eBay and GAS

I buy a fair amount of musical equipment (‘gear’ in geek parlance) on an increasingly infrequent basis. Yet recently GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) has resurfaced and I find myself looking through eBay for something interesting almost every day. The one thing that strikes me as I peruse these listings is that the price of vintage gear remains elevated, recession or not.

Around the turn of the millennium, it was still possible to find some great bargains as people offloaded their outboard in favour of software. I can only assume there are an increasing number of like-minded musicians who use the short sightedness of others to acquire bigger studios. Obviously, this has all happened before when digital synths arrived and analogue instruments were dropped like hot potatoes. However, it took many years before analogue became converted and prices inflated. Then some fool went and invented ‘electronica’ ‘rave’ or whatever else you want to call it and eventually everyone wanted a TB-303 (I can’t bring myself to comment on the £1000+ TB-303 phenomenon).

Yet the outboard being off loaded by musicians at the moment is not necessarily iconic or unique and still commands large sums of cash. I will give you some examples:

£300 start price with £40 postage for a Korg 01/W?
It is not 1995 anymore. I want one but only because they should be cheap but cheerful.

£900 for a Jupiter 4 with 24 hours still to run?
Are you people mad or just rich? It says 4 not 8.

£250+ for a Roland SH-101
Back in 1990 I had the choice of a DX100 or an SH-101. Each were £90-100 as I remember. I chose the DX100. I really am stupid sometimes.

£320 for a Korg Trinity
Surely you can find a Triton for less than this?

I am VERY excited about the synth I am currently bidding on. This synth is a long-term target that is very rare and my bids are rather high. Thus, I guess I am as guilty as anyone for pushing up prices. Yet my pulse quickens at thought of owning this one and if I win you’re sure to see it here. Watch this space.

Yes? Well maybe....

I have now heard all but one of the tracks from the new Pet Shop Boys album 'Yes' and the first word that springs to mind is 'pop'. That 'Girls Aloud' chart fodder type of pop. 

Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with pop, I like pop music, but I still long for the 'electro' album they always threaten to make. When you hire Xenomania to produce your album you are obviously going to end up with a 'pop' recording, yet there are glimpses of what could have been. 

The bassline on 'Did you see me coming?' is quite sublime, 'Love etc' is almost pure electro, ' 'Legacy' has snatches of techno, 'More Than A Dream' could be a house track from 1991 and 'The Way it used to be' is crying out for a DFA remix. 

Yet Neil sings his 'X-factor' styled vocals over pure bubblegum pop backing tracks with an unhealthy dose of Johnny Marr guitar. With every PSB release I seem to raise my hopes that they will recreate 'Please' or 'Disco' in a Kraftwerk/eletro style (imagine my near hysterical excitement at the pre-release of 'Psychological' from 'Fundamental') only to be disappointed.  

However I will take 'Yes' for what it is and enjoy it none the less. In reality I should just be thankful that my favourite group still create new music. I guess 25 years of being a 'pethead' is making me selfish. 

Speaking of 25 years, there is a free CD 'Pet Shop Boys Story: 25 Years of Hits' included in the Mail on Sunday today. If you can face buying such a rag. I recommend you take out the CD and throw the newspaper in the bin immediately.

Now that's what I call a 'box set'

Mute records always seem to know what the punter desires. When I laid eyes on the new box set for the Depeche Mode album ‘Sounds of the Universe’ I was impressed. Indeed, I was so impressed I spent nearly £60 on the thing. Mute appear know that if you get the content and quality right, fans will simply ‘have’ to own their latest release. Loading digital files onto your iPod might be cheap and tidy, but you simply do not get the thrill of owning such great physical products such as this.

There is a long history of Mute ‘getting it right’. The Depeche Mode and Erasure singles ‘box sets’ of the last few years are just one example of this. This latest release is packed with goodies for fans and has me almost as excited as the release of ‘Yes’. It also makes me wish that EMI’s other subsidiary, Parlophone would do something similar for the upcoming Pet Shop Boys album (and ‘box set(s)’ for Neil and Chris’s singles/remixes are long overdue). So, as much as the record industry might bemoan the advent of the mp3 they should also learn that the physical product must be of a superior quality (regardless of cost) if they wish to sell CD’s to the hardcore fans that keep them afloat.

Another great Last.fm app

Yet another great last.fm application has caught my eye this week. Open Minded Radio (or OMR) is another statistic driven website that aims to indicate how diverse your music tastes are.

On inputting my own data I found no great surprises. I was pleased to see 'electronic' the top tag in every one of my charts! With an 'open minded rating' of 81 it appears I am quite diverse in my tastes. The website also promises us a statistics page which is 'coming soon'.

At present the data generated is offered in a pie chart which can be pasted onto your last.fm page. There are several similar apps to this one but OMR offers the clearest graphical illustrations by far. Geeky but fun.

Innovative music doesn't have to be rubbish

One of the biggest thrills for me is finding new music that I enjoy. Whilst it is easy to discover music I have not heard before, it is very difficult to discover music that I actually like. However, since joining Last.fm I have discovered innumerable artists that have open my eyes and ears in a way that I never thought possible. One such recent discovery is the artist MaJiKer. 

Listening to MaJiKer’s inventive and quite unique style, led me to consider the process of innovation in music. You see, there are many artists out there who are experimenting with sound. The internet is full of new music that pushes boundaries and drives modern styles. The only problem being that the majority of it is plain rubbish. Yet by pushing boundaries, such artists leave the way open for those who actually know how to take this innovation and mould it into something exciting. Where would we be if Elvis decided to stand still whilst performing? Imagine if DJ Pierre had decided not to bother using that little silver doormat to create “Acid Tracks”. Where would music be if Kraftwerk decided to stick with their flute, bass guitar and drum kit? What would have happened if the Pet Shop Boys had never recorded Release? (Oh, sorry that was just wishful thinking on my part).

To me there is little to admire in music that is innovative other than the innovation itself. Yet there is everything to admire in music that is both innovative and good to listen to. So get to MaJiKer’s artist page on Last.fm, download his free tracks and treat yourself to some great new music.

Too much of anything is never enough

I can't seem to stop listening to Love Etc. It's one of those songs that doesn't impress on first listening, but slowly grows until it becomes lodged in your head. I really can't stop playing it.

The only trouble with this situation is that by the time their new album comes out, I run the risk of being tired of the track. When Home and Dry was released some years ago, I played a promo copy of the single none stop for weeks proclaiming it their best in years. Once the travesty that was Release came out the track was tainted by the rest of the rubbish on the album and consequently I don't like the track much. The same happened with Before and its parent disc Bilingual and other albums too.

I sincerely hope Yes is going to be as good as I anticipate and that Love Etc hasn't brought about false hope of a superb album of electronic music by master songwriters.

Pet Shop Boys: Love Etc.

Any new Pet Shop Boys release gets top priority in my house, so finding their new single "Love Etc." became my obsession in the last few days.

Happily I found it and you can preview it here.

Great title but I'm not quite convinced of this tracks merits yet. Not very catchy and the vocal is buried in the muddy mix. Some nice synth riffs from Mr Lowe as usual. Still I hope it does well.