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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2019 13:38:14 GMT
I guess we part ways on that. While I don't really love the idea of it, I do accept it. And especially with so few album sales in general, I think it makes sense to take advantage of your serious fans' interest with trading extra goodies for extra cash.
But I also just am less romantic about the album as the standalone unit. It makes sense for concept albums to think that way, but (thank the lord) not all albums are meant to be perceived that way. For most musicians through most of history, it's the individual songs or the artist, not the album. I see the album as more like the cardboard container holding together the six or twelve bottles or cans.
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Post by kds on May 17, 2019 14:04:17 GMT
I guess we part ways on that. While I don't really love the idea of it, I do accept it. And especially with so few album sales in general, I think it makes sense to take advantage of your serious fans' interest with trading extra goodies for extra cash.
But I also just am less romantic about the album as the standalone unit. It makes sense for concept albums to think that way, but (thank the lord) not all albums are meant to be perceived that way. For most musicians through most of history, it's the individual songs or the artist, not the album. I see the album as more like the cardboard container holding together the six or twelve bottles or cans.
I think it's a good way to pi$$ off the few remaining devotees of tangible media.
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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2019 14:14:38 GMT
That's true, too. But on the other hand, imagine being sold only the standard version and hearing or suspecting that there were other tracks recorded but not commercially available. I think as Beach Boys fans it's pretty obvious how we feel about that (as our libraries are full of boots and, later, bonus releases).
I'm not sure what would happen to sales if only bonus versions were sold: would casual fans shell out an extra $5-10 for albums that end with half a dozen outtakes, sessions, bonus tracks, etc?
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Post by kds on May 17, 2019 14:19:57 GMT
That's true, too. But on the other hand, imagine being sold only the standard version and hearing or suspecting that there were other tracks recorded but not commercially available. I think as Beach Boys fans it's pretty obvious how we feel about that (as our libraries are full of boots and, later, bonus releases).
I'm not sure what would happen to sales if only bonus versions were sold: would casual fans shell out an extra $5-10 for albums that end with half a dozen outtakes, sessions, bonus tracks, etc?
I get that, but I think it stinks to withhold those tracks until about six months after the release to bilk money out of loyal fans. Like you said, at least the deluxe NPP was released at the same time as the standard album.
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Post by Kapitan on May 17, 2019 14:24:46 GMT
Agreed about the unfortunate aspects. I guess I just see all sides of the issue to some extent. Maybe I just find plenty to complain about from every perspective (and then feel willing to argue the opposite side, no matter which side that is).
Maybe my perfect world would simply be cut down on the re-releases. Not that I hold an album sacred (unless it is intended as an album as opposed to a batch of songs), but just release singles, EPs, or more albums rather than bonus versions.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on May 22, 2019 5:12:37 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on May 22, 2019 12:42:19 GMT
That there’s a beat to it offers a little momentum for once, but otherwise it feels mostly like her same old schtick.
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Post by The Cincinnati Kid on May 29, 2019 1:55:28 GMT
It's actually a cover.
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Post by Kapitan on May 30, 2019 12:46:52 GMT
Another tune from the new Springsteen album. Here’s “Tucson Train.”
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Post by Kapitan on May 31, 2019 12:32:04 GMT
Kishi Bashi has a new album, Omoiyari. The music apparently accompanies some documentary. It's very pretty. He has played as a sideman for Of Montreal and Regina Spektor as well as a solo artist. His previous albums were more electronic and violin-loop based, but this is more a folk-rock sound--luckily retaining his fabulous falsetto.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 14, 2019 13:47:35 GMT
The Springsteen album, Western Stars, is out today. I had it pre-ordered and so am listening now. It's really an enjoyable album. The production is a lot like was found on those first singles, which is to say sweeping, grandiose. Strings are prominent. Very 70s countrypolitan or ... I don't know what the word is, but how about expensive-to-make pop!? The sort of thing you'd get at some Harry Nilsson sessions, or with Glen Campbell.
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Post by Kapitan on Jun 14, 2019 13:56:27 GMT
So, Taylor Swift released another new single and announced another album. Allow me to vent.
I was never a huge fan of hers, but as a teen wunderkind who wrote music, played instruments, and sang pretty well, I always gave her credit. It seemed inevitable that she'd cross over into pop from country because a) her country had a pop sound to begin with, and b) it's a bigger market, and pretty blondes can sell a lot of records, especially when they have an aw-shucks persona that plays well to women and girls.
"Shake It Off," the omnipresent hit from a few years ago, was brilliant in my opinion. It was the kind of pop song that, with different production, could have happened anytime in the history of rock and roll music.
Now I think that song was her pinnacle. The rest of that album, 1989 was OK, but hit and miss. The next album, reputation, was like the results of a focus group--which it probably literally was. And what I've heard of her new music sounds like a commercial. That first single, "ME!", honestly sounds (and looks, if you see the video) like a Target or Old Navy commercial. Everything she does is tied in to a major advertising campaign. This second single just coincidentally has a pro-LGBTQ rights message as it is released during Pride festivals. And none of it feels remotely real. It all feels like marketing concepts professionally developed "in the lab" and rolled out for maximum clicks and cross promotions.
She's too talented a musician to waste her time in marketing. I mean, I'm sure it's financially rewarding and all. But her catalogue--her reputation (oh-so-chic, downcased, this "bad reputation" of a spotless everywoman) is going to end up embarrassing in hindsight.
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Post by kds on Jun 14, 2019 14:03:19 GMT
So, Taylor Swift released another new single and announced another album. Allow me to vent.
I was never a huge fan of hers, but as a teen wunderkind who wrote music, played instruments, and sang pretty well, I always gave her credit. It seemed inevitable that she'd cross over into pop from country because a) her country had a pop sound to begin with, and b) it's a bigger market, and pretty blondes can sell a lot of records, especially when they have an aw-shucks persona that plays well to women and girls.
"Shake It Off," the omnipresent hit from a few years ago, was brilliant in my opinion. It was the kind of pop song that, with different production, could have happened anytime in the history of rock and roll music.
Now I think that song was her pinnacle. The rest of that album, 1989 was OK, but hit and miss. The next album, reputation, was like the results of a focus group--which it probably literally was. And what I've heard of her new music sounds like a commercial. That first single, "ME!", honestly sounds (and looks, if you see the video) like a Target or Old Navy commercial. Everything she does is tied in to a major advertising campaign. This second single just coincidentally has a pro-LGBTQ rights message as it is released during Pride festivals. And none of it feels remotely real. It all feels like marketing concepts professionally developed "in the lab" and rolled out for maximum clicks and cross promotions.
She's too talented a musician to waste her time in marketing. I mean, I'm sure it's financially rewarding and all. But her catalogue--her reputation (oh-so-chic, downcased, this "bad reputation" of a spotless everywoman) is going to end up embarrassing in hindsight.
It's funny. As you likely know from my posts across several forums that I think most modern pop is hot garbage, and Ms. Swift's work over the last five or six years is no exception. However, when I was standing in line at the DMV the other day, I heard one of her country / pop songs - You Belong to Me. I was amazed at how good it sounded comparing to the stuff she releases now, in which the lyrics are somehow more immature as she ages. As I recall, that song was a pretty hit crossover hit, and she could've had a very lucrative career turning out songs of that ilk that, as you say, won't be embarrassing one day.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2019 13:33:25 GMT
Dhani Harrison released a new single, "Motorways (Erase It)." I don't know if it's leading to an album or not. I'll look around.
Haven't been posting a lot here because frankly I haven't been coming across much good new music. Supporting Robert Harrison (Cotton Mather, Future Clouds & Radar) on Patreon has been the source of most of my favorite "new" music the past month or two, and that's mostly previously unreleased stuff, demos, etc.
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Post by Kapitan on Jul 12, 2019 19:00:17 GMT
After releasing a joint single last year, Gaby Moreno and Van Dyke Parks are releasing an album later this year. Spangled! is due on Nonesuch Records in October. Two songs are available now, last year's "The Immigrants" and "Across the Borderline," which features Jackson Browne and co-writer Ry Cooder.
I don't know much about Moreno but according to the album's press release, "Gaby Moreno is a Guatemalan native who made Los Angeles her home almost two decades ago. She has established herself as a singer-songwriter with a repertoire incorporating blues, jazz, folk, and soul, performed in Spanish and English. She is a frequent guest on Chris Thile's Live from Here public radio show. Moreno was awarded a Best New Artist Latin Grammy in 2013 and garnered a nomination for Best Latin Pop Album at the 2017 Grammys for Illusion. She also is the co-composer of the theme for Parks and Recreation."
And all that said ... I wasn't impressed with either song and probably won't buy the album. But I'll give it a listen and maybe change my mind, at least for a few songs.
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