Hangin' Out In 100b

First things first, congratulations to Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova on their Oscar this week. I’ve not actually seen Once yet, but I was still pleased that a little indie song won a big fat Oscar. And congratulations to the Academy cutting back the stingy and allowing Marketa Irglova the extra 15 seconds she needed to say thank you.

No Rock And Roll Fun points us to a CNN Money article explaining that iTunes is now second only to Wal-Mart as the highest music retailer in the U.S. I’m not at all surprised really – digital music is just too damn convenient. But it is a little sad to see proper record shops die a slow and painful death. Remember how everyone was all worried that the printed word would die with the internet and other assorted technological advances? As if people really want to read books on a little screen when they’re curled up in bed. But it turns out that’s what’s happening to record shops, slowly but surely. Tamboosh just told me the other day that Boudisque, Amsterdam’s very best music shop, is closing their doors at the end of March. That’s a damn shame, and I think we should all take a moment to mourn, even if you’ve never been there and even though they’ll still have other branches around Holland – it’s like the shop in High Fidelity but without the snobbery. We loved to go in there just to see what was up and it kind of felt like home.

In a related online story, No Rock and Roll Fun also (sorry for stealing all your stories today, guys) links to this Guardian post about the lost art of listening to an album for the first time. Graeme Thomson writes: “I’d clear some time and space, put the record on and sit with sleeve in hand, drinking in every last detail. I’d listen to it end-to-end a few times, letting it slowly seep in and under the skin.” Me too. And, sadly, I don’t really do it anymore either. I think a lot of it time related – I just don’t have the same free time as I did back in high school. But I do still save new releases for the perfect time for my first listen, and I do still read the liner notes and lyrics. I’m all for the digital revolution, but that was a nice little ritual back then, and Mr. Thomson’s post brings back fond memories of hearing some classic albums for the first time.

Totally unrelated, it seems that there’s going to be some more dead icons flogging shoes. Oh, dear. Nevermind how disgusting it is to have Ian Curtis involved in this – there’s something so depressing to me about Sid Vicious on products. I once saw a cheap plastic-y handbag with Sid & Nancy on it at the Notting Hill market. It’s always stuck in my head as one of the most depressing items I’ve ever seen – I can’t understand why Sid Vicious is seen as cool when he was really just a totally messed up kid. Anyway, let’s hope this shoe thing isn’t the start of a new “Dead Icons Selling Dumb Crap” trend, I’ll seriously have to go Falling Down on their asses.

   Johnny Boy – You Are The Generation That Bought More Shoes And You Get What You Deserve