[kj] MMXII first listen:

[Nick Scott]

Interesting read Alex, I too used to count down the days until an
artist I liked released a new album in my college days, eagerly
catching the bus after lectures to the nearest record shop to buy it,
to then go home to tape it for playing on my cassette walkman back to
college.

Even ignoring the download/piracy argument at the moment, and just
assuming people buy physical releases only.....

For me, it is now a total knock on effect with the recession and
costing of albums that people buy online, here in the UK towns left
right and centre are now becoming full of charity shops due to major
stores closing, our biggest Video Games Store chain GAME has gone into
administration, partly due to online pricing being cheaper, the knock
on effect is killing stores.

Even when KJs album is released next week, I for one will not be these
days rushing to a record store to buy if when I can have it delivered
to my home for £2-3 less than stores are selling it for.

With regards internet downloading, unless something is available in
FLAC format as a replaceable option for physical releases on CD/LP it
is a poor choice due to the compression MP3 takes out of musical
frequencies, and besides being old fashioned myself for wanting a
tangible physical format, is only suitable for the conveniences of
portable media players.

I would not personally have invested so much money into home cinema
equipment to then take a step backwards listening to flat audio.

I was really hoping this KJ album was leaked before the tour, these
days now that the town record shops have all but gone, and the only
"joy" is buying from HMV or your local supermarket *if* a release
charts enough for them to even stock it, I eagerly wait to hear any
album at the earliest opportunity..order it online for the cheapest
price and just reminisce about long times past.

On 27 March 2012 14:07, Alexander Smith <vassifer at earthlink.net> wrote:

>

> As I've been laboriously documenting in some recent blog posts (notably the

> two linked below, if you give a flying fuck), I'm becoming more and more

> Luddite-ish and resentful as I grow older, lamenting the old days when we'd

> anticipate a new album and then finally get our hands on it (as a tactile

> artifact), and then immerse ourselves in it, track by track and in the

> chronological order as was intended by the band. Nowadays, everything is

> about immediate gratification and uber-convenience. God forbid you should

> have to wait for anything or take your time to experience something in its

> uninterrupted wholeness.

>

> As such, I've resisted downloading the leaked record. Sure, I've heard

> "Rapture" and the mighty "In Cythera," but I've managed to eschew hearing

> anything else. I really want that pristine experience wherein I am able to

> enjoy the album from back to front while holding the artwork in my hands.

> Call me old fashioned. I don't give a fuck.

>

> But, as I go through my e-mail, I can't help but read some of the comments

> from those who have listened. I think it's indeed a testament to the

> versatility of Killing Joke that opinions are so divided. After all,

> consider the relatively vast shifts in style and sound within the band's own

> catalog -- from stentorian guitar crunch and barely human vocals to elegiac

> melodies, danceable rhythms and the graceful tolling of "the bell."  Unlike,

> say, AC/DC, Motorhead or the Ramones (great bands, all), Killing Joke have

> never simply been about one solitary thing.

>

> I'm trying to shut out the opinions until I get my hands on it and hear for

> myself ... but hear it the right way.

>

> http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2012/03/retromania-and-the-return-of-the-joke.html

>

> http://vassifer.blogs.com/alexinnyc/2012/03/the-virtual-line.html

>

> Alex in NYC

>

>

>

>

> On Mar 27, 2012, at 8:54 AM, Neil Perry wrote:

>

> oooh, harsh words... ;)

>

> Have been blasting it for most of the day and I'm liking everything to

> varying

> degrees aside from Pole Shift and Fema (finally coming round to Glitch). A

> few tracks

> are stunning, a few are great and some are ok. But I'm enjoying the variety

> - AD was

> many versions of the same song plus ESS and Ghosts - whereas this is coming

> from many different directions. Half of these songs and half from AD would

> have made for

> a stunning album -  for my tastes, anyway. For now, Trance, Primobile,

> Hallows, Cythera and Colony are

> on heavy rotation, songs that I think piss all over most of the last 2

> albums.

>

>

>

> On 27 March 2012 14:24, Stephen Robinson

> <heiferboy at robinsonworld.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:

>>

>> Weakest album since Democracy, there, I've said it.

>>

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