Does anyone here collect records?

I still collect records, but, alas, have no turn table.
It's easier for me to buy C.D.s and/or download music online.

 

I buy records now and then, but usually listen to music while in the car or hiking, so most of what I listen to is downloaded or streamed. When I’m at home I prefer the sound of vinyl, and love that ritual of physically taking out the record, dropping the needle, and looking at the liner notes and cover art.

 

N

No. Vinyl is just too expensive here, its environmentally unsound, giving profits to the oil companies that are frying the planet and is a pain to cart around. CD's likewise. I've gone completely digital and so long as you backup you cannot lose it. I did learn that the hard way when my drive fried itself several years ago though. I do miss the liner notes, lyric sheets and liner notes. There's a dearth of them these days as most groups couldn't be arsed doing up pdf's to accompany the tracks. Which is a pity.

But then digital is far cheaper than any other format. I can forego the crackle, pops and inevitable scratches that came with vinyl too. Same with cassettes getting eaten by tape decks and CD's skipping or not reading.

I'm old enough to have bought vinyl, cassettes, CD's and now digital. I can cram an awful lot of sound onto a 1TB external drive the size of my hand, where as previous formats took bookshelves of floor space.
Digital is definitely the go for me.

 

All good points, unfortunately, but it's also good to be aware of such things. I have found that sometimes the original vinyl is different from the C.D. re-issue and is, in many ways superior. An example of this would be two e.p.s by Discharge: Never Again, and State Violence State Control. The original 7 inch vinyl versions are better than the C.D. re-issues. Same goes for a lot of early Frank Zappa/Mothers of Invention albums. The original vinyl version of Freak Out is far superior to it's C.D. re-issue. The computer I have access to at the moment has a "Burner" on it, so I can find something on line, download it, and make my own C.D. (Shh. Don't tell Steve Ignorant. That'll be our little secret!) The downside to tapes, weather they be cassettes, or reel to reel is that they tend to wear down very quickly to the point where they become unplayable over time. Proper storage of C.D.s in cases or "Jewel Boxes" will insure a long life.

 

Pm me if anyone needs some coproduction

 

You have a valid point about the mixes etc on the original vinyl release versus the CD reissue. One glaring example was Ozzy Osbourne replacing the original musicians with later recordings by session players because the originals wanted their contributions recognised in the credits. I don't know why bands see the need to fuck with the original masters. By all means add a bonus remix but leave the originals alone. An example here was the Grateful Dead Aoxomoxoa lp. The difference between the original release and the 1972 remix is chalk and cheese. The original was far trippier with a lot of electronics, the 72 version was far blander with none of the trippy electrics.

Cassettes were really a prime example of planned obsolescence. Most of the music I bought in the 80's was on cassette as I didn't have a record player. None of them lasted more than a few years. They really were a rip-off.

I wound up selling my CD collection to pay for things like rent, university, kids and drugs. Thats the major downside to digital,no resale value. The upside is being able to share the music freely. I've recently passed onto my nephew, a noise/industrial muso, 128gb of music. If someone asks for something I've got, then pass me a usb key, copy paste and its done.

 

Same goes for Anthem of The Sun. I own both the original copies and the remix version of Anthem and AOXOMOXOA on vinyl. Definitely agree with you on AOXOMOXOA, especially the blood curdling screams on St. Stephen, the tag ending on Doing That Rag, the haunting, slightly eerie choir on Mountains on The Moon, and the trippy sound effects on What's Become of The Baby.

In many ways, buying records and C.D.s are an investment of sorts. I fear some day in the not too distant future I might be forced to take all my records and C.D.s down to the local second hand record/C.D. store and sell whatever they'll take. If the situation in my country gets any worse, I will seriously consider immigrating. Don't know where though. Possibly Canada since the whole country has legalized pot, they speak English, and each territory has some sort of music scene, especially punk. Or I could just jump feet first in the water and go to Uruguay since they've already legalized pot, but have no punk scene. Hey, why shouldn't I be a pioneer and start one? I'd better do some research on the country as so not to offend those who were born and raised there. Figure out how things work, and are done, as it were. But I'm not going to worry about that now. I've got more immediate issues pressing at the moment, like taking care of my mother, for instance. I'm also filling my hard drive with lots of music, so I should get a thumb drive and store it there so I can make space for more downloads.

I wonder whatever happened to RIOR cassettes? They were a company back in the 80s made cassette only releases, including The New York Dolls, Flipper, and Bad Brains. I don't know if New York Dolls or Flipper ever got transferred to C.D. but two separate companies have re-issued the Bad Brains cassette on C.D. but, yeah, they weren't such a bargain, after all.

 

I do vaguely recall a Flipper CD being around in the 90's after Cobain gave them a nod as one of his influences. Whether it was a re-issue or new stuff I couldn't say.

As far as immigration goes, now is the time to do your research, get your plans and paperwork in order and learn a language.

the question is where to go? Since 9/11 governments across the world have used it to crack down on dissent, and punk is dissident to its core. Finding a country with legal pot also complicates matters as most have signed the UN treaties on drugs/psychotropic substances and have laws enforcing them. None of the English speaking countries would be terribly safe as they are in lockstep with the US. Canada, like oz, is becoming more like the US everyday.

Europe is likewise tied to the US and rarely stands upto yankee pressure. None of these countries are immune to the right wing populism you wish to escape. There is substantial Islamophobia and anti-Semitism as well.

Latin American governments are under the empires thumb and Asia has its own problems with authoritarian governments. I used to have an Indonesian friend [lost contact] who was into the metal/punk scene there. They were viewed as contrary to social cohesion/order and endlessly harrassed by cops.

Africa is currently being divided up between the US, China and Russia and has problems with jihadi's, civil wars or shocking levels of social injustice. And the Middle East isn't exactly welcoming of americans, or australians for that matter, due to our wars there.

The only places that seem relatively sane at the moment are Finland and Iceland. I don't know what their stance is on immigration though. And I doubt pot is freely available either, nor could you grow your own given the climate. You might be able to source hash there but alcohol seems to be the drug of choice.

I thought about this topic after a very nasty run-in with our TRG 7 years ago. Basically there is nowhere to run to these days. Things are tough all over to quote the Cheech and Chong flick.

 

As I said, Canada and Uruguay have both legalized pot, but that seems about it. You're right though about all these countries being in lock step with the U.S. politics wise. (Read CAPITALISM)