Things I'd Like To See in 2024
Back to regular programming today - next week I’ll do a best of the year roundup, but this week I thought I’d share a couple of things I’d like to see in music in 2024
Cheaper Records
Of course we all want to see this. The Armand Hammer album I rated so highly? Fifty Quid. The Blur reissue I kicked off this newsletter talking about? Sixty Pounds. Taylor Swifts latest LP’s? Forty, minimum. Even 12”s now can set you back £15-20, which is a lot for two tracks.
There’s a load of reasons I’ve been into why records are getting expensive, and there’s a load more economic factors I probably don’t understand out there too, but there shouldn’t be any reason LPs cost that much - I know everyone needs to take their cut, but there’s some big markups happening at the moment. Pressing plants don’t help, I’ve heard of 300-runs of 12”s coming in at a fiver per unit, BEFORE distribution fees, marketing costs and any shop markup gets added on top. It’s not healthy.
Label Pages on DSPs
I’ve been asking for this for years, but there’s just no appetite from DSPs to do that. Currently label catalogues have to be compiled via playlists on a general user profile the same as a regular customer would have. Growing up in the age of physical music, discovering new tunes on the same label as an old favourite was usually a reliable method of finding good stuff (although every label had it’s stinkers, of course) but I’m not sure how much the name of a label means to younger music fans. Maybe it’s just cause I (and probably you too) are/were music nerds, poring over label copy and sleeve notes for clues as to who wrote, produced and released certain tunes. Whilst younger people now can discover music easier than ever it’s probably tougher than ever for fans to discover the personnel involved in the recording. Some DSP’s (Spotify) are introducing Songwriter profiles, so people can click through to see writer catalogues from the credits section, but it’s not particularly easy to find, and not all songwriters have full profiles yet, and this section is only as good as the metadata provided to DSP’s in the first place, which is often incomplete or incorrect, especially on older releases or those from smaller labels and distros.
Longer Songs
Songs are getting shorter all the time. I’ve seen ‘extended mixes’ of tunes nowadays clocking in at three-and-a-half minutes. That’s edit length! A lot of edits now are less than two minutes. Let’s go back to the day of the nine minute remix, the extended 12” disco version. Let a song evolve and grow over time. Let it break down and build back up again. Let’s have time to breathe, and time to dance!
Dubs of Doom
This weeks tunes then. I’m gonna recap my favourites of the year next week but here’s a few things I’ve picked up this week starting with a new reissue of an old Dorothy Carter album. I reckon you can call this psych-folk or something like that, but there’s a whole lot going on that reveals more on each listen. A hearty “TIP!” from me on that one. The latest Richie Culver album is a winner too, the track with billy woods is the obvious standout, but the rest of it is well worth checking.
There’s also a new Underworld tune this week. You know me, if there’s a new Underworld record, I’m listening to it on repeat. They might be a bit ‘yer da’ these days, but their back catalogue is undeniable. This one is a collab with KETTAMA and clocks in at a meaty eight minutes. They were always great for those long and winding tracks I was on about earlier weren’t they?
The rest of the playlist I’ve filled up with great long versions and remixes, seeing as I wrote about them up there. There’s a tonne more I could have included but these are some particular favourites. Pet Shop Boys, Deep Dish, DJ Koze, Soft Cell, Weatherall, Shep Pettibone, Arthur Baker… the usual suspects and masters of the long remix.
That’s it for this week, I’ll be back next week with a round up of the year. As always thanks for reading and feedback/comments/critique is always welcome.