Soul Jazz founder Stuart Baker and critic Jon Savage on the rise and fall of punk

Stuart Baker, Alexis Petridis and Jon Savage (l-r)

If there's one thing old punks like discussing - it's when punk began and when it died. And so it was that, amid a talk at Rough Trade East primarily about punk 45 sleeves, Soul Jazz records founder Stuart Baker and punk writer Jon Savage turned to the rise and fall of their beloved genre.

Savage's opinion was that, by the Sex Pistols released Never Mind the Bollocks, the buzz around the band synonymous with the genre had already begun to dissipate. Baker, who was a younger punk at the time, believed that while no punk bands sold out, the zeitgeist simply shifted on.

The event itself was an interesting one. To mark the launch of a new book, 'The Singles Cover Art of Punk 1976-80', a collaboration between Baker and Savage featuring some fantastic, iconic imagery.  Everything from the Voidoids to the Stooges feature although Baker's favourite sleeve - featuring a man with his head stuck in a fence - could not be found, he says.

Baker and Savage, marshalled by Guardian journalist and chair Alexis Petridis, also discuss influences on punk design including Pistols sleeve honcho Jamie Reid. The audience features plenty of first generation punks and one pointedly asks whether the genre will die with them. While there's plenty of nods, Baker believes the spirit of a genre which ripped up the rule book, and some of the landmark tunes that went with it, will go on for generations. I tend to agree.

Jon Savage and Stuart Baker debate when punk ended.

Could tapes follow vinyl and make a comeback after Cassette Store Day?

If the crunch of a TDK FE90 gets your hair standing on end then the first International Cassette Store Day was a treat. The celebration of the magnetic reel in plastic casing followed swiftly on the heels of the large-scale Record Store Day celebrations in April across the globe. 

Tape day is an event on a much smaller scale, not least as most consigned their tape decks to the attic in the early 2000s, but contains much of the same spirit. The desire to support independent music and look a little different and cool at the same time has driven the creation of both days while guilt over the torrent of free music enjoyed by fans is possibly also a factor.

There are a handful of great events worldwide. A plethora of great shops across the country - from Pie & Vinyl in Southsea to The Music Exchange in Nottingham sold exclusive tapes from the likes of Los Campesinos! and Bonnie Prince Billy. Labels including 4AD, Transgressive and Wichita re-released classics from the likes of At the Drive-In and Deerhunter on tape which were sold across Europe, North America and the UK. In Brooklyn, US there's a tape fair while Tokyo hosted live music.

In London, Rough Trade East and West sold the tapes and the former hosted a couple of live bands. A cluster of tape fanatics quickly surrounded the limited wares on the shop's counter as soon as they went on sale and pawed over their carefully put together casing and beautiful artwork. 

Personally, I love the format. As described in Tom Bonnett's beautifully put together interview with me earlier in the week, tapes offer an honest and enticing way to release music. Homemade tapes - which, it appears, did not kill music - can be used to convey everything from romance to pure serendipitous sharing of music while artists' releases can soundtrack a car journey perfectly on tape. At the day, I picked up a couple of crackers - an exclusive mixtape by Jeremiah Jae and Teebs and a special Lex release of JJ Doom's Key to the Kuffs which sees MF Doom team up with the likes of Thom Yorke and Beck. Glorious.

The resurgence of vinyl over the last decade has been driven by a number of factors including more people DJing at home, a desire for a product worth paying for in a digital music world and the popularity of 7"s for indie bands. For tapes too, the use of them as something different to offer fans by cultish bands has become increasingly commonplace and has sparked a mini revival. 

However, with many tape decks on the scrap heap, their traditional home of the car glove box now dominated by a Sat-Nav and the fact even staunch musos can't say the quality is better on tape will make this a much harder battle. For now, let's be happy that the nerdy part of our desire for music to feel authentic is appeased by this celebration of a much love format. 

Record Store Day 2013: Partying and parting with dosh

Sounds of the Universe enjoys a healthy crowd

The importance of record store day in reviving people's interests in buying physical records cannot be underestimated. As someone who loves buying old and new records, CDs, music magazines and fanzines, having physical stores in which to snaffle the latest Ninja Tune delight or discover a new recommendation is vital.

But it's also not a day for the preachy, everyone knows records are great and some of us know it's more important to spend your wages on them than, say, food or bills. Yesterday's sixth annual Record Store Day was as vintage as they come as attendees basked in the spring sunshine across the country.

Personally, I had a nip down to Rough Trade West only to find a gigantic queue back to Portobello Road as shoppers thronged to get hold of exclusives only stocked on that day. Then it was over to Soho where Foyles were also celebrating and Broadwick Street and Berwick Street had been closed and a large stage erected on the latter. As far as shopping went, I plundered Sounds of the Universe - one of my favourite shop's in the world - and emerged with some great stuff including Martyn's Ghost People (Brainfeeder) which is proving a pulsating banger of an album. 

What struck me was how the serene art of shuffling round record shops had become essentially a mini-festival (complete with outdoor boozing, stewards and nips into pubs for the loo) with various stages and people looking ridiculously trendy. The main stage outside one-time ShadowPlay stockist Sister Ray ploughed the indie rock furrow and Black Market Records on D'Arbley Street hosted some great house and dubstep. 

The biggest cheer of the day came when a bloke in a Bentley attempted to get through the crowds looking exasperated, was roundly booed before a Majestic Wine van stacked with booze is cheered by a crowd feeling quite anti-establishment having tininess in the street. Sounds of the Universe was its usual eclectic self with plenty of Soul Jazz Records delights with speakers outside, finishing with a storming set from Neil Birnie who's SunCut show on NTS is worth a listen. 

One gripe was that it would have been good to have the set times for the bands easily accessible online - given the length of the event - and I also missed the Last Shop Standing author Graham Jones' Q&A for the same reason which was gutting. It would've also been good to have some of the independent labels taking stalls - as has been the case in previous events - down Berwick Street but maybe that would've undermined the shops. But it's hard to criticise a free, fun event.

Ultimately records will always remain close to my heart as they allow you to have a physical relationship with music which can genuinely change your life. Moreover, with a terrible memory like mine, a physical reminder to listen to something is vital. 

I don't believe every town, or even every city, will have a record shop - independent or otherwise - in the future and I hate that fact. Record stores are not charities, and many of those who work in them are rather grumpy, but they do need support to allow great labels and great artists to have an interesting and enjoyable avenue in which to be discovered. A record store's for life, not just for record store day.