Where I've been... on the interwebs at least...
I've been renewing my teenage dream of having a decent, sizable record collection again, largely 'cos of actually having the money to do so. It might seem a retrograde step in this era of iPods and so forth, but Vinyl is Back apparently. I quite like the idea of teensy teenage emo kids coveting 7"s again, how cool is that? More generally, I'm glad that our species desire for *objects* to handle, have and to hold means that not everything gets dematerialised and beamed up into the cyber-ether. Thank God for keeping it real (literally).
It's been quite enjoyable, going out and digging round shops again, and there have been a number of changes to the market since I stopped collecting. Firstly, pretty much everything is available as a repress, in a way that is just cocking mental. Stuff I never thought I'd ever see is easily available just a short stroll to Rough Trade away. Of course, though, when there's a glut, as with MP3s you just want what you can't have, and original presses therefore become more desirable, which brings me to the mammoth change Number 2, the evil eBay. Collecting online makes everything incredibly easier (depending on how deep your pockets are) and is no doubt leading to a decline in record shops, but hey, you can't knock it to much. The Bay has had both inflationary and deflationary pressures on music, as global availability can help to keep prices down, but it can also drive them up when their genuinely is a small stock of something and it's being pursued by an international market (I think this is what's happening with original presses of Jamaican reggae, US and Japanese collectors, driving prices up but I'm not acquainted with the market tides of this sub-niche well enough to say with certainty). Helping me in my re-acquaintances with the strange world of record collecting has been Very Good Plus, a UK based website for those with a vinyl obsession. I particularly like these guys as they aren't irritating *collectors* as such, and have made a virtue of of seeing the magic in what would previously be dismissed as chuff - several of 'em have investigated the UK easy listening compilation LPs (still easily availible in charity shops up and down the land, quelle surprise), searching for breaks and bits of funky hammond or just relishing the cheese. Not really my bag (I'm on a bit more of a kraurock/psychedelia thing at the moment) but I think it's great that someone has done it. Some links here I intend to keep up the purchasing, though I'll have to slow it down a bit, before I'm bankrupt, and keep up with the tapes (see here for the International Mix Tape project which I'm going to join. I may even start trying a few proper mixes and who knows where that will lead to?
It's all fun stuff, and in the long run, probably better for me than Mixed Martial Arts. In other news, down to Seth's till Friday, and my phone charger has busted so I might be hard to reach. Send mail or PM.
It's been quite enjoyable, going out and digging round shops again, and there have been a number of changes to the market since I stopped collecting. Firstly, pretty much everything is available as a repress, in a way that is just cocking mental. Stuff I never thought I'd ever see is easily available just a short stroll to Rough Trade away. Of course, though, when there's a glut, as with MP3s you just want what you can't have, and original presses therefore become more desirable, which brings me to the mammoth change Number 2, the evil eBay. Collecting online makes everything incredibly easier (depending on how deep your pockets are) and is no doubt leading to a decline in record shops, but hey, you can't knock it to much. The Bay has had both inflationary and deflationary pressures on music, as global availability can help to keep prices down, but it can also drive them up when their genuinely is a small stock of something and it's being pursued by an international market (I think this is what's happening with original presses of Jamaican reggae, US and Japanese collectors, driving prices up but I'm not acquainted with the market tides of this sub-niche well enough to say with certainty). Helping me in my re-acquaintances with the strange world of record collecting has been Very Good Plus, a UK based website for those with a vinyl obsession. I particularly like these guys as they aren't irritating *collectors* as such, and have made a virtue of of seeing the magic in what would previously be dismissed as chuff - several of 'em have investigated the UK easy listening compilation LPs (still easily availible in charity shops up and down the land, quelle surprise), searching for breaks and bits of funky hammond or just relishing the cheese. Not really my bag (I'm on a bit more of a kraurock/psychedelia thing at the moment) but I think it's great that someone has done it. Some links here I intend to keep up the purchasing, though I'll have to slow it down a bit, before I'm bankrupt, and keep up with the tapes (see here for the International Mix Tape project which I'm going to join. I may even start trying a few proper mixes and who knows where that will lead to?
It's all fun stuff, and in the long run, probably better for me than Mixed Martial Arts. In other news, down to Seth's till Friday, and my phone charger has busted so I might be hard to reach. Send mail or PM.