Veinte

Nevermind was released 20 years ago. We moved to Seattle a few years later. Coincidence? I think not.

Decent

I got the latest Okkervil River CD, The Stand Ins, last month. I pre-ordered it and it arrived (with a couple of fun bonus posters) when it was released on line on the 9/9. Initially, I wasn't a big fan. There aren't any songs that just jumped out and grabbed me like Westfall or Plus Ones.

Now that I've had it for a while, I enjoy it and a few songs are standouts (I particularly like Long Coastlines and Singer Songwriter). But, it isn't as strong as The Stage Names or Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See. I really do like the spooky cover - perfect for the Halloween season.

Narrow Stairs

I just downloaded Narrow Stairs the most recent Death Cab For Cutie release from Amazon.

Overall, it's a solid effort featuring the usual DCC smarty pants indie lyrics with the slow pop tempo.

This is a very polished album and definitely a progression from their previous (excellent) efforts. So far, none of the songs have buried themselves into my conscious like Amputations, Marching Bands of Manhattan or Title and Registration. But, I've only listened to it twice through. Plus, I do really like the Mondrain-like cover art (of course, when you download an MP3 version of a CD, you really don't get the nice glossy print.)

I think it is about time for Ben and Jimmy to get back together for another Postal Service album.

A Smile Like A Glistening Shard

I've been listening to Okkervil River quite a bit recently. I love the off-key singing of the absolutely astounding lyrics. Stuff like: "I want a smile like a glistening shard. I want a kiss that's as sharp as a knife."

It sounds lame when I write it here, but if you hear "A Hand To Take Hold Of The Scene" on The Stage Names you will understand what I mean. In a certain way, the writing kind of reminds me of The Smiths, especially Strangeways. They are definitely worth checking out.

Maybe Next Year

Almost 3 years ago, I bought an Archos Gmini 400 mp3 and video player and it is still going strong. This review on Engadget is quaint (all the theoretical discussion of the to-be-announced video iPod) and it is amazing how far portable music (multimedia?) players have come in three years. You can read my original review here when it seemed almost revolutionary to have your entire music collection on a portable player.

I probably won't replace it until I can get a phone that will store all of my music. That is really the holy grail for me - one device with all communications and music. I've got a T-Mobile Dash (AKA HTC Excalibur) which is fine for phone calls and email but can only store 2GB of music. Not nearly enough to avoid having to reload it every week. Maybe next year...

Requiem for the CD

I read the following in The Economist last week:

IN 2006 EMI, the world's fourth-biggest recorded-music company, invited some teenagers into its headquarters in London to talk to its top managers about their listening habits. At the end of the session the EMI bosses thanked them for their comments and told them to help themselves to a big pile of CDs sitting on a table. But none of the teens took any of the CDs, even though they were free. “That was the moment we realised the game was completely up,” says a person who was there.

If teenagers aren't buying music on CD, who is? The rest of the article describes the dismal sales (physical sales down 19% in 2007) and vicious circle that has gripped the music industry as it is currently constituted. Even paid music downloads aren't growing enough in revenue terms to keep them afloat.

One idea that was described sounds very interesting: "Comes with Music" phones that allow you to download as much music as you want to your phone and PC and keep it even when you switch phones. The record labels would get a cut of the price of the phone. This sounds appealing, but I don't think I would pay more than $50 for it.

I guess this is what you get when you sue your best customers. Way to go RIAA!

You can read the whole article here if you have a subscription.

Yellow Ledbetter

I know this is old, but my wife reminded me of it the other day. Icee.

I'm not dead yet

It looks like the CD is dying quicker than I would have thought: down 14% in 2007. I subscribe to eMusic which is pretty good but it doesn't have everything, so I've recently started using Amazon's digital download here and there. Since they don't have DRM on their files, I have no problem paying $0.89 for a song here and there.

I will occassionally buy a used CD from eBay or something to fill back catalog (mostly stuff I've lost along the way and miss), but I can't remember the last time I bought a CD retail. Maybe I'll revise that first sentence: the CD isn't dying nearly as quickly as I would think.

Not the same as it ever was

Wired has an interesting piece about the music business by David Byrne. He breaks down the basic current models available to artists and outlines the pros and cons of each. What I found most interesting was the image on the first page. That is a pretty dramatic change in music delivery over the past 6 years.

On a more personal who-cares kind of note: David Byrne's parents used to live in my village when I was growing up.