The Dance Music Space-Time Continuum

It's always been an interesting feature of Dance Music that trends and what's hot/not move very quickly. Although downloads now make this a feature of just about every genre, this was the case with Dance/Electronica when Vinyl/CD were the main formats.

I think that this trend has only accelerated for Dance music now that digital files are so prevalent and many (but certainly not all) DJs are playing out with digital rigs such as Serato, etc.

By way of example, up until yesterday I thought I was somewhat up on the latest tunes, until Beatport and Resident Advisor whacked me upside the head with how behind the curve I am. Of the 50 Tunes in their July Chart, I recognized about 7 artists (15% if you're keeping score at home). That really should be between 90-100%... gotta get my weight up!

Oh, the space-time continuum thing? Seeing how rapidly I got "out of date" made me think of Einstein's description of how time slows down as one approaches the speed of light, something about growing old very slowly... I'm down with that, don't close the spaceship door!

On a slightly different tangent, here's some interesting industry analysis from New Music Strategies

Record Stores in the Movies

It's Record Store Day Eve, I'm *so* excited :-)

Here's a quick list of some of my favorite record store moments from the Silver Screen






High Fidelity: Jack Black as a snarky record store clerk... John Cusack as the store owner... more great lines than I have time to recount. I still need to read the book by Nick Hornsby. The Cusack character is who I aspire to be (minus the relationship issues)




Empire Records: Plot isn't this film's strong suit, but the main setting is the coolest imaginary record store ever! Liv Tyler and Renee Zellweger don't hurt either.




- - - Honorable mentions - - -


Love Jones: Dr. Wax from Hyde Park is name-checked, although the record store scene occurs in some other store. As an aside, if you want to see some sexy black folks (of either gender) this is good choice.. Nia Long & Lawrenz Tate star... it's a pretty good love story. The soundtrack is killer, highly recommended.

Mo Betta Blues: The scene where Wesley Snipes' character tries to kick-it to Cynda Williams' character is cool. I'd cut my record shopping short if Cynda Williams was waiting on me.

I am Legend: Huh? You heard me... This movie proves that like cockroaches, record stores will still be around even in a post-apocalyptic nightmare vision of NYC.

All Time Top 5 Albums (for now)

Record Store Day is this saturday, and I like to celebrate it kwanzaa-style, lighting a candle of record-love for a few days before the big event.

So... my all-time top 5 albums (in no particular order)

- Songs in the Key of Life, Stevie Wonder
- A Love Supreme, John Coltrane
- Remedy, Basement Jaxx
- Fear of a Black Planet, Public Enemy
- Kind of Blue, Miles Davis

Now, if I were stranded on a desert island, I'd probably wish for a solar powered iPod... but if I only had a solar powered record player and 5 records, these would be the ones.

Caveats: Top 5 lists are ridiculous... Limiting to only 5 forces me to ignore vast swaths of the musical landscape... no Rock? No classical? No "world" music? ridiculous.

I engage in the top 5 ritual in honor of Record Store Day (and the film High Fidelity) ...and Comic Book Guy.

Whiny Musicians / Good Documentary

I recently had a chance to check out the 2005 documentary Before the Music Dies courtesy of hulu.com it's a pretty decent film.

The general topic is the sad state of "big music" (circa 2005).  Although the film is a few years old, the general description of the prevailing trends in the industry remains accurate.

Some things that made me chuckle

• Good musicians' tendency to think they're particularly insightful and/or profound as commentators:  Lots of big names in this one commenting on things... Eric Clapton, Dave Matthews, Eryka Badu, Questlove, Branford Marsalis, Bonnie Rait, etc.  Let's just say that not everyone was equally deserving of camera time (although Badu was pretty funny)

• How the more things change, the more they stay the same:  I found it humorous how all these "serious artists" bemoaned the manufactured pop stars of the present day... how it's all about image and not about the music!  This of course ignores the fact the pop stars have been "manufactured" since the dawn of recorded music.  It's probably the same way our great grandparents talked about Fats Domino and our grandparents talked about Elvis... I know it's the way my parents talked about Run DMC!

There was interesting commentary from former major label record executives and the film also spent some time profiling Doyle Bramhall II... a Blues Rock artist who was a great example of a major label "failure" who's achieved critical acclaim and a solid career.

The highest points in the film are when the artists talk about what motivates them to do what they do, including particularly transcendent scene where an older blues man talks about his love for playin' the blues.  I'd definitely recommend it for artists and students of the industry (which I think most "serious artists" should be!).

Digging is dead, long live digging

I'm working on putting together a deep house mix for my Mom... in the course of pulling together a rough playlist I've been adding a fair number of tunes to my wantlist... listening to a bunch of Ron Hardy mixes from back in the day "the day" being the mid-to-late 80's (props to Gridface and Sueno Martino for the great resource, highly recommended)

I'm noticing an interesting phenomenon... as I run across tracks that I don't have, I'll google them... and at least 50% of the time if not more, they're available on youtube. Now I love my vinyl, but that's friggin awesome! I know, it's also illegal, but hell... so were the re-press bootlegs of disco classics... and those would still be hard to find! and anyway, I'm the poster child for digital music availability stimulating demand for physical product.

I'd probably not be so geeked about it if I didn't have Serato Scratch as part of my setup... but I do, so I am.

I do however ponder the fate of the physical record collection as a signifier of one's love of music ...dare I say connoisseurship? They'll pry my vinyl from my cold dead hands (thanks to a traumatic early adulthood record collection liquidation that's too painful to recount now)... but let's be real, my collection has always been utilitarian... it's not like I've got a bunch of 8-track tapes sitting around.

So, vive la Youtube! (Unless it's my intellectual property, in which case, where my lawyers at?!?)

Chicago Record Stores: George's Music Room - Out of the Past Records

Started on the photo essay project. After some hemming and hawing, the warm weather convinced me to leave the crib and start visiting (and revisiting) shops to take some snaps. Before getting into the store details, I've noticed that two stores a day seems to be a comfortable pace. So, what I thought would be 1 or 2 posts will in all likelihood be an ongoing series. I guess that's good for my blogging frequency!



George's Music Room (RIP?)

Made it out to George's around 3:45pm and they were closed... on a Saturday? I could see promo materials inside, but it was too dark to see if they were still carrying product. There as also a PODS container in the back... not a good sign. Going to try contact them by phone this week and will report what I find out. (I did take a couple of pix of one of DZine's murals (before he got all "high art" on us! just kiddin' bro!)

Out of the Past Records

Took the bus up Pulaski to Madison and started walking West (about 5 blocks to Out of the Past). Wow, this stretch of Madison is a rough neighborhood! I grew up on the South Side in a somewhat rough neighborhood and I felt like a white kid from the suburbs. It's been a minute since I've seen folks on the street selling loose "squares" (cigarettes, if you were wondering). I'm not kidding, I think I saw about three drug deals (not to mention the brother drinking beer on the bus on the way back). But, I also saw an 11 year old girl proudly carrying her framed Barack Obama poster home from the store... the juxtaposition gave the "Change" campaign slogan some powerful resonance for me.

Was I on an Obama tangent? My bad... Back to the store. You know good things are in store when Kool & The Gang's Summer Madness is playing through a speaker on the sidewalk as you walk up! Amazing amounts of records... I walked in and in 2 minutes had found the group Change's 2nd Album Miracles (R&B fans will be aware of their first LP, Change which contained the classics A Lovers Holiday, usually referred to as just "Holiday" and Glow of Love... "Glow of Love" featured a then young and unknown singer named Luther Vandross who just... puts. it. down!). So, I immediately broke my "no purchases!" rule, but I was highly disciplined otherwise (full disclosure: I also bought a poster of the Maxwell St. Market (aka "Jew Town" as we called it back when I was growing up.)

Everyone was helpful a the store, there were folks hanging out, a little kid in there (who stayed underfoot... watch out, little man!). Great vibe. The kicker? These guys probably have close to a hundred thousand records and their online presence? Under construction... Hey, I know a bit of computer stuff... I smell a barter arrangement down the road!

Spoiled for Choice - Chicago Record Stores

Inspired by a book I recently read, I'm planning on getting around town to take some pictures of the remaining independent record stores in Chicago.

figured it'd be a fun little project for my upcoming Zoe-less weekend. As I started compiling my list of places to hit, I figured I'd be able to knock it out in a day. I was happily wrong... It's going to be a two to three day project! (despite the dire straits of the mainstream record industry, we've still got over 50 independent retailers holding it down in the Chi)

Granted, this map will probably be a little less crowded next year... but then again, it may be *more* crowded... stranger things have happened.

Anyways, the map-points on the South Side are the target for Saturday, I just have to keep telling myself: pictures only! no buying! (a brotha's got some personal IMF-style austerity measures going on)