PoOPlist

John Peel’s Record Collection, the first 100 records are up

Mark Zip — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:26:17 +0000

Yup, It’s pretty damn cool.
There’s the great man’s home studio! You can click on various items to find various resources. But the thing most of us will go for first is the record box. When you click the record box you are taken to his record collection. From the blog about the site:

After some deliberation we decided that the best way to start the process was to release the details of the first 100 albums, listed alphabetically, from each letter of the alphabet each week. So on 1st May we will release the first 100 A’s, on 8th May the first 100 B’s, 15th May first 100 C’s, and so on.

Lots of clicking is sure to follow…

John Peel’s Record Collection | The Space.

Pro Tip: Click on the studio board for access to Spotify links to tons of Peel Sessions

(Note: The site will not work without scripting. I *think* it might work without FLash n modern browsers)

Now this is a guitar wankfest I can get behind

Mark Zip — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 22:48:08 +0000

Ben Lapps was in his mid-teens when this was made. There’s a few things I really like about it. The first is the way he hears the request, pauses, thinks about it, looks down at the guitar and kid of shrugs his shoulders and begins. The second is the fun he’s having, most guitar wankers are so serious and look as if they are passing gas or something worse. The third delight is the apparent obliviousness of the roadies setting up the equipment behind him.

Ben Lapps playing Going to California via YouTube

Most music fans are sensible enough to know that it is not realistic to expect artists to stand pat on their own musicianship. We know that our first experience of an artist, that first rush of discovery, will rarely be duplicated by the same artist in the same way later in their career. Artists want to develop and “grow” and so they move on and away from the psychic spot they hold in the fans’ lizard brain. So it’s with some regret (but no real surprise) that we see Ben, recorded some years later, turning into a serious wanker. The technique is still amazing, but the delight has evaporated:

Ben Lapps – The Perc U Lator (Eric Roche) via YouTube

Is Jack White mad, clever, or just trying to fuck with record collector scum worldwide?

Mark Zip — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 22:54:29 +0000

From the YouTube page:

Three weeks before his “Blunderbuss” album hits the streets, Third Man Records decided to make the Jack White album track “Freedom at 21″ premier exclusively via flexi-disc records attached to helium balloons launched from the label headquarters in Nashville on April 1st, 2012. Envisioned as an experiment exploring non-traditional forms of record distribution and a way to get records in the hands of people who don’t visit record shops, the label was sure to use biodegradable latex balloons and all-natural twine in the process. Accompanying the balloons were custom post cards with instructions for the finders to submit photos, discovery location and the date on which the record was found, all of which will be incorporated into a website where fans can access the information. Statistics for similar balloon launches show a recovery rate of approximately 10% so it’s quite possible that less than one hundred of the one thousand records launched will ever be discovered and the “Freedom at 21″ flexi-disc will surely be a highly sought-after collectible for years to come.

An extra WTF and “Fuck You” element: the “release” date.

Of course, the NY Times headline writers think that Jack White is the savviest rock star of our times, so perhaps fucking with collector scum is a natural extension of that.

Damn it! I fell into his savvy trap.

Who Cares When Your Record Was Digitally Remastered?

Mark Zip — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 00:22:52 +0000

Excellent screed/rant by Dave Mandl over on Rumpus.net. Neatly explains the sore point of incorrect dating on music streaming and download sites.

Who Cares When Your Record Was Digitally Remastered? – The Rumpus.net.

Interestingly, one of the commenters says that the reason why the labels feed this incorrect information to the streaming databases is so that they get the (tiny) payment registered to the more recent release. Presumably this make accounting easier for the labels. From a cursory look around a few other services, it appears that those using the All Music API do get the dates correct.

Dynamic Range Day: Inside the Loudness War

Mark Zip — Sat, 17 Mar 2012 04:34:08 +0000

Justin Bieber's latest record is louder than AC/DC and Motorhead - click for larger image

It seems that today is “Dynamic Range Day”. I think that perhaps the effort needs a better publicist or marketer, I went to Hallmark to look for a “Happy Dynamic Range Day” card and the lady gave me very odd look. No matter, it’s an interesting and necessary effort. The Dynamic Range Day site has a number of useful and informative resources. And if you’re that way inclined, you can win a whole bunch of cool gear.

Dynamic Range Day: Inside the Loudness War – CE Pro Article from CE Pro.

Long Reads: The Global Songwriter Shell Game: Why The Major Music Companies Are Getting Your Royalties

Mark Zip — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 22:33:45 +0000

Major music labels tell us that it is bad that people “steal content”, so they’ve come up with another revenue stream, accepting royalty payments which thay are not due, from people who are not authorised to collect them and then not giving it to the people for whom it was collected….

The Global Songwriter Shell Game: Why The Major Music Companies Are Getting Your Royalties | TuneCorner Music Blog.

Do You Sell Used Items? – Trans-Pacific Partnership Proposes the End of the Doctrine of First Sale

Mark Zip — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:05:23 +0000

IANAL, but I was fascinated by this in-depth history of the Doctrine of First Sale (which allows me to sell used records to anyone willing to pay) and analysis of the most recent attempt to blow it up.
It’s slightly heavy going, with quite a bit of law jargon, but the thrust of the piece leads to the remarkable conclusion that the TPP proposal, in an attempt to protect US industries which rely largely on copyrighted works, will actually drive then to make all copies abroad. At the same time it will finally kill the market for used books, records, CDs, DVDs, games and computer programs.

Trans-Pacific Partnership Proposes Copyright Suppression of Price Competition.

Slightly less technical coverage of the article at TechDirt

Today’s Cover Tune: Oh Minnows cover JAMC

Mark Zip — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:08:10 +0000

“Just Like Honey” by Oh Minnows

Oh Minnows have contributed a fine cover of “Just Like Honey” to a charity album. Proceeds go to breast cancer research. Click the picture or the player box to “buy” the MP3s.

Hat tip: TVD

Alan Lomax’s Global Jukebox Goes Digital

Mark Zip — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 01:50:31 +0000

The music Lomax collected has been available in 45-second snippets on the Cultural Equity web site for several years but is now being digitized in its entirety for streaming…

Folklorist’s Global Jukebox Goes Digital- NYTimes.com.

The Pirate Bay puts up “The Promo Bay” – Does your band want to be in front of a billion eyeballs?

Mark Zip — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 23:22:28 +0000

The Pirate Bay has many many many people looking at it every day. And now they are suggesting that perhaps it might be good for your band to be seen by those eyeballs. As Masnick asks “Would You Rather Fight Piracy… Or Have A Billion People Know You Exist?” – - See the easy-to-fill-in form here: The Promo Bay.