Filesharing makes me spend money on music dept.
Yes, bittorrents will be the end of the music industry as we know it, etc etc. I don't think so (and whether we want the industry as we know it to survive is an open question), but in any case I'm more interested in filesharing's ability to let me only buy albums I actually, you know, enjoy. Engineers' very strong debut is one I downloaded months ago and have listened to often since; I understand why some of my Stylus compadres consider it a one-trick pony (as you might when you consider the reductive but partially apt description they bring to mind: A sleepier Teenage Fanclub making a gauzy shoegaze album for reals, all harmony vocals and soft waves), but I can't get enough of it. I went looking for it a while ago and it was import only; late last week I was informed it was out in North America and immediately ordered a copy via Amazon - actually via Caiman Canada; so far everything I've gotten from "Amazon" is actually via them in the "Amazon Marketplace", whatever that is, as they always have a better price and they ship really fast despite being based in Florida. I should probably just start going through them directly.
Anyway, that wasn't the real downloading success story; instead consider my experience with Jesu's self titled debut. I'm familiar at least slightly with Justin Broadrick's work in Godflesh, and was intrigued enough some time ago to pick up the better of the two Godflesh records my local used record store had (Selfless). I wasn't very impressed with it, and will probably sell it eventually. I liked a few of the songs, but it was too long and unvarying for me (although I would still try my hand at something like the reissued Messiah, as I understand Selfless is far from their best record). I only picked up that album with some trepidation, and my failure to really engage with it only made me more leery of this sort of music.
So when I read such great things about Broadrick's debut as Jesu, I took them with a grain of salt. It sounded amazing, but so had Godflesh; I'd never been into much metal of any description and maybe this just wasn't going to work out for me (similar to how I have yet to "get" any jazz, with the tenative exception of Jeff Parker's The Relatives album). I downloaded the album from Scott McKeating (whose soulseek generosity should be legend) months ago, but never got around to listening to it. It was in the queue, and as I'd also gotten an album by Neurosis from him that had yet to do anything for me I wasn't feeling very good about it (in light of subsequent events I'll definitely be giving Neurosis a few more tries).
But I also have a remix of Pelican's "Angel Tears" by one JK Broadrick on my computer, which I got when Michael Bennett (who wrote the review of Jesu) bunged it up on the Stypod. Filesharing, and I was amazed by the track when I stumbled onto it in random play one night. I wasn't sure how much was the band and how much was Broadrick, but it certainly made me feel a bit better about the man's work.
And then I listened to Jesu last night, and it was fucking incredible. Even longer and more monolithic than Selfless, but without boring me for even a second. First-listen love, the kind where you know it's only going to get better. An incredible feeling.
So strong, in fact, that I went by their label looking for a copy of the album, only to find it was out of print. Luckily Caiman had some copies left, and one is currently winging it's way towards me as we speak.
There is no way in hell I would have bought either album without filesharing. Both are shaping up to be parts of my year-end list. The reason, I should add, that I ordered both on Amazon (besides the impulse factor, which did come into play) was that I have no reasonable chance of finding them in record stores in Guelph, and these days when it's so easy to order off of the internet I am loathe to walk into a record store and not buy something right then. I don't want to order it and come back in a few weeks. I can do that from home, and then it comes to my mailbox.
There are some conclusions to be drawn from this by the various industries involved, productive ones (and I think this scenario is far less rare than they imagine), but I'm not very confident they will be.
Also, buy that Jesu record. I'm more than willing to YSI a copy if people are interested but wary.
Anyway, that wasn't the real downloading success story; instead consider my experience with Jesu's self titled debut. I'm familiar at least slightly with Justin Broadrick's work in Godflesh, and was intrigued enough some time ago to pick up the better of the two Godflesh records my local used record store had (Selfless). I wasn't very impressed with it, and will probably sell it eventually. I liked a few of the songs, but it was too long and unvarying for me (although I would still try my hand at something like the reissued Messiah, as I understand Selfless is far from their best record). I only picked up that album with some trepidation, and my failure to really engage with it only made me more leery of this sort of music.
So when I read such great things about Broadrick's debut as Jesu, I took them with a grain of salt. It sounded amazing, but so had Godflesh; I'd never been into much metal of any description and maybe this just wasn't going to work out for me (similar to how I have yet to "get" any jazz, with the tenative exception of Jeff Parker's The Relatives album). I downloaded the album from Scott McKeating (whose soulseek generosity should be legend) months ago, but never got around to listening to it. It was in the queue, and as I'd also gotten an album by Neurosis from him that had yet to do anything for me I wasn't feeling very good about it (in light of subsequent events I'll definitely be giving Neurosis a few more tries).
But I also have a remix of Pelican's "Angel Tears" by one JK Broadrick on my computer, which I got when Michael Bennett (who wrote the review of Jesu) bunged it up on the Stypod. Filesharing, and I was amazed by the track when I stumbled onto it in random play one night. I wasn't sure how much was the band and how much was Broadrick, but it certainly made me feel a bit better about the man's work.
And then I listened to Jesu last night, and it was fucking incredible. Even longer and more monolithic than Selfless, but without boring me for even a second. First-listen love, the kind where you know it's only going to get better. An incredible feeling.
So strong, in fact, that I went by their label looking for a copy of the album, only to find it was out of print. Luckily Caiman had some copies left, and one is currently winging it's way towards me as we speak.
There is no way in hell I would have bought either album without filesharing. Both are shaping up to be parts of my year-end list. The reason, I should add, that I ordered both on Amazon (besides the impulse factor, which did come into play) was that I have no reasonable chance of finding them in record stores in Guelph, and these days when it's so easy to order off of the internet I am loathe to walk into a record store and not buy something right then. I don't want to order it and come back in a few weeks. I can do that from home, and then it comes to my mailbox.
There are some conclusions to be drawn from this by the various industries involved, productive ones (and I think this scenario is far less rare than they imagine), but I'm not very confident they will be.
Also, buy that Jesu record. I'm more than willing to YSI a copy if people are interested but wary.
