| Author | Message | ||
     kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 603 Registered: 05-2005 |
either CD, 7" or download? The recent demise of Top of The Pops had me thinking, does anybody even bother buying singles anymore? Not me, the last single I bought was Your Favourite Thing by Sugar and that was over 10yrs ago. Remember the halcyon days when Joy Division or New Order would release singles that would not appear on albums. Punk/New Wave bands would regularly release singles between albums. The Smiths might be one of the last bands to do this, certainly in the UK. Record companies have a lot to answer for | ||
| Jerry Clark Member Username: Jerry Post Number: 357 Registered: 08-2004 |
I do on occasion. but never for remixes. I like the extra songs mainly. It used to be to fill up tapes for my Walkman. Since I've upgraded to ipod the playlists for an album are unlimited timewise. My favourites Babybird, Pulp, Nick Cave, Morrissey, Bunnymen & Go-B's have done some excellent B-sides in the last 10 years. You are quite right about non-album singles dying out, where a band in the past would use singles to stay in the public consciousness between album releases, it's now discouraged because it isn't considered profitable. Strange considering they've limited the length of a single, so now you get a lot of singles coming out in 2's + a DVD but dirt cheap. New releases now are cheaper than they were in the mid-'80's. | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 455 Registered: 05-2005 |
Yes, regularly. Mostly CDs, but also 7, 10 and 12 inches. CD singles in the two nearest record shops to where I live are only $3 (1.2 pounds UK; 1.8 euro; $2 US). So I buy a few every month. At that price it allows you to take a chance on something (eg I bought the Crazy single to see if it lived up to the hype - boy did it). Also in Australia a lot of singles are really EPs with four or five songs on them. That's VFM for $3! I bought quite a few 7"s on my second last trip to Europe, but not on my most recent trip. In fact, now that I think of it, I have not bought any vinyl at all this year so far. As far as I can recall there has only been a couple of years ever in my entire record buying career (a quarter century plus) that I have not bought any vinyl. There has certainly not been more than a month - and usually no more than a week - that I have not bought music in some format though. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 501 Registered: 03-2006 |
I don't buy singles...too hard to keep track of proper albums in my collection, without tossing singles into the mix. Ahh, at least one facet of my addiction I have under control, though it's a little like a heroin addict saying "at least I don't smoke pot any more"...I think the last one I bought was "Hobo Humping Slobo Babe" by, I think, "Whale"...I would be shocked if no one on the board had heard of it, btw... | ||
| Pádraig Collins Member Username: Pádraig_collins Post Number: 456 Registered: 05-2005 |
Whale's Hobo Humping Slobo Babe was a brilliant left field pop song from the mid-90s. I loved it to H/LK. Only have it on cassette though. Now that you've reminded me of it I'll have to try get it on CD or mp3. | ||
| Jonathan Evans Member Username: Jon Post Number: 27 Registered: 04-2005 |
I still buy singles quite regularly. Some labels like Fierce Panda do a lot of double 7" which allow you to 'find' new music. Also some picture discs are great, in the art sense, which has been missing with the demise of the album. Cheers Jon | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 504 Registered: 03-2006 |
That really was a cool song, Padraig - makes ya wonder what happened to Whale...I'm impressed and shocked that you remember that obscure little gem. It has occurred to me before that if the folks on this board don't know it, it ain't worth knowing... Actually, I have a singles-related question. I finally got high speed cable internet, which has me thinking about dipping my toe into the water of downloading music...What's the best place to find all those cool GoBees rarities? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 611 Registered: 05-2005 |
Not great for GO-Bs stuff , but for me Napster is fantastic. For £9.99 per month (I bet you Yanks probably only pay $9.99) I can download as much as I want, but not burn to CD - that costs approx £7. However,this is not a problem for me because as I have said before my PC is hooked up to my hifi equipment so when I play these MP3s back they sound pretty much as good as a CD sounds. This has saved me a bloomin fortune on buying CDs, although I still prefer to buy what I would term essential albums on CD so as I have the artwork etc, my most recent purchase was the Thom Yorke CD. You might think that Napster wont have a lot of the kind of stuff that I (we) like, but you would be surprised. At a rough guess I would say that when I do a search for an album on Napster I hit the jackpot about 7 or 8 times out of 10. Just make sure you have a bloody big hard drive though, mines is 160GB | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 506 Registered: 03-2006 |
Thanks - good tip. I'll check it out. This friggin' hi speed access is going to end up costing me a lot of dinero... Say, I just have 80 gigs on my hard drive. Is that going to hinder my downloading music files? | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 612 Registered: 05-2005 |
It will if you have used up 78 gig of your 80 gig Hardin  Seriously,an average MP3 album uses up about approx 50 meg, so on that basis you can download approx 20 albums before you use up 1 gig. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 508 Registered: 03-2006 |
One more question for ya, O Computer Guru...one more thing I'll have to (finally) spend $ on, now that I have the decent connection is an ipod...I want it to listen to my favorite tunes while I jog, so I'm leaning towards the nanos... Yes, even Luddites like me eventually get dragged kicking and screaming into whatever century this is... In my shoes, would you get the 1GB or the 2GB? I guess it does boil down to 20 vs. 40 albums...essentially, for $50 more, you double your memory capacity...a great deal, but I can't imagine needing to have that many songs on it at any one time... | ||
| kevin Member Username: Kevin Post Number: 613 Registered: 05-2005 |
I think you just answered your own question LK | ||
| Randy Adams Member Username: Randy_adams Post Number: 483 Registered: 03-2005 |
Why buy a little piece of crap that ends up frustrating you? Penny wise and pound foolish. Buy the biggest one you can. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 522 Registered: 03-2006 |
Are we talkin singles vs. albums, Randy, or 1 GB vs. 2 GB ipods? Seriously, good advice - thanks (you too Kev) | ||
| Kurt Stephan Member Username: Slothbert Post Number: 436 Registered: 04-2005 |
They're right, Hardin. Figure out the one you can live with, then buy at least the next highest model. I bought a 2GB iPod Nano and now am kicking myself for not paying $50 more for the 4GB. Of course, if I'd bought that one, I'd be kicking myself for not paying another $50 to get the video iPod w/30GB. Apple really has us over a barrel with its iPod pricing structure... However, one iPod note from experience--the Nanos and Shuffles use flash memory, so they don't have the moving parts of the regular models, which have tiny hard drives. I had two of the latter models fail in 15 months, one in warranty, one out of warranty. And I know lots of people with similar failures. The Nanos seem to be more reliable and less prone to shock-related damage. That's part of why I picked a Nano this time. Something to consider if you're going to be using the iPod when exercising. | ||
| Little Keith Member Username: Manosludge Post Number: 524 Registered: 03-2006 |
Thanks, Kurt. That sounds like sage advice. I'll probably split the difference between the "bigger is better" principle and the purpose I'm intending it for (to listen to while I jog - hopefully 40 albums will be enough)and get the 2 GB...I am, btw, really intrigued by the flash memory and no-moving parts thing - that would seem to increase the durability of the thing, and not to kiss Steve Jobs butt anymore than it has been already, it really is a cool, even beautiful little gadget. On Conan O'Brien, in their "Actual Ads" segment, they had an ad for an offbrand MP3 player, and the fine print said, "For those of you who don't love your children at the ipod level". For you, Padraig: I was looking at You Tube (they truly do have everything, it seems) and came across this, the highly amusing video for "Slobo Babe"...great, trashy and crazy art-damaged fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMN9yKQIk2w They must have really good drugs in Sweden! |