Undercover Records, 5 Sternhold Avenue, Streatham Hill
Undercover is a second vinyl record shop just round the back of Streatham Hill station. I wanted to write about it because...there's an underlying assumption behind this blog that shops are more than just shops. That is, they have a value, an intent, a power and resonance that lies beyond the merely commercial. That they aim to shape and reflect the world they sit in. That they want to tell us things. That they are ways to learn about ourselves and each other. In some, or even in many, cases that assumption relies on wishful thinking, a day dream. But then you go into a shop like Undercover and it's right there: this place is, and is intended to be, more than just a shop. MC, the owner of Undercover set up a few years back, starting the shop to sell off pieces of his vast record collection. He'd play music in the shop and sometimes you'd hear it on the street. This isn't unusual in South London of course, and is one of the good things about living round here....
