I made a last minute decision to head down to Columbus to catch a Midwest Fresh party, but prior to I met up with some friends at this free St. Paul & the Broken Bones performance in the Columbus Commons! I was able to see them at a previous Nelsonville Music Festival and really appreciated their performance. However for this one, it was mostly about party with friends I don’t see often. Still - I caught some pics & video!
I was finally able to catch Ryley Walker in concert. He’s been on my list to see live, and while I know I’ve missed him in the past - I was surprised to hear that Mahalls has booked him 4 times before! Apparently this was his first time sober on stage, and I can’t help but imagine it’s serving him well. His recorded stuff is pretty varied and expansive, so I was curious to hear how he sounded live. His style of extended and complex guitar based composition is really refreshing and enjoyable, with some vocals throw in occasionally to break things up. I’ll look forward to his future bookings.
Wild Pink, hailing from NYC, opened for Ryley Walker - and while it took a few songs to really get into their set, I did enjoy it. I’ll keep an eye on them.
This looks fun. The Burning River Record Riot will be at the Winchester Music Tavern this Sunday at Noon (FREE).
"We are about quality. Punk, New Wave, Metal, Soul, Psych, 90’s alternative, college rock, Jazz, the rare stuff you don’t see on the shelves at the the other swaps or in the stores. Don’t get me wrong, there will be plenty of budget friendly old fashioned classic rock too, but the heavy hitters come out to our show. We have vendors coming from Chicago, Columbus, Pittsburgh and Detroit.’ says Burchaski."
It’s not just nostalgia…
"But the conventional wisdom is too simplistic, as it so often is. Across the board, consumers who weren’t even around when these technologies first lost their prominence are driving their resurgence. How can a 15-year-old be nostalgic for a turntable, when her parents never owned one in the first place? How can you accuse a 25-year-old computer programmer of being lost in the past, simply because he collects hip-hop 45s in his spare time?
If nostalgia more broadly understood plays a role, though, that’s a bad thing only if you believe that progress ought to move in a linear direction.
"How can a 15-year-old be nostalgic for a turntable, when her parents never owned one in the first place?"
In today’s rapidly innovative, digitally driven economy, reverence for the old stands in opposition to the Utopian futurism at the heart of Silicon Valley. The past is relevant only in terms of how quickly you speed away from it, and as long as Moore’s Law holds steady — doubling the speed of processors and halving their cost every 18 months — the only hardware and software that truly matters is the next version. No one pines for Windows 2.0, or the iPhone 4; progress is a one-way street, and anyone who dares to reverse course is a Luddite."
(Via Why is vinyl making a comeback? ‘Nostalgia’ doesn’t quite cut it - LA Times.)
I was just talking with someone about this… where the big guy comes in and steps on the little guy - and a whole industry can pay the price.
"But there are indicators that the majors are actively trying to secure substantial vinyl production capacity at the remaining pressing plants. How? By paying in advance. There might even be presses completely reserved for certain companies. That techno EP can wait – Led Zeppelin can’t. In the course of researching this article, we received emails that confirm such requests by the majors.
If this is the case – and the pressing plants are denying it – it would mean that the majors are attempting to buy their way into an industry that they played a significant role in destroying. And they are attempting once again to starve the indie labels, the very labels that never gave up on vinyl. On Record Store Day, when the shops are full of specially-made vinyl records and customers wait in line for these limited editions, the pressing plants have already had many hard weeks of work leading up to it. Who knows how many machines were quickly patched-up in lieu of a proper repair? Nobody has time to take a breath. The next releases are already on standby, and the machines continue to run at a furious pace."
(Via Pressed to the Edge: Why vinyl hype is destroying the record.)
With Columbia House in the news lately, announcing their vinyl initiative (details below) - I was reminded of this film I wanted to share about the height of their CD business! What a superb look into a bygone world.
"Filmmaker Chris Wilcha captured what it was like working at Columbia House during this boom time in a low-key, first-person documentary called The Target Shoots First. Wilcha—who started off in the marketing department as an assistant product manager and was soon promoted to product manager—took a camcorder to work and captured the absurdity and mundanity of the company at that moment in time. He filmed scenes not just in the company’s New York offices, but also at the massive Terre Haute, Indiana, manufacturing, customer service, and distribution center (which employed 3,300 people in 1996) as well as an amusing Aerosmith in-store appearance and a trade-show rendezvous with David Hasselhoff."
And then going forward…
"To put it mildly, Columbia House has seen better days. The mail-order service went bankrupt this summer, and it's hard to see the allure of regularly buying movie discs when downloads and streaming are within easy reach. The company thinks it has an answer, however: it's restarting the Columbia House Record Club with a focus on vinyl records. It's betting that the resurgence of the old format and the popularity of subscription services (think Birchbox or Lootcrate) will draw in a younger audience. Columbia hasn't nailed down the launch details yet, but it'd return to the outlet's roots with membership and steep discounts."
(Via Columbia House hopes you'll come back for vinyl records.)
Looking for Gotta Groove to be next!
Largest vinyl record pressing plant in the US is expanding | Ars Technica
"America's largest vinyl record pressing plant in Nashville, Tennessee, will be expanding its operations to include a second warehouse full of record-making machinery. United Record Pressing LLC told The Tennessean on Monday that it plans to add 16 presses to its present 30, and it will use the remaining space in the new warehouse as storage to meet a robustly growing demand for its product."
(Continued... Largest vinyl record pressing plant in the US is expanding | Ars Technica)
For all the newbies out there…
Are You Ruining Your Vinyl Records? | PledgeMusic
" The best way is to always keep your records upright and never to stack them. Stacking records, or even leaning them at an angle, can create too much pressure and cause your records to scratch or warp. To preserve your collection for as long as possible, you’ll want to be sure and remove all plastic wrap so it doesn’t shrink and then replace any old or moldy sleeves with new ones. Consider purchasing acid-free plastic inner sleeves to keep your records as free from dust and mold as possible."
(Continued... Are You Ruining Your Vinyl Records? | PledgeMusic)
The LP Is Back - hypebot
The vinyl album LP continued its unlikely comeback in 2013, with sales in the United States reaching 6 million units. As opposed to CD sales which declined 14.5% and digital album sales which stagnated, LP sales grew by 32% from 4.55 million units in 2012. Overall album sales suffered an 8.4% decline, slumping to 289.4 million from 316 million units in 2012."
(Continued... The LP Is Back [CHART] - hypebot)
This video is oddly intriguing, esp. being a WWF fan growing up… I've been thoroughly enjoying Cleveland's own Herzog and was excited to see a couple of guys working under the moniker Expecting Rain. More audio below…
Expecting Rain Releases New Music Video | Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog
Expecting Rain - 'Fuck the World' Expecting Rain released a new music video today for the song 'DMT' off the band's November 2012 album Fuck the World. The entire album can be streamed online. 'DMT' as a song is laid-back and rather sublime. And as a video backdrop, the unexpected foil of NWA wrestling works surprisingly well. Bliss can often be found in the most unexpected places in life, it would seem.
About two-thirds through the song, the heavens open up and the guitar brings the listener into another layer of the atmosphere altogether.
Nick Tolar and Tony Vorrell have collaborated together under the umbrella of Expecting Rain for year now. They also dabble in noted power pop band Herzog.
Check out the video below."
(Continued... Expecting Rain Releases New Music Video | Scene and Heard: Scene's News Blog)
You're in for a treat this week. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this new Sin Fang song & video for Young Boys. Next is a stunning new track from Cat Power for Manhattan. Finally a gorgeous song by Phosphorescent.
Bonus this week is a video (or song) I wasn't really expecting to like. Honestly, from what I've experience of Frank Ocean so far, I've been largely uninterested - but with this video there's hope.
Long live vinyl!
Music Sales In 2012 Prove Digital Is Rising, CDs Are Dead And ... Vinyl Is Alive Once Again?
"Music consumers helped digital sales continue their climb, physical sales continue their slow death, and kept vinyl spinning in 2012, according to a year-in-review report from Nielsen Soundscan and Billboard.
…
Surprising once again was the continued resurgence of the vinyl record. Vinyls saw sales growth for the fifth straight year in 2012, with a 17.7 percent surge complementing 4.6 millions records sold. The numbers mark a new high for the format, according to Nielsen. Interest in the left-for-dead format has been helped along by global Record Store Day celebrations and a dedicated, collection-obsessed fan base. Independent music shops particularity love this trend, as 67 percent of these vinyl purchases came through these stores, according to the study."
(Continued... Music Sales In 2012 Prove Digital Is Rising, CDs Are Dead And ... Vinyl Is Alive Once Again?)
It's been quite a dry spell for shows these last couple weeks, but that's going to change - at least for a night. I got word that Paper Thick Walls are performing at Wilbert's on Thursday. While I already had plans for that night, I should be able to catch these guys first. Nothing like two shows in one night…
Check out this gorgeous live video of Liar's Lawyer shot for AudiotreeLive.com.
Pretty cool stuff, looking forward to this show… Check out some of their other stuff.
Good stuff… Go Gotta Groove!
You Are Here - Building a House of Wax in Cleveland - NYTimes.com
"In the heart of postindustrial Cleveland, in one of those cheery urban-reclamation areas with freshly painted brick buildings and almost unnaturally green lawn spaces, you’ll find Gotta Groove Records, one of around 20 plants in the United States that still press vinyl. On the day I visited, the guts of this converted elevator factory were packed with hissing, clanking vintage record presses, and the walls were lined with band fliers and colored LPs. A dry-erase board at the far end of the shop displayed the day’s jobs, Tom Waits and Tim Buckley among them."
(Continued... You Are Here - Building a House of Wax in Cleveland - NYTimes.com)
Holy sh*t... It's June already? Time is flying by... but at least we have a good soundtrack: Dodos's Companions video (coming to the Grog Shop on Tuesday!). Digitalism's 2 Hearts from their upcoming "I Love You Dude" (Out 4/20!). James Blake's (slightly odd) Lindisfarne video (who will be at Pitchfork). And finally a bonus video for being so patient... Justice's Civilization.
We had big plans for a day long of Record Store Day goodness, though it ended up getting cut a bit short. We still were able to hit some stores and some great finds. Snapped a couple photos I thought I'd share:
My Minds Eye:
Music Saves:
Finally, the voluminous score was at the record show down at the VFW by the airport. Overall, a big haul this past weekend.
(albums shown are for entertainment purpose only, and are not necessarily reflective of the views of this music blog)
Song ain't bad either...
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I had a blast, and none of it involved a computer (as you can probably tell)...
Back to the digital grind.
Oh the good ol' days.
Try hugging an MP3 - Entertainment
"Consumers have watched as the canvas for album art has shrunk from LP size to the possible option of no art at all. Record stores, even chains, were closed or forced back into the subculture, changing the experiences of buying and finding out about new music to cold, calculated processes that involve zero social interaction. Music has now been unofficially relegated as 'background' to other activities. It is no longer the centerpiece of entertainment. It is merely a soundtrack to activities such as jogging and walking to one's car. Most likely, no one will ever fondly recall the night they downloaded a new album. The ritual of standing in line at midnight to obtain a physical copy of a piece of music is now over. Thanks to MP3 technology, ritual, nostalgia, traditional physical music spaces, physical forms and aesthetic value are all aspects of music culture that are dead or dying. "
(Continued... Try hugging an MP3 - Entertainment)
Guster has a new album coming out (Easy Wonderful) on Tuesday, October 5th. They've started a pretty sweet pre-sale if you're interested (vinyl!).
Of course that's only if you're excited about some new stuff. Now I know these guys may not be the hippest thing on the block, but I think they're fun and worth listening to... Live may be one of the best ways to experience them. Here's a massive 24 track live album they've released live on their website. Good stuff, especially if you prefer a retrospective.
Update... New Video:
Stay With Me Jesus from Guster on Vimeo.
