor geographical, we will remember some of these establishments through the design of these bags, with the support of invited local clients. There they are. Joan Vich (Ground Control) remembering Runaway in Palma; Mar Alvarez (Pauline at the Beach) claiming the mythical and long-lived Paradiso in Gijón; Andres Perez Perruca (The Worm Boy) telling us about the now defunct Plasticland Discos from Zaragoza assembled by his friends Peter Vizcaino (Recordings at sea) and the longed for Sergio Algora; the journalist Marta Salicrú (Radio Primavera Sound) taking us on a trip to Tallers street in Barcelona and inviting us to cd.drome; Eric Jiménez (Nick Lizard, The Planets), remembering the early 80s with Discos Melody («University of the Granada scene») o Jaime Cristobal (I like) of Zeppelin records in Pamplona. Along with them, Anthony (The Punsetes), Leire Zabala (Manes), journalists Rafa Cervera, Marta Moreira y Raquel Peláez, Carlos Galán Subterfuge, Miguel Stamp, Borja Prieto o la Dj White DBamong many others.

See the bags of Discoplay, Oldies Records, Record Sevilla, La Metralleta, Bora Bora, Del Sur, Paradiso, Marilians Records, Revólver, El Molar… will bring to mind a thousand and one moments associated with them and our favorite records. As he comments Mickey Puig In the prologue, choosing a store was like choosing a football team, political party or favourite beer and everything brings us back to our selves when we remember them.

You can buy the book Book: PLASTICS of Manuel C. Puñonrostro in the web from his publisher.