In Strict Tempo, vol. 105: Vinyl Lessons
The discourse about streaming has been going on almost as long as streaming itself, and although the main DSPs continue to add users at a steady rate, streaming already seems like it’s past it’s golden era, if it ever truly had one. The download hangs in there, kept alive by a hard core of people who wish to maintain an archive of music, but it’s heyday is long gone.
But one format persists, and by most metrics, continues to grow. If there’s one thing that can teach us any lessons, it’s the format that’s always been there - the humble vinyl LP. People buy LPs for all sorts of reasons - the audio fidelity, which many claim is superior to digital (a whole other discussion, and one I’m not going anywhere near!), the collectibility, the financial support for the artist, the artwork, the convenience of having to put them all into a cardboard box and carry them to the car every time you move house, but no-one advocates for digital releases in the same way.
So why does physical endure even as the digital narrative continue to evolve? Already the LP has outlasted the cassette tape, CD, minidisc, digital download and is currently undergoing a long-running resurgence even in an age of unlimited access to music via streaming. One of the things I’ve often thought about physical music is that it’s already curated before you even get to it - the artist has already had to decide to press it to vinyl, a label has already had to back it, a distributor has already had to support and sell it, and a shop buyer has already had to allocate money to buy copies in. That’s four or five people who’ve already co-signed the record as being something that’s worth listening to.
Counter that with digital music, and whilst those roles of label and distributor still exist and are still important, it’s all too easy for an artist to bypass them, and put out a record without anyone else hearing it. The odds against said record getting any kind of traction are huge, but the dream of release still exists for many, even if there’s no real demand for it.
Then there’s the scarcity of it - in this age of constant access people are always searching out what others don’t have. We’ve seen this across society, in ever-rising prices for artworks, vintage trainers, classic cars and all sorts. Anything finite is coveted, and vinyl records are amongst them. Whatever the rights or wrongs of ‘vinyl culture’ people want to have something unique and the increase in special editions, coloured vinyl variants etc plays into that. On top of that, these editions can offer something a digital stream cannot, in that there’s a pile of context around the record, in artwork and sleeve notes etc.
Of course, you can apply most of these things to the CD and cassette too, and they’re both again growing in popularity after years of decline, but it’s the vinyl record that really captures the imagination.
So how does digital music take these lessons and apply them? They already tried the ‘digital scarcity’ thing with NFT’s which was a colossal waste of everyones time, money and energy, so how do we try and get that ‘must have’ ownership desire into digital products? Maybe we delete music from DSP’s after a given time, or only put it up for certain release windows, a bit like how the Video & DVD market used to operate? Some labels have experimented with making digital releases available for a certain period then pricing the download (on Bandcamp at least, where this is easily possible) at hundreds (or thousands) of pounds. That obviously relies on the music not being available on any other digital platform though.
Maybe the answer is that we don’t, that we don’t need to project some kind of rarity on a digital release when a physical product can exist alongside it. Maybe it is that there is simply just too much music being released at the moment and we need to gatekeep access in some way that still allows for DIY and up-coming artists to reach an audience whilst also blocking out all the AI-generated shite, but also providing a home for catalogue. It’s quite a challenge, and I’m not sure any one answer is correct.
I’m not advocating for one minute a return to a purely physical marketplace - for one it’d be impossible, but it would also discount a whole slew of great music that only exists in the digital realm. Perhaps we need those four or five people - call them curators if you wish - to co-sign a record before it makes an impact. What I’m suggesting is that maybe we apply some of the aspects of physical music to our digital strategies - and whilst it would take a brave artist to do so, sometimes fortune favours the bold.
I’m always interested in digging into various release strategies, especially at the DIY end when it’s not always possible to spend a lot of money engaging pluggers and agencies, and I’m always happy to chat to anyone wanting to push their own music - if that’s you then reach out!
New Music
Bim Sherman - Ghetto Dub [Week-End Records]
Killer ’88 dub reissue with Sherwood, Jammy & Tubby at the controls. Part of a wider reissue programme, this one takes it deep into outer space into new worlds of echo.
Nashpaints - Everyone Good is Called Molly [Mirrorworld]
Early AOTY contender from Nashpaints covering pretty much every base from Spiritualized to MBV to 60’s jangle-pop and everything in between, unmistakably 2026 but honestly, could have been any time from 1950 until now. It’ll make sense when u hear it…
Quelza - Above The Clouds I Finally Found Peace [Ostgut]
I’ve got friend of the newsletter Jack Murphy to thank for the heads up on this one - there was a time when I’d be all over anything and everything Ostgut, but I’ve slacked a little on that front. Anyway. Heavy pressure is the name of the game here, initially I was minded to think of Burial, but the pace soon ups into something I’d be head nodding along to in the corner of Cable circa 2011.
Squarepusher - K2 Central [Warp]
New ‘pusher, and from what I’ve heard he’s back in his solo electric bass era… looking forward to hearing a bit more of this
James Blake - Trying Times [Self-Released]
First outing for JB in a few years and it sounds like he’s going back to the tried and tested methods that made him blow up back in the early 10’s. On first listen, it’s not blowing me away, not like those first singles did.
re:ni & Biggabush - Bass Is The Space [Ilian Tape]
Multi-generational dub-tinged spaced-out techno here from re:ni & her father, Rockers Hi-Fi man Biggabush. re:ni’s one of the best out there and this is a release well deserving of your ears
Ben Vince - Street Druid [AD93]
There’s a case to be made that AD93 is possibly the best label operating at the moment, at least from a consistency & originality point of view. Never quite sure what they’ll put out next, this month sees saxophonist Ben Vince (former collaborator with Rat Heart, Joy Orbison & Cucina Povera amongst others) release this stunning, evolving album of organic sounds, the instrument expertly treated and combined with other samples, field recordings and loops to create something that rewards repeated listens.
Fred Again / Underworld / The Streets - Born Slippy/Weak Become Heroes [Live]
If I had a pound for everyone who’d sent me this over the past week I’d have enough to treat myself to a couple of pints, at least. Not really sure what’s going on here or what’s willed this mashup into being, but Mike Skinner goes it alone over Born Slippy before Karl Hyde takes over. Shouldn’t work, kind of does, now let’s move on and just go back to enjoying the originals can we?
Mark Vernon - Sounds of the Modern Hospital [Death Is Not The End]
I pity the poor guy at Boomkat who’s got to come up with 500 words about this - it’s essentially a collection of field recordings recorded in a Scottish hospital a decade or so ago. Some hums, some drones, a lot of bleeps, the real highlight is “MRI Scanner”, which I can imagine would be fun to play at peak time in a rave.
