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Don't Download This: DJ Albo Puts His Hands In The Air For Indie Records

The senior Labor pollie is now an ambassador for Record Store Day.
Anthony Albanese's DJ Albo gig at Melbourne's Corner Hotel.
Fairfax media
Anthony Albanese's DJ Albo gig at Melbourne's Corner Hotel.

CANBERRA -- It is not often a senior politician has an alter ego. But after dark, Anthony Albanese is known to become the spinner of current tunes and iconic 80s and 90s tracks under the guise of DJ Albo.

The former Deputy Prime Minister and Shadow Transport and Infrastructure spokesman's love of all things Nick Cave and The Pixies has now earned him an ambassadorship for indie record shops: the seventh ambassador for Record Store Day in Australia.

The politician and one-time Rage host insists the importance of independent record stores extends well beyond economics.

"Independent music stores are critical to the music industry and to our communities," Albanese said.

"You won't find many recordings of local emerging bands in your city in the big chains stores, but you will find them in independent record stores."

DJ Albo plays a set at an ALP Fundraiser on December 4, 2015 in Brisbane.
Robert Shakespeare/Fairfax Media)
DJ Albo plays a set at an ALP Fundraiser on December 4, 2015 in Brisbane.

It is a music love affair worthy of Nick Hornby's novel "High Fidelity," which Albanese has described as "awesome."

"Record stores bring people together," he said, noting that REM's Michael Stipe and Peter Buck met in a Georgia record store in the late 1970s.

There are more 180 independent record stores in Australia fighting to survive against online downloads, and Albanese has praised every single one of them.

DJ Albo on the deks.
Robert Shakespeare/Fairfax Media
DJ Albo on the deks.

"It goes to culture, to our lived experience and the way we understand and engage with the world," Albanese said.

"In 2017, you can download or stream the latest song by your favourite artist without leaving your lounge chair.

"But you don't get the experience of seeking it out in a record store, thereby opening yourself to a world of music you might never have heard."

Anthony Albanese

Albanese joins six non pollies in the gig, The Choirboy's Mark Gable, The Go-Between's Robert Forster, Briggs and Trails' A.B. Original, singer/songwriter Catherine Britt, Instagrammer and vinyl enthusiast Steve Kouta and musician Tim Dalton.

This is no one off thing for the member for Newtown, ahem, Grayndler in Sydney. The inner city MP has long been known as a music fan and purveyor of independent records and CDs.

The 10th annual International Record Store Day is being marked next month on April 22.

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