Just got my CD copies of both Rev. Fred Lane albums on Shimmy Disc. I
remember reading somewhere the true identities of the musicians behind
these...ahem...classics. I'm pretty sure Davy/LaDonna Smith and Chadborne
being in the list. Can somebody provide a complete list?
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<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"><FONT SIZE=2>Just got my CD copies of both Rev. Fred Lane albums on Shimmy Disc. I <BR>remember reading somewhere the true identities of the musicians behind <BR>these...ahem...classics. I'm pretty sure Davy/LaDonna Smith and Chadborne <BR>being in the list. Can somebody provide a complete list?</FONT></HTML>
From: "First Name Last Name" <antizoyd@my-deja.com>
Subject: no zorn content
Date: 03 Nov 2000 16:30:30 -0800
hello all:
been reading the group for a while now and thoroughly enjoy it and have gotten many leads to great music....
anyways...i live in a vast music wasteland here, but one of the local music stores has a nits double live cd in its used bins. anyone know if this would be worth buying or could possibly charactize it for me?
In a message dated 11/3/00 6:22:25 PM Eastern Standard Time,
owner-zorn-list-digest@lists.xmission.com writes:
> >Sure, Bowie can play piano. But he can never play jazz - he has no soul.
> Not
> >
"Low" seems to me to be a soul-revealing testimony....very dark and real.
i think bowie was (is) a genre-chameleon, but that is art, is it not?
look at Zorn, for instance...does he have no soul?
ben
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<HTML><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 11/3/00 6:22:25 PM Eastern Standard Time, <BR>owner-zorn-list-digest@lists.xmission.com writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">>Sure, Bowie can play piano. But he can never play jazz - he has no soul. <BR>Not
<BR>>once in his career has he invested any of HIMSELF in his music</BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR>
<BR>"Low" seems to me to be a soul-revealing testimony....very dark and real.
<BR>i think bowie was (is) a genre-chameleon, but that is art, is it not?
<BR>look at Zorn, for instance...does he have no soul?
> > or the duo with Lovens, NOTHING TO READ, buy them, and
> > send them to me.
>
> I believe Verge is handling IMPROMPOSITIONS now, so should be easy to come
> by.
>
> It's truly beautiful. I hope for more enhanced-CD versions of this music.
>
I picked up a copy several months ago at a local chain outlet -- seems that the first printing ran out quickly, but it is now readily available again. (I know this store has gone through 5 already!)
As for other Gustafsson recommendations, I would heartily recommend two recent releases -- Windows and Xylophonen Virtuosen. Windows is Gustafsson's take on some Steve Lacy tunes, a Cecil Taylor piece, and a couple of original compositions; XV is a duo with Jim O'Rourke. Gustafsson's playing on both is similar -- some of the ideas he is developing, some of the rapid-fire reed pops he is doing, etc -- and both are very, very good. Not just technical showcases, but really good music. I like O'Rourke's playing on XV, though I'm not a big fan of his work in general. Here he plays all acoustic guitar, with a country blues/folk feel to it.
There's also another recent Gustafsson release called Port Huron Picnic, a trio with a guitar/drum duo from Toronto, that I am having a hard time warming up to. I'll have to try again soon.
I heard the song ''never again'',on Zorn's Kristallnacht,and that song sounds very familiar to some of Masami Akita's stuff on Oersted(well,only had the guts to hear this one,but most of his work is the same).So,just wondering:did Merzbow had any influence on Zorn's work?Cause Zorn's into a lot of japanese stuff,and since Merzbow is a japanese noise institution,there's probably something to do,but I'm not sure....anyone?
Noises,
Maldoror
How do you spell EMAIL? You @ 37.com - The world's easiest free Email address
Since this has been reissued recently, I was wondering what everyones
thoughts were on Lou Reeds stake in experimental noise............
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<HTML><FONT SIZE=2>Hello-
<BR>
<BR>Since this has been reissued recently, I was wondering what everyones <BR>thoughts were on Lou Reeds stake in experimental noise............</FONT></HTML>
I'm relatively new to this list,so there's a lot of stuff I'm not familiar into,so let's go piece by piece(wow,that's a Slayer tune,aaaaaah I'm so smart).Ahem...who's this John Cage guy?Is he a musician?Is he a poet?Is he a prolific guy?I'd like some comments on him,also some good stuff to hear from him.Anyone?
Avakians,
Liu Kang
How do you spell EMAIL? You @ 37.com - The world's easiest free Email address
<BR> I'm relatively new to this list,so there's a lot of stuff I'm not <BR>familiar into,so let's go piece by piece(wow,that's a Slayer tune,aaaaaah <BR>I'm so smart).Ahem...who's this John Cage guy?Is he a musician?Is he a <BR>poet?Is he a prolific guy?I'd like some comments on him,also some good <BR>stuff to hear from him.Anyone?
<BR>Avakians,
<BR>Liu Kang
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
<BR></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR>
<BR>Prepare to, like me, include a small notebook while reading this list. I jot <BR>down at least 3 or 4 names, and am eternally grateful for everyones <BR>interesting contributions. I live in an area where only mainstream artists <BR>are appreciated (who doesn't these days though?) I'm still working on my <BR>Cage collection so there isn't much I could tell you, though I greatly admire <BR>Yoko Ono, who has been largely influenced by him.</FONT></HTML>
On Sun, Nov 12, 2000 at 11:52:43AM -0800, Fag music wrote:
> Ok,
> I'm relatively new to this list,so there's a lot of stuff I'm not familiar into,so let's go piece by piece(wow,that's a Slayer tune,aaaaaah I'm so smart).Ahem...who's this John Cage guy?Is he a musician?Is he a poet?Is he a prolific guy?I'd like some comments on him,also some good stuff to hear from him.Anyone?
Uh, gee, what could I say?
Cage was indeed a musician, poet, graphic artist, creator of theatre,
macrobiotic chef, etc. He was responsible for some of the essential
breakthroughs of 20th Century music, including the use of "non-musical"
"noise" in music, and the appreciation of the sounds of one's own
environment as music. (In the Cagean viewpoint, "music" is not so much
a way of creating sound as a way of listening to it.)
Where to start in listening to his work depends on what you already
enjoy. I often recommend his piano pieces or string quartets to those
coming from a classical background. OTOH, a friend who is into noise
and ambience got turned on to him through his piece "Five Stone Wind".
Speaking for my own tastes, I find I listen most to "Singing Through"
(an album of his vocal works by Joan LaBarbara), the Wergo recordings
of Song Books and Empty Words, and his Roaratorio. Cage himself didn't
listen to recordings much, though he came to appreciate them as
documentation. I greatly enjoy performing his vocal pieces. Some of
his works are sufficiently clear and open that even those not trained
as musicians can easily perform them, once they understand the mindset.
Of course, I invite all those interested in Cage to check out Silence,
the Cage mailing list. You can find how to subscribe and a link to the
archives from http://www.metatronpress.com/jzitt/Cage/
--
|> ~The only thing that is not art is inattention~ --- Marcel Duchamp <|
guys.The amount of John Cage comments really helped me to start looking for it.I'll try and find some of his recommended stuff.By the way,I've been trying to find the Nani Nani album,if anyone has it and wants to trade via icq,my uin is 38973178,we'll set sumthin' up.Also,I'd like to know some good albums that had Yamatsuka(Yamataka?Kill me,I'm dumb) Eye.I know he sang on Naked city and for Boredoms,but I guess there's more...who sang Zorn's Bikini atoll and Bone crusher????I assume it was him,given the similarity....so,anyone????
Screams,
Third Eye
How do you spell EMAIL? You @ 37.com - The world's easiest free Email address
guys.The recommendations for John Cage will help me getting into this stuff.Right then,I wanna know:besides lead singing for Boredoms,does Yamatsuka/Yamatanka/Yamataka(kill me,for I dunno which one of these guys actually exist)Eye have another stuff out?I know he hangs around a lot with Zorn,and I just listened to their their album called Nani nani,it is great.But I wanna know:does anyone have a commented discography of him,or something????Is there actually a solo Eye album,like Adult themes for voice,for example???I'd like to hear some comments on it.So,anyone????
Screams,
I know what you did last summer
How do you spell EMAIL? You @ 37.com - The world's easiest free Email address
Trevor Dunn is Mr.Bungle's bassist...but it's funny how people on avant-garde consider Bungle ''kind of a rock group''...haahahah.
Anyway,Trevor Dunn has a commented discography on http://www.ozramp.net.au/~alien/trd.html ,check it out.Hmmmm,lemme ask then:why is it that people consider Bungle to be kind of a rock band?I suppose some may think this cause Patton sings on it...anyone?
Platypusses,
Travolta
>Date: Fri, 17 Nov 2000 07:49:40 -0500
>To: Zorn-List <zorn-list@lists.xmission.com>
>From: "Caleb T. Deupree" <cdeupree@erinet.com>
>Subject: Re: McPhee
>
>At 02:09 AM 11/17/00 -0500, Steve Smith wrote:
>>
>>NP - Joe McPhee & Dominic Duval, "Beyond the Truth/Lies," 'The Dream
>>Book' (Cadence)
>
>Speaking of McPhee and Cadence, the November issue has an interview with
>McPhee in which he discusses a project he did with Trevor Dunn, 'bass
>player with a kind of rock group'. Anyone hear this? Was it recorded?
>Has Dunn performed with any other avant musicians?
>
>--
>Caleb Deupree
>cdeupree@erinet.com
>
>Work like you don't need the money. Love like you've never been hurt. Dance
>like nobody's watching.
>
>-- Satchel Paige
>
>-
http://e2893.37.com/Free-E-Card/ <--- You Have A Greeting :)
That's a listing for something being shown to accompany a Ken Jacobs show at the Museum of the Moving Image (or whatever the real name is). Does anybody know if it has anything to do with the Godz who recorded on ESP?
> That's a listing for something being shown to accompany a Ken Jacobs show at the Museum of the Moving Image (or whatever the real name is). Does anybody know if it has anything to do with the Godz who recorded on ESP?
Yes. From a similar program that appeared at the Whitney Museum last Halloween:
ESP-disk Films
ESP-disk was a pioneering record label that issued avant-garde rock and jazz records. Assembled here for the first time are the three films ESP-disk commissioned
to promote its artists, together with Michael Snow's film New York Eye and Ear Control (A Walking Woman Work), featuring a soundtrack by Albert Ayler that
became the first ESP jazz release.
Edward English, The Fugs, 1963, color, sound, 12 1/2 min. (The Fugs)
Jud Yalkut, The Godz, 1966, color, sound, 12 min. (The Godz)
Edward English, Spaceways, 1968, color, sound, 18 min. (Sun Ra)
Michael Snow, New York Eye and Ear Control (A Walking Woman Work), 1964, b/w, sound, 34 min. (Albert Ayler)
Steve Smith
ssmith36@sprynet.com
(reporting from lovely downtown Long Island City, just around the corner from the American Museum of the Moving Image...)
> That's a listing for something being shown to accompany a Ken Jacobs show at the Museum of the Moving Image (or whatever the real name is). Does anybody know if it has anything to do with the Godz who recorded on ESP?
Yes it does. 2 p.m. on Sunday. Jud also has a current series at the
Whitney, featuring film programs and a number of reconstructed
installations from the 60s (the second opens today); infos follow (note,
there are a number of other films that may appeal to folks here).
> The Whitney Museum is pleased to present 'Dreamreels', an exhibition
> and film program of psychedelic artist and filmmaker Jud Yalkut's work
> from the sixties and the present. The exhibition, which opens this
> Saturday November 4th, presents two film environments from the sixties,
> not seen since their first showings in 1967, and a new three-projection
> video installation. Each installation runs for one week. Those
> Frameworkers in New York are urged to see all three installations! The
> first film environment, 'Yin /Yang / sine pulse', (1967) made with USCO,
> will be on show from Saturday November 4th to 12th daily. Inside a
> silver mylared space, films are projected onto weather balloons,
> re-creating one of the classic multi-media film environments of the
> sixties.
>
> From November 17 - 23, 'Destruct Film' (1967) will be shown. In this
> film environment, film is strewn across the floor, ankle deep, into
> which the viewer is invited to walk, sit or lie, watching films and
> slides moving around the space, animated by beam-splitting mirrors.
>
> From November 25 - December 1, 'Vision Cantos' will be shown. This
> new 3 projection video installation by Yalkut shows digitised and
> synthesised film images, projected in the space in a continuing work
> which will evolve for the remaining course of the artist's life.
>
> A special film program of Yalkut's work will be presented on the
> final weekend of the exhibition, Saturday December 2 and Sunday December
> 3. Complete schedule of films to follow. The film program includes rare
> work such as 'Metamedia: A Film Journal of Intermedia and the
> Avant-Garde 1966 - 1972', and includes footage of Timothy Leary, a Ken
> Dewey car collision happening, Carolee Schneeman's performance 'Illinois
> Central Transposed', E.A.T. events, the American premiere of Hermann
> Nitsch's 'Orgy-Mystery Theatre in 1968, and many others. The program
> will also include a group of videofilms made in collaboration with Nam
> June Paik, including rarely screened works such as 'Skating' and
> 'Electronic Fables'.
> Saturday, December 2
> Sunday, December 3
> Screenings are repeated each day except where noted.
>
> Noon
> The Participating Camera: Film Journals and Diaries
> Kusama's Self-Obliteration, with Yayoi Kusama, 1967, 24 min. Sat. only.
> Planes, 1968-72, with Simone Forti for Trisha Brown, 17 min. Sun. only.
> John Cage Mushroom Hunting in Stony Point, 1972-73, silent, 8 min.
> Metamedia: A Film Journal of Intermedia and the Avant-Garde 1966-1970,
> 1972, silent, 50 min. In fifteen sections:
> 1. Timothy Leary's psychedelic celebration The Resurrection of Christ at
> the Village Theatre, New York, 1966.
> 2. USCO, Lower East Side: Past and Present, projection environment, The
> Jewish Museum, New York, 1966.
> 3. Ken Dewey, Red, White and Blue, car collision happening, Group 212,
> Woodstock, New York, July 4, 1967.
> 4. Phyllis Yampolsky, Feast of Connection for the First 50 Strangers,
> Group 212, Woodstock, New York, July 4, 1967.
> 5. Expo '67, Montreal, 1967.
> 6. Yayoi Kusama happening at Cooper Square Playhouse, New York, 1968.
> 7. Carolee Schneemann, Illinois Central Transposed, performance, State
> University of New York, Albany, Intermedia '68 tour.
> 8. The Living Theatre, Paradise Now, performance, Brooklyn Academy of
> Music, New York, 1968.
> 9. E.A.T. (Experiments in Art and Technology) project, John Anthes
Not sure wether this has to do with avant-garde or not,
but anyone know if Kevin Sharp's into the scene?I really like the guy's voice in Brutal truth,and some of the stuff he did with Cobra was funny...well,can't say I'd listen to his track on Melvin's Crybaby,but...so,anyone knows where is Kevin Sharp?Is he still recording?Last thing heard,he was in a ''hate-core'' band called Damaged....but I didn't find it anywhere(if anyone has it,mail me).Oh yeah...maybe some of you avant-gardist dudes will like this band....it's called Exit-13....it's ''kind of grindcore''(like ''bungle is kind of a rock band''),but they put out a cd with some old 60's jazz covers...I found it funny.
Dementias,
Godplayer
http://e2893.37.com/Free-E-Card/ <--- You Have A Greeting :)
> Not sure wether this has to do with avant-garde or not,
> but anyone know if Kevin Sharp's into the scene?I really like the guy's voice in Brutal truth,and some of the stuff he did with Cobra was funny...
I've lost track of Sharp since the demise (?) of Brutal Truth, but yeah, he was at least a tangental part of the "scene" - I saw BT open for Boredoms and Pain Teens in summer '93 back in Houston - loudest show I ever heard in my life - and then, months later after moving to NYC, I saw Kevin and Buckethead sit in with Pain Killer during the Zorn 40th birthday month at the old Knit.
>Was that recorded? I also heard he sang with Naked City live at some point,
>which makes sense.
Dunno about Naked city,but his contribution to Cobra can be heard in the Live at the Knitting Factory album.It's track 4 or 5,or both,if I recall.I liked it.You can definitely tell it's him.
>I have the last damaged album, the music is pretty great but I couldn't
>really stand the vocalist. The new one is out on the same label, Rotten. The
>link is:
And you do have Exit-13 too,huh?Hey,that's interesting...but tell me:wanna trade?Mail me,dude.As for the jazz covers album,I liked it.It's hella funny,reminds me of some Anal cunt stuff.
Exits,
14
>From: "William York" <william_york@hotmail.com>
>To: zorn-list@lists.xmission.com
>Subject: Re: kevin sharp
>Date: Mon, 20 Nov 2000 19:19:20 GMT
>
>>Not sure wether this has to do with avant-garde or not, but anyone know >if
>>Kevin Sharp's into the scene?I really like the guy's voice in Brutal
>> >truth,and some of the stuff he did with Cobra was funny
>
>Was that recorded? I also heard he sang with Naked City live at some point,
>which makes sense.
>
>>Last thing heard,he was in a ''hate-core'' band called Damaged....but I
>> >didn't find it anywhere(if anyone has it,mail me)
>
>I have the last damaged album, the music is pretty great but I couldn't
>really stand the vocalist. The new one is out on the same label, Rotten. The
>link is:
>
>http://www.rottenrecords.com/damaged.html
>
>Also, Damaged is Australian, so who knows, maybe he's in Australia.
>
>>Oh yeah...maybe some of you avant-gardist dudes will like this
>> >band....it's called Exit-13....it's ''kind of grindcore''(like ''bungle
>> >is kind of a rock band''),but they put out a cd with some old 60's jazz
>> >covers...I found it funny.
>
>Is that "Smoking SOngs"? I have "Ethos Musick,"
>another one where I liked a lot of the music but not the singer. Nothing
>against grind singers in general, just something about these two bands.
In a message dated 11/22/00 11:48:40 AM Eastern Standard Time,
Velaires@aol.com writes:
> I was recently sent a CD (pressed in France) by The Blue Notes, a South
> African hard bop quintet from the early sixties. The liner notes weren't
> as
> thorough as one might have hoped. Anyone know anything about them? And
> "anything" means anything.
>
I think they were already South African ex-patriates, living in England when
the Blue Notes were formed. If memory serves correctly, they were comprised
of Fezi, Moholo, Dyani,....arrrgh!...memory fades....
--
=dg=
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<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 11/22/00 11:48:40 AM Eastern Standard Time, <BR>Velaires@aol.com writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">I was recently sent a CD (pressed in France) by The Blue Notes, a South
<BR>African hard bop quintet from the early sixties. The liner notes weren't <BR>as
<BR>thorough as one might have hoped. Anyone know anything about them? And
<BR>I think they were already South African ex-patriates, living in England when <BR>the Blue Notes were formed. If memory serves correctly, they were comprised <BR>of Fezi, Moholo, Dyani,....arrrgh!...memory fades....
what is this Death cube k cd?I heard it's Buckethead and Bill Laswell,but only managed to hear one track from their disembodied cd.Since I'm into Laswell AND Buckethead(who did the worst thing by joining GNR),I'd like to see some info on this one...is it good?Is it funny?Is is avant-garde?What the hell is death cube k supposed to mean anyway?Yeah,I guess that'd be cool to get some feedback.
Axioms,
Giant Robot
>From: "sinkas" <sinkas@camtech.net.au>
>To: <zorn-list@lists.xmission.com>
>Subject: Bill Laswell "Invisible Design" (Tzadik)
>Date: Fri, 24 Nov 2000 13:48:36 +1030
>
>Hi all,
>I really like this disc, and have had it for some time now, I only picked it up as it was in a second-hand store, Im glad I did!
>
>I think I recall this disc getting a pretty bad rap on this list, and I never understoof why, as to me it sounds so mellow and sweet.
>
>Does anyoe know who plays on the album, is it all just Laswell, as I cant see any other credits, I didnt get the spine card, so maybe it was mentioned on that.
>
>If i dig this disc, is there any other discs that anyone would reccommend, that are in a similar style.
>
>Case
>NP: you guessed it, Invisible Design
>
>
>
>
>"Alma Matters"
>
>
>-
http://e2893.37.com/Free-E-Card/ <--- You Have A Greeting :)
I got one album from Death cube k,called Disembodied,and is good.Someone said is more guitar oriented,but the only one I thought was more guitar-oriented is the second track....anyway,it's cool if you're into Bill,but some bucketeers might not like it.I'd recommend Praxis for Bucketheaders.By the way,now that I mentioned it:does anyone know what's the lineup for Praxis's Mold?Cause it sure don't sound like Praxis,and I doubt Bucky's on it,since I didn't hear any guitars...it's more ambient,I guess.Anyone has any comments on any track of this album?Thank ya.
Throes,
Rasputin
http://e2893.37.com/Free-E-Card/ <--- You Have A Greeting :)
dudes.Just came by to say that some of you would like to give a shot to Zillatron's ''Lord of the harvest''.Why?Cause it's cool.And that's the deal.BUT,if we need something to keep it in the avant-garde,there you go...Bootsy Collin's on it.And I was just wondering...who plays with Bootsy on that Zillatron record?Looks like the guy who speaks on Buckethead's first track on Monsters and robots(''I can never stop working hard,blah blah) is on it.Any info?Also,fans of The Residents should check out Moog Cookbook,although it is way poppy...ah,what the hell.
Collins,
Bugg Lite
http://e2893.37.com/Free-E-Card/ <--- You Have A Greeting :)
In a message dated 11/27/00 1:37:47 PM Eastern Standard Time,
JonAbbey2@aol.com writes:
> Dusty Groove's prices are really great also, pretty much across the board.
> definitely worth a few minutes of your browsing time.
>
Dusty Groove is a home wrecker, I tell you! It is a place where money is
spent that should go to paying food and light bills!! Evil and temptation
lurks there, good people...you have been warned!!!
;-)
--
=dg= (one who has spent way too much money there on too many occasions...)
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<HTML><BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff"><FONT SIZE=2>In a message dated 11/27/00 1:37:47 PM Eastern Standard Time, <BR>JonAbbey2@aol.com writes:
<BR>
<BR>
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Dusty Groove's prices are really great also, pretty much across the board.
<BR>definitely worth a few minutes of your browsing time.
<BR>Dusty Groove is a home wrecker, I tell you! It is a place where money is <BR>spent that should go to paying food and light bills!! Evil and temptation <BR>lurks there, good people...you have been warned!!!
<BR>
<BR>;-)
<BR>
<BR>--
<BR>=dg= (one who has spent way too much money there on too many occasions...)</FONT></HTML>
How do you mean "what appears"? Did he say something to that effect from the stage? I'd like to assume he'll be honoring already-scheduled gigs, since I'm planning on driving up to Minneapolis in April to see them.
Dave Royko
<< Zorn-agains,
Sunday night Masada played what appears to be one of the last Masada
concerts. A thought that makes me, and hopefully many more, mourn. Once
again they performed brilliantly. They played Lilin which I only knew from
the Bar Kokhba sextet.
Rob@llaert.NU
"The goal is to bring the same intensity to listening as the performer to
Subject: Re: Amazon et al Supporting your Local Record Store
Date: 29 Nov 2000 01:13:31 -0500
sinkas wrote:
> I was thinking that in light of the nature of this list, which i would consider to some degree "outsider" music, why is it that people appear happy to support these huge web based record stores.
As often as not, it's because it's the only option available to many who don't live in "major markets." Even in the USA, such stores are not common. They depend upon a dedicated shop-owner (like DMG's Bruce Gallanter) and a steady and
dependable clientele to assure their continued existence. In New York and Chicago and the Bay Area (and even Houston, TX, where I grew up), this isn't a problem. But you're not likely to find a mom'n'pop shop that carries such outsider music
outside such major markets.
(Steve Koenig provided a useful and interesting insight into the equivalent experience online in his subsequent post. It's now possible to do your online shopping at "indie stores" as well. I plan to take heed.)
> I think for the most part the people who may most benefit form them are those, who like me live outside the USA, I am wondering if the prices are really any cheaper to the US comapre's as opposed to them buying form thier local record store.
In many cases, the big net stores and the big chain "brick and mortar" stores (as real-world record stores are known in the music biz) can very easily underprice indie stores, since they're better able to cut deals with the record labels to
lower the price they pay to keep merchandise in stock. The big guys "pass the savings along" to the consumer. For example, I recently paid $7.99 apiece for a pile of CDs by Charles Mingus, Joni Mitchell and the Grateful Dead during a sale at
Tower Records.
But recently, some of the larger web shops (Barnes & Noble in particular) have ceased offering the deep discounts, an accurate reflection of the relatively low sales generated online so far. Believe me, as a former record company drone, the
online stores like BN and Amazon and CDNow sell FAR less than they want anyone to believe. And they've all at one time or another been on the brink of ruin as a result (although Amazon has been much smarter than the others at concealing this).
> I really like it when I can but a record directly form the artist, or from the label (web of Mimicry et al) as I feel there is alt least a chance the artist will see some benifit.
This is the best scenario, agreed. But it's not always available. And furthermore, if an artist is recording for an actual record label - major OR indie - as opposed to releasing discs him-or-herself, then this, too, is a factor in the bottom
line. Only recently has it been possible for artists who sell CDs at shows to report their sales to Soundscan, the company that tabulates sales for the Billboard charts. And even if an artist has no chance whatsoever of appearing on the
charts, still, Soundscan numbers play a huge (some might say inordinate) role in the American recording industry.
> Sure beat going to Virgin only to be told "We dont carrry any Tzadik recrds", hhmm, i think you mean you dant carry any MUSIC.
Here in New York you can find the entire Tzadik catalog in both of the Virgin megastores. It depends on where you're shopping, clearly.
> SO to sum up, are people here pro -local record store, or not?
I think, given the opportunity, that everybody would favor a record store that carried exactly what they wanted, and was staffed by people who could tell them more about the music and then point them towards still further music to discover.
But even here in America, that's pretty rare, and that's why I so treasure Downtown Music Gallery and Other Music.
But it's also why I tend to turn to the Zornlist, more than any other source, to sway my shopping list. More than anything else, the ability of the employees to make informed recommendations is what's missing from the CD superstores in the
real world. By contrast, the online shops at least offer a modicum of advice, as well as often letting Joe Q. Public post a review that appears in the same font and text size as the words of the "experts." In my opinion, that's the best thing
they've got going for them. So I get my suggestions from the Zornlist, and then it's up to me to figure out where to track this stuff down.
Finally, to give testimony to my own buying habits, I've only ever bought one disc online from a "superstore," a disc I couldn't have found in a store even here in New York, since it was deleted before it was shipped to most shops. In general
I simply lack the patience... when I want something, I want it NOW. And that is, I think, the final testimonial as to what stores suceed or fail here in the USA.
<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">SO to sum up, are people here pro -local record store, or not?</FONT><FONT COLOR="#000000" SIZE=3 FAMILY="SANSSERIF" FACE="Arial" LANG="0"></BLOCKQUOTE>
<BR>I try to buy local as much as possible. Problem with many local retailers in <BR>my area, is that they try to add a dollar or two to the price if they have to <BR>"special order" an item. This usually means overpaying for the same item had <BR>I gone to an online vendor. When buying a handful of items, this can add up, <BR>especially when sales taxes are deferred due to buying out of state.
