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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Gene Good <javagene@hotmail.com> |
| Subject | Re: too much and or not enough |
| Date | Fri, 11 May 2007 20:31:41 +0000 |
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Until lately,I still thought I had a handle on the scene.But just reading Pitchfork and Popmatters on a daily basis,not to mention Fufkin,as well as Mojo and Harp,it seems like the amount of music that interests me has exploded.Just recently groups like Lavender Diamond,Bird and the Bee,Au Revoir Simone,just to mention a few all seem like cd's I need to own.Just saw Patrick Wolf on Conan.Pretty cool.Do I want his cd?Haven't gotten the latest Of Montreal yet,and now they release an ep ,and it gets a great review.New Feist,Fountains of Wayne,Bright eyes etc. are all essential to me.The Prefab Sprout re-issue of "Steve McQueen "with a newly recorded acoustic session-a must !And the new Clientel,plus 2 Louis Philippe releases,and a reissue of Young Marble Giants with a second cd .Ok,I will quit there.And I still discover music that takes time but eventually amazes me.Right now that would be Augie March "Strange Bird".Didn't really like it at first.Now it is stunning.And of course there is that Sir Paul,which will be much discussed here,no doubt.And I am still thinking about those new David Grahame tunes.Love him too much not to. Gene> > > I often think the same thing - seems like there are far too many people> out there playing music for me to get a handle on. In the 70s and 80s I> felt like I was able to listen to and grow to appreciate most releases> by most of the acts that played in styles that appealed to me. Now that> the digital revolution has made it possible for just about anyone to> record a collection of songs and get it out there for people to hear, it> seems like there are far too many doing it for me to even nearly keep> up. Also, it's difficult for me to grow with artists, because the> record companies don't often develop new artists like they did in the> past -- most bands put out one or two records, tank, divide and reform> with different bands, rename, reform and or just plain hang it up. It> gets confusing. (Thank goodness this list exists to help me!)> > > > And the quality control is another issue. In the heyday of the major> labels, the record companies separated a lot of wheat from the chaff.> Nowadays, we have a lot more mediocrity and crap in circulation - which> is a bad thing... but on the flip side: the little guy who was ignored> by the labels, but is actually really good, now has an avenue to get> his/her work out there - which is a good thing. I'm not saying that the> old days are better than now, or visa versa - just making my own little> observation.> > > > So this all makes me think about the period of the 60s thru the mid-90s> ( i.e. the period from the start of the rock and roll boom years to the> time when digital all but buried vinyl) (?), and how it relates to the> periods before and after it - the current age, the early 20th century,> the big band era... basically every musical era back to the start of> recorded music. I wonder how the percentage of the western population> who have released professional product compares between eras. Likewise,> what percentage of the general public are/were musicians who make or> made a living on music? What is the number of releases per year in> relation to the overall census? Is the market oversaturated now, or is> it just my perception? What percentage of the average person's income> went/goes towards music? How rich or poor are/were musicians in each of> these periods? ...Record industry people? > > > > A comparison like this would probably be difficult if not impossible to> construct - but it would certainly be interesting to see, at least to> me. Although it's my tendency to think that all musicians in the> current era (except for the rich buggers in the top .000001 percent) are> vastly underpaid, maybe history would show that musicians have always> been vastly underpaid and probably will always be vastly underpaid...> > > > Dave> > > > >
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