Mogwai's Young Team and Stuart Braithwaite

After so many hours on my feet over the last three days at Norwich Sound and Vision it was a welcome excuse that caused me to take a gentle drive down the A140 on Sunday afternoon to Stowmarket, home to the wonderful John Peel Centre for Creative Arts.

Located right in the town centre, and tucked away adjacent to the 14th century church of St Peter and St Mary, this former corn exchange opened early in 2013 as a 250 capacity arts venue for mid-Suffolk. Sunday's event was the third in a series of Classic Album Sundays, a chance to listen to a classic album on a Sunday (no shit, Sherlock?) along with an audience consisting of the curious as well as fellow music geeks.

Before I lose your interest altogether, let me explain. The influential DJ and broadcaster in whose honour and memory the John Peel Centre was conceived and established owned a vast record collection, which is now being sorted and preserved via the John Peel Archive project. During this session we were going to listen to his own personal vinyl copy of Mogwai's debut album, Young Team, played in its entirety. On a top of the range dream hi-fi system, consisting of a bank-busting £75,000 worth of Audio Tone speakers, amplifiers and turntable. The afternoon would be curated by American broadcaster and DJ Colleen 'Cosmo' Murphy, and (this is the bit that will regain your attention) we would be joined by Mr Mogwai himself, the one and only Stuart Braithwaite, for an interview session and  Q&A.

The venue was laid out very informally, with tables for six, a small bar, and each table provided with a bowl of nibbles and a tealight for added ambience. Curiously, some of the earlier arrivals had opted to sit well to the left or the right in the hall, despite the empty seats at the centre tables. Some of those present had also decided not to shuffle their chairs through ninety degrees to allow both  ears to point forwards. Very odd.

Colleen Murphy, curator of Classic Album Sundays, a warm and friendly New Yorker with a encyclopaedic knowledge of music, and vinyl in particular, introduces Stewart Braithwaite to the stage and conducts the interview, which runs for just short of one hour. Braithwaite is a quiet and modest man, so there were few wild rock and roll anecdotes or indiscretions with which to regale us. Instead, he answers the obvious questions regarding his early musical influences and preferences, of how Mogwai came to be, and how Young Team was written and recorded. He admits that the band's original ambitions did not extend beyond having their records played on the  John Peel radio show (they ended up recording no less than five sessions for John's show) , and for the chance to perform at Glasgow's Barrowlands. He is relaxed under Colleen's gentle probing, and we do at least get him to name his five favourite albums of all time. One of them, 'Disintegration' by The Cure was coincidentally playing as we came in.

After a short break, and a request to ensure that our mobile phones are turned off, we get the chance to listen to the album itself – sides one and two first, a short break, then sides three and four. The lights have been dimmed, we have been asked not to talk, and are encouraged to close our eyes and 'give ourselves up to the music'. I admit that this does all sound a bit geeky and pretentious, and as someone who has become accustomed to simply slipping the CD version into my hi-fi and listening to the whole thing in one go, a bit of a bother. Despite conversations with many audio 'experts' I still haven't gotten around to buying a new turntable after selling my entire vinyl collection twenty years ago. I am still sitting on the fence over this whole 'vinyl versus digital' debate.