I started a little series on Instagram called “Random Verse Today.” I’ve been learning lots of songs lately, and there are so many great individual verses (or choruses) in songs you might never have paid attention to. There are enough full song covers out there (I particularly enjoy Larkin Poe’s acoustic covers), bu given everyone’s short attention spans and the short time limit of Instagram videos I thought this would be a fun take on it. I also try to sing things in a clear, understandable way so listeners can really hear the lyrics.
Here are a few I’ve done so far. Interesting to see the list (in backwards chronological order). You can tell what phases of music genres or bands I’m listening to!
As a follow up from an older post about why I love finding and buying vinyl, I’ve gotten a lot of enjoyment out of my record player recently. I was able to go to Marley’s Music in Biloxi, MS a month ago and picked up a great score from their dollar bin. I got a whole bunch of records, including:
Chico Hamilton – Catwalk. I picked up his album Perigrinations at Marley’s the last time I was there!) – both great fusion records
Mother’s Finest – Another Mother Further. How could I resist the super man logo with a guitar in it for a cover. No idea what this band is about, but the cover drew me in for a buck. I haven’t listened to this one yet, but I intend to soon…
A Sound Spectacular! Music From The Galaxies. A sci-fi movie soundtrack compilation, and while I have a couple of those already, it has a few things I didn’t have like the Star Trek theme and the theme from Moonraker. It’s a cool compilation.
The Outlaws – Eye of the Storm. I don’t know anything about the Outlaws, other than the name. I’d heard of them. Again, for a buck it’s worth a listen. Greasy southern rock & roll.
And last but not least…
I’m sure I’ve heard this before at some point, either via a friend loaning the CD to me, the library or maybe streaming online, but how can you beat it for a buck? I love finding good stuff like this cheap. And by the way, it’s an awesome album. Super Session!
Kooper booked two days of studio time at CBS Columbia Square in May 1968, and recruited keyboardist Barry Goldberg and bassist Harvey Brooks, both members of the Electric Flag, along with well-known session drummer “Fast” Eddie Hoh. On the first day, the quintet recorded a group of mostly blues-based instrumental tracks, including the modal excursion “His Holy Modal Majesty”, a tribute to the late John Coltrane that was also reminiscent of “East-West” from the second Butterfield Blues Band album. On the second day, with the tapes ready to roll, Bloomfield returned to his home in Mill Valley, California, alleging that he had been unable to sleep.[4]
Needing to have something to show for the second day of sessions, to sit in for Bloomfield, Kooper hastily called upon Stephen Stills, also in the process of leaving his band Buffalo Springfield. Regrouping behind Stills, Kooper’s session men cut mostly vocal tracks, including “It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry” from Highway 61 and a lengthy and atmospheric take of “Season of the Witch” by Donovan.[5] Although Harvey Brooks’s closing “Harvey’s Tune” includes overdubbed horns added in New York City while the album was being mixed, the album only cost $13,000 to complete.
2021 was a pretty good year for music. I listened to a LOT of stuff: some new, some old, some new material from older bands. While I do listen to a good variety of music (classical, pop, jazz, country, reggae, folk), my wheelhouse is blues, rock and metal. That’s honestly most of my listening so it’s no surprise that all of my favorites fall in there.
Greta Van Fleet – The Battle At Garden’s Gate
The Battle At Garden’s Gate
I’ve always been a fan of Greta Van Fleet, and their latest album shows continued growth and maturity. The Battle At Garden’s Gate is an album that really feels epic; with vast, sweeping sonic landscapes, and great performances end to end from every member. There’s a palpable passion coming through the recording. I also love the diversity of the album – there are quiet piano parts, epic guitar solos, great keys, bass, drums… There are straight-forward, catchy hooks as well as and long sonic journeys. This album has everything, and it’s all great. The production and mix are top notch. Crank up a good stereo and listen to the bass in Age of Machine – it sounds incredible. It took me a listen or two in order to get into it, but the album just keeps getting better. Highly recommended. Rating: A+
Highlight Tunes: Broken Bells, Caravel, Age of Machine
The Pretty Reckless – Death By Rock & Roll
Death By Rock & Roll
I’ve listened to a little bit of their stuff over the years. I liked it, but nothing really grabbed me. Death By Rock & Roll is stellar end-to-end. It’s one of those “not a bad track on it” types of albums. From the hard-rock title track to the acoustic ballads, every song holds its own. The album has nice diversity but keeps a common theme. Taylor Momson delivers and incredible and passionate vocal performance. If you wanted to rock in 2021, this is a place to go. Fantastic record end to end. Rating: A
Highlight Tunes: Death By Rock & Roll, 25, And So It Went, Harley Darling
Joe Bonamassa – Time Clocks
Time Clocks
Each Bonamassa record hits me differently – some I like a lot, some I don’t like as much. I wasn’t a big fan of his previous record, Royal Tea. Given that, Time Clocks wasn’t an album I was excited about up front. It was on my radar but I didn’t have a lot of anticipation built up. The 3 singles released didn’t grab me, although that seems to be the case more often than not with his records. I usually like the deeper tracks better. When I got the album, though, I was really pleasantly surprised. The 3 singles grew on me upon repeated listening, and the album also gets stronger as it progresses. Many of those later songs grabbed me on first listen, which makes Time Clocks a really compelling whole. Joe’s guitar work is stellar, as always. There’s a nice diversity of tunes. I read somewhere a description of Joe’s music as “cinematic blues,” and I think that sums it up well. I would have rated it just a little higher (perhaps an A instead of A-) but the title track has a few awkward lyrics, though nothing cringe-worthy; and there are one or two songs I tend to skip. Overall though, I think it’s his best complete work in a while. It’s always great to have an album come out of the blue like this and really connect. Rating: A-
Highlight Tunes: Questions & Answers, Hanging On A Loser, The Heart That Never Waits
Other Albums I Enjoyed In 2021
There are a lot of other great albums in 2021, and here are a few that are definitely worth a listen
King Buffalo – The Burden of Restlessness – this is a band I had never heard of, but gave a listen to purely based on their incredible album artwork. It’s a huge, heavy slab of psychedelic doom, fantastic for running, driving, working, or focused listening. The driving groove is incredible, the guitars are continually interesting and the lyrics are cool.
John Nemeth – Stronger Than Strong – this is an artist I found out about through Blues Music Magazine, and I really dig his swamp blues style. He’s got a great voice and great songs on this record and if you’re looking for something cool and fun outside of the “big names” it’s definitely worth a spin.
Sue Foley – Pinky’s Blues – I’ve been a fan of Sue Foley for a while, and this is her first album in a few years. She’s the real deal and does traditional blues as well as anyone out there, but Pinky’s Blues has the subtle variety that all great blues records have. She doesn’t veer into pop or metal or anything like that, this is a blues album, but it covers a range of intensity and emotion. Her sultry voice is of particular notice, as is the impeccable classic blues rhythm to her playing. This is of my favorite traditional blues albums in a long time.
Iron Maiden – Senjutsu – any new Iron Maiden album is cause to celebrate, and Senjutsu has some great stuff. I really liked their last record, Book of Souls, and this is right up there. It’s full of epic songs, and there are great riffs and performances through and through.
The Black Keys – Delta Kream – I wasn’t a huge Black Keys fan, but this year I’ve turned around on them. I got a few of their older records from the library (Let’s Rock in particular), and Delta Kream grabbed me right away. It’s back to the basics, groove-heavy, hill-country blues done right.
Doctor Smoke – Dreamers and the Dead – another random “youtube recommended it and I liked the album artwork” finds. I was blown away by this band, and if you’re into metal with a killer groove, you’ll dig it. Great vocals, cool songs, and a huge-sounding slab of doom worth your time.
On The Radar For 2022
The album I’m most looking forward to in 2022 is Eric Gales‘ new record “Crown,” produced by the power team of blues/rock production of Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith. A few years ago I was burned out on blues/rock, but seeing Eric Gales live restored my faith. He’s a force of nature, and I can’t wait for this album.
A late arrival on my 2022 Hype Train is the newly-announced Steve Vai album “Inviolate.” Steve Vai is one of my all-time favorite musicians, so every new album by him is reason for celebration.
My kid has gotten to the age where he’s started to get interested in popular music. This has led us to listen to a lot of the “Now That’s What I Call Music” and “Grammy 20xx” CDs over the last few months. Even though pop music isn’t really my thing, I have enjoyed it quite a bit. It was funny to have heard so many of these songs over the years in the bathrooms and common areas of office buildings, but not really knowing the artists. I remember hearing a few songs like Ava Max’s “Sweet But Psycho” and Imagine Dragon’s “Thunder” literally 5 times a day. It seemed like every time I went to the restroom, one of them was on. It’s been a while, so fresh ears are a good thing. There are some, like Thunder, that have grown on me. Others, like “Sweet But Psycho” I’d be happy to never hear again. It’s also been an interesting listen as a musician and writer…
I’ve started to identify what I actually don’t like about modern pop music. As primarily a guitar player, and with guitar being the foremost instrument in most of the music I love, I sort of assumed that modern pop music not having much guitar is a big factor. I was surprised how much guitar was featured in the 2021 Grammy Awards show. Anyways, it turns out that’s not really the issue. It’s the lack of real drums, played by a real human being, with variation and feeling that is what I actively dislike.
Rhythm
A lot of modern pop music sounds like basically one 4:4 loop repeated for the entire song. Drag and drop the bar of midi, and drag across the song for the whole 3 minutes. I keep saying it, but it’s not the chords, it’s not the notes, it’s the rhythm that defines a genre. With a lot of modern pop, the rhythm is simply… boring. There are no fills to lead from section to section. There is no sense of dynamics.
Tone
On top of that, tonally, I just don’t like the generic low end thump used instead of a kick drum and the white noise crack used instead of a snare. Real drums have such a great tone, and such a great variety of sound contributing to the music Kick, snare, hi hat, crash, splash, a million toms. That’s interesting to me! So much modern pop music has that chopped, compressed, generic kick sound and either a finger snap sample, or the generic white noise snare … and that’s it. I’ve noticed over the last year that pop artists who use real drums appeal to me a lot more.
Like anything, there are exceptions to every rule. This isn’t a big, revelatory piece, but it’s been really interesting to examine what it is that appeals to me and not, and why it works or doesn’t work. What do you think? Does it bother you? Do you like that style?
Of course, no matter whether you like a piece of music or genre or not, there’s always something to learn. At least listen with open ears and maybe you’ll get something out of it.
As you may have guessed from my recent posts, I’ve been listening to a lot of blues lately. Over the last few years I’ve been curating a Spotify playlist where I keep track of songs that catch my ear. As I read reviews or interviews in a bunch of magazines, or listen to the Smokestack Lightnin’ show I try to keep my ears open. As much as I liked the classics, that’s great stuff happening now! This was a way to highlight some artists that weren’t as well known, and of course some that are. I include all styles of blues – traditional, modern, funky, soulful, acoustic, electric… I had called it “New Blues From Radio & Magazines” but that doesn’t roll of the tongue, does it?
In the current landscape, lots of artists are doing live streams. Personally, I’ve been (thankfully) too busy to watch as much as I’d like. There’s also just so much out there. Here are a few I’ve carved out a bit of time to watch and they’ve been great.
JamBase Live Stream Repository
The first stop, and one of my favorite resources is the JamBase website. They have a great schedule and calendar of Live Streams, so you can keep an eye on what’s going on and coming up. Check it out here: https://www.jambase.com/livestreams
They cover a lot more than Jam Bands, it’s really a live music repository. Or, more accurately, what was formerly live…
Dead & Co. “One More Saturday Night”
Every Saturday night at 5pm PST / 8pm EST Dead & Co. streams a past show. I watch on Facebook, but there are other options. That one is streamed by nugs.tv but I believe there are other options. The sound quality is usually incredible, as is the video. Definitely worth a watch and after the first one I definitely tried to carve out at least a little of my Saturday night to watch.
Saxon Pub
One of my favorite places in Austin, TX is The Saxon Pub. They host all kinds of great music, including a near-mandatory evening every time I get out to Austin: David Grissom on Tuesday nights. I also caught Sue Foley there a while back, and a variety of great blues, country and rootsy artists. They’ve been hosting a lot of great streams over the last few months, check out their Facebook and Instagram sites for schedules and streams.
Joe Bonamassa’s organization to promote music for kids has also been helping Fueling Musicians over the last few months. It hosts a great variety of streams, from individual artists like John Oates, Larkin Poe or Ana Popovic; to sharing videos from the KTBA cruises or Joe’s Concerts. There’s always something good to watch.
Live From Clarksdale
Clarksdale, MS is still a blues Mecca, even without having nonstop live-and-in person blues. They’re compensating by having a packed schedule of shows at Live From Clarksdale. There are tons of local and regional artists, so turn your ears onto something new. Streams are often on Facebook, but there are other avenues. Check it out!
I fell in love with the blues in the early-mid 90s, when a friend turned me on to Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Texas Flood.” Before then, I was really only into metal and classic rock. If it didn’t have pointy guitars and Marshall stacks, I wasn’t particularly interested… outside of a few bands like Pink Floyd and Hendrix, etc. I was aware of blues – through classic rock & radio – but not an active listener. In college my tastes expanded a little, but it was still more interested in the metal side of music. As I started to really get into guitar, my ears expanded, and “Texas Flood” hit me hard. What struck me was that it was so powerful, but not about doom and gloom. It was human, it was real life, it covered a range of emotion. It never connected with me that music could be so powerful and positive at the same time. So, that was my gateway. After that, I moved pretty quickly into blues and only blues, which also took years to get out of… but it was life changing. Blues is still at the core of my playing in part because I fell so hard for it right when I was developing as a player.
Here are some of my favorite and most impactful blues records… some are albums everyone (hopefully) has, some might be a bit off the beaten path. What are your favorites?
Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown – Pressure Cooker
I love this record because Gatemouth is such an eclectic player, and such a melting pot. He mixes up blues, jazz and country into his own unique style. Interestingly, I picked up a compilation of his earlier works and it’s very much in the style of T-Bone Walker. I was fortunate enough to get to see Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown do a live acoustic show in New Orleans at the LMNOP music conference around 1999. He was as great acoustic as he was electric, and it’s side of him I’d never heard before.
I also recommend “Blackjack.” If you want a bit more of his Louisiana style (and fiddle playing), check out “Gate’s On the Heat.”
BB King – Live In Japan
While BB is my favorite of the 3 Kings, and my favorite blues musician. Across his wide catalog of stutio and live albums, Live in Japan is my favorite. Perhaps my love of it is fueled in part by a memorable late nigh drive from Buffalo to Chicago in a snowstorm, BB’s incredible voice coming through the car stereo, the band cooking, pure love radiating out of our van’s speakers. I also love the adventurous nature of the record, with jams like “Hiraki #88” and “Jammin’ at Saneki hall” spicing things up from the array of hits and classics. His “Hummingbird” on this album also blows me away. If you’re only familiar with Completely Well or Live at the Regal, give this a serious listen.
Freddie King – Live at the Electric Ballroom
What is there to say about Freddie King, the Texas Cannonball, other than he’s one of the Three Kings. His tone is incredible, his phrasing is incredible, his voice is incredible. He’s pure blues, but funky and soulful. “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” is one of my all-time favorite blues songs. It’s a great overview of Freddie King, and an album everyone should have.
While I love pretty much everything Muddy has ever done, this was the album that opened my ears to acoustic blues, despite coming into the genre via electric guitar. Of course, Muddy was the guy that built that bridge across the country and blew the genre wide open. The Best of Muddy Waters is where you can hear the ache and cry of humanity, and for a suburban white kid from Wisconsin, get a glimpse into a completely different side of America. It’s a slice of history. It was raw, dirty, and dangerous… but also tender, loving, and soulful. This is the record that helped me understand where the music came from, and started my journey digging backwards in time.
Buddy Guy Live – The Real Deal with GE Smith and the SNL Band
Buddy Guy had quite a run of great albums in the 90s. This live album, captured at his club Legends, is a highlight to me. The interplay he has with the band is fantastic, and it’s fun to hear him go back and forth with GE Smith and Johnnie Johnson. He’s one of those performers who makes great records, but really shines live. The stories, the interaction with the audience… it all adds up to a great listen. His tone is classic 90s Buddy Guy and the band sounds fantastic. Their version of “My Time After A While” is the highlight.
Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood
For me, the record that started it all. This was the album that showed me powerful music didn’t have to be about demons and warfare. It could be about humanity, positivity, real life. It opened my eyes not just to blues, but to the rest of the world of music.
There’s probably not much to say about this incredible compilation, other than everyone should own it. I learned so many of these songs. I want to call out that to me it’s not his amazing guitar playing, it’s his voice. That’s what’s so haunting. The edgy, provocative lyrics were also pretty mind-blowing. To think these were performed in the 1930s! That takes guts. Its’ a lot more risque than some guy dorpping F-bombs nowadays.
Thursday, January 30 I got to see Michael Angela Batio (heretofore referred to as MAB) perform at the Shovelhead Lounge in Casselberry (Orlando’s home for metal and shred, and a great place to see shows). I debated whether or not to go. I like shred in small doses, and I’ve had mixed experiences seeing shredders live. These days, between family and work, I have to pick and choose which concerts to go to very carefully. I also can’t be up until 2am and then get up at 6am… When the ticket said “7:30” I didn’t know if that meant the first of four opening bands started at 7:30 but MAB goes on at midnight… I messaged him on Facebook and he responded the same day that he expected to go on around 8:15. Fantastic! Before we get to the show itself, kudos to MAB for being so responsive and helpful to fans.
MAB – Shredder Extraordinaire
A Word on Shred
To me, “shred” is a genre – it’s guitar-driven, instrumental heavy metal. Musicians can shred – verb – on any instrument. It can be short for “woodshed” – to intensely practice. There are lots of guitar players considered shredders, whether they play instrumental music or not. Examples include Yngwie Malmsteen, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, Jeff Loomis and of course Michael Angelo Batio.
The Show
To put it simply, this was one of the best shred shows I’ve seen. He played solo, using backing tracks. The sound and mix were quite good – not too loud, but nothing got drown out. His tone was great. I had my mild ear plugs in, but didn’t need foam, and I never got ear fatigue. The Shovelhead is pretty small, so I was able to sit at the bar for about a third of the show, and up front for the rest. I never had a problem seeing or hearing clearly.
What made this show special is that before every song he told an entertaining and usually funny story to give the song context. Not only did it draw you into the music, and give you an insight into him as a person and musician, but it gave your ears a rest between songs that featured lots and lots of notes. The storytelling and humor made the show. I’ve seen other shredders just go up and play song after song with no break, and while I like the music, it’s hard to take in like that.
MAB is a great storyteller…
My wife made a comment at that it was like the folk and Americana acts we used to go see frequently – and that’s spot on. It was interesting how well between-song storytelling sets up this type of dense music, obviously very different from folk. He came across as such a nice, authentic, passionate, friendly and funny guy. You can’t help but have fun. His personality came across so well – it added a lot to balance and complement the technical nature of the music.
I also loved that he was so inspirational to listen to. He expressed over and over how grateful he was to be there, to have such a long career, and to have played with so many other great musicians. He exuded positive energy, and you coudn’t help but root for him. MAB was unapologetic about his musical direction (although many may not know he studied jazz and spent time writing jingles). I loved his attitude that you have to be yourself, do what you love and what you believe in, and don’t worry about the people that try to tear you down. You’ll never please them, anyways. I’ve heard a lot of other great musicians, including Steve Vai, express a similar viewpoint.
The Music
He kicked off the show with tributes to Dimebag Darrel and Randy Rhoads – both set up with great stories of his background with them. Later on he did a tribute to Metallica. Each one featured familiar riffs and vocal melodies played on guitar; some solos close to the original performer, some his own version. I thought it worked well.
I’m honestly not that familiar with MAB’s catalog, and with that in mind I was pleasantly surprised that he played two of my favorite songs of his: Rainforest and Hands Without Shadows.
Showmanship
MAB is known for playing super fast, and while his technique on the instrument is incredible he can craft a great melody. The barrage of notes is mixed with singable lines. Like the show overall, it makes everything more listenable than some others in the genre. All that said, seeing him perform live, and seeing how fast and clean he played, was pretty mind-blowing as a guitarist.
The Gear
I was surprised that he did not play his long-used Dean guitars, but instead relied on an array of Sawtooth guitars and amps. When he first warmed up I thought his tone was a little too saturated for my tastes, which sometimes happens with shred, but actually it worked great once he started going with the backing tracks. It emphasizes the concept that tone is in the hands (or probably more accurately, in the ears). Sawtooth isn’t an expensive, boutique brand of instruments. In the hands of a great player, they sounded great.
He had a small wall of Sawtooth amps, and for most of the show he played a double humbucker S-style, pulling out a LP-style as well. I was surprised to see he had a double-neck tele-style guitar (instead of his trademark metal-looking double neck). It was cool, and the crowd was psyched when he pulled it out and did all the fancy stuff.
Tapping on the Double Neck
Lots of fun, amazing technique, and great showmanship. That’s a MAB show. Go see him if you get a chance. Current tour dates here.
Listen More
MAB was fairly famous for his articles in Guitar World, as well as his Speed Kills instructional video. Check those out if you want to explore the genre of shred.
A few weeks ago I randomly picked up Rick Wakeman’s “Classic Tracks” at the Daytona Flea Market. I love going there, you never know what you’ll find. I knew the name Rick Wakeman, but couldn’t place that he was the keyboard player for Yes. I’d been listening to a lot of prog lately, and since it was in the $2 bin, it was worth a shot. What a great record! I’ve been listening nonstop for weeks.
Fantastic Cover Art
The Tracks
Journey to the Center of the Earth – a 31 minute epic musical journey through Jules Verne’s fantastic tale. Rick Wakemans’ musical retelling of the story is a masterpiece, but what really surprised me was the killer guitar solo by Jim Gentry. It’s atmospheric, grooving, heavy… the song captures everything.
Catherine Howard – from his album “The Six Wives of Henry VIII” has as much variety as you’d want. It starts with beautiful acoustic guitars and segues into bluegrass-flavored synths. Some of the keyboard tones capture a harpsichord feel as well, perhaps bringing the listener back to the Age of Kings.
Merlin the Magician – now this is prog… a mash-up of styles and genres, starting with a heavy bass groove. Keys drift on top, with their melody adding an air of mystery. The lyrics are supported crunchy heavy guitars and more killer keyboard solos. Halfway through the song shifts dramatically to a whimsical and fast section, followed by a return to the groove and lyrics.
The cool thing about Rick Wakeman’s solo albums – and the songs on “Classic Tracks” – is that it’s 100% prog rock, but also accessible. I find Yes to be more of an acquired taste. I really have to listen, and be in the mood. I can put on and enjoy Rick Wakeman’s stuff a lot more often. Check it out!
I’ve really enjoyed digging into his catalog, with this “greatest hits” type of album providing an effective gateway. I particularly liked “Best of the Bootleg Box”:
I’ve always enjoyed browsing flea markets, Goodwills and yard sales for CDs and records. As a music fan and a musician, there are tons of reason why. Here are a few of them.
Oh, The Things You’ll Learn (From Album Artwork)
Let’s start with the obvious one, although it’s not always about the artwork itself. It’s also about the writing on the back, or other “bonus” stuff. One of the cool finds I had recently ($2) was Uriah Heep’s Greatest Hits. It wasn’t the music, as I already had most of the songs, it was the chart on the back of the record that showed various members’ tenure with the group. What a cool find! Sure, I could probably find that on wikipedia if I searched, but why would I do that.. and when? This was one of those particularly nice bonuses to records you don’t get with mp3s or streaming.
You can’t get this from an mp3.
I love a good font
I’ll talk about it below, but I got a Rick Wakeman CD that I really love, Classic Tracks, and scanning the album notes I saw it has a connection to my home of Orlando, FL. How random! I was blown away by the guitar playing on this record, too, so it’s cool to be able to look it up and see who played on it. Sure I could search the internet, but I was listening to it with my kid in the kitchen. I didn’t want to – and didn’t have to – get up and go to the computer or pull out my phone. The liner notes were right there.
It’s not just the thrill of discovery of the music, but the things you learn from browsing the packaging.
It’s Economical!
To be honest, I’m not that into buying new vinyl at $30+ a pop. I do love finding records and CDs at garage sales, used shops and flea markets though. They’re CHEAP! I often find CDs at garage sales at 3-for-a-dollar prices. I get a lot of vinyl at flea markets or Goodwill for a few bucks. Even mp3s can’t compete with a $0.33 CD. I get that streaming services are a good deal for a lot of people, but personally I don’t want to be locked into $100+/year for a subscription, and if I ever decide to cancel the music is gone. I also don’t like being locked into having to be online. Sure, Spotify lets you download songs to play offline if you’re a paid subscriber, but you need to know ahead of time you want to download it… which kills the “discovery.” I think used CD & vinyl is a great deal.
Of course artists aren’t getting a cut of the used album sale, but they did get paid for the initial sale. I definitely do buy new music as well, and I support artists I love, but it’s not an either/or thing.
Incentive To Actually Listen
We’re so inundated with music these days, but I find I don’t listen to artists in any depth when on Spotify or Youtube. They’re great services for checking things out, but it’s always brief. Background. One and done. I have no incentive to listen to something over again and really get it. When you purchase a physical product – spend the money and hold the disc – it’s incentive to put it on and listen. If you spend money on something specific, even if it was $2, there’s an inherent desire to not waste that money. Even if it’s not an album I listen to very often, when I buy something, I always listen through at least once.
How many times have I heard Peter Frampton’s “Do You Feel Like We Do” from Frampton Comes Alive? Hundreds? After all these years, I’d never sat down (or ran, or biked, or worked) and listened to the whole album. What a great record, top to bottom. The hits get overplayed, but the deep tracks get overlooked. I would never have bought this on iTunes or streamed on Youtube. But for $2, I figured the record was worth owning, and it absolutely was! Tracks like “Lines On My Face” are so good. I see now why the record earned so much respect. Without buying the vinyl, I never would have listened to it.
You Can’t Find That On Amazon… and Wouldn’t Think To
It opens you up to random music you wouldn’t otherwise hear. Browsing through bins of CDs or records sparks curiosity. Sure, you can find 95% of the music online, but would you know to even look for it? Would you take the time to listen to it? Even spending a few bucks and having the physical product is incentive to actually listen to new things.
Highly Recommended
For example, I knew the name Rick Wakeman (keyboardist in Yes), but never sought out his music. While I like Yes, I’d never even think to look up his solo work. It’s incredible! What a great album. I highly recommend it, and I got it for the low prices of ZERO. The flea market shop owner thew it in for me as I bought a bunch of other stuff.
I find so many things that catch my eye, CD and vinyl shopping has expanded my interests, knowledge of music, and my ear. Artists I’d heard of but never listened to; artists I love but hadn’t heard X album before; styles of music I wouldn’t go out of my way to find but fora $0.25 garage sale record – why not?
Be it garage sales, church sales, Goodwill or flea markets, there are oddball gems to be had…
I stumbled upon this Lord of the Rings concept album by Swedish multi-instrumentalist Bo Hansson. It’s very much in line with 70s prog, and very cool. I’d never find this on Amazon or iTunes
(Music Inspired By) The Lord of the RingsSome Background Info…
Another time I bought a Paul Butterfield Blues Band record that had a newspaper clipping advertising a live show. Pretty cool bonus!
In Summary
Get out there and browse! Look at the artwork, read the packaging. Find something cool, new, old, unique… Streaming certainly has its place. Historically with music, convenience seems to win out in the market. It’s just not as much fun.
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Guitar Vince 