When the Sky is Full of 0’s and 1’s
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Inspired by this post by Nicole I started thinking about how I got here. Not in the what does it all mean metaphysical sense, but what trail of albums, songs, noises brought me to this point. I have theories that if I had been in different parts of the country I would have gravitated toward different music, based not only on that region’s tastes but also based on what is around. After 6 years in Chicago I have noticed that I have access to some great reissues that other big cities may not have, or that may get swept under the deluge in large cities. I am speaking of labels like Numero Group and Four Men with Beards and others that lean toward jazz and blues that Chicago has been known for. I am not sure if it just that I am on more of a look out while I am in Chicago for these things then when I am in other cities. That is I notice other cities seem to have their niche, records and labels that frequently find their way to the front of the bin, or the endcap of an aisle. Thus, there is a passive mode to all music collectors/obsessives which feeds the active mode of looking for new stuff. So in each music fans life there is that point where you go from the purely passive; getting records from your parents dusty bins or hand-me-down from older brothers/sisters/cousins to the obsessively active, sometimes to a fault and into a niche. You become the “60’s pop-guru” or the “advant noise collector”. I have in some ways started to actively tried to avoid the later, and really attempt to hear (and own) all of recorded music. I know this is an impossible task, completely laughable even, but that is why I go to shows early and catch all the openers, drop a few bucks on random colored vinyl of a band I have no further knowledge of then the cover and maybe some linernotes. If someone feels strong enough about their music to get up on stage or press it to some medium (notice the descriptor, 0’s & 1’s are only concepts and not physical) then it deserves my undivided attention atleast once. I wasn’t always like this, like I said before we all start out passive. I through the course of however many parts it takes me to get to current that I may explain where the turning points were. I already know there were many deadend paths, paths re-travelled for better or worse, hopefully I can remember them all (most likely not in chronological order, but I will attempt it the best I can).

Later this week (weds?) look for “my earliest music memories”.

Music store to close; make room for clothes | Chicago Tribune
And yet Reckless Records is doing so well that it can open a store in the loop. I dont think online music sales and piracy are killing the Towers and Megastores.

The closing of the Chicago and Salt Lake Virgin Megastores will leave Virgin with 11 music stores still operating in the U.S. It operates more than 100 Megastores in the United Kingdom.

What so kids in the UK dont pirate and/or buy downloaded music. I dont think so.

In December, Tower Records shuttered its stores, joining a host of smaller chains and independent stores that have closed in recent years. Music sales continue to slide due to still-rampant piracy and consumer complaints that prices for recorded music are too high at a time when digital singles can be bought for 99 cents.

Maybe its not the online beast that is killing these large stores but the fact that they a) dont know how to sell records to “the kids” and b) pay themselves to much money to do it.