From Mark Barton Sent Tue, Oct 19th 1999, 09:21
From Mark Barton Sent Tue, Oct 19th 1999, 09:21
hi david, i think that i agree with you pretty much about not buying material 'on spec'. although i think that my reasons for this may be slightly different, in so much as i just got bored of getting stuff home only to find that it was completely mediocre! i also figure that i have a finite amount of cash with which to purchase new music and i'd rather spend that money on hearing stuff that will challenge me rather than buying another more-of-the-same release. cheers, mark. http://www.mp3.com/barkertrax >> hi david, >> this isn't meant to sound like a challenge!! >> but i'd be interested in knowing which acts you feel are being obscured by >> the larger artists? > >it's not a matter of who's being obscured & who's not. it's more of a >global thing: a select few get lots of press & talk among music >enthusiasts while a bunch gets none, no matter how good they are. >pointing at actual acts wouldn't help the situation, in fact it wouldn't >say anything other than 'i like these guys, but i have the hardest >freaking time finding their records in the stores i go because they >don't sound _standard_.' > >the other problem is that while i'd be happy if there was more talk >about say, funckarma or while rather than autechre & boards of canada >(to only talk of purely idm stuff), this is merely a personal >preference. what irks me isn't the fact that people don't talk about my >favorite bands, but rather that the same few bands get all the attention >over & over & that there is comparatively very little talk (& very >little commercial backing) for other acts. > >this leads to the following absurd situation: autechre could record a >12" of farts on warp while a fledging new band will have the hardest >time getting any attention (we're not even beginning to talk of pressing >a good 12") unless they start sounding like someone known. you may say >that there's nothing you can do about the general situation... but >there's something you can do locally, if you find yourself interested in >fringe acts: get informed, try new bands, check out new stuff. > >that said, if autechre (which is the example i'm using mostly because it >gets most of the talk on this list, & understandably so) rocks your >cradle more than any act in the world ever will, this doesn't apply to >you. my problem is with 'habit buying': people shelling out money for >skam/mas stuff no matter how they sound, without even the intent of >collecting them or anything ~ all they want is new music, but they'll >buy only what they know. > >as may be applicable with everything i say, 'if the hat fits...' > >~ david >