What's next?

[bdroop]

it will be less than 27. i don't think graham would be upset you knowing that.

[Urpal]

Hello All

I have no favourites but a big hello to Urpal.

Happy New Year.

I have no favourites either, so a big hello to glee

...and a helluva hullaballoo of a hullo to you too droopy draws!

Big package of news there. Really looking forward to it all...including the contributions from Mark T and Gazza.

This Domino-bribery free link to the new Archie Bronson LP promo has been added purely for "post enhancement" purposes:

Archie Bronson Outfit - Coconut Album Trailer	DQ

Incidentally, I heard the news today that album sales declined again last year for the nth year in a row. How are things holding up in the cold and bitter world of the music company executive these days?

Should we have a whip round?

[bdroop]

you can have a whip round to fund my champagne and cigar limousine lifestyle if you'd like?

a small stream of conciousness Paul...

market is poor for all media ( film TV, press radio, music ) - so now it's starting to affect Murdoch and Disney types you're suddenly seeing journalists writing about ISP's and the whole landscape more effectively and trying to make sense of it all as the markets for all media collapse. Murdoch and his types walk the corridors of power - not Lucian Grainge at Universal who would like us to believe that he does

( warming up to my theme now )

REALLY big business is now entering the arena to influence the solutions.
at the other end of the scale the struggling artist starts to realise what it takes to create "success" and the apparatus required to enable success reminds them that labels can be useful rather than "not necessary"
So...no investment at the bottom end of culture ( new bands ) gives cultural permission to the big business to create the new ways of market making

The music industry doesn't know how to affect its own cultural and commercial change.
I meet enough bands now who know they can't do what good to great labels like ourselves know  - how - to make it all work. so we're not going away

I can see an end of the tunnel for the first time in 3 or 4 years but it will take another 3 or 4 years to get there

/ it's not a surprise to see the film industry getting into 3D movies as you can't "rip" them - this i give to you as an example of big business creating change and instigating solutions - it doesn't quite filter down to our level in the gene pool

the media view of labels is that we are all robbing bastards - that's a very cliched view of our capabilities... we are just the worst lobbyists in the world pulled apart by three or four multinationals all attempting to protect the status quo. we all need to make money - but they report to shareholders and we are privately owned - without subsidies we survive on our wits, but it means we're in a better position to effect the changes - but we lack deep pockets and therefore it does threaten our existence or survival - BUT that's been the same position we've worked within for the last 30 years - it's just this shake down is a bad one...

but when there's no money to be made from putting records out - hopefully corps will all leave the label function ( as there isn't the return to be made anymore ) and let bands and remaining labels alike look after the emerging new marketplace - that isn't going to happen if the obsession on hitting quarterly targets remains in place. or structure the business differently - or make us diversify - we're all trying out different ideas - 5 years ago Domino Publishing didn't exist - now it does and it's very very good company

specifically - we're very wary of the next two years - UK retail is going to be disastrous for labels this year - disastrous, truly awful. ( for the last years we've not been really "signing" as the marketplace declines ) But we're starting to sign again as the scene becomes more interesting and media starts to re emerge in new places - so I'm quietly optimistic about 2 years time to be honest

i can talk about the erosion of culture - as we're a cultural commercial force but I'll leave that for another time..maybe the bar at the Barbican...

Just need to make it through  the very lean bit as media reinvents itself

release schedule wise - check out These New Puritans new album, new ABO is going to make you very happy I suspect, new Fall is really cohesive and well put together and will surprise and delight I suspect.

the triffids box set will be good I promise. It will be fun and informative and listenable all at the same time.

the short answer is not bad atall thankyou.

not sure where that came from - love to all

J

[Urpal]

I don't know where that came from either but thanks for the news from the sharp end.

Speaking as a punter/ lifelong "music addict", I've found my keen interest waining for the first time in the last year or so (or at least becoming more or less exclusively backward looking rather than much interested in seeking out new young flesh to feed on ). I can't work out whether that's a natural inclination from the onset of middle agedness, a change in priorities through personal life factors or the fact that a combination of "information overload and qualitative easing" has made it more difficult to locate and establish new musical affections. Despite both the former factors being at play in the mix, I'm still sufficiently "mad for it" to think that the last is the main problem for me.

I'm not sure whether that's as helpful to you as your thoughts were interesting to me (as I assume your label's pitch must necessarily sway away from my generation towards the upcoming kids to secure a future).

Anyway, look forward to catching up with you at the Barbican and discovering some great new bands/acts in the year ahead.

[2.5 Lights]

Sorry to hijack the thread... Are Domino still releasing The Fall album Mr. bdroop? Was supposed to be released last October... then January... now April? So was kind of giving up hope on it. Is it finished now?

"Surprise and delight" sounds promising though, can't wait!

And of course very much looking forward to the Triffids box too.

[bdroop]

Alright 2.5. The Fall album is being mastered this week. - It is imminent - April is a good call. Mark E on the next Gorillaz album I hear. The Fall v keen to get it out hence the false alarms, it always helps to actually finish the album recording process before setting a release date - is my personal view.

and Urpal old Pal - I know exactly what yr saying - I think it's all the factors you mention but driven slightly by a dearth of creativity at the moment - i think media is clearing the way or purging itself a little, i think there's a reaction within the music communities to the sterility of the current musical scene (US Music is currently more interesting thean the UK currently - FACT : ) ) that will mean the underground will force more interesting stuff through to surprise and delight - so it will be more interesting - but will it be enough to get you more excited is the unknown...but it will be more interesting soon i think - we're both seasoned media commentators of several years standing - we are patient we are strong... ( new ABO tidbits about to post up btw )

We're up the Barbican on Friday to co ordinate the promo with the folks up there for the show and best of's - I'll be posting news next week i suspect

Taaaa
J

[Urpal]

(US Music is currently more interesting thean the UK currently - FACT : ) )

That's a thought I hadn't thought about before. A US resurgence hasn't happened for a while (the last time I remember in indie terms was from the REM/Byrds impressionist mid eighties through to grunge) and its notable that Mr Ricky didn't have any US names to put up on his lengthy "best of 2009" list. The UK scene certainly seems to have that "absentee/calm before the storm" feel about it that followed punk and new wave before the 80s US bands came along though.

So when does the US invasion commence? Or am I like Canute - stuck out in the ever increasing waves-a-lapping whilst they pass me by and swallow me up?

[Mike_M]

Speaking as a punter/ lifelong "music addict", I've found my keen interest waining for the first time in the last year or so (or at least becoming more or less exclusively backward looking rather than much interested in seeking out new young flesh to feed on ). I can't work out whether that's a natural inclination from the onset of middle agedness, a change in priorities through personal life factors or the fact that a combination of "information overload and qualitative easing" has made it more difficult to locate and establish new musical affections.

I'd imagine that a lot of us have a perspective on that, Urpal. Personally I've been listening to (and know!) more new bands in the last couple of years than, well, ever. That may be in part down to luck, seeing good young Scottish bands live (often supporting De Rosa) but the Scottish scene at the moment does seem very vigorous. There's a strong folky influence on a number of bands, Eagleowl, the multi-member ensemble Second Hand marching Band and even Frightened Rabbit to name but 3.

Straying back towards the subject, sort of, is there anywhere else a discussion on a reissue programme would spawn John's lengthy comment. Fascinating!

[bdroop]

i too am fond of Frightened Rabbit. ( we publish them )  They give rock a good name. i have to go into a meeting about how trendy we are in a minute - but when i return i have a riff about why creativity is better in the US currently - it's broad sweep and can be picked apart of course - but i speak well on these subjects..
J

[Eke]

i have a riff about why creativity is better in the US currently

I look forward to it. I'm open to you convincing me but I'm sceptical I have to say. Even though one of my favourite records last year was The Decemberists' they're really just riffing on Deep Purple and Jethro Tull.

Oh, and another thumbs up for Frightened Rabbit.

[bdroop]

ok before my next meeting - here goes...

it's a bit dry and "commerce"
but work with me on this one

i'm making some of this up as i type mind..

The decline of the recorded music industry means that there's not as much money flying around at the lower end.
The way to get a deal in the UK is to get a manager to hype the band, get the A&R folks excited and then feed that hype into media - that only works if there's a few noughts at the end of the number on the cheque - the UK creative community hasn't learnt how to create excitement in a different way yet.

media doesn't have much interest in the "underground" particularly radio - which is the main means of maintaining the market.

this makes creativity less likely to excite the creator.

2 years ago this was evident with the States as well, but now two years on we're starting to see artistes that "just have to make music" or aren't going to get that kind of deal have their creativity rise to the surface because they're career musicians - their presence creates the inspiration for the new bands to take their lead from.

Animal Collective, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, Grizzly Bear, Vampire Weekend, become the leaders for the Beach House's, Dirty Projectors  Yea Sayer's and the like to create a second wave and then a new wave of artists come through from all countries. Media then has to assimilate and "get on board" which is not what they doing now.

this is all very schematic and dry of course - but at my desk i see it in commercial and sociological terms alongside the creative...

it's bound to wind a few folks up thinking that surely this isn't how culture works?! - but it all links to availability of cash deep down i suspect - or at least movements of ideas in general.

live music is f@cked in the near future might i add ?( or at least in the  venues we've grown used to attending - if I was HMV i wouldn't be buying all those venues right now - the live music industry's health is a myth - it's only good right at the top - terrible at the bottom because labels can not now afford to underwrite tours to help sell beer for venue owners)

our next challenge as a label is to help ourselves and our artistes solve this problem of how to finance and make new artist tours "work" again.... the market re merges from the underground...

these are my personal views for which i apologise profusely.

Best to all
J

[Urpal]

it's bound to wind a few folks up thinking that surely this isn't how culture works?! - but it all links to availability of cash deep down i suspect

So Droopy is actually closer to Karl Marx than Groucho!

I get your drift about the live music scene. I've been to quite a few gigs recently with more people on the stage than in the audience, which makes you wonder how that works commercially - and the beer selling/tour underwriting too. It all must be a struggle except in the case of "big names" and "X Factor exhibitions".

Hooky is opening up fac251 here in Manchester though this month, which is to be a live music venue. That seems to have generated quite a bit of interest - at least from nostalgia feasters, of which I'd count myself as one. Whether that can be transformed into a livelu and successful scene remains to be seen.

The small venues in Manchester seem to be struggling a little though - despite its recent appearance on the Melvyn Bragg/Elbow TV special, for example, the Night & Day doesn't seemm to be getting much gigging action these days.

I'm hopeful the underground will gradually forge a bottom to top resurgence - but that's gonna depend on the die hard enthusiasm of the venue operators, promoters and bands and them finding an audience prepared to be drawn away from these hopeless little screens for a while...

Where there's no money, how much music can run on love?

[jonmck]

Seeing as the box isn't set in stone yet, are we free to speculate what might be on it and what we hope's on it?  Yes of course we are.  I wouldn't mind:

Any remaining In The Pines songs that didn't make the reissue.
The early singles from the recent vinyl box set.
The Dungeon Tapes.  Complete or a big chunk?
Live stuff.
B'Sides and the like that haven't been compiled so far.  Basically rounding up everything that was officially released, but that hasn't appeared on a reissue CD so far.

[genkboy]

I saw on the domino website you can have a guess on what will be on a new Pavement compilation. And you can win prizes !

Why don't we have a guess on the contents of the boxset ?

1. I agree on Dungeon tapes : what a great collection of songs ! I suppose the tracks on both tapes would fit onto one terrific CD.
2. As the early singles have only been made available on vinyl and mp3, I sincerely hope for a comeback on the boxset. Then there are some but not a lot non album tracks that haven't yet been released on the reissues. Maybe they would fit on a second CD.
3. What about a 2 CD compilation of tapes 1 to 6 and Jack Brabham ?
4. A 5th and 6th CD of live material, including radio sessions.
5. a 7th CD full of surprises
6. an 8th CD containing the best of

[Stupy]

Woo, idle speculation... As nerd as this is, I've been thinking about this for a couple of weeks...

It's always a case of ... picking a number of discs and the material will expand to fill...

I'm staring at the Blackeyed Susans 'Reveal Yourself' box here and wondering if we might be missing a DVD.

Limiting at 8 discs, I think similar to genkboy's lines, perhaps:
Disc 1. CD. Dungeon + Son of Dungeon Tape
Disc 2. CD. Early singles and EP's (similar content to vinyl/mp3 box)
Disc 3. CD. Jack Brabham tape; maybe part Brabham with missing b-sides
Disc 4. CD. Early tapes 1-6 compilation.
Disc 5. CD. Live material.
Disc 6. CD. Live material.
Disc 7. CD. The Wide Open Road 'best of', as being separately released.
Disc 8. DVD. Video clips, live footage and any other video sitting around.

Expanding to 10 discs, perhaps:
Disc 9: CD. Early tapes 1-6 compilation (second CD of material).
Disc 10: CD. The unreleased b-sides and bits and pieces that do not fit anywhere else... like Rent?

Cheers

Stuart