I take it he helped! His career continues to interest me. It's been almost exactly a quarter century since he started recording (maybe a little longer if you count the video game record), and in that time he's produced close to 50 albums ranging from stand-alone singles to the gigantic 10-disc Gave Van Niets. As far as I can tell, everything is in print.
On the one hand, he's been able to remain exquisitely obscure (despite being name-dropped in '90s James Bond novels and having his standards turned into minor club remix hits), almost certainly by design. On the other hand, he's been able to keep his audience at a size that can sustain his output and presumably support his lifestyle. I remember hearing back in the mid-'90s that his sudden spurt of creativity was basically keeping Crepuscule in existence, for example. The rest of the label had fallen away but Wim kept the lights on -- even though (or maybe because) global distribution was terrible. He remained a European artist, unclassifiable, apparently as a conscious choice. He kept his audience at a sustainable level.
The content has its highs and lows but I've learned to trust his ability to follow his para-objective instincts to make his often starkly objective music. He's still making new content. Presumably he's still finding things to say. He's only 53. All of this together is exciting!
Tuxedomoon are also still out there in their factions, but they're farther from my usual orbit.
I've spent probably about a year in total on Amazon extensions for Jeremiades. I have a couple of the songs from torrenting and what not, but I'd really like to hear the whole album together.
something in the water...salimondoFebruary 21 2007, 01:11:39 UTC
You are correct! Not even the Belgians can reliably source that one and I don't think I have a copy either. Can nobody keep their catalog in print any more?
Re: something in the water...ayrkainFebruary 21 2007, 01:24:05 UTC
This is why I'm studying to be a scribe. Even in the overwhelming age of print and reprint, the signal to noise ratio needs a little helping here and there (and everywhere).
Now that's a sensible insight on the long-term ecology of information. Especially information stored on "virtual" media. I wonder what Wim would say if we told him that nobody can find it.
That said, this exposes an interesting dimension of the information ecology. In a broadcast publishing environment, access to content is theoretically universal and egalitarian, once you scrape up the ticket price: if a book or record is in print, anybody can stroll over to Amazon, pass the digits and get the content.
Once the content drops out of that market -- going out of print, even online (where the ticket price is zero and the manufacturing "cost" is minimal) -- then access becomes more tightly constrained. We might have to make friends with someone who has a surviving copy. We might have to get lucky. We might have to pay an inflated price in cash. All of this helps to reinforce the aura surrounding the content and the object that contains it. Entire systems may be put in place to match seekers with finders. The finders may decide to manage the seekers, or else just put the content back in "print" in some format.
Maybe the real question is why Wim isn't interested in promulgating the Jeremiades. In any event, a copy has turned up for you personally.
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On the one hand, he's been able to remain exquisitely obscure (despite being name-dropped in '90s James Bond novels and having his standards turned into minor club remix hits), almost certainly by design. On the other hand, he's been able to keep his audience at a size that can sustain his output and presumably support his lifestyle. I remember hearing back in the mid-'90s that his sudden spurt of creativity was basically keeping Crepuscule in existence, for example. The rest of the label had fallen away but Wim kept the lights on -- even though (or maybe because) global distribution was terrible. He remained a European artist, unclassifiable, apparently as a conscious choice. He kept his audience at a sustainable level.
The content has its highs and lows but I've learned to trust his ability to follow his para-objective instincts to make his often starkly objective music. He's still making new content. Presumably he's still finding things to say. He's only 53. All of this together is exciting!
Tuxedomoon are also still out there in their factions, but they're farther from my usual orbit.
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And yes, it did help quite a bit.
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That said, this exposes an interesting dimension of the information ecology. In a broadcast publishing environment, access to content is theoretically universal and egalitarian, once you scrape up the ticket price: if a book or record is in print, anybody can stroll over to Amazon, pass the digits and get the content.
Once the content drops out of that market -- going out of print, even online (where the ticket price is zero and the manufacturing "cost" is minimal) -- then access becomes more tightly constrained. We might have to make friends with someone who has a surviving copy. We might have to get lucky. We might have to pay an inflated price in cash. All of this helps to reinforce the aura surrounding the content and the object that contains it. Entire systems may be put in place to match seekers with finders. The finders may decide to manage the seekers, or else just put the content back in "print" in some format.
Maybe the real question is why Wim isn't interested in promulgating the Jeremiades. In any event, a copy has turned up for you personally.
Reply
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