DRMing of less exciting times

The promised appearance of DRM-free, higher bit-rate AAC files on iTunes occurred during the last 24 hours, and as you've no doubt noticed when peering out of the window - the world is a better place. Or not. I've just paid my £3.27 to upgrade my EMI tracks to DRM-free and it's astounding to see how poorly the download manager is handling this process. Some files are stalling, some are refusing to download at all. Where they not expecting people to want this? Did they think that people enjoyed the 'rights-protected' (whose?) files of old?

It still annoys me that I've had to shop with iTunes in the past. Yes, I know, I didn't have to, I chose to click 'purchase'. But anyone who collects all of the material by their favourite acts will know that you will track down every last song, and so when said artist goes 'iTunes exclusive' with two tracks you know you'll find yourself clicking along with everybody else. The files I'm updating are The Divine Comedy and The Good, The Bad & Queen as a result of recent singles / EPs that were only released as downloads. They're mainly inessential items shoved on the internet in the hope of bolstering the chart position. TGTB&TQ's 'Live From SoHo' is a cracking little set, using strings to great effect, but the majority of the Divine Comedy stuff is live and demo material that barely warrants one listen, let alone multiple plays.

That said, my major problem with downloading remains the lack of anything to show for it. Yes, I have a digital file on my computer, but where's the CD to go in the rack? Where's the gatefold 7" vinyl to put amongst the other indie singles? Quality's not often an issue, although when I've paid attention it is possible to spot the difference, but the sense that any CD I make is just a CD-R I've burned in my crumby PC is a constant aesthetic problem for me. Some of my favourite items of recent times have real attention to detail. The recent reissue of the first proper soul compilation, 'This Is Soul' came in a mini-LP style gatefold sleeve, while Tom Waits' 'Orphans' was presented in a delightful hardback book. Yesterday's time-consuming arrival, the 'Girl Group Sounds' boxset, is a thing of wonder and this all adds to the experience. I want to spend my time digging around for records that look outstanding in their original sleeves or trawling shops for the limited edition digipack version of an indie record from ten years back. I'm not sure there's quite so much emotional investment in the music when you boot up iTunes and click away.
I bought a wonderful compilation yesterday on the Soul Jazz label. Collecting material by The Sisters Love, 'Give Me Your Love' featured some raw, passionate and visceral soul that I'd never even heard of before, let alone listened to. I was drawn to it by a snazzy cover and then the fact that it's on such a reliable label. I can't see myself trudging through iTunes in the same way. Where's the interaction, the sense of community?
I'm aware I sound quite hippy-ish about this, and don't expect much in the way of agreement, but I adore my physical record collection and still can't quite bring myself to make any proper headway with the art of downloading, despite a keen interest in all things technology. I'll continue to grudgingly purchase things I can't get anywhere else but that's all. Oddly enough, this has led me to actually realise I love CDs, despite their limitations. Vinyl sounds great, looks great and feels great, but I'm a product of the CD generation and I'll never forget those hours after school spent digging around in the second hand racks of my local independent store. "Roll up, roll up, get your dusty AAC files here, one careful owner," isn't really an option, is it?

Sorry. Busy today

Thanks to this delivery.

Yup, still dead

The more the label/estate continue to milk Jeff Buckley's legacy to the point of quite disagreeably obvious money-grabbing desperation, the less I like him. Now, I know this shouldn't reflect on his music but it's hard to see the CDs on the shelf as a separate entity. Today marks ten years since Jeff took one of the most ill-advised paddles in history, and predicatably enough some people scent cash.
I went through a period of loving his stuff. I played 'Grace' for an age, then I picked up 'Sketches...' and 'Mystery White Boy'. And then 'Live A L'Olympia', then 'The Grace EPs', then the 'Sin-E - Legacy Edition' and most recently the 'Grace - Legacy Edition'. In addition I have the 'Live In Chicago' DVD. Most of these purchases involved the notion of potentially seeking out some unheard majesty to match the marvels of his debut album. Nothing was ever quite that engaging. These days, 'Live At Sin-E - Legacy 2CD set' is the one I derive most pleasure from. The random wittering and wandering into tunes aside, there's plenty of outstanding playing and singing on this set and it captures his talent more purely than any other release, in my book at least.

Now you can say, 'well, nobody forced you to buy all of that' and you'd be quite right. But anyone who's even vaguely obsessive about music knows what it's like as a collector and I even bought that 'Songs To No-One' guff featuring Gary Lucas. However, I've drawn the line recently with all of this 'So Real' marketing.
They've released a 7" of 'Hallelujah' this week!! Oh look, here's some more collectible shite for you. Oddly enough, it's a £3 7" rather than a more conventional 99p job. Strange that. In addition there's the 'best of' CD, 'So Real', with conveniently added traces of unreleased material to try and get another purchase. Not this time thanks. They've even repacked the 'Live At Chicago' DVD with the same sleeve as the CD best of, and yet in the most clear example of the constant money grabbing, when you turn it over, the back sleeve is the original artwork from the first version of the DVD, looking more than a little out of place.
Still adore 'Lover, You Should've Come Over', mind.

This is adapted from a post I made earlier today on the fabulous Elvis Costello fan forums. You can find that thread here.

A shit day for CD Wow! I notice. They'd better still send me my Dylan 'Don't Look Back' Deluxe Edition. Oh, and naturally I'm deeply sorry for any employees who may lose their jobs, their families, close friends, occassional aquaintances and the person who sells them their fresh veg each week. Although, I'm most concerned about the DVD.

Deluxe packaging is surprisingly effective

Did the traditional Bank Holiday trundle into town to my independent retailer of choice. It was pissing down, once again. I didn't really go in with any major intentions - possibly some Morrissey vinyl I'd seen listed on their website (no sign of it) or the HQ Belle and Sebastian vinyl reissues (no sign either). Instead, I left with four CDs which I'd been after with varying degrees of urgency (from plenty to barely at all). I'll give each a brief mention. Firstly, Warren Zevon's 'Preludes' has been out for a couple of weeks and I noticed the promo in the bargain bin. I was quite happy with this until I remembered a review I'd seen that talked about the booklet and the like and suddenly I was drawn to the Z section to see what the real thing looked like. Thus I ended up paying twice the price of the promo copy - but I do have a nice box for my copy. Not played this one yet, but will get back to you on it.
I have played the other three, however. Cinematic Orchestra's 'Ma Fleur' is dense, atmospheric and languid. It's charming and engaging but not absorbing. I don't think it deserves some of the reviews it's had, suggesting it's simply dull and samey. It'll take some time, but I suspect I'll grow rather fond of it. It automatically qualifies for the 'late night' pile.
Feist's newie, 'The Reminder', was far more enjoyable than I expected. I hear you ask, 'well, if you didn't expect it to be good, why did you buy it?' Firstly, fuck off with your logic. Secondly, a friend recommended it in the highest possible terms (although he is quite fond of Starbucks, so perhaps I should never have trusted him in the first place). It's the musical equivalent of an ornate vase. You know it's 'art' and you have been known to really like it, but I wonder if I'll ever form an emotional attachment to it. It does come in one of those curvy cases, which is always nice.
The final disc is on Secretly Canadian records. It's a label I have grown to really love. It's one of those labels whereby you can simply purchase a record because it's on that label and will thus be ace. I just said ace. Sorry about that. This realisation began with Songs : Ohia, followed on logically to Magnolia Electric Co and then Damien Jurado, Richard Swift and Jens Lekman followed. All ace. Ah, did it again there. At least I'm consistent. It's by Frida Hyvönen, entitled 'Until Death Comes', and it's sparkling, witty, Tori Amos if she wasn't bonkers and had a more curious voice kind of stuff. The lyrics can't fail to grab your attention. After only one play, it comes highly recommended. As I said, this was purchased because of the label name alone - well, and a nice sleeve, but mainly the name.
That'll do for now.
Please leave a comment if you're checking this blog out regularly. I'm well aware that this will probably make me look very unpopular, but such is life.

Anyone For A List?

Musical Revelations Of The Week:

Lavender Diamond - 'Imagine Our Love' - I adored 'You Broke My Heart' from the early EP, 'The Cavalry Of Light' which I was alerted to by Mark Lamarr's excellent Radio 2 show, 'God's Jukebox'. That's not on this record, but it still manages to be consistently excellent. Pretty without being twee and with a soundscape so clear it's hard to believe it's a modern CD, this could be in my end of the year list. Highly recommended.

Pet Shop Boys - 'Cubism' DVD - As considered below, this is the latest PSB live DVD and it's up to the high standards set by previous efforts. The audio is superbly produced and the stage show is well-filmed. It sent me scurrying back to my PSB records with glee. I may well check out the commentary later today.

Wilco - 'Sky Blue Sky'/'The Thanks I Get' on vinyl - The double vinyl, gatefold spangly edition arrived on Monday and sounds gorgeous. The vinyl is quiet and the music absolutely suits the format. In addition this meant I had a copy of the 'enhanced' CD of 'Sky Blue Sky' which comes free with the vinyl edition. The UK CD doesn't have the enhanced feature and thus doesn't allow you to load the disc and download new song, 'The Thanks I Get' for free. Do whatever you can to track this song down as it's up to the standard of the rest of the album.

Non-musical Revelations Of The Week:

Frasier - Season Eight - The region 1 DVD set arrived this week and I approached it with as open a mind as possible. Thankfully, I've found the humour fairly sharp - as with so much of Fraiser- but the whole pregnant Daphne as a 'binge-eater' remains one of the most ludicrous attempts at writing the plot around an actor ever seen. As it stands I'm very happy to see it again, but we're not up to full-size Daphne yet so I may well come out in a rash soon enough.

Have I Got News For You - Kilroy Out-take - 'The Best Of The Guests Vol 2' DVD dropped through the letterbox the other day, and amongst the out-takes on disc 2 is the unbroadcast, full version of Paul Merton's exchange with Kilroy when he appeared on the show. Watching Merton completely lose it and shout 'Shut the fuck up!' at him is a beautiful moment. It also contains the famous soaking, slurriyng and shafting clips.

Feeling a bit crap

Absolutely bugger all of note to say today as I'm feeling rather poorly. Brief thoughts:
1) Wales did well this morning - it's a shame to lose like that to Australia after they'd been battering us in the press, but nonetheless, a positive showing.
2) The new Crowded House album is unremarkable of first listen. Fingers crossed it's a grower. It'll take some doing to live up to the last Finn Brothers record.
3) The Seven Ages Of Rock is strangely 'safe' BBC documentary fare. Nothing much that we didn't know already, and primarily a freak show to see what some of the world's most famous journalists look like.

I'm in one of those moods where because I feel shit I want to go and buy a pile of records, but past experience tells me that doing that in this state simply results in me buying a pile of crap I'll never play again.
I'm fighting the urge to click on the Amazon, Norman Records and Action Records websites.
Anyway, thanks for reading this tosh, I'll attempt to use my brain tomorrow, if it's working again.

They've both made such a little go a very long way

Is there a more charming group out there than the Pet Shop Boys? It never ceases to amaze me how they've maintained the quality control across their career to date. I loved 'Fundamental', the last album, and I've just watched 'Cubism', the live DVD from the tour to promote it. The set is fantastic, the show is vibrant, bright and a wee-bit camp. The sound is great and the occasionally reworked numbers are always inspired.
I have to confess that a not inconsiderable part of me buys PSB DVDs for the commentaries. If you've not got the 'PopArt' DVD then it's worth picking it up immediately. Listening to Neil and Chris grumbling their way through all of their hits is genuinely hilarious. They don't feel obliged to say something's good if it's shit. In fact, they don't even stop at shit, they bury the poor videos. Also worth a watch is the 'A Life In Pop' documentary DVD. It's a hugely extended version of what was shown on Channel 4 last year and features copious interview footage with both of them.
Another piece of PSB merchandise that no music fan should be without is the coffee-table dream, 'Catalogue'; a book collecting all of their artwork along with suitably scathing commentary from Neil and Chris. It's a charming document of mainly excellent art - along with a few shit bits and bobs. Plus, it has a shiny dust jacket. Oooh, dust jacket's a word you don't hear as often as you should.
Musically, they've always been spot on and while I can't deny that their Eighties records sound dated - they quite clearly do - when it comes to PSB, it seems oddly appropriate and is almost charming. Furthermore, I really like 'Release', the 'indie' guitary album from five years back that features tracks like 'Home & Dry' and the quite brilliant retort to Eminem, 'The Night I Fell In Love'. I'm not ashamed to say that I love their version of 'Go West' and 'West End Girls' remains one of the greatest pop songs of all time.
However, the track of theirs I love the most is 'Yesterday, When I Was Mad'. It's chaotic from the off, irrepressibly jolly throughout and so perfectly worded I can't ever imagine becoming tired of it. "Darling, you were wonderful, you really were quite good." Ah, the perfectly placed 'quite'. I'm smirking.

Is he kicking in a nonce?

Drinking Water To Stay Thin

I remember becoming obsessed with the Manics when 'A Design For Life' was receiving its first plays on Radio 1. I'd followed the news about Richey's disappearance without really knowing anything much about the band. The subsequent enjoyment I derived from the parent album, 'Everything Must Go' brought about my first ever 'i love this - i must buy everything they've ever done' moment, something which has plagued my record-buying ever since. I remember thinking 'Generation Terrorists' was too long (it is), that 'Gold Against The Soul' was beefy but a little uncool (yup) and that 'The Holy Bible' was plain bloody scary (yes, although I've since realised it's also an amazingly good record).
Buying the cardboard wallet, 2 CD sets for each single was a delight and the quality of the b-sides ensured that I was always there on release day, queuing up with more than one copy. I'm playing the Stealth Sonic Orchestra Instrumental version of 'Motorcycle Emptiness' as I type this and it's beautiful. It was released on the second CD for 'Australia', the picture on the inner sleeve being a morose sheep, and proved that remixes can occasionally be good value.
This sense of good will was tested a little with 'This Is My Truth Tell Me Yours', an album that needs three or four songs removing from it, and 'Prologue To History' adding into the mix. While well-meaning, 'SYMM' is a truly appalling attempt at dealing with the Hillsborough disaster. In addition, the singles didn't quite scale the heights of the EMG era, in particular 'Tsunami', which remains one of the few Manics songs that actually make me want to detach my right foot with a rusty spatula, lightly saute it and attempt to eat it with chopsticks.
'The Masses Against The Classes' seemed like a step in the right direction, with its 'Motown Junk' for the noughties feel but what followed was a musical junkshop, 'Know Your Enemy'. There's some great stuff in there if you're willing to spend long enough searching, but to get to it you'll have to wade through a pile of shit. There's a good EP in there, waiting to be let out one day.
My enthusiasm began to falter, a situation not helped by the lacklustre new tracks for 'Forever Delayed' the cash-cow greatest hits. However, a last-minute headline at V2002, replacing Travis, demonstrated to me that the band were finding their fire again. The b-sides set, 'Lipstick Traces' has its moments, but it's far from essential listening, and served as interim product before the next studio album, 'Lifeblood' appeared in 2004.
Lots of people seem to think 'Lifeblood' is shite. Even the band appear to be distancing themselves from it, despite the fact that it works superbly as a set of songs. Ok, so whoever picked 'The Love Of Richard Nixon' as the lead-off single needs shooting, but tracks like '1985', 'Glasnost', 'Empty Souls', 'I Live To Fall Asleep' and 'Cardiff Afterlife' deserve to be heard. Thankfully for those who haven't yet had the pleasure most shops appear to be selling this album for £3 or less these days. Give it a good home.
Finally the critics are back on side with the new album, 'Send Away The Tigers', and with good reason. It has the energy of the first couple of records, some of the spikey sound of 'The Holy Bible' and the crowd-pleasing sweeping choruses of 'Everything Must Go'. It's short, it's powerful and it's unashamed fun. If you can listen to 'Autumnsong' or 'Your Love Alone Is Not Enough' without pogoing round the room then I expect you to have a bloody good reason why.
I'm off to see them very soon. Can't wait.

It's about talking - what we did before the internet

A non-music post today. You'll notice that Nick Abbot's LBC Podcasts occassionally pop up in the 'playing today' section on the right hand side. I'm a huge fan of his dry, sarcastic approach to phone-in radio and have followed him around since first hearing him on the old Talk Radio back in 1998. I recommend that you check out his Saturday night show, 10pm-1am on LBC, 97.3 FM in London, channel 0177 on Sky and via www.lbc.co.uk
Meanwhile, here's a clip from the show that's been quite splendidly animated. Worth watching a few times to get all of the giggles.

It would seem they DO make them like they used to

I'm still not 100% certain that the differences I perceive between vinyl and CD aren't just in my mind as a result of having read too many audiophile websites. It must be said that a number of LPs in my collection beat the pants of their CD equivalents. The most recent of these is the latest Damon Albarn project, 'The Good, The Bad & The Queen' which, while still not sounding perfect, is a lot less cluttered and compressed sounding on vinyl.
I have a habit of buying albums I particularly like on more than one format. I thought I'd got round that with the new Wilco album, 'Sky Blue Sky'. Pre-order offers from their American store listed the 180g audiophile double vinyl as coming with a free CD copy of the record. Excellent, I thought, just the one purchase this time. Then, a few weeks later, came the announcement about there being a CD/DVD edition with a sizeable amount of content on the DVD. Thus came my second purchase of the album. I'm sure I'm a fool when it comes to music, but once again I don't regret it. My double vinyl arrived from America today - rather speedily, it must be said - and it sounds beautiful, not to mention its excellent gatefold packaging and the quality of the vinyl. Wilco have pulled off this trick with their last two studio albums as well - 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot' is available on an import HQ pressing from Sundazed records, while the last album, 'A Ghost Is Born' should still be fairly readily available on double 180g vinyl. Both sound terrific and are notable improvements on the CD editions. This is less obvious with the new album, which manages to convey its warmth on CD also, however the vinyl still has that natural sound that sad types like myself talk about without ever really explaining.
If you've got a decent vinyl setup, and can deal with occassionally getting a truly shit pressing, then you might know what I'm talking about. It's certainly not for everyone, but this latest release is a fine example of how to do things properly.
In addition to all of that, the CD tucked in with the vinyl is an enhanced edition allowing access to a variety of exclusive content over the coming months, which for some reason is absent from the UK editions of the CD and CD/DVD copies.
Other notable decent vinyl releases of late: Manics - 'Send Away The Tigers', Arctic Monkeys - 'Favourite Worst Nightmare' and the spiffing Arcade Fire - 'Neon Bible' which is double vinyl, but the forth side is etched with the bible design from the sleeve. Should you wish to point out why I'm mad to like vinyl, please do. If you wish to join the LP lovefest with tips of your own I'd also like to hear from you.

Speaking of Arcade Fire, seems a good excuse to post this beguiling cover of 'Guns Of Brixton' from when they were on the BBC's 'The Culture Show'.

Hear This...

Short but sweet today, as I'm keen to get back to Peter Guralnick's 'Sweet Soul Music' book, which I've returned to yet again after picking up his biog of Sam Cooke for all of £3 in Fopp today.
Musical Revelations of the week:
Maps - We Can Create - a fabulous electronic album that's simultaneously blatantly retro and one of the freshest sounding albums of the year.
Wilco - Shake It Off film - found on the DVD with 'Sky Blue Sky' this is a wonderful film with some outstanding performances of songs from said album.
Rufus Wainwright - Release The Stars - now I get it! It's not so much cluttered as layered. If you've already dismissed it, give it one more shot.
Sly & The Family Stone - Life - never heard this record before, but it was the only one of the splendid new, deluxe reissues series that Fopp had left in stock. A really engaging soul/funk album that I'm particularly glad I took a punt on.

Non-musical revelations of the week:
Peep Show - so they could maintain the high-standards, with the final episode the stand out for series 4. The pissing scene - ahem - was quite brilliant. Shame about the film, based on what I've read and heard about it.
A Bit Of Fry & Laurie - finally bought Series 3 and 4 and am once again enjoying the genius of these two. 'Hey Jude' sung with a helium voice was a particular highlight.
Andrew Collins' That's Me In The Corner - finished Andrew's final installment of his autobiography. This one deals with his time at the NME, Q, Empire and the like and while a little lower on the whimsical humour of the first two, is an absolute belter for any media obsessives like myself. There few genuinely feel-good autobiographical works out there, but all three of College's efforts fit into that category. I can't recommend them highly enough. The others, should you wish to explore further, are Where Did It All Go Right? and Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now
I keep meaning to buy his biog of Billy Bragg, but never quite get round to it. Anyone wish to persuade me to do so?

Till tomorrow.

A storm in a C-cup

It slightly scares me that I'm already at a stage where bands of my indie youth have anthologies available, rounding up their material for what must be a relatively minimal audience. My Life Story's superbly titled best of, 'Sex and Violins' came in the post this morning, along with the b-sides and rarities companion, 'Megaphone Theology'. I have to confess that I danced around the kitchen like a total twat whilst cooking breakfast to the sound of vintage singles like '12 Reasons Why I Love Her' and 'It's A Girl Thing'. They weren't particularly outstanding pop songs at the time - let's face it they might have actually been successful if they had been - but they're great fun. Orchestral and arch, The Divine Comedy comparisons were never far away, although as a TDC fan I don't associate them too closely. The fact that so few indie bands used orchestras and aimed for that classic, big sound meant that they inevitably got lumped together.

There are some splendid lyrics littered among these tunes but it's the nagging pop melodies that do the trick. At one point I was quite conscious of the fact that one of the songs was achingly MOR, but that was kind of the point with My Life Story - it was using fairly conventional music to offer a different spin on Britpop. I remember MLS from back when I used to buy the NME. Back when it was still full of detailed features, piercing wit and printed on bog roll it used to provide details for a selection of charts and every time My Life Story released a single you just knew it would go in around 37 and then piss off with a true sense of urgency.

Everybody has their slightly uncool favourites from their youth. I remember the stick I used to get just for liking The Divine Comedy, but at the time My Life Story were a guilty pleasure satisfied only by occassional plays on the Evening Session and in the first minutes of the Top 40 countdown. Only now do I feel able to welcome them into heart of my collection. You might find you're more willing to humour old Jake Shillingford and his clan these days too.

***

I've got the 'Sunken Treasure' DVD by Jeff Tweedy on at the moment, and it's just past his tremendous rant at the audience about talking. It's moments like that that make it an essential purchase. You genuinely feel part of something right across the 95 minutes. But more importantly, is this point about not talking at concerts. The number of times I've got to see fairly low-key bands and had to endure - and I genuinely don't think there's a better way to put this - utter fuckwits wittering on to each other, or even worse on their mobiles, while the act on stage are playing a song that wasn't a single or isn't immediately accessible. Why spend the £15 to come along and stand there bloody talking? What's the point? If you're not bothered about the band - don't come. Tossers.

I guess I'm getting on in years

The special edition of 'Release The Stars' by Rufus Wainwright arrived in today's post. Another pre-order deliverd bang on time there then. However, the delay was forgotten once I'd chucked the bonus DVD into the player. Along with four live performances for some online broadcast, there's a 22 minute interview with the incredibly camera-shy and self-deprecating Wainwright, in which he talks about each track on the album.
He's bloody engaging is Rufus. The two concerts of his that I have attended have been joy from start to finish. His between song banter is sublime and his ability to spin a yarn and sculpture his words is second to none. Listening to him witter on about Brandon Flowers in a white suit and his favourite antique shop in Tulsa somehow provokeda more amenable attitude towards the new record. Prior to this insight I have to admit that I wasn't entirely convinced by the new album. It seemed to lollop along with no great variety in pace or vocal styling, but once he's sat there and listed the 27 classical composers he's ripped off with the string arrangments, there's suddenly plenty more to listen to.
'Release The Stars' is certainly not an immediate record. Whereas 'Poses' grabbed me and made me its gibbering gimp for a fortnight, this one takes a bit of work. But once the intricate melodies creep out from under the shadow of a certain man's ego it all starts to make glorious sense. Everyone knows by now just how marvellous 'Going To A Town' is, but there's plenty more where that came from. As with the Wilco album, it's worth checking out the DVD before you play the album through, so as to set the context and give you a clear idea of what you're listening for. The previous four albums seems likely to get a dusting down over the course of the weekend, and if you've not got any Wainwright in your collection may I suggest you sort yourself out. 'Poses' and 'Want One' are the record to begin with - the former the most accessible overall album, and the latter containing one of my all time favourite songs in 'I Don't Know What It Is'. Once you've learnt to love them, it's 'Want Two' and the debut, imaginitely titled, 'Rufus Wainwright'. Enjoy.

Here's a clip from the Fillmore DVD that accompanied early copies of 'Want Two'. It begins with a brief piece to camera, but then Rufus performs that afore-mentioned, 'I Don't Know What It Is'.

They don't want us to leave the house

As Imogen Heap pointed out in the slightly shabby music paper that's shoved in The Indie at random intervals, record companies need to lower the prices for albums when you download them. To charge essentially the same price for compressed, protected tracks from iTunes as it is for a physical CD of the same thing seems ludicrous. And while some labels and artists are doing their bit for the record shops by putting a bit of extra effort in when it comes to the packaging or the content (Wilco, Travis, Duke Special), there are those offering download-only material in an attempt to snare extra sales with minimal effort (Wilco, Travis, Duke Special). This has particularly annoyed me with the new Wilco album.
'Sky Blue Sky' is quite beautifully presented - the double 180g vinyl comes with a mini-LP replica style card sleeve edition of the CD tucked inside, while the afore-mentioned deluxe editon has a tremendous DVD with live performances and interviews. However, in addition, US purchasers who visit certain indie stores also receive a bonus disc with 2 tracks unavailable elsewhere - 'One True Vine' and live take on 'Theologians' left out from 'Kicking Television'. I can just about get past the annoyance of this - well, living in the UK, they're not going to bother releasing it over here. Then comes the iTunes bonus track. 'Let's Not Get Carried Away' is a splendid little addition to the record and can currently be purchased from iTunes without buying the entire album again. BUT - why are these songs being offered to promote online purchases? In Wilco's case they make such an effort with other aspects of packaging and audio quality that I'm less inclined towards a big sulky huff, but it's happening a lot.
An online only, independent record store that I'm very fond of, Norman Records, made the point on their newly established blog that it's fucking bonkers for independent labels to be releasing records a week early as download only. The notion that the independent community sticks together appears to be a bucket of old bollocks. The industry still hasn't figured out what the best response to downloading and the internet is and so they try to offer incentives but keep the price fixed. They improve the deal for consumers who want to buy physical product, but then still dangle download carrots despite securing your custom. To be blunt, in the same way the 2CD collector's set knackered the singles fans, they're tapping into the completist nature of the obsessive fan. I've become increasingly fond of Wilco in recent years, and thus 79p here and 79p there is something I'll cave into, but it still pisses me off that some music is only available by these digital means. (I'm aware, by the way, that 'Let's Not Get Carried Away' is available in the UK on the b-side of the 'What Light' 7" - except I can't find a copy of that for love nor money either) The worst example of this was when The Divine Comedy's 'To Die A Virgin' was dropped down from 2CDs to one and the second CD's content became download only. I'm sure that a part of my obsession with having music in as high a quality as possible is psychological, but part of my resurgent love of vinyl is the warmth and breadth of sound you can get from it. Compressed, rights-protected AAC files don't really have the same charm. Or sound. Duke Special chappy is releasing a cover of 'Tainted Love' with Neil Hannon of The Divine Comedy with the 75th re-issue of 'Last Night I Nearly Died', only this time it will be download only. And so, despite the Duke campaiging for his latest album to be released as a heavyweight vinyl boxset of six 7" singles and his singles being released on 78rpm 10"s, along comes a digital download 'bundle'. Ideal for the audience the previous releases will have targeted!? It's bonkers. But the obsessives are by their very nature the minority. Thus, we're knackered, reduced to ranting in a futile fashion on a blog with a small, but shall we say burgeoning, audience.
Rant over.

Till next time.

Tony Blair and endless skinny women

Welcome to the first in an occasional series of musical gifts. To be fair, they'll be gifts that no bugger's buying and thus people shouldn't get too upset about them being on this here site. To begin, a song that reminds me of the summer of 1998. Mark Radcliffe and Marc Riley were less than a year into a marvellous reign as Lords of Afternoon Radio on Radio 1 and this track was their record of the week. However, unlike most records of the week it ended up being a record of the weeks. It ended up occupying the title for three weeks and as a result it was tattooed onto my soul. After tracking a copy down in my local independent record store it became a prized possession. I still play this CD regularly, and am distraught if I'm away from home without in one form or another.
'So, you evasive arse, what is the song?' I hear you cry. It's 'I've Had Enough' by Hillman Minx. Yes, I know, you've never heard of them, but I swear to you, you need to hear this track. Designed as a polemic against the post-Britpop, Loaded-dominated 'beer and tits - wahey!' atmosphere of the late nineties, it manages to capture an early disillusionment with the supposedly improved UK that New Labour had implied it would offer. Plenty of the targets will raise a smirk, but I don't want to analyse the lyrics here - they're most effective when you listen to them.
Which, rather conveniently, you can do here

Do let me know what you think. Although, if you think it's crap, you're wrong, naturally.

Speak soon.

He bears more grudges than lonely high-court judges...

Ah, good old Moz. As I mentioned in a previous entry, I'm on a bit of a Smiths/Morrissey kick at the moment. I'm currently reading bits of Johnny Rogan's 'Morrissey - The Albums' and Simon Goddard's 'Songs That Saved Your Life', both of which break the analysis down to individual songs, although the first of the two also deals with the solo releases of our man. They're both engaging books, and while the hardcore fans seem to hate Rogan with a passion, his comments on the solo stuff have spurred me on to go back and listen to ignored, and critically unpopular, albums like 'Southpaw Grammar' and 'Maladjusted'. While I may not agree with everything he has to say about the songs, it's given me a chance to listen to them in a fresh light.
What I've particularly enjoyed about the experience is noticing just how splendid Morrissey's voice can be. It's unique, it's distinctive and occasionally compared to a malfunctioning foghorn, but at times it can floor you. 'Vauxhall & I' is getting played a lot at the moment, and it only serves to point out how bizarre it was for the Britpop scene not to hold their natural royalty aloft. Weller was the appointed guv'nor of Britpop, but Moz was certainly deserving of a similarly elevated position.
Anyway, a more critical approach to the man and his tunes will appear here once I've got my thoughts in order, but I thought it was worth posting this so that anyone who might class themselves as a regular reader can do some homework and then may even join in via the comments option. T'would be splendid to hear from you.
Here's 'The More You Ignore Me, The Closer I Get', from 'Vauxhall & I'

Till next time.

Ooooh...a card sleeve!

Walked in this evening to find the deluxe edition of the Wilco album on the floor. I hadn't thrown it there, nor had it crept in during the day and arranged a provocative pose for itself - it had simply come through the door from an online shop. My initial quibble is with the phrase 'Deluxe Edition'. It has a card sleeve - like all Wilco albums on Nonesuch - and the booklet and discs come in a normal jewel case. The only 'deluxe' thing about it is the bonus DVD. But then surely you just say 'Bonus DVD' on the packaging. If it's deluxe I expect it to be in a ridiculous book that doesn't fit on the shelf or in a digipack made of old egg boxes - not a bloody jewel case. If anything this is a sensible edition - with a bonus DVD. It's a minor gripe because the DVD is great. For a start the audio is LPCM 48/16 rather than Dolby Digital. If that means bugger all to you, all I'm saying is that the audio is excellent quality. The interview with Jeff Tweedy is nicely chopped around some live performances. He comes across as a decent enough chap who just wanted to make a good record. Thankfully he succeeded.
I feel obliged to point out that all of the naysayers that have been calling this album average are talking out of their, no doubt perfectly formed, fundaments. It's a cracker of an album and one which has rarely been away from my cd player for the last few months. It's certainly gentle, and less spiky than the last couple of albums but the songwriting is meticulous and the tunes gradually ensnare you until you keep wanting to go back and hear them again. So, in closing, it's great. Just not deluxe, like.

The Manics managed a No.2 album with 'Send Away The Tigers', I notice. It's great compared to the absolute stillborn release of 'Lifeblood', but I read with interest that it got there with sales of 38, 697 - only 700 or so copies behind the number one album from the Arctic Monkeys. 'Lifeblood' sold 23,000, or thereabouts, in its first week, missed the top ten and was never seen again. I have to confess to being slightly surprised by their resurgence - not because the music's shite, simply that I never thought they'd be 'cool' again. I'll be seeing them on the current tour and will feedback accordingly.

The Moz singles boxset for the years 91-95 was also on the doormat this evening as I'm on a bit of a Smiths/Moz kick at the moment. Currently digesting two books on his music and will attempt to form my thoughts, feelings and interpretations of his work into something here fairly soon. It's pretty, by the way. I'm a sucker for these things.

Here's a track from the spiffing Wilco record, entitled 'What Light'.



More soon.

Brand expansion

The home site for the whole Vinyl Junkies idea is available by clicking to the right of this post. Recently the nature of the original site has moved in a more blog-like direction and I figured that it might be worth firing up the old blog that I'd created alongside the site. I will cross-post between the two sites and will aim to keep posting to this site regularly. The random musings will be mainly concerned with music and will frequently be doing no more than advising you to buy a certain record. I can assure you that these recommendations are simply as a result of liking the record, and not receiving back-handers in brown envelopes. Or white ones for that matter. Or any envelopes. Or indeed, any back-handers.
Should you wish to get to grips with my writing style and decide whether or not it's going to be worth returning here, I would recommened you visit the main site and have a look through what's currently available over there. It'll pass the time at the very least.
Right then, the latest site post is below this one but let the random musings begin.

The Good, The Bad & The Queen is the name of an album - not, repeat not, a band - according to cheery chap Damon Albarn who fronts the supergroup of sorts. Regardless of his desire to maintain the mystique surrounding the group this album remains one of my favourites of 2007 thus far. I returned to this record today as a result of the constant rain (see post below). It's an album that I think suits rainy British days perfectly, in a way that no band have managed since The Smiths. It's melancholic, occassionally glum, but full of shimmering melodies and musical touches that betray the calibre of the musicians involved. If you're ignored it because of a sniffy aversion to Damon Albarn or if the singles haven't quite grabbed you, I urge you to give it another chance. It takes a few listens, but once it's got you, it's near perfect. Here's the slightly bizarre video for 'Kingdom Of Doom'


As a footnote to this, I should point out that the vinyl edition sounds much better than the CD. The CD appears to be yet another victim of the 'loudness wars' that people with odd hair and no friends spend far too long talking about. In other words it's a bit mashed up and distorty (heh! I invented a word!)

It's Still Here

Hello again.

It's absolutely pissing it down here, and has been for the last 48 hours. My foot's aching after falling down the stairs, but apart from these things, all is well. I hope the same can be said for you. Amongst the music related post this month was a particularly scary promo item with additional security. Now, I'm used to watermarked CDs - apparently any rips from these discs can be traced back to the original. Not sure if this has ever happened, I would imagine everyone's too shit-scared to try it - and sealed cases for promos, but for the promo of the new Marvin Gaye reissue set for 'In Our Lifetime' it not only had a unique number on the CD, but it was also written on the jiffy bag. I didn't really feel like I should be opening the thing, for fear of somehow incriminating myself. It's like when you see a police car and you automatically feel guilty - even though you've done nothing wrong (unless we have any drug-barrens or multi-national fraudsters reading). Anyway, I'm pleased to report that the music on the discs is spiffing, containing the original mixes of the album before they were remixed, without Marv's consent, ahead of finally being released.

Other promo stuff of note - in other words, some bands to keep an ear out for in coming weeks and months - includes Dirk Darmstaedter's new album, 'Our Favourite City'. While his name makes him sound like middle-management in Ikea, the music is sun-kissed indie-soul straight out of the world of Josh Rouse's excellent '1972' album. The cover looks bleak and you expect it to be a mopey, singer-songwriter record with 'woe is me' written through it and twelve songs that are identical bar the painful metaphors for loneliness. Joyous pop of the highest order. He used to be in a band called, 'The Jeremy Days'. Poor bugger's clearly never had any luck with names. See and hear him in action here:

Also, coming soon is the new album by Jonathan Krisp with the quite tremendous title, 'No Horse, No Wife, No Moustache'. It's part Royksopp and part Lemon Jelly. It's that quirky dance music with vintage samples and easy listening sounds peppered with electronic trickery and loops to provoke twattish grins on a hot summer day (and after 48 hours of solid rain, as it turns out). It's on the Cookshop label, while Dirk is on Tapete.

There's plenty of vintage soul on the way as part of the Stax 50 celebrations, including the Johnnie Taylor live album, as well as the old Stax/Volt singles boxset reisssued as 9 separate CDs. Those CDs are naturally essential items for any self-respecting record collection and currently going for £5 in that there high street shop that rhymes with, well, shop. Also, 'This Is Soul', essentially the FIRST soul compilation has been reissued in a mini-LP-style gatefold sleeve along with a stack of bonus tracks. Nothing new, but they all sound tremendous next to each other - and it looks pretty!

As for the more conventional stuff, there's some great mainstream releases on the shelves at the moment. People always expect me to be apologetic for liking the Manics, but I stand by the fact that they are rarely anything other than excellent. 'Know Your Enemy' was a pile of shite and 'This Is My Truth' was a few songs too long, but otherwise there's much to love. 'Send Away The Tigers', their latest offering, is one of their best. Short and to the point, it's riff-heavy, power-chord-obssessed and epic in a way that every other writer is comparing to 'Everything Must Go' - can't see any point in disagreeing for the sake of it. If you've had even a passing interest in the band in the past, you'll love it.

Wilco's album got a mention last time out, and it's finally in the shops now. It's possibly their best, and so I will briefly talk about it again. The heavyweight vinyl edition is on the way, as their 180g vinyl pressings for their last two studio albums were quite something, and this one will suit that treatment just as much. Not much more to say other than buy the bloody thing.

Say it very quietly, but the Travis album's quite good. It's their best since 'The Man Who', if not their best ever. There's bit more kick on some songs and they've ditched the two things that have held them back in recent years. (1) Fran's desire to be politically active in his lyrics, despite this sounding really rather crap (2) A constant determination to keep making songs that sounded like the old, successful ones. 'The Boy With No Name' sounds much less forced and is all the more enjoyable for it. Still not the greatest lyrics, mind.

Tiny Dancers have an album called 'Free School Milk' out in a few weeks and it's barn-storming indie-pop to listen to whilst chewing on a bit of straw and putting on an embarrassing and potentially offensive 'farmer' accent. 80% enjoyable album from a band who are almost frighteningly eager to please. If you're after future eBay profits, then picking up their early singles now mightn't be a bad idea.

The Maps album, 'We Can Create' is a thing of electronic beauty which will wash over you at first, and runs the risk of not being recognised as the classy collection of tunes it is. Mark Ronson's 'Version' is worth picking up for the Amy Winehouse take on 'Valerie' and a funk/soul instrumental take on Coldplay's 'God Put A Smile Upon Your Face'. There's also a re-worked version of Maximo Park's 'Apply Some Pressure'. Their latest album, 'Our Earthly Pleasures' reminds me of The Jam and Gene at times - no great surprise that they'd be linked - and in no bad way. It's got some intriguing lyrics, a number of which I'm still not sure about - Profound or Shite? An example: "Nightfalls, And towns become circuit boards". Listening to it the first time, in the rain, it charmed the pants off me, but when I listened back to it I was less sure. Anyway, it's a decent little record that I'll keep returning to.

Oh, and Bjork's new album's out. It has to be said that listening in surround sound to her music makes me even more convinced that sounding like a mad fucker on your records must make it quite fun in the studio. At times 'Volta' is beguiling, but at other times it's plain scary. I've no idea if it's any good yet - does anyone else feel like listening to Bjork is a little like homework? You know you should do it, but it's hard motivating yourself to do it properly, or to get to the end. Hmmm, and the packaging's a sod to get into.

More soon. Much sooner than before. No really.

Speak soon,

Gaz

(Cross-posted to the blog in the hope of you nipping over to the site)