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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "John L. Micek" <jlmicek@mindspring.com> |
| Subject | Re: the death of the CD |
| Date | Fri, 5 Sep 2003 13:00:33 -0400 |
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> This all goes back to the tactile aspect of record >buying...looking at
the labels and picture sleeves, digging >through the bins to find something
new.
You've hit the nail right on the head here. I've downloaded a few things off
iTunes since they began offering the service (The Thorns CD most notably,
along with a few singles I've always wanted, but never carried through on
buying).
My primary complaint with iTunes is that it does not offer album art for
download, and the icon of the record cover that appears in the lower left
corner of the screen when you listen to the playlist just doesn't cut it.
I'm a nut for records that have long, detailed liner notes. I want to know
who played what, how many studios were employed in its creation, who
twiddled the knobs, and wade through the long and sometimes self-serving
list of thank-yous (Guilty as charged. I did it on my record).
The example, par excellence, of album liner notes, by the way, might be the
lengthy booklet that Marty Willson-Piper of The Church included with his
first solo record, 1987's "In Reflection."
Over 10 or 12 pages, MWP explains how he recorded the songs and what kind of
obstacles he had to overcome given the limitations of working with just four
tracks. Given the lushness of the record, it's a pretty impressive technical
feat.
There's just so much enthusiasm there, you can't help but be drawn in.
And it's true -- there's nothing quite like wading through the bins and
suddenly coming across some amazing surprise of a record that you never
would have considered buying had it not been for something compelling about
the cover that appealed to you.
There are records in my collection that are there for no other reason save
that one.
John Micek.
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