I stopped in to my local Best Buy last night to pick up the new Spoon (Spoooooon!) album, which of course they didn’t have. So I began to browse for a few other CD’s on my “buy me some day” list. I wandered over to the J’s to look for some guilty-pleasure music (as mentioned in a previous post), and came away with one of two (not the one I really wanted). Slightly frustrated, I headed over to the dance section not expecting to find what I was looking for, and didn’t. More frustrated now, I head over to the “new release” / “bestseller” section, thinking perhaps the aformentioned Spoon album would be there. No, just the same tired selection of shitty hip-hop and washed-up pop stars. Finally, on my way to the check-out line, I swing by the H’s looking for Dare!, an eighties classic. They didn’t even have a placeholder for The Human League; instead I ran into two rows of William Hung.
The reality is, my local Best Buy (and perhaps all Best Buy’s) exemplify the Walmart Effect. Large big-box moves in to an area. Big-box offers large and varied CD selection and prices them as loss-leaders to bring in the customers. Local and national record stores drop their prices to stop the hemoraging of customers, to little avail. Eventually, all real competition in the area is out of business (as was the case for my local Tower Records). Big-box then begins to cut-back on their CD selection, offering large quantities only on albums they’re paid an incentive to carry, as they’ve discovered (or perhaps knew all along) that it doesn’t make good financial sense to give over so much floor space to items they make little-to-no profit on. The end-result is that people like myself and many of my friends, who have a geniune love for good music, are left to do our CD shopping on Amazon or iTunes. The former makes me pay for shipping and wait for my CD, the later gives me DRM-laden poor-quality reproductions, and both options kill the actual phsyical experience of CD shopping, for which there’s something to be said.
So, where does all of this leave me? I ended up leaving with A Funk Odyssey, a groovy little album with a few low spots but generally a good purchase. It was, however, at the bottom of my list. I’ll probably pick up Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga locally when I find it (or kite it from Bradley), and I now see that Dare! is up on iTunes Plus for only $8. I’ve given up finding Towa Tei anywhere but Amazon, and I’ll leave Synkronized for a future guilty-pleasure shopping experience…
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Tags: Life, Music.
Stop what you’re doing right now, and buy both of The Shins‘ albums. These are some of the best rock albums I’ve heard from the past 10 years. They’re wonderfully produced, yet still manage to have a rough, indie feel to them. Their second album, Chutes Too Narrow, is more melodic and poppy than their first, Oh, Inverted World, but both are beautiful to the ears and soul alike. Trust me, buy them.
This has been a public service of Mr Chuckles dot net.
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Tags: Life, Music.
As I was re-arranging my workspace last night, I decided to pop the Secret World Live DVD in to the DVD player. I needed something I didn’t have to really pay much attention to, and I was in the mood for music, so I figured it would fit the bill. Watching that performance and listening to the music reminded me of how much I enjoy Peter Gabriel’s work. However, it also served to remind me that Secret World Live was Peter Gabriel at his best, and that he will probably never rise to that level again. I enjoy many songs from Up, and I did enjoy myself at the Growing Up tour, but it took 10 years to get that material. Plus, as enjoyable as the Growing Up tour was, it wasn’t nearly as fun as Secret World Live feels, nor was the musical quality as high. Maybe it’s because Peter is getting older, or is devoting more time to his charitable work. Maybe it’s because the Secret World Live CD was my first exposure to Gabriel, and it left a strong impression. I can’t say. I’m sure I’ll continue buying future Gabriel albums, and I may even attend future tours if they occur. However, when I think of how good Peter Gabriel’s work is, I’ll always think to Secret World Live.
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Tags: Life, Music.
Reading through a survey thread on Fark which asked users to nominate their top five rock ‘n’ roll songs, I noticed a large percentage of users posted something from Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album. This, of course, prompted me to pull up the tracks in iTunes and refresh my memory. I subsequently listened to the entire album. Then I realized, for my money, I can’t think of a better rock ‘n roll album. I mean real rock, not today’s rock, which is usually a hybrid of styles, not pop, not the ambiguous "alternative", just good, clean, rock ‘n roll.
Besides, I still have fond memories of laughing my ass off with Brad when I first heard the "bridge" (or lack thereof) from The Ocean. And those memories are priceless.
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Tags: Life, Music.
Okay, now I’m really upset. After my ecstatic post the other day hailing the coming of Orbital’s next album, I’ve just read it will be their last. I almost cried.
Orbital is quite possibly my favorite “band” of all time. I listen to a lot of different styles of music, but most of my friends know me for my love of electronica (they usually just call it gay porn music). I discovered Orbital in the summer of 1996, while on a trip to King’s Dominion with my wife. Up until that point, my only exposure to electronica had been the Chemical Brothers and Future Sound of London. I liked the raw energy of both, but I knew there had to be more. We were staying two days at King’s Dominion, so we hit a local mall for some food. While there, I wondered into a music store and started browsing. I’d heard mention of Orbital in passing, but had never taken the time to find them until then. I purchased In Sides (their most recent at the time), and fell in love. I was hit with a barrage of sounds, both electronic and acoustic in nature, as well as a myriad of samples, all wonderfully layered. As I listened longer, unique patterns began to form in songs, which slide in, out, and around other patterns. The whole time I sat there and listened to it, I thought “so this is what electronica is supposed to be”.
Since that time, I have come to own all of their U.S. LP releases, and have begun to search for U.K. imports and singles with rare b-sides. Each album has its own sound, but they’re all infused with the spirit and style of Orbital. Every time I hear a new track, I’m reminded of that first listen to In Sides, I hear the layers build up, slide around, and fall apart. It makes me smile…
I have never found another artist that can match Orbital’s style, substance, and class. I’m quite certain I never will. Hats off to you, brothers Hartnoll, thanks for the music!
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Tags: Life, Music.
June 21st, 2004. w00t!
Man, I hope they release this in the US around the same time. Otherwise, I’ll be phoning the UK to place an order…
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Tags: Life, Music.
Picked up Radiohead’s newest album, Hail to the Thief, a few weeks ago (okay, the day it came out). What a fantastic album. Everything flows very well, and you can tell the production quality is very high. It seems to blend the styles of Kid A and The Bends, although it’s definitely more similar to the former. Favorite songs of mine include There There, A Punchup at a Wedding, and Go to Sleep. I think this album just replaced Kid A as my “introduction to Radiohead”. In my opinion, it’s just as good as The Bends, and is by far their best work that represents their current style (The Bends is an excellent album, however, it’s “old Radiohead”).
Anyway, if you like Radiohead, you probably already own this album. If you’ve never heard them, pick it up. Even if you hate them, pick this up. You just might find you like it…
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Tags: Life, Music.
All I can say is, wow. admittedly, I’m a big fan of Everything but the girl, but this album is beautiful. Song selection and placement is excellent. Loaded with extras, it’s a good buy even if you have most of their studio LPs. Buy it, like it.
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Tags: Life, Music.
I finally picked up The Crystal Method’s second CD (yeah, the one that came out in 2001), and I really like it. It’s a lot more upbeat, with heavier hitting base, than their freshman offering. It doesn’t vary a lot in basic song composition from their first CD, but if the formula works, why change it?
Plus, I finally figured out the song Nike used in their movie theater adds all summer. Name of the Game.
Aside: Now, how weird is this. I just went to the CDNow/Amazon website to grab some links for this post, and the opening page had “Your Recommendations” as being Vegas, The Crystal Method’s first album. I am listening to Tweekend on my computer right now, but I’m using a freeware CD player, not big brother. Coincidence? You decide.
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Tags: Life, Music.
The jazz aficionado at work has turned me onto a great radio station out of Seattle. KPLU.org streams top-shelf jazz 24×7 via Windows Media and Real Player without commercial interruption. They’re an NPR station, so they also offer NPR news casts at the top of every hour. Check them out, and don’t forgot to donate if you become a regular listener.