From david turgeon Sent Fri, Mar 19th 1999, 18:34
From david turgeon Sent Fri, Mar 19th 1999, 18:34
andrew, first, nice commentary, although it's mostly common sense. :) > Buy a turntable--it doesn’t have to be a Technics 1200-- > you can get a good used model at a flea market/pawn shop just about > anywhere. If you’re just buying CDs, there’s a lot of good music > available only on vinyl that you’re missing out on. But, in the same > regard, buy the records because you enjoy the music--don’t be sucked > into the hopes of becoming a superstar DJ. Enjoy music for the sake of > it; leave the ulterior motives behind. this makes me wonder--i mean, i love vinyl & all, & i'm about to get my first turntable (not a technics!), but why in hell is there so much stuff released on vinyl as opposed to cd? is there some hidden rule about cds being unsuitable for electronic music? is pressing vinyl cheaper? (i heard it wasn't.) > Support your local music store before the national chain; support your > local music scene and put an end to the sad reality that most artists > are never appreciated in their own area. Listen to everything before i was thinking about that lately. the scene in montréal is downright pathetic, but then again, the rare things that come out don't get any recognition from the local stores. i was in a store recently & 2 french girls (french as in from france, with the accent & all) asked the clerk for local stuff. i had already spotted 2-3 releases which i knew were local just from reading a few recent reviews, but the guy basically said that he didn't have anything local. moreover, record stores rarely buy anything local--they always do consignment. i understand the motive behind that, but the rule gets kind of tedious. how do you expect a record store to support (i.e. sell) something that they won't even take the time to listen to & then back with real money? someone on the list recently said that "in chicago every record store has thrill jockey stuff". i'd say that this is probably one of the things that makes the chicago music scene so strong; they are supported by record stores. then again, did the stores support those labels when they were small & thriving? i would suppose that they did--otherwise, how else could they have started? (maybe someone can hook me up with real info to back or attack this assertion.) my point is that much of the unknown stuff i buy, i discovered because of a knowledgeable record store clerk. so many of them, however, will look at you strange whenever you ask them a question: "how does this sound?" "who's that?" usually they barely know what it is. many seem to not read any news or reviews. the other problem with record stores is that once one of them has one rare/import release-of-the-moment, everybody else has to have it. i was all happy recently when i found the 0161 cd, then i found out that every other record store had gotten the same deal recently. i don't have anything against music being widely available, but it often seems to me like no store ever orders things that aren't in the "new releases" of the current catalogue. (then again, this is merely a personal point of view about a situation which happens in many, but thank god not all local record stores. it's also mostly about idm--i couldn't say if the other areas of electronic music are well-covered or not.) oh, & your point about large music chains is quite valid. even if you find good electronic music instore, don't expect anybody in there to know about it (unless one of the employees happens to be a technohead, but then again--"so how's this new autechre cd?" "waaaaaayyyyy fucked up dude....") this is because unlike independent record stores, employees cannot choose the music that they listen to instore, or borrow cds for home listening. thus, unless they _buy_ the releases, they're completely in the dark as to what exactly they're selling. this rant is probably quite redundant, but you guys get the drift so that's it for this message. :) -- david turgeon curator, http://www.notype.com web programmer, http://www.jumpmedia.com xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx - icq #2358960