Showing posts with label Graham Jones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Graham Jones. Show all posts

Saturday 13 June 2009

Remake / Remodel

In his book "Last Shop Standing" Graham Jones (see here) remarks on how Greatest Hits packages and compilations are stagnating the music industry. Apparently Roxy Music have had seven such items , and over the past week there's another Bruce Springsteen's Greatest Hits, another compilation to celebrate Blur's reformation called Midlife and another Black Sabbath Greatest Hits Compilation.




Add this to the rush of "Platinum Collections", "Dad Rock" compilations for Fathers Day , and similar ones on Mothers Day, Christmas and the like and you can see just how bloated and lazy the corporate music industry has become concentrating solely on moving product rather than nurturing music . The two items should be compatible , though the fact that the industry is run by accountants shows in spades.








I put together a short video featuring recycled music , soundtracked by Roxy Music's Remake/Remodel from their eponymous debut, available for download here.



However in some ways greatest hits are not all bad, they may be a good introduction to a band , and it's good to see bands still touring even if they do rest on their laurels so to speak. Fleetwood Mac (with the genius of Lindsey Buckingham) and Fairport Convention are two that spring to mind. But the best news on this front for was that Arthur Jeffes, the son of the late great Simon Jeffes has put together a band to play the music of the truly wonderful Penguin Cafe Orchestra and will be touring with them , including old and new compositions. Now that IS worth looking forward to. Information here.

Thursday 28 May 2009

Last Record Shop Standing?


I'm currently half way through reading the excellent "Last Shop Standing" by Graham Jones (web site here)which for some reason isnt on Amazon , so hopefully you can get it from Ebay , though you can definitely get it from Folk Devils in Whitby, because that's where I bought it.

I mention this , because of a worrying development in Currys on the high street. The Hi-Fi section is shrinking alarmingly and I can see a day when you they wont be selling CD players , only iPod docks. I dont have and will never have, an iPod. Maybe the independent record shops should start stocking low end CD systems or pair up with audio shops.

Luckily Comet still stock a reasonable range but they're out ouf town.

This is on the day I purchased my most expensive ever CD (from Amazon he said shame facedly) , the very rare John Kongos , 18 track Repetoire version!!!