Weirdness

I realize that the Kung/Zero contingent has caused some shit on the board in the past and has made some friends as well as enimies but regardless, he is not in a good place or way right now. "Serves you right" will not be an acceptable reply in this case I'm afraid. For those of you who don't know, Luke and I have known each other since we were kids which makes for a much different relationship as you can well imagine. At any rate, seeing as he didn't hold anything back in the past with regard to his personal life, I'm sure he won't mind if I bring this to light. He could definietly use the help and "heady vibes" as they say. Long story short, he has been in the Don Jail in Toronto for the better part of two weeks from what I understand and has had a beating that put him in an intensive care type situation along the way. Pretty heavy shit to say the least, not a good scene at all. I won't go into any further detail as everyone has a different perspective on this sort of thing and I don't want to present a distorted picture but obviously there were signs present that something was up. Not seeing him post on the board here or answer PM's pointed to something not being right. At any rate, I'm sure he'll pull through as is always the case. Hang in there buddy...

I know that Star Wars day is over but this picture is too good... Party on Yoda!!!

I had no idea there was a Star Wars Day... "Laugh it up, fuzzball" Time to jedi mind trick some unsuspecting strangers...

Keep in mind that this comes from the UK where HiFi is truly an industry but it's an interesting read all the same. If you hadn't noticed, there are in fact a LOT of new releases as well as reissues out there right now on vinyl... "BESET by digital piracy and increasing customer reluctance to pay for CDs, the music industry is fighting back with its latest technology – black vinyl records. Music labels and high street retailers are busy turning back the industry’s clock to a time not only before internet song downloads, but also before CDs or even audio cassettes. The irony is that the vinyl revolution is being led by teenage consumers who are prepared to stand in line for the latest 45 rpm single or 331/3rpm LP (long-playing record) in much the same way that their parents, or in some cases their grandparents, did. According to Rob Campkin, the head of Music at Virgin Megastores, vinyl is now outselling CDs when it comes to the latest records. “Up to 70% of sales of new releases are vinyl. The fans of popular new rock bands like Arctic Monkeys and The Raconteurs prefer vinyl to CD,†said Campkin. “When the Raconteurs’ latest single was released, 80% of high-street sales were for seven-inch vinyl and only 20% were for CDs.†“We are not just talking about vinyl singles but also about albums – the format is just continuing to grow,†said HMV spokesman Gennaro Castaldo. The trend is born out by figures from record industry body, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). According to the BPI’s findings, vinyl records are a technology that has come back from the brink of extinction to take the industry by storm. Between 2001 and 2005, annual sales of vinyl single in the UK rose sixfold to over 1m, accounting for 14.7% of all physical singles sales in 2005, up from 12.2% in 2004. The industry expects vinyl figures for the current year to be even more dramatic. The vinyl revolution has caught many of the big music labels napping. It is the smaller independent labels who have been able to snap up successful new bands. This has left big players in the industry, such as EMI, scratching their heads and wondering why teenagers are embracing a technology the music industry had dismissed as outdated and obsolete before most of them were born. Record labels like EMI are finding themselves losing the next generation of music stars to upstart labels like Domino Records, which handles hit bands Franz Ferdinand and Arctic Monkeys, and Rough Trade, which handles The Strokes and rock music’s latest human disaster area, Pete Doherty. According to Virgin’s Campkin, the smaller independents have one key advantage over the larger labels as far as the artists are concerned. “The independent labels will release material on vinyl where the more established are more reluctant to do this,†said Campkin. One reason for this situation is believed to be that the mainstream music industry has forsaken vinyl to the extent that there is now no big vinyl processing plant in the UK. This means that the discs must be pressed offshore and that a large number of new vinyl recordings are limited editions that quickly become collectors’ items. This type of operation, where limited pressings are carried out by factories in other countries, is better suited to the independent labels than to the more established players. Virgin also reports a trend where fans will buy the CD when it is released and will wait weeks or months until the vinyl release before buying that as well. Some vinyl albums, such as the last White Stripes release, continue to sell consistently for months. In addition to the new releases, retailers Virgin and HMV report a growing demand for classic pop records on vinyl from artists such as The Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. Market research has shown that these new releases of older material are often being bought by younger customers, just as older “baby boomers†are increasingly augmenting their collections with LPs from modern artists such as the White Stripes. “The original baby boomers, who are now in their fifties, are not only buying classic pop records by the Beatles or the Stones but are also adding new artists from the independent labels to their collections,’ said HMV’s Castaldo. According to Virgin’s Campkin, one major reason for the renewed popularity of vinyl is its collectability, which operates on two levels. On one level, collectability means seeing the value of a 99 pence (E1.43, $1.73) single CD increases 50-fold in a single year. “The first 7-inch single release from Arctic Monkeys, which came out a year ago, is now selling on eBay for £50-£60,†said Campkin. He added that the second sort of collectability is the desire to own a record collection of one’s own. “Vinyl is far more iconic in this respect,†said Campkin. “The record sleeve offers the consumer art work as well as information about the performers and song lyrics.†Some well-known music figures believe that the industry did itself irreparable damage when it switched to CDs 20 years ago. Roger Daltrey, lead singer of 1960s supergroup The Who, said in a recent interview: “The record labels sold everybody a white elephant with the CD. They pushed it over as being this wonderful musical formula that you can play forever that sounds better and is scratch proof. None of it was true; CDs do not sound as good as vinyl and they last for five minutes.†Like other artists of his generation, Daltrey believes that pop music generally sounds better on vinyl as so much of it was originally developed to be played on the vinyl format rather than on digital equipment. Vinyl enthusiasts say that the bass and vocals on most songs cannot be accurately reproduced on a compressed digital format and that the music inevitably loses something by being reduced to what is essentially just a binary computer code. Daltrey also believes that record sleeves are a key part of the attraction of vinyl. “We threw away an art form that was so much more than the record,†said Daltrey. “The size of the cover was perfect for art work. Sometimes the covers were more important than the music. The more fingerprints you got on it, the more it was a part of you. With a CD, you start with a nice plastic box and end with a scratched plastic box; it has no character whatsoever.†Campkin said: “I think the record sleeve is paramount. With a vinyl album you feel you have spent £10-£15 on something tangible that will last.†Daltrey also believes that it was the switch to CDs that ultimately led to the music labels’ horrendous problems with digital music piracy. “The problem with the CD is that if you can copy what is on it for nothing, as you now can, why would you want to buy it?†Music retailers such as Virgin and HMV are also coming to the conclusion that consumers want a return to a more tangible format. They fear that the logical conclusion to the evolution of digital music is a world without high street music retailers where fans do everything over the internet and download all their music via a PC. Virgin plans to opens a new 25,000 square-foot Virgin Megastore in Manchester’s Arndale shopping centre that it hopes will transform the way consumers perceive record stores. More space than ever will be dedicated to vinyl records and customers will have access to turntable and listening booths in the same way that teenagers did in the 1950s and 1960s. The store will also offer “chill-out†areas with armchairs and sofas where customers can relax and listen to music. Virgin plans to use the same formula in other stores in the hope that it will be able to persuade teenagers to see the megastores as social venues as much as music shops. The company hopes that the strategy will enable it to offer consumers enough added value to head off growing competition from cut-price supermarket CD offers and internet download services. The music retailers do not believe that vinyl will ever entirely replace digital music formats. Instead, they predict that the same fans will often subscribe to both formats by downloading music for their MP3 players and PCs but will also wait for the vinyl release to add that to their permanent record collections. Virgin believes that digital music downloads may not be as big a phenomenon as some the industry anticipates and will account for no more than 10% of the overall market by 2009 and that the appeal of vinyl will continue to grow to shoppers who want to take home something tangible and lasting. Those industry players which do not become part of the vinyl revolution will see their market share decline as smaller nimbler players snap up the new artists and establish brand loyalty with an increasingly vinyl-hungry record buying public."

If anyone's interested, they're blowing a bunch of shit out at their office/warehouse in Markham again tonight until 7pm and tomorrow I think 10 to 2. Some good deals to be had if anyone happens to be in the area and in the market for that sort of thing.

Time flies when you're having fun, I thought that this show was still a few weeks away. Anwyays, they're at the JimmyJazz which means it's free too... Apparently one of their tunes is on the CBC top 30 right now, not sure what that means but they seem to be gaining some momentum which is good: "www.qr5.com The song "Dreams" has made it into the CBC's top 30 charts! Originally from our 2006 release Pharmakon, the song has been receiving radio play and has entered the charts at no. 27 for the week ending in Feb 23rd."

I was keeping my eye on an Ann Arbour date for Sufjan, just noticed these dates: March 24, 2007 Toronto - Canada - Sneaky Dees % March 25, 2007 Ottawa - Canada - Zaphod's % March 26, 2007 Montreal - Canada - Friendship Cove % Looks like fun...

Just ask MC Hammer where all his millions went... You'd be surpised how fast some celebrities go through their dough...

Um, they need the money...

I realize that there is a WTB/WTS forum but it doesn't seem to get alot of action so anyways if anyone is looking for a great sounding system: For Sale-Mission 783/CyrusIII/Cyrus Power

Thanks for the re-direct to that other thread, all the pertenent info seeems to be there. I kind of forgot about the Ceyonta as well as Carribian Flavours for some reason. I always find it better to get the recommendations from the locals rather than walk blindly into somplace that looks cool but isn't necessarily the goods.

Ottawa has a lot of great places to eat but I'm fairly out of the loop on what the inside scoop is on where to go. Any recommendations on good eats would be appreciated. I can wholehartedly recommend the So Good on Somerset for some solid non-generic Chinese food, which has a plentiful selection of vegetarian dishes.

The Complete Columbia Recordings of Miles Davis with John Coltrane on vinyl(thanks Tasha!)

Can't quite come up with 10, the last few are more in the honorable mention than actual top 10. Here goes... Cat Power-The Greatest Comets On Fire-Avatar Calexico-Garden Ruin Tom Petty-Highway Companion Drive By Truckers-A Blessing and a Curse The Be Good Tanyas-Hello Love Honorable mentions: MMSW-Out Louder Neil Young-Living With War Bob Dylan-Modern Times Bruce Cockburn-Life Short, Call Now Tom Yorke-The Eraser Sufjan Stevens-The Avalanche Jenny Lewis/Watson Twins-Rabbit Fur Coat Bonnie Price Billy-The Letting Go Note: Eisenhower did not make the list...

Hillarious!!! These are my buddies from back in the day(back home like), they have been playing music for at least 10 years and I always admired their stuff as their stuff is completeley original and like a breath of fresh air as opposed to most other music which can be compared to something else. They have some shows coming up soon which I was going to post at some point in the near future: Friday, Dec 22, 10:00 PM, Alex P. Keaton, 580 Talbot St, London Thursday, Dec 28, 9:00 PM, Black Dog, 5 Main Street, Bayfield Thursday, Jan 25, 10:00 PM, The Rainbow Bistro, 76 Murray St, Ottawa Saturday, Jan 27, 10:00 PM, The Bohemian, 248 Front Street, Belleville Friday, Feb 16, 10:00 PM, Stephanie's Caribbean Cuisine, 5 Water St, Cambridge Saturday, Feb 17, 10:00 PM, The Boathouse, 57 Jubilee Drive, Kitchener Saturday, Feb 24, 10:00 PM, Jimmy Jazz, 52 Macdonell St, Guelph

A CD is also a record. Just as a band might say "this one is off our new album(or record)" even though their recording might only be available on CD. I'm pretty sure that they're still called "record stores" and not "CD stores" but I could be wrong about that. I'll edit my original post if it's that obscure but hopefully y'all get the idea here.

What are your favourite record shops??? I would like to compile a list of everyones favourites across the country/continent so that if any of us find ourselves wherever then we will know where to go to find the goods. As far as I'm concerned, indie record shops rule!!! Here are some of my faves: Encore Records-Kitchener Groovie's-London Cheeky Monkey-Sarnia Cheapie's-Hamilton Diamond Groove-Dundas(New Vinyl Only) New World Record-Buffalo NY Pure Pop-Burlington VT more please...

I thought that this bad boy was a solid listen. No question, not A Go Go, but remember--that was a John Scofield album, this is MSMW and the influence here is clearly dominated by the MMW side of things. The Out in Out Louder implies that this one is a bit more out there and as always, out there becomes less accessable to the masses.