Do you believe in albums?

[MadSteelDarkness]

As some may know, my record collection is *stupidly* huge, probably somewhere in size between PaCrappa's and CMoon's collections.

The great albums of course, are sequenced in such a way that the strength lies in the whole album as much in the strengths of the individual songs. I must say however, that a lot of albums, even ones I like, do have at least a bit of filler to them.

I love albums to pieces, but 12" and 7" singles are my weakness. Sometimes, there are entire days that go by as I make literally 8-10 mixtapes, ranging stylistically from electro to crust-punk to 70's dub to 80's grindcore to who knows what...

I have nothing against burns/mp3s/etc. (in fact I've got tons of mp3s on my hard drive). But there's something to be said, much like in the gaming world, for having the real thing. It's a wonderful thing to be able to hold a copy of oh, say, Lubricated Goat's "Paddock of Love" in your hands, knowing that there's no way that digital sound files can reproduce the warm analog sound of a vinyl record.

I've got to say, though, that my buying sprees have calmed down considerably since my DJ/record store manager days ended. Yeah, I pick up some new records and CD's now and then, but not nearly what I used to. I must be getting old or something...

By the by, I still need to get off my ass and make an order from CMoon's label. The stuff I've heard is top-notch. (BTW CMoon, I saw a couple of Last Visible Dog releases at Waterloo records. Your stuff is getting out there )

[Rob]

(BTW CMoon, I saw a couple of Last Visible Dog releases at Waterloo records. Your stuff is getting out there )

Just checked out site. Looks really interesting. The only thing I'm familiar with here are Black Forest/Black Sea, though. Needs mp3 samples. (spoke too soon, found samples/jackpot)

[dave4shmups]

I'm a great believer in paying for what you use, music, games, films - these are not basic rights or requirements - they're luxuries. Luxuries should be earned, not taken for free just because you can. The worst thing of all these days, are the people who say they are "objecting to the industry" (insert industry here depending on what they're downloading..) by copying their music/film/game instead of buying it. An obviously bollocks claim - if they really objected, they wouldn't endorse the content in any way, and would simply not bother.

This is why I don't play any EA games.
This is why I rarely go to the Cinema and haven't seen many modern films. I don't think Spiderman 2 is worth paying to see, so I'm not going to see it - it's that simple.

Well said Bloodflowers; I feel exactly the same way.

I keep buying CD's, as opposed to paying for digital music downloads, because, well, hell, my Magnovox Stereo is still goin' strong after 11 years! And, if I ever want someting portable, I can get a portable CD player for dirt cheap.

[CMoon]

(BTW CMoon, I saw a couple of Last Visible Dog releases at Waterloo records. Your stuff is getting out there )

Thanks man! It is awesome to hear the stuff is actually getting out. If I've learned anything (OK, I've actually learned a lot because I am always making tons of mistakes) it is to just give shit tons of stuff away--this really does make a difference. Eventually people given in and listen to your damn cds...

Just checked out site. Looks really interesting. The only thing I'm familiar with here are Black Forest/Black Sea, though.

I'd be surprised if much of anyone had heard the artists on my label short of a few obvious ones. I mostly specialize in artists who are severely underexposed (typically with only a few cd-r releases). My strategy (I have a strategy???) is that maybe people who like one release will take a chance on the others assuming that other releases on the label will be similar (I think they are pretty consistant, but who knows?)

[CMoon]

I've essentially been waiting for a big rant here. I was at an FYI the other day and fucking Led Zepplin III was freakin' $20 buckaroos. This is where I talk about the record industry killing themselves. I really want to believe (take a look at the poll), that most people would purchase albums if they were at a reasonable cost. As I am sure we all remember, in the late 80's, LPs and tapes were about $7-$8, with cds being $10-$12. Now I can assure you that cd production is cheaper than ever before, cheaper than LPs or tapes used to cost, yet somehow we got suckered into paying more for the new technology. A few dollars at first wasn't so bad, but now $17 is standard for your typical cd. Our local Newbury's charges $12 for a USED Led Zepplin CD (don't ask why Zepplin became the standard for judging prices, but it works goddammit!)

Not to bring it all back to me, but I sell CDs for $10, the price I felt they always should have been. If the record labels actually want more people buying their product, maybe they need to fucking be just a little more competitive--especially since the competition is FREE!

Blah!

[Marc]

Gotta me originals all the way for me. Currently running to about 500+ CD's, 150+ vinyl LP's, and a bunch of 7"'s, gave a load of stuff away during my teens. I can't stand burned shit, devalues the listening experience for me. I'm the sort that used to buy an album on both 12" and CD, have multiple (3+) copies of a couple of records in particular (Planes Mistaken For Stars and T. Rex LP's mainly), and although my girlfriend burns shit by the sackload, I refuse to listen. My thing with music is like my gaming habits though, I'll overdose - buy too many albums all at once and realise I can't possibly listen to them all as fully as they deserve, get tired of the whole thing and leave off it for months on end, then go back and discover that a couple of those records are the best thing I've ever heard.

Currently playing the shit out of Dillinger Escape Plans 's 'Miss Machine' and Therapy?'s 'Never Apologise, Never Explain'.

[TWITCHDOCTOR]

I have CD's and casettes...although I no longer have a tape player.
I prefer to buy full length CD's of bands that I know I like.
I don't have any "fancy stuff"...not even computer downloads. I don't even really know what an I-Pod is!!!(don't care either)

[Randorama]

well...

I don't really believe in anything, but i appreciate authors that can produce a whole enjoyable product.This basically cuts off any...mainstream?Commercial?Whatever you want to call it, any albums that are made to "fatten" up singles and get some more cash.In this regard, i tend to enjoy a lot some operas like, well, classical compositions, soundtracks, musical works that have an internal coherence. I'm not really a fan of cassettes, never been, and thus i liked vynil and now CDs. MP3s? Nice and easy to take around the city, but i'm a bit of an audiofile, so... beside that, i'm more than willing to give money to someone for his/her skill, and i like when i can read the texts, or some other notes, or just appreciated the booklet.
Never cared about collectionism, but when i really appreciate an artist, i'm willing to buy some of his/her less valid works.
About the cost: i have paid up to 50$ for Zuntata's works, due to the import process and all, but those are works that i will probably listen to for a lot of time.I will never pay anything for some extemporary hit that may bug my mind for a while...there are a few cases in which i say "ok, CIA, you win, i'll download this fucking top ten song and then cancel it after the subliminal effect ends!", but that's it.

In short, i'm willing to pay a high price, but that's because i will only buy things that i really like.

[Accutron]

I'm the sort that used to buy an album on both 12" and CD, have multiple (3+) copies of a couple of records in particular

I used to do that too. I have 9 different vinyl pressings of Tubular Bells (including the original 1973 UK quadraphonic and picture disc versions), plus the CD, plus 3 different live versions, the orchestral version, two sequels and a zillion singles, not to mention all the rest of my Mike Oldfield stuff. My collecting focus has completely shifted over to video games in recent years though. I literally haven't bought any music at all since 1998 (and very little burning in the interim). I prefer 60's/70's progressive rock (Mike Oldfield, King Crimson, etc), and they don't make that anymore. I see guys talking about music on here, naming off all these bands that didn't exist in 1998, and I'm like "Huh? Who's that?" I just can't seem to fall in love again.

[shiftace]

I did most of my music collecting in the mid-late '90s, and I didn't have the bandwidth to download much. I have a few hundred CDs, I listen to maybe a quarter or less now, but I remember a lot of all of them. I almost always have some or other song in my head, usually (thankfully) one I like. I acquire new music very slowly now.

[EOJ]

I'm a big music fan, I love music even more than video games, so I always buy all my music. This is especially important for the smaller artists, who really need the financial support. I download sample MP3s and stuff to get a taste and decide whether or not I want to buy it, but I see nothing wrong with that (I've never downloaded an entire album). I have a large Vinyl collection as well, and sometimes I buy the same album on both Vinyl and CD. The CD is for my car and on the go, the Vinyl I can play at home (it sounds better).

I am also a big fan of live music, and I tape and trade live shows with likeminded traders (i.e people in it for the love of music who do not sell any live tapes!). I have about 600+ live shows of various bands I like, many from the original tapers. I mainly trade on DAT (Digital Audio Tape), and I tape gigs using my Sony DAT walkman and Core Sound Binaural stealth mics. Just taped Sigur Ros here in Hawaii the other week, and came out with a stellar tape.

[sffan]

In response to your question, I prepared a brief photo-essay:



I just finished selling off about half of my vinyl...that is what's left. I have a few burned albums (mostly obscure game soundtracks), but not much. I'm not a big fan of digital music in any form, though I do have about 150 CD albums.

That CD in the middle is "Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos."

Do I win a prize?

[sjewkestheloon]

i'm definately an album buyer and i purchase very few singles. the only times i really download or copy are if there is a really poor band with one decent single. i will not pay £3 for a single with rubbish b-sides/remixes/live tracks, or an album if it isn't consistent.

this has ensures that i have a huge album collection and i have always appreciated bands by their album output rather than a few good tracks. for example i'd heard 'pretty good looking for a girl' and 'hotel yorba' amongst a few others by the white stripes and thought that the album would be a good purchase. got white blood cells and realised that it was an entire piece of crap with about 4 good tracks. if i'd have had the foresight i'd have downloaded the few good tracks and ignored the rest. regardless though, i now have no interest in the band really due to my bad experience with them.

i'd much rather listen to bands who produce out and out quality and interesting music like pavement, or gorky's zygotic mynci, or the super furry animals, etc. bands where i know that by handing over £13 for quality deserve muchos respect.

i also would like to say that my favourite way to check out new bands is digital radio. with music 6, kerrang, radio 2 and others you can almost guarentee you'll hear at least something interesting to check out. which i suppose is not really much different to downloading individual mp3s of a band to check out their material.

jesus that entire piece of writting is a mess. and from an english graduate....

[Accutron]

That CD in the middle is "Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos."

Do I win a prize?

Nope, because it's Mike Oldfield: 'The Songs of Distant Earth'

Now if someone can tell me what the album in the front of the small crate is (you can just about make out the title), I'll send you a copy of....Crystal Castles for the 2600

[visuatrox]

I buy all the music I listen to... I hear people all the time complaining about CD's not being worth buying because they only contain a couple of good songs.. well those people listen to the wrong kind of music . I don't listen to particularly many bands, on average I maybe buy a couple of CD's per month..

I'm not against MP3's though, I do download stuff to hear before buying.

[Vexorg]

It's been years since I bought a CD now. I really just don't listen to music much anymore except in the car (and even then, I pretty much just listen to the radio these days, there's a couple of pretty decent classic rock stations I flip between.) I do have some MP3s, but most of those are CDs that either I or my brother own.

[sffan]

That CD in the middle is "Chris Bell - I Am The Cosmos."

Do I win a prize?

Nope, because it's Mike Oldfield: 'The Songs of Distant Earth'

Now if someone can tell me what the album in the front of the small crate is (you can just about make out the title), I'll send you a copy of....Crystal Castles for the 2600

Doh! Oh well, it looked similar, but not exactly I now realize.