No Let's Yeah | irrelevantly irreverent

Exhibit A

I have a couple small bins that hold CD cases under my coffee table, and it’s where I keep all the new albums I purchase. Once or twice a year, I fill these trays up, and I have to weed through the “older” CDs and find a place to store them. In the meantime, I’ve already ripped them to my computer, and maybe only used the actual disc a handful of times. Sooner or later, the CDs find their way to these bins, and beyond that, into a larger, more unaccessible bin.

Each time, I wonder why I continue to buy CDs. It should come as no surprise to us that CDs are on the way out. Just look at the predecessors of the CD. Vinyl, 8-track, and cassettes all had their time in the sun, and although vinyl (and even cassettes to a degree) are seeing a resurgence, they are by no means the main form of distribution that they used to be. CDs soon will join these ranks. Everything will soon be digital.

Could digital be the last format in this evolution? It’s hard to imagine what may lie beyond that. Perhaps we’ll get the music injected directly–electronically–into our brains?

I love the ease, affordability, and immediate satisfaction of digital. But the music fan in me wants to continue to have a physical artifact associated with the music I love. Still the practical side of me knows that I will just rip the album to my computer, add it to my iPod, and listen to it digitally 95% of the time. Meanwhile, I’ll be adding another CD to my ever-growing pile.

Because of this, I started a policy two years ago. I would continue to buy CDs for my favorite artists and anticipated albums, while buying digital on impulse buys and newer bands I want to just check out. Going digital was an easy and affordable way to check out new music.

I officially changed this policy last month, based on a trip to the record store.

Easy Street Records was having a $1 sale on old vinyl. I picked up a lot of old favorites and took a chance on some random stuff. After all, they were only $1 a piece. I came home with a dozen LPs.

I had an LP player, but it was relegated to my chilly, windowless garage, where it was unlikely that I would hang out and listen to much music. I cleared some space upstairs in the living room and my LP player had newer, friendlier home. That’s when I saw my policy changing.

Many new artists are still putting out vinyl records, but they are also including digital downloads with your purchase. This entices to now buy vinyl from my favorite artists and for anticipated albums, allowing me the best of both worlds. A convenient digital copy, and a physical copy in a format that I’m more likely to appreciate and enjoy. Furthermore, I can now buy old records on their original format at a discounted price, rather than pay full price for a digital copy. If I do want a digital copy, I can rip the record from the LP player to my computer with one of many software programs available (or just find a free copy online). There was a time where kids would record a vinyl record to a cassette for their friends or for their cars.

If I want to make an impulse buy or check out something new, I’ll continue to buy digital. If I become a fan, I can support them down the line with my next purchase. I just hope they offer vinyl (with downloads).

I can’t say much to set this up, other than I now am not sure if what I read in history books is actually true.

I went to see the Maldives (who were great) at the Tractor Tavern as part of their epic three-day CD release festival, featuring some of their favorite bands in town. One of those bands was SHIM, a serious 70s hard rock band that pulled no punches. For a rock and roll experience your ears won’t forget, you should see them. I snapped a few photos that nicely captured their light show on stage.

The Internet changed my life.

Sure, it has changed other peoples’ lives too, but in the mid- to late-90s, when I was in high school, the Internet opened up a new universe of music for me.

I grew up in northeastern Montana, hours away from any mall or legitimate record store. The highlight of trips to “big” cities like Billings or Bismarck was going to the mall and getting some new CDs at Sam Goody. I learned about new music by watching MTV or listening to the one rock station, Power 95 (the other three stations played country). Power 95 was great for a couple years, but then got bought by a big radio company and the format turned to shitty adult contemporary. They had a policy of playing at least one Phil Collins song every hour.

Everything changed when I convinced my parents to get dial-up Internet in 1997. All of a sudden, I could find music and connect with other fans of the bands I liked (Foo Fighters being one of my favorites).

This is how I discovered Sunny Day Real Estate.

As I dove into Internet Foo fandom, I learned about their connection to a band called Sunny Day Real Estate. I had never heard of them, and thought they had a funny name. I looked them up and found their first album, Diary. There was no way to describe this music in relation to all the alt rock I was feasting on, and I absolutely loved it. I had to hear more.

Back then, I used a web site called CDNOW to purchase CDs online at a much better price than at Sam Goody. The web site was clean and simple (it’s now an Amazon subsidiary). The best part was that I didn’t have a credit card, so I would send them a check, and two weeks later, I’d get my CDs. Looking back, I find this to be hilarious.

Throughout the next few years, I picked up a few more SDRE albums, but none of them really hit me the way Diary did.

The band wasn’t doing much when I discovered them, and I never caught them when they reunited in the 2000s. Now they are reuniting again and playing at The Paramount theatre in Seattle. I just bought tickets and can’t wait to see them, 12 years later after finding them on the Internet.

Ed Droste is probably my favorite person on Twitter. His online persona makes him appear like a genuine and humble guy, grateful for all the success his band, Grizzly Bear, has been seeing this year. I believe that is how I would act if my record debuted in the Billboard top 10 (as Veckatimest did), and so it’s only natural that I want to dive into his head to find out what goes on in the mind of Ed The Songwriter. Ed recently talked to Pitchfork about the temptation to keep adding layers to songs vs. editing them down, among other things. Here’s a snapshot:

Pitchfork: Editing your own work is really difficult. It can feel like cutting off your own leg.

ED: Yeah, I think sometimes I get overly excited about adding things and having new ideas. You forget that more isn’t always better. It’s something we learned from playing out and becoming attached to live versions of things, which are significantly stripped down because it’s just the four of us. I think it’s some sort of amalgamation between our studio ideas and our live ideas and trying to find a happy balance.

Read the whole thing here.

I’m always excited to see people try new ideas with stop motion. But sometimes, when I’m watching the latest stop motion viral sensation on the internet, I wonder: am I impressed by the use of stop motion or the knowledge of how much work was required to make the video?

The year is 2002. I got a job as a groundskeeper in college. It’s January and the rain is coming down. I am wearing my rain gear and I am down on my knees, wedding flower beds. On my headphones is John Vanderslice.

The scene in itself could almost be a Vanderslice song. Swap the groundskeeping for a meth lab (find his song, “Speed Lab” and you’ll know what I’m talking about), and we’d be in business.

Seven years later, this guy is still putting out inventive music… with this seventh album, Romanian Names.

I was able to see him last night at Easy Street Records in Queen Anne, where he played to an enthusiastic crowd on his birthday (his band made a special birthday song for him and enlisted he audience to sing along). After picking up my new JV album, I was able to say hi, and although I maybe see him once a year when he comes to town, he always remembers me. He’s on his way to Sasquatch today, and then hits the road for six weeks.

For a musical experience you won’t forget, go see this guy play.

Here’s a song from the new album.

John Vanderslice – Fetal Horses

www.johnvanderslice.com

Yay!

When I saw the album art for the new Dan Deacon record, Bromst, I immediately thought of the artwork from 2008’s Department of Eagles record, In Ear Park.

There are trends that occur in art, music, design, and pretty much everything. But a piece of album artwork… it’s so unique to the band that I have a hard time reducing this similarity to a trend. The image and idea is SO similar here. Although Deacon’s record came out about six months after Department of Eagles record, nobody can necessarily prove that the idea was ripped off. It would be foolish to assume that. Maybe it was the case, maybe not.

Here’s another recent one that comes to my mind. Perhaps not as congruent as the above example.

Death Cab For Cutie – Narrow Stairs (May 2007)

The Notwist – The Devil, You + Me (June 2008)

I am interested to hear about more congruent album covers. Can you think of any?

I found some other sites with more album art congruency.