Monday, January 29, 2007

Predictions #1

So,
who cares about cds anymore? They're a dime a dozen these days. It's been great for me because I've been buying up all of those "old" cd's from bakinnaday for $0.99 each. You know, those albums which seem absolutely silly to me without the sense of nostalgia backing up my feelings for 'em.

Recent acquisitions include Alice In Chains s/t, Ghostbusters II soundtrack, and Tripping Daisy (Bill). Now, for those of you who really think Ghostbusters II soundtrack is "da bomb," I will say this: "No, it's not." But you couldn't tell me that in middle school. And I'm on a mission of sorts. A mission to find all those songs I used to listen to, no matter how bad, and stick 'em in my iTunes, and categorize them by the year in which they made some sort of impact on me or left some nostalgic residue that's drying up a bit these days. But this is not what this post is about. It is just a result of the new music business, of which this post is about.

It seems to me that people are selling/getting rid of their cds in droves. A lot of people seem to make it a goal to remove cds from their collection completely as MP3s have now moved in for the kill.

So what about people like me who want something tangible to hold, caress and read the liner notes over and over again? Or to fall into that otherworld of cover art every once in a while? There is a solution. A trend, for which I have seemingly discovered several years late, has been gaining momentum lately. It's the vinyl limited edition phenomenon. I guess it's not really a phenomenon and it makes sense. What's incredible to me is that these record labels releasing them are independently owned and operated by one person alone. Somehow they've contacted all of these fantastic artists and convinced them to release a limited run of their albums (usually limited to around 300) on their record label, packaged in fantastic art. I am soo jealous.

I've always wanted to do that ever since that short venture with Goat Records and it's only release in 1998 "Cold Harbour" (GR001), even though I was overworked and underpaid... (not paid at all, I might add). I lost hundreds of coins in that venture.

In several years these records tend to gain retarded amounts of value. The s/t album Espers was released on Time-Lag Records for around $24 in a limited run a couple of years ago. I've found it in several different locations online for no less than $100 now. And people are buyin 'em! (I would too if I had money).

I can tell you that I've shifted my attention from buying new cds/mp3s to this. I am all about the vinyl. (Sometimes it hurts me to be so damned trendy). It's amazing in this way that vinyl has really outlived the two media formats cassette and cds.

So where does this leave the music industry? Really, that's a question that exhausts me to no end. So I won't answer that.

So now that leaves us with Prediction #1:
I will bet that in 10 years our music collections will be composed of some digital format and/or vinyl (for crazy audiophiles like myself). CDs need not apply anymore. They will be as obsolete as the 8 track.

Friday, January 26, 2007

C.H.O.P.S away the Gay

I just cant' believe it. I really just can't believe it. I really do hope this is a joke. Go on and explore the site a little and find out what it means to "Love God's Way" and to find out which bands God approves.