Saturday, April 19, 2014

Happy Record Store Day


I'll start with what I got- I got Die Kreuzen- "Cows and Beer" ( aw c'mon, of course this is my second copy. but my first copy literally wore through about 10 years ago) Floor- Oblation ( yes, I'm friends with people. Even so, I was supposed to get it two weeks ago- damn post office) Garbage with Brody Dalle  "Girls Talk Shit" 10", and Triggerfinger -By Absence of the Sun, obviously I already talked about Floor, and Triggerfinger is next. I don't see the point in talking about Die Kreuzen- it a ground-breaking record, but from over 30 years ago. I haven't had a chance to hear the Garbage, just yet, so maybe in a few days on that one.
But, I'm here to talk about the day, itself, not what I bought. I wasn't feeling it today. But, I had errands to run, so I thought I'd drop by. On top of that, to register my displeasure with what RSD has degenerated into, I dressed ( as best I could) like Phil Spector in Easy Rider. I wore bad seventies shades, with a black shirt, tan jacket and ill-fitting cap. Why? Because Easy Rider is about how the sixties' counterculture failed, and because Phil Spector is a good example of what's wrong with the entertainment business. Besides killing people, and being a colossal asshat, you know why he liked Mono over Stereo? Because he felt like it gave him control over the listener. Wanna know why he liked singles? Because he felt that it was a lower investment for him, with a better return. He saw the "kids" for what they really were- trained consumers. It seems to me that's what record store day has become- training for consumers. I got emails from Amazon, Itunes, etc etc today all about "record store day". I think that a fake holiday overtly trying to get you to buy stuff is already dubious, but it's gone over to full bore Christmas levels of consumer conditioning.
Still, I ran into Jad Fair and his friend, and he convinced me to not get the Pagans 12" saying to me - I played with them, when they were declining. Must have been around 1981. They had some good songs but it was 1981. We were all declining then. I couldn't put the Die Kreuzen back, because, well, Die Effin' Kreuzen, man, but I realized I didn't want some fake nostalgia trip- I wanna keep it as new as I can handle. Same goes for format- I have vinyl. I'm not getting rid of it, but I think it's time to press forward- I'm going to try to stick with Mp3's for the time being.  


No comments:

Post a Comment