Tuesday, June 4, 2013

the News

Yes I know, I've used that title before, but it's OK because the News in constantly being... renewed.

I noticed recently that CD's have become really cheap to buy.  I went by Best Buy and almost everything new was $10 or under!  Depending on your age you may find this similarly shocking and pleasing -- I remember when the average CD was $16 and nothing new was $10 or less, ever, so the hunt would be on for promo copies of new albums in the used section.  But now CD's are cheap, and seem even cheaper thanks to inflation and the fact that I have a real job - hooray!  So I bought quite a few recently -- the new Daft Punk, like everyone else; AMOK by Atoms for Peace after hearing good things from musically-minded acquaintances; the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs, with the Garbage Pail Kids-like cover, after hearing them on Jools Holland and loving the performance; the new Tricky thanks to good reviews and the stream I heard on NPR; and, finally, the new Suede thanks to a combo of the above reasons (Jools peformance, Guardian stream, acquaintance opinions) + a love of the band from my youth.  I'm pretty happy, I have to say.  I still prefer listening to a CD, tape, or vinyl over an MP3.  Mostly cos I think that when I've properly bought the music I value it a bit more; also cos using these physical methods for listening doesn't involve sitting at a computer or using a computer in any way; and lastly because I've made a decision to listen to music that I get properly, repeatedly, instead of just getting it and barely paying it any attention -- involving money helps in that process.

Anyway, I'm gonna stick a few vids below of things I've heard (and by the way, I know most of this is actually not new music at all, but it is new to me) and liked from these CD's, as well as a video by Cornershop.  I went on a road-trip to New York recently and for that I actually bought this podcast -- part of a documentary series for BBC Radio 2 by Stuart Maconie that goes through the UK's history as told via pop music.  This particular episode was about the Asian experience in Britain and Cornershop were featured quite prominently, which led me to reacquaint myself with them; plus the wife liked Brimful of Asha.  I like this song, the video, and the fact that the actor from My Beautiful Laundrette is in it.  Good beat too:



I thought the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Jools were great.  I never really paid any attention to them but I was in the mood for this type of rock I suppose:



I read some Tricky interviews recently and in one he mentioned how success doesn't necessarily change anything -- he still has the same issues, concerns, sadnesses, that he always did:



Lastly, I thought Suede did a great job playing live on Jools Holland.  Feraz reckons that Brett Anderson's voice doesn't have it any more, but I can't say I agree.  Sadly I can't find a video of it online, so here's a different performance which isn't quite as good:





4 comments:

  1. Nice post Bent!

    1) I hear what you say about buying music and listening to it repeatedly. Those are quite a lot of purchases though, you would never have been able to buy so many at once back in the day. If it's that connection to music that you crave then you need to spread out your purchases a bit to really appreciate each one. I think.
    2) With that written, you don't mind if I "borrow" that podcast do you?
    3) I suppose the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (crap name) sound alright but that singer's well annoying and they're too trendy/popular/American(?) for my taste.
    4) The wife just bought Atoms for Peace GA standing tickets for my anniversary present! You can still get yours by yourself and join us if you fancy it. That'll save us having to rent a car to go!

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  2. -yeah, you're right, my ability to acquire music still outstrips my ability to listen to it properly. hopefully there won't be so many good releases all at once again!
    -yeah, you can have the podcast, it's a good listen. or just listen to it online.
    -i like my rock a little dramatic, and i've been in the mood for rock recently. something about the synthetic nature of electronic music gets to me after a while (meaning months or years).
    -i'll look into that. depending on time and day we may still have to rent a car or maybe one of my friends'll go and drive us.

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  3. just coz you have the cash money man doesn't mean you should buy 5 cds at once. moderation man, moderation. buying one at a time allows you to fully absorb and appreciate the material then after that you can get another one and do the same. i bet you're gonna listen to those 5 cds a couple times each and then they'll get dusty. i know you.

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  4. i didn't buy them all at once. i wrote about them all at once. though i'll admit the purchases weren't very far apart.

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