So I have a little extra money this month and I got the AMG release e-mail today and thought I might drop some on cds. I listened to what samples I could on Amazon, but they're horrible quality, and too short to really get a feel for the cds.

Here's what I'm considering-
Drive by Tuckers- Southern Rock Opera (Liked what I could hear from the samples)
Dirty South (no samples)

The Unbroken Circle-Various artists doing good old country stuff- thinking of this as a gift for my cousin too

Geri Allen- Liked some of the samples- but wayyyyyyy too short for jazz. Would make an excellent gift for Mr. H

G Love- Hopefully there's a fuller sound than on the samples Could only listen to Yeah, It's That Easy, and Greatest Hits

Wiley- no samples, but it sounds interesting

Any thoughts?

Here's the High Hat on Southern Rock Opera. Personally, I listened to it quite a bit when I first bought it, but not so much these days.

I don't know nothin' 'bout nothin' else on your list, though.

So it looks like I probably will like at least that set.

And hayden, next time I'm down thataway- I'm going to drag you guys to see The Handsome Charlies. I won't even smoke whereever it is they're playing.

Burn-to-order is definitely going to help these small indie labels with a back catalog. You can pretty much run it out of your second bedroom again without having to store a ton of stock and supplie

Actually, that reminds me of a question I've had: What happens to the records if a label goes out of business, assuming anyone still wants to buy them? Do the rights go back to the artist, or can they be sold as an asset of the label to whoever will buy them? Or do they simply cease to exist?

And hayden, next time I'm down thataway- I'm going to drag you guys to see The Handsome Charlies. I won't even smoke whereever it is they're playing.

Woo hoo!

Actually, that reminds me of a question I've had: What happens to the records if a label goes out of business, assuming anyone still wants to buy them? Do the rights go back to the artist, or can they be sold as an asset of the label to whoever will buy them? Or do they simply cease to exist?

My understanding is that this depends on the contract, but typically the rights exist as an asset to be sold. Thus: Michael Jackson owning the rights to Beatles songs.

Thus: Michael Jackson owning the rights to Beatles songs.

Actually he owns the publishing rights (& publishing rights are generally divided between the songwriter & the publisher -- which is why it's smart to set up your own publishing company.) It sounds like LJ is asking more about the recordings themselves, a.k.a., "mechanical rights". Gotta go, but just Google "mechanical rights". Capitol owns the Beatles recordings. McCartney still gets royalties as songwriter, but no longer as... whatever he & Lennon published as. Michael Jackson paid a chunk of change to get that share of the royalties.

Hey, has anyone here listened to Animal Collective's Sung Tongs? 'Cause, wow. This is some seriously psychedelic stuff.

It sounds like LJ is asking more about the recordings themselves, a.k.a., "mechanical rights".

That's exactly what I'm curious about. Like, let's say Sub Pop went completely out of business. Locked doors, selling off everything down to the filing cabinets, etc. Obviously, people are going to keep wanting to buy Nirvana's Bleach (and other Sub Pop records, but that's the most obvious example I can think of), so there must be some way to keep it in print. I'm assuming, based on Joe's links, that what happens is that Sub Pop sells the mechanical rights to Geffen (or whoever), who then print the discs and pay songwriting and performance royalties to Courtney Love, Krist Novoselic, and Chad Channing. Right?

Also, I'd assume artists can't force a record label to keep their album in print because of the mechanical-rights issue.

Also, I'd assume artists can't force a record label to keep their album in print because of the mechanical-rights issue.

I'm sure it's in the contracts too. David Bowie, incidentally, was smart enough to have the mechanical rights to his songs revert to him after 10-15 (?) years. Which is why all his records came out on Rykodisc for a while -- beautifully remastered with bonus cuts galore. These are now OOP and going for big bucks compared to whichever label has the honor of La Bowie's output at the moment.

Have we reached another bottleneck in the Buffista Mix CD Train?

Yeah, I've had Hayden's CD way too long. OTOH, AFAIK, Angus still hasn't gotten anything. We need to do something about that. Where's our favourite leader?