interesting...I don't read much music writing. Don't want to feel like a dumbass. Which is a silly insecurity on my part, because *of course* the writer knows something I don't...that's what books are for. Maybe it was spending my early childhood being shushed by musicians. Or meeting Jazz People later on.(I've come to like jazz, but some of the hardcore fans can put out a real "High Fidelity record store" vibe that is not friendly to the newbie.)
Xander: We just saw the zebras mating! Thank you, very exciting... Willow: It was like the Heimlich, with stripes!
'Him'
Buffista Music III: The Search for Bach
There's a lady plays her fav'rite records/On the jukebox ev'ry day/All day long she plays the same old songs/And she believes the things that they say/She sings along with all the saddest songs/And she believes the stories are real/She lets the music dictate the way that she feels.
erikaj - Jan 02, 2006 7:02:40 am PST #1732 of 10003
Always Anti-fascist!
DavidS - Jan 02, 2006 7:06:46 am PST #1733 of 10003
"Look, son, if it's good enough for Shirley Bassey, it's good enough for you."
It does help to know that particular record, erika, but the book is accessible to the non-fan. But it does help to understand the particular reverence that many people (myself included) feel for this record.
erikaj - Jan 02, 2006 7:11:25 am PST #1734 of 10003
Always Anti-fascist!
I was speaking more generally(also about why I stayed out of here so long, but, good to know. Maybe someday I'll get to that...you never know.)
tina f. - Jan 02, 2006 8:13:14 am PST #1735 of 10003
I just ordered Kim's book from amazon last night. I can't wait to read it. I have lots of new music to post about - for one thing I cannot stop listening to The Wilderness' s/t album - any fans? If you can get past the lead singer's "voice" (he goes the John Lydon yelling kinda incoherently route) it's good good stuff (especially the drums). It's been on constant repeat on the iPod since I listened to it on the plane ride home.
But for now I am trying to set up my brand new shiny shiny powerbook with a wireless router. Look for my excitingly clueless and frustrated posts in a Technology thread near you!
Hayden - Jan 02, 2006 8:59:26 am PST #1736 of 10003
aka "The artist formerly known as Corwood Industries."
Isn't it great?
Yeah, it really is. I wish I'd realized in advance that Kim would read my quick review of it, because I would have written something I had considered a bit more.
Hey, Tina, I've been lately listening to the Hold Steady on your recommendation. Thanks!
Tom Scola - Jan 02, 2006 2:48:26 pm PST #1737 of 10003
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.
Holy crap: [link]
Mr. Broom - Jan 02, 2006 3:38:24 pm PST #1738 of 10003
"When I look at people that I would like to feel have been a mentor or an inspiring kind of archetype of what I'd love to see my career eventually be mentioned as a footnote for in the same paragraph, it would be, like, Bowie." ~Trent Reznor
The data there isn't misleading so much as it's ambiguous. I'm not sure what the graph is charting, exactly. My best guess is that it's saying that the average bestseller isn't selling as highly as in previous years, but the lack of complete data for the second half of this decade skews everything (provided the spreadsheet, which I can't wrap my brain around, doesn't explain that). Also, it can only be good news for non-mainstream music, which is, as far as I'm concerned, as close to objectively "good" news for music as you can get.
bon bon - Jan 02, 2006 3:48:00 pm PST #1739 of 10003
It's five thousand for kissing, ten thousand for snuggling... End of list.
I admit, I didn't look at the list that closely, but if that list tracks the sales of all the albums over the intervening years of course older albums have an overall numbers advantage; plus, you just can't look at a sales trend by looking at the biggest selling albums of all time-- talk about your outliers.
Jon B. - Jan 02, 2006 3:55:03 pm PST #1740 of 10003
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!
I'm not sure what the graph is charting, exactly.
The number of albums in the top 100 that were released in a particular 5 year bracket.
What's surprising to me is not that the most recent bracket only has 2 of the top 100 (edit: because of what Bon Bon said), but that so many (43 all together) were released in the 90's. But the idea that this is somehow a sign of "how bad it's getting in the music industry" is absurd. If there's a problem, it's that the majors are too obsessed with having blockbusters, and not trying instead to nurture artists (see also TV, Movies).
Jesse - Jan 02, 2006 4:43:37 pm PST #1741 of 10003
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.