Re: [microsound] Re: mp3 and CD-r labels

[neil jendon <n2eil@xxxxxxxxx>]

--- Woody <woody@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> this of course is more reason to do cd-r releases. i
> don't want to sound unenthusiastic about new music,
> but I just feel a lack of rigorous self-critique in
> a majority of the things I hear on cd-r's and mp3s
> since the medium is so cheap.  Is the work a sub-par
> imitation of a Mego artist or is it something that
> has qualities that really make it stand out?        
> 
Woody,

I can't help but think that maybe your opinion may be
colored by your understanding of the costs behind the
medium. I'd argue that the dreck v. quality ratio has
been pretty consistent, regardless of genre or medium
or capital expenditure. It's just that, thanks to new
technology, there's a glut of all of it, for which I'm
glad.

I can't remember a time in my life when I heard so
much music I like. My shelves and 2 hard drives are
crammed with stuff, and it's a chore to get through it
all, but gee whiz...

I'd like to believe that an artist would raise the bar
for him-or-herself if s/he was producing a cd and
spending real money and selling it for real money. But
I've heard enough bad cds and good cd-rs to confound
that logic.

For that matter, vinyl should be the very summit of
craft and artistic discretion. But it's a rare, rare,
thing, IME, when the music is something I love and it
is presented to the best ability of the medium. I can
only think of 14 albums in my collection that fit this
bill, and none of them are experimental; only one of
them is by an artist still alive and performing. (This
opinion might be colored by the fact that I'm
currently listening to a new record that I'm positive
was mastered at the wrong speed, and that 2 of the LPs
in the JazzActuel compilation have off-center spindle
holes. Somehow, I don't think Sonny Sharrock, Alan
Silva, or  Sun Ra wanted it that way.) Sigh, I
digress...

-Neil

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