ec selecter's Blog
record store day,kavinsky, a pair of neon high top nikes ( part 1)
How many positive experiences have you had in record stores? Is it a Generation X thing? I feel like most of my experiences when it comes to buying music were in places like Blockbuster Music, Warehouse Music, Sam Goody, or some other chain that sold CDs for $18. I always found the franchises to be a better environment than the indie record stores, because you didn't have to have some schmuck at the counter make a comment about your CD purchase (and if they didn't comment, they'd give you a scoffing look that meant "I can't believe they're buying THAT album").
Does it make sense for 'online music magazines/blogs/websites' to support RECORD STORE DAY? . After movies like "High Fidelity" and "Empire Records", I think it's just time to move forward from glorifying stores that sell mostly crappy CDs, and shut down most record stores.
Do you think RECORD STORE DAY was organized by all of the major record labels as a last chance effort to 'get people to buy CDs?'
Do u guys wanna go shop for some records, read some magazines, and search for authenticity?
I don't really buy into the theory of 'the people who care the most about music are the ones who shop at independent record stores.' I'd say the people who care the most about music are the ass holes who spend too much time online, and find a way to get it for free. Independent Record Stores are usually pretty 'hit or miss' when it comes to selection. Sure, there are some in major metropolitan areas that are probably pretty well-stocked, but for every 1 of those, there are at least 10 crappy record stores selling stuff that you might as well pick up off of the "Staff Selections" rack at BORDERS.
RCRD ST0RE supporters say that their clerk is able to give them [Recommendations] based on what they have purchased in the past. I really think that the Amazon Recommendations, or iTunes features like 'people who purchased this also purchased..." is way more valuable than a scruffy dude telling you to 'check out Sparta since you're buying that At The Drive In CD.
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I think the worst part about record stores is that you actually buy complete albums. Usually, complete albums aren't worth purchasing. There's nothing like sorting through your CD collection from ages 9-19, and wondering what it all means. Why did you buy all of these mainstream alt-rock albums? You wish you could have all of that money back that you wasted on crappy CDs, pogs, basketball cards, and other stupid hobbies. The internet helps us become better consumers by providing us with important information before we make decisions.
In addition, most music is recommended by your friends, acquaintances, and especially douchebags who care about music too much. The internet has given a great opportunity for douchebags who care about music too much to be heard, and to gain the tastemaking status that they may or may not deserve. Things are better than they were in the pre-music blog era, because DOUCHEBAGS WHO CARE 2 MUCH ABOUT MUSIC basically steered the direction of turn-of-the-century indie rock, since they were all in charge of college radio stations.
It's just difficult to get behind this idea for RECORD STORE DAY. I would rather support a day where every band has a paypal account, and you can make a direct donation to the band members, or something like that. Times are changing, and industries change, so I'm never really into 'standing up for businesses that are perceived as authentic, so they don't have to adapt to modern business practices.' There are other people providing innovative services that help us find more music that we 'love' and 'makes our lives' more meaningful.
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If people are 'just about the artists', then they should tell more people about music services like hypemachine, last. fm, imeem, and even muxtapes (as bloggerly cliched as those have become so quickly). All of these websites also create a way better PERSONAL EXPERIENCE than walking out of a retail store and taking off your new CD's excess packaging.
It's not like music is getting worse now that records stores are closing... it's just that most people still buy their crappy music from other places.
from hipsterrunoff dot com.
also one of my favorite posts is "catch that aoki". while i want to agree with everything that is said in this, and i constantly read all the music blogs he mentioned and many more, something happened to me the other night that got me thinking about the blogosphere. particularly the indie/electro/ dance punk/ pasty white kids with no rythm scene. i was djing at black market as usual and i was in the middle of a bmore set. not to get too deep into it, but bmore is a style of music from baltimore which is made with minimal instrumentation and uses certain breakbeats, you know what, heres the wikipedia description - Baltimore club is based on an 8/4 beat structure, and includes tempos around 130 beats per minute.[3][4] It combines repetitive, looped vocal snippets similar to ghetto house with vocal samples from television shows like Sanford and Son and SpongeBob SquarePants,[4] and also includes heavy breakbeats and call and response stanzas similar to those found in the go-go music of Washington, D.C.. More often than not, the breakbeats are pulled from two records: "Sing Sing" by Gaz, and "Think (About It)" by Lyn Collins.[1] Much like the rave-era sub-genre of techno music known as breakbeat hardcore, Baltimore club sounds as if the music was purposely produced in a hurried manner, as each song is made with a limited palette of sounds and is based on similar frameworks.
what this article fails to mention is that it is also "the thing" to remix popular songs in the bmore style, a lot of which are unlikely . some examples of tracks i have are - phat bottom girls(fat bottom girls-queen) your bmore (your love- the outfield) you get the idea. so anyway, i was playing a remix by one of my favorite producer/djs, a guy named Tittsworth ( thats his dj name but its his real last name, no joke). The remix was of easy ( like sunday morning). this kid that is very obviously part of the whole " i only get my music from blogs and i wear neon nikes and think daft punk invented music" comes up to me and goes " brah you got that from missingtoof.com. badass". (i do read that blog sometimes). and i tell him that i actually didnt, i just got it cuz im a fan of tittsworth and have all his tracks. of course hes not listening and hes goes " that is sooooo missingtoof". while dancing like a retard. that comment shocked me. since when does a blog have a certain sound? is it tittsworths fault that they posted his track? im sure that track was on 5000 other blogs as well. this particular kid heard it on missingtoof, thus it is " the missingtoof sound".
the people who write these blogs really do know their shit. in fact, a lot of them are really good djs. the doods that write bigstereo are fucking awesome. what is happening is like trickle down economics. its like these dudes with laptops that have a lot of music, post a few tracks everynow and then, and thse younger and completely unoriginal kids only hear those tracks and that makes up the bulk of what they hear. they dont go listen to the whole album because as hipsterrunof guy says" complete albums arent good". of course, there is no going back from the blogs, but whats gonna happen when the dudes writing them ( probably between the ages of 23-28) get careers or kids or something and stop writing? the new dj generation will take over. this is a generation that could never beatmatch a vinyl record, hell, the new kids dont even use serato. too complicated. they use ableton ( which is great for recording or live remixes) . this is a generation that doesnt realize the music they listen to is house music. its one more variation of house music. like trance.techno.jungle and drum and bass and every subgenre you can name. indie electro is house music. house music is disco. im not talking about your parents' beegees records or the saturday night fever soundtrack. im talking about salsoul records or west end. im not talking about studio 54. paradise garage, wikipedia it. larry levan was the dj there. thousands of people there every night dancing. no alcohol was sold there and this was before x. it was all about the music. tonight i am going to see this dj named kavinsky at club 101. his album is really good and it is obvious that he is a good producer. in fact, i love some of his tracks and play them regularly.he is on a record label from france that garuntees that the noen wearing kids will like you. i have heard from many people that he isnt that great of a dj. i'll find out tonight. the problem is, and im confident i can predict this correctly, it wont matter how good or bad he is. the neons will go ape shit for him no matter what ( after all, he opened for daft punk he must be hot shit. nevermind that the guy that owns his label is daft punks manager, pedro winter) i honestly hope he is good because i paid 20 bucks for a ticket and i definately want something for it, but i doubt it. i guess im just ranting. i'll do part two of this post tommorrow after i have seen the show.
ah MAN im totally feeling this right now. . i was thinking about this blog earlier today when i went into the CD store to buy a CD for the first tim in i dont know.. like years man. .it was so relieving to go in, and look under the section it was in, buyt and walk out.. i used to hate how commercial CD stores catagorize their music. . .i thought it was too broad, but now i think it's actually cool and makes it a lot easier to find what im lookin for and just walk out.. i go to record stores or these indie stores youre talkin about, and i find the stuff i REALLY like but .. man everything is in a catagory of its own now and there's so much overlap and way too much detail in those stores, anyway.. we gotta go get some records soon and i want to spin at your SUCK and BLOW party some time. . i just dont know WHAT to play.. and its late