New Music Hard to Find These Days
CHECK YOUR VOLUME!
#flyfishing #texasflyfishing music fly fishers like
There’s little rhyme and no reason to how music is sold these days. It’s almost like being a retail photographer (which I once was) these days; you can’t give it away. Well, yes you can give it away, but why would you want to. And it used to be that we had some rich, hard driving new releases to get us through the South Texas summers – cruising Sonic with the new Van Halen release was just a given.
Many of the CD’s I take the time to buy also have an access code for a free digital download of the same CD. Now that is a bit redundant, but it does simplify things for folks who have no idea how to get their CD’s into their phones or other devices. I did this recently so that I could spin the new Drive By Truckers CD before it arrived two days later via Amazon.com free shipping. It was kind of like opening a present before it even arrived – very cool.
Other music that arrived with the DBTs’ CD was a new release by Beck and the new Nickel Creek CD. That’s three new releases in the play list, and I thought I would go ahead and add the new Black Keys and Jack White CD to the rotation, but that’s where things went sideways.
Of all places I (used to) buy CD’s, I admit the big box Best Buy took a lot of my money because their prices were superior and the wait time was also a zero. So, I assumed (and we all know what assuming does) that the local Best Buy would have the new Black Keys CD (remember my #1 rating in year in review for their last release?) a multi-Grammie winning band, stacked to the ceiling … no, not a single copy. I wasn’t about to ask either because the infuriating answer is always, “Did you check our website?” Why would I be there if I wanted to check your stupid website? The CD section in Denton Best Buy is virtually gone, and so am I.
The new CD by the Drive By Truckers, “English Oceans,” is another in a long line of story-telling releases that is less linked than more recent releases. I really like the DBTs and this CD is no exception. Sometimes I try to imagine how things would have gone if my high school favorite Lynyrd Skynyrd had landed safely, and I think it would have gone something like what we now hear from the Drive by Truckers. The relentlessly driving open, “S&!t Shots Count” pretty much sets the tone:
“Prides what you charge a proud man for having
Shame is what you sell to a whore
Meat’s just meat and it’s all born dying, some is tender and some is tough
Somebody’s got to mop up the A-1 somebody’s got to mop up the blood”
Yeah, I think this one will be there at the final countdown.
Stay tuned for more music reviews in coming days and weeks – including the releases I mentioned earlier – Beck / Nickel Creek / Jack White …
Category: Culture on the Skids, Music
