Well look what I got in the post: a parcel of all the CDs released in 2008 by Nonesuch UK. After my lengthy tirade against major labels and the record industry, are they now trying to buy my affection?
That wasn't their motivation but a parcel of 29 CDs is easily going to sway my opinion. I've always had a soft spot for Nonesuch after their signing of Wilco. Warners dropped Wilco due to the delays and disagreements over the release of 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. Nonesuch, a SUBSIDUARY of Warners stepped in, signed the band and released the album. A great example of a label thinking and acting NOT like a major label. And now with this delivery their stock rises even further. So what's in the box?
That wasn't their motivation but a parcel of 29 CDs is easily going to sway my opinion. I've always had a soft spot for Nonesuch after their signing of Wilco. Warners dropped Wilco due to the delays and disagreements over the release of 'Yankee Hotel Foxtrot'. Nonesuch, a SUBSIDUARY of Warners stepped in, signed the band and released the album. A great example of a label thinking and acting NOT like a major label. And now with this delivery their stock rises even further. So what's in the box? Well there are several broad groups:
> Contemporary classical: Kronos Quartet play Terry Riley; John Adams, Steve Reich.
> Elder States-men and -women of the Singer-Songwriter world: Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, kd lang; Stephin Merritt's The Magnetic Fields, Randy Newman, T Bone Burnett.
> Jazz types (in its broadest sense): Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell
> Traditional and indigenous musics: koto music, Japanese flute and Geza Music from the Kabuki
> The uncategorizable/unfamiliar stuff: Punch Brothers, Fernando Otero, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Nicholas Payton.
Oh and a compilation of music from the TV series "The Wire" which brilliantly blends dialogue with hip-hop, funk grooves, Steve Earle and Tom Waits.
It's a pretty representative sample of the output of the label: classy, refined, global, genre-defining. And all coming with high-end packaging, artwork and full colour inserts. I know I'm not going to like it all but I'm really going to enjoy ploughing through all this new stuff.
Even the unpacking was fun. Mrs A spend an earlier part of the week snorting with derision at the concept of unboxing, those sad people who film themselves unpacking new technology (here and here). So it was no surprise to her to find sad old me photographing my parcel (video would just be vulgar). It's good she knows me so well.
And if any major or independent labels do want to purchase my affections, influence my opinions or just generally bribe me with product, please get in touch. It won't take much to buy me: my integrity crumbles at the merest hint of free music.
RIDIN' WITH THE BLUES
Ry Cooder
I, Flathead [BUY]
SHORES OF WHITE SAND
Emmylou Harris
All I Intended To Be [BUY]
IV: ROYAL WEDDING
Kronos Quartet
The Cusp of Magic [BUY]
WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE
> Contemporary classical: Kronos Quartet play Terry Riley; John Adams, Steve Reich.
> Elder States-men and -women of the Singer-Songwriter world: Ry Cooder, Emmylou Harris, kd lang; Stephin Merritt's The Magnetic Fields, Randy Newman, T Bone Burnett.
> Jazz types (in its broadest sense): Brad Mehldau, Pat Metheny, Bill Frisell
> Traditional and indigenous musics: koto music, Japanese flute and Geza Music from the Kabuki
> The uncategorizable/unfamiliar stuff: Punch Brothers, Fernando Otero, Edgar Meyer & Chris Thile, Isabel Bayrakdarian, Nicholas Payton.
Oh and a compilation of music from the TV series "The Wire" which brilliantly blends dialogue with hip-hop, funk grooves, Steve Earle and Tom Waits.
It's a pretty representative sample of the output of the label: classy, refined, global, genre-defining. And all coming with high-end packaging, artwork and full colour inserts. I know I'm not going to like it all but I'm really going to enjoy ploughing through all this new stuff.
Even the unpacking was fun. Mrs A spend an earlier part of the week snorting with derision at the concept of unboxing, those sad people who film themselves unpacking new technology (here and here). So it was no surprise to her to find sad old me photographing my parcel (video would just be vulgar). It's good she knows me so well.
And if any major or independent labels do want to purchase my affections, influence my opinions or just generally bribe me with product, please get in touch. It won't take much to buy me: my integrity crumbles at the merest hint of free music.
RIDIN' WITH THE BLUES
Ry Cooder
I, Flathead [BUY]
SHORES OF WHITE SAND
Emmylou Harris
All I Intended To Be [BUY]
IV: ROYAL WEDDING
Kronos Quartet
The Cusp of Magic [BUY]
WAY DOWN IN THE HOLE
1 comment:
OMG. No sooner have I been alerted to the hideous, geeky, toe-curling phenomenon that is 'unboxing', than I discover that I'm married to a secret unboxer. God, or someone, give me the strength to carry on. I'm not sure I can.
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