This week, Pieces was consumed with the all-important question: which decade from the twentieth century would win in a battle royale? Obviously the 1970s, because of the sideboards and flagrant sexism, but the contemplation of hoards of flower-wielding hippies charging against lines of politely coutured Edwardian gin-swillers was a lot of fun.
On a more serious note…
Not long ago, in a review of the rather-good Radiohead reissues, Scott Plagenhoef from Pitchfork speculated that the manner of the release of the remastered Beatles albums in September (cue massively exaggerated squeak of anticipation from nerdish fab-o-philes like me who can finally hear ever-so-slightly-beefed-up versions of songs they can already sing backwards – how sad) is a sign that the era of the physical record is coming to an end. People have been saying similar things for years; basically ever since the first legal mp3 stores appeared online. Check out some earlier examples here and here. This time, though, there’s some more substantial weight behind the claim. The argument is this: the fact all of the Beatles records are being released at the same time (September 9th, Fab-o-philes!), instead of ‘being slowly and ceremoniously rolled out as they were 20-odd years ago’, indicates that record companies are now scared to release physical product because of recent shrinkage in the worldwide music market, and that ‘they best sell non-vinyl physical products now, immediately, before the prospect of doing so is gone’.
It’s a scary thought, for those of us who were brought up on the thrill of sticking a pencil in the holes in cassette tapes to make them work again, and the heightened anticipation built up by the difficulty of removing shrink-wrap from CD cases. But only the bravest music journalist snob would argue with the truth: music lost its attachment to physical embodiments a long time ago. It’s becoming more and more clear that the question to ask is not whether there will ever be a time when we don’t think of music in terms of its medium, but what form a new age of universal access to all music will take.
Even someone like me, who has a comprehensive collection of every piece of plastic produced by The Stone Roses from 1988-91 (oh yes, those were some worthwhile teenage years), can’t see any downside to a future ruled by services like Spotify. What’s not to like? It allows anyone in the world to listen to virtually any music ever released on a major record label for free. All of a sudden, hierarchies built up around record collection disappear, and everyone who loves music can listen to exactly what they want, regardless of whether they can ‘afford’ it. At best, this means that everyone in the world has the chance to become an enlightened listener, freed from the Cowells of the world and able to find the music that they like best without having to be guided by people who basically just want their money. And at the very least, it means a world where music is as free as the air, and those who have to think very carefully about what to spend their money on for whatever reason can have one more way to enrich and beautify their lives however they want, at no cost. Lovely.
And, of course, it allows me to continue to provide an hour’s-worth of lovely music every week for our lovely Pieces fans. Again, what’s not to like? Which leads us very nicely into this week's Piecesounds…
1. Danger Mouse/Jemini – Born-A-MC
2. Walker Brothers – The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore
3. P.P. Arnold – The First Cut Is The Deepest
4. The Bobby Fuller Four – I Fought The Law
5. ESG – Dance
6. Bessie Smith – Alexander’s Ragtime Band
7. Talking Heads – Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On)
8. Nina Simone – Sinnerman
9. Van Morrison – Sweet Ting
10. Björk – Wanderlust
11. Lykke Li – Little Bit
12. Mr Hudson & The Library – Bread + Roses
13. Soul Angels – It’s All In Your Mind
14. Johnny Cash – Dinosaur Song
http://open.spotify.com/user/blownawish/playlist/6nDeyBQ8QQ7BLnu5M8uDzA
What happens to music when there’s nothing to touch? Is my view too rose-tinted and sickeningly idealistic? Let me know.
More next week.
Pieces x
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