[reposted by Travis]

How do, all?

Once again, I'm just here to shamelessly plug my band's website, www.thepunchline.net. It's seemingly gained momentum and I'd love for some of you forward thinkers to take a peek and have a listen; I think many of you will enjoy it.

Apart from that, while I constantly hunt for a "proper" career job (in opposition to my current security guard/doing this to tide me over position), not much else occupies my time. I've no desire to talk about what's happening in the world as we all bloody well know, so no sense in having a great depression sweep the good folks here.

Party on!

[reposted by Travis]

Yay! WB Trav :-)

I flagged up the problems on the Screamings Secrets site and the HH forum - and via the mailing list. I was hoping someone would step forward with an archived copy. Fingers crossed, they still might.

BTW What's the good news on the Interpreters CD?

[reposted by Travis]

quite frankly my dear jon... i've no idea wot i was trying to say... this whole "war" thing on h2h has gotten me awl torn up inside... the same day as the big break up, i received a virus from an email from someone whom i thot i could trust... well no harm, no foul, as they say, as it was an old computer and i's needing a new one andyways... however since then i've received at least 8 more emails, all from addresses that as near as i can tell came from this (rail on! board) that also contain (a)virus... just 5 today alone... now this hurts my feelings greatly... i've idea wot i've done to deserve such behaviour... when i was at the Rome shows i thot i was friendly with everyone, or least tried to be... i even gave shrimp a big ole hug... i mean i was grinning ear to ear the whole time.... i love julian and his music, and i'd like to think that there is a certain amount of comoraderie that exsists with his fans... i'd like to think that no matter his style julian has weaved specific themes/messages into his music and writings and that somehow binds us all together in a common concentric circle of love and light... u-know? "there are more of us a coming, there's more like us, autogedden we're burning..." if i any way offened you, i'm truly sorry, it was certainly not my intention, in fact i try very very hard to not offend, as there are so few foward-thinking mofo's out there, it's rare to find the "authentic deal" not just a blair-ite or a bush apparatchik mouthing the stolen phrases of "way-forward" and "sustainability"... now sure there are trolls on these boards and it's hard for me not to respond to them sometimes, but i hope that no one considers me in the catagory of troll... if so, i shall certainly beat a hasty retreat to the nearest exit... in my defence though, i'm simply only trying to accomplish wot julian told me to do in shepherds bush... "free ur mind ron"...

and trav i'm sorry that i kinda abandoned this board, but it's hard to keep up with awl the different happenings accross this great thing we call the net, but as we say in the biker world... love and respect to those that deserve, and you trav, certainly deserve the love and respect for starting and maintaining this first julian cope message board... as far as i know i'm the only "ron"... i've gone thru a few email addys from the beginning... i think i was at gnn.com at the first or second archive... andyways... i'd be more than happy to fill a profile out for ya, but there's so damn many degenerates/lowlifes (see virus stuff above) that i generally shun that kind of stuff... but for you...

hopefully i've not upset anyone with this post, but if i have, maybe we can just agree to disagree...

everlasting concentric circles of love hope light & respect to awl and ur's forever and eternity...

x

Hi guys! Today I uploaded the new version of my Cope pages! The main effort was in converting everything to CSS. Most of the time went into fixing up the Rail On and Culture Bunker archives. Every page was updated in some way. This should make a fun read for y'all, and will hopefully make up for the disappointing Rail On behavior of the past couple weeks. :)

I've also reposted some of the Rail On posts (out of order -- oops!). If there are any subscribers out there who have copies of other posts since 2004-03-07 (the date of the last archive), please either email them to me or repost them on here.

Trav

No probs Trav. Ron's summed it up really - you're doing a great job maintaining this site and this board :-)

Ron: Don't really worry too much about viruses coming from people you know. There's a lot of that stuff that just ploughs through email address books and sends itself out and appears to be from people you know. I can't believe any Copey fans would actually send out malicious emails on purpose.

yo paul,

yeah i woulda thot same, and holy chris thot same too... but i also recall someone telling me about nasty horrible emails being sent to our lovely joanne at h2h... that still hasn't been fully digested yet... must be awl that brain donor muzak don't u-know...

x

Y'all probably know this by now, but Cope will be touring Britain in September and October this year and the dates have just been announced at Head Heritage. So far they are:

• Colchester, Arts Centre (September 11th)
• Brighton, Komedia (September 16th)
• Reading, South St Arts Centre (September 18th)
• Oxford, Zodiac (September 25th)
• Stoke, Sugarmill (September 26th)
• Northampton, Roadmender (October 2nd)
• Tunbridge Wells, Trinity (October 3rd)

Plus, it looks like he will be touring again in November to promote The Megalithic European and there is also the promise of a new album in January!

been kinda following that... but.... was it just me... or did he (cope) nonchalantly throw that in at the drudion end like "oh yeah"... i'm doing some gigs... yada yada yoda... don't really know how to say this but... it didn't sound as if he was too serious about it, and it kinda bothered me cuz he sez doggenz gonna be there to blow the roof offa da sucka... OR... ORE... OAR... could he could be just doing a 'warm up' dealio to get his feet wet for a proper tour on the new stuff andrew mentioned... hmmmm...

love & rock...

I see what you mean Ron, but I guess he has lots on his mind right now, like books and holidays with the kids. The gigs are a deffinate go ahead as tickets are on sale, but what is dubious is the talk of a new album in the new year! This "new album" was promised for this year, and last year and the year before that... Ultimately what really pisses me off is that I have recently booked my summer vacation and this year its a 3 week trip back to Ol' Blighty to see the family and drink lots of lovely beer, but I am booked to return on September 3rd, a week or so before the tour starts and as it is a charter I can't change it without losing bags of money. Bah! Oh well, hopefully our friendly neighbourhood bootlegger will be lurking in the shadows.

did u find a copy of the MA u were looking for? coulda swore I had one but searched awl over an nuthin... hmmm, was it blue background with red lettering by any chance... or was it somthing i dreamed up? swear i had that one... it was offered on hh? damn... thot i had it... i'll keep checking... dead sorry about the timing thou... i was actually in london the first nite he performed at edinburgh a couple of years ago... kinda sucks to be that close...

regards

Hey Ron, Still haven't tracked down a copy of the MA cd yet. I do have scans of the cover and yes, its cover is blue with red lettering like the cover of the book itself. Its the only thing I don't have, although a couple of people have very kindly offered to run me off a copy, which is great, but obviously I would like to get a real thing at some stage. I've been looking for one for over a year now on and off, but they seem pretty rare - so if anyone out there has a spare copy then contact me and if the price is reasonable then I would love to buy it from you!

Thanks Ron, hope all is well down in the deep south. Are you going over to England in the fall? I'll be returning here just before the tour starts, but I'm nott disappointed. I still get a buzz from the fact that I met up with the man on his 2001 tour and caught a couple of those shows then! Ahh, good times...

Dear All:

It is with a great deal of pride that we make the following announcement about THE PUNCH LINE:

After 14 years and much-ballyhooed legend and anticipation:

SATURDAY, JULY 24th, 2004 @ THE HOOK, Brooklyn:

The Punch Line will go on at midnight as the headliner with three groups opening for us...Headquarters, Versus the Sun, and Unisex Salon.

Admission is $10 with advance tickets to be available at TicketWeb. "DJ Miggy" will be spinning Mod-type music in between the bands' sets.

There is an outdoor patio area that is accessible from the club so that those who are smokers have a place to go without leaving the confines of the venue.

There is ample parking near the club and it is a ten minute walk from the subway ("F" train).

Definitely hope to see some of you there.

have you seen that new taliban move they had a soldir about 28 with a gun to his head a then they chop his head. theres some sick stuff out there .

keep it real but sometimes even that goes wrong

hi Iam new to this site and after advice from you knowledgable people. I have a copy of copeulation the video and hope to sell it on ebay. Iam trying to assess a realistic price for it and wondered if it was more rare to find these days therefore of more value. I trust your oppinions as being cope fanatics Iam sure you probably have a copy already so have nothing to gain from misleading me, forgive my impertanance. Ive enjoyed watching the video several times and now feel the need to pass it on to another good home. Any suggestions appretiated. Thanks

hello all my name is lonny and i just got one year in sobrity and looking for chat room in calgary or close so if anyone no,s please help me out thank you

alcohlic

well... put... i gave up the search... sorry dude but guess i convinced myself i had it, but probably just having "rite now" on me desk top for so long, i was sure that was it... but, on the upside i did find "the collection" in ms rons car boot...

Some Screaming Secrets news:

There's an update on the site regarding the forthcoming Zoology album: The planned track listing has 16 songs, although not all will be live versions. Perhaps the most exciting news is that Log Cabin (one of the 'lost' Teardrops songs) is due to be included :-)

Other tracks include an early versions of Camera Camera and The Culture Bunker, The Tunnel and also an early version of Books with Ian McCulloch on vocals. The album will also feature the version of When I Dream that originally appeared on the To The Shores Of Lake Placid album.

Some of the live versions have also previously seen light on the bootleg album Petulance.

More via www.screamingsecrets.com

So Trav - any updates on the latest Interpreters CD?

Dear All:

Just in case some of you good folks haven't been to our website lately, our e.p., "...to get to the other side" will now be released later this year as a full-length album. It will be available through the band's website and through a wonderful new distribution company called The Orchard (founded by the legendary Richard Gottherer, late of The Strangeloves and known producer, etc.).

The show is next week and if any of you are in New York, please try to make it--I think you'd enjoy yourselves. If you do, please come and say hello at the meet and greet afterwards. And I can say quite firmly, "NO, WE'RE NOT A MOD BAND"--ecch!

On a personal note to Ron--many many thanks for your kind words and warm wishes. It's those kind of messages that make me want to do this show and then some.

Blessings to all.

Hi all.

Big Cope/Teardrops fan here. A friend recently gave me an mp3 of an hour long teardrops set at the Guilford Civic Hall from '81. Does anyone have a tracklisting/info on the performance?

Thanks,

~Matt.

Matt: Sounds like you want to visit here: http://www.trampolene.ca/albums/bbc.htm

Thanks for the plug to Trampolene Paul! There are though, two variations on this lp (I believe) as the version I have is a US transcription disk of the gig and the playlist and introduction is different to the UK BBC version. There are more copies of the US version floating around than there are the UK version. I can't remember what I paid for it now, but it was quite a bit!

Hey Guys, Thanks for the info-

After a few listens I was able to figure out what was on the mp3...

My tracklisting is a little different then the one on trampolene-

it goes:

1. Books
2. Thief Of Baghdad
3. Sleeping Gas
4. Passionate Friend
5. Leila Khaled Said
6. Suffocate
7. Poppies in the Field
8. The Culture Bunker
9. Reward
10. Went Crazy
11. Screaming Secrets
12. When I Dream
13. The Great Dominions
14. Treason

So, it's either a different, very similar concert, or this is an unedited version of what's on the site.

Whatever the case, it's a great show-

~Matt.

I believe the mp3 you have is of the same Guildford Civic Hall gig, but it looks like you have the UK version (the US version I have on vinyl drops Books at the beginning. I do have a tape of the show from when it was broadcast on Radio 1 in 81 and the tracklist matches what you have below.

Please settle an argument - is the song 'China Doll' about someone murdering their girlfriend? Opinions please.

Pop over to the Screaming Secrets website and you can have a go at winning a copy of LIVERPOOL UNEARTHED VOL 3. Thanks to the kind folks at the Viper record label, you can win a CD in our new competition. :-)

There's also a poll in which you can debate Copey's involvement with the ROGER album. You can also vote in our new survey for your favourite FRIED track.

http://www.screamingsecrets.com

BTW mandy, I was always under the impression that China Doll was a love song for Dorian. I'm not sure where you got the idea of someone "murdering their girlfriend" came from (although I once knew someone who would try and strangle his girlfriend. A real charming character as you can imagine....)

Wow, what a flurry of Cope activity there is going on right now! A "new" Teardrops cd, a first ever Quest-List email from HH and news of a forthcoming Live in Japan Peggy era cd, as well as Citizen Caind in December, a tour and a book! Holy crap, I have to sit down...

Mandy, I am in agreement with Paul, China Doll is as far as I know a love song about JC's wife Dorian. I've never interpreted the song as a murder story.

How do?

It has been an interesting time, not only for Copey, but a lot of other folks we (well, some of us) may like. A lot of people have resurfaced and are gigging, touring, recording, etc. Seems a lot healthier, musically, for folks of our age bracket, than it has for a while; revisiting history, notwithstanding, I don't even mind The Punch Line's reunion/reformation-of-sorts. Better an old Pixies, etc. than young and totally suck ass (fill in the blank)...

Sorry, just ruminating on bands I like and are happy to see back together versus bands/people I despise and wish would just spontaneously combust so that they don't infect our world with their insipid platitudes and their less-than/aspires-to-be-mediocre music.

Bedbugs and ballyhoo on 'em all.

What was I saying?

Oh, yeah, well, should the Teardrops ever reform, we know that the small bears from the WIndy City will win the World Series and the end of the world is nigh.

Never mind. I didn't get much sleep last night.

Rob

Like Lars Ulrich says in his addled/metallic k.o. utopian way--"Bring it on; I welcome it--show me what you got".

Teardrops reform?!?

In all my Cope-fan years I don't remember ever contemplating that! (I suppose any counterproof is in the Rail On/Culture Bunker archives).

Citizen Cain'ed

• ETA is December... It's been what, over 8 years now since the last "real" album?
• Was Citizen recorded in bits over several years, or in one session?
• If in a single session, then why isn't it out yet? Songs no good?
• If over several years, will it be another "schitzo" collection like 20 Mothers?

If Cope has good songs recorded but waiting publication, why sit on them for years and years? He's not averse to making money, is he? Why sit on good songs?

Has Cope written/recorded any really nice poppy songs since Interpreter? I know he's done some groovy/heavy jams, and some of those are really cool, but what about the sing-a-long stuff he does best? Face it, we all instantly know (and most of us love) the tune "I Come From Another Planet Baby", but how many of us can hum *any* song Cope has recorded since 1996?

Let's see, i'm trying to remember post-1996 tunes w/o peeking at the cds...

• "She's (something) coming.... yeah!"
• "something something excentrifugal force..."
• "something poet..."
• ummm...
• that song that billy really liked... something off of Brain Donor 2? born to breed? is that it?
• "ommmmmmmmmmmmmmm" -- that's odin, right? I can write it but I can't hum it!
• ummm....

Well, I can name some albums post-1996, but I can't really name any songs that I really remember. I remember liking some of the long jams, and I remember not liking some of the whinier political/poetic/environmental rants... I remember a song that referred to 9/11, but whose lyrics were unintelligible. I remember that I liked the tranciness of Rite Now... that one or two of the live Brain Donor songs are cooler than the studio versions... But I don't remember the actual songs.

And this is really my point... Poppy songs = memorability. If we can sing it, we can remember it. We need to be able to mimic, to participate, in order to really "own" a song, to have it inside of us, where we can recall it even if the cd (or mp3) isn't playing.

Cope has written/recorded some very memorable songs... Songs that will live in our brains until the day we die. Most of those songs are (for me at least) the "poppy" and "catchy" songs, rather than the "cool" and "jammy" songs.

I think I like "starcar" but I *know* I like "ain't but the one way", because I can remember it. I think I like "Rite 2" but I *know* I like "greedhead detector". (I also know I don't like "road of dreams").

I wish Cope would get back to writing songs that we can remember.

Of course, I bet 99% of his fans feel likewise. I bet his wife feels likewise, his friends feel likewise, and maybe even he feels likewise. Or maybe not.

I can speak from experience, though, and maybe Rob and Billy and all the other musicians on here have similar stories to tell...

Back in the early 90s, I was creating pop songs. Lyrics, verse/chorus/bridge structure, relatively short. My equipment of the time (a keyboard workstation) forced me to compose songs on a piano and then sequence and record one song at a time. I couldn't edit very easily, and didn't have much room for improvising, so the songs had to be focused, and had to "work" on a piano, which means they had to be melodic and memorable and not rely on studio-sculpted rhythms or effects.

These days the gear is different. I use a computer for recording and editing. I have lots of disk space, lots of effects, lots of "studio tools" that I can use to create long, rhythm-oriented improvisations. I don't have a piano here, so I don't have a real "compositional tool". As a result, my post-2000 songs are long instrumental jams... Very listenable, but not nearly as memorable as the poppy stuff from the 90s.

Each time I start I new album I tell myself I want to have at least a couple of "good old pop songs" on the album... But I keep churning out long jams and experimental "test" songs...

...much like Cope has been doing for the past decade or so...

So the question is:

What does it take to get a musician "back on track", to yank him out of his indulgent, half-assed, low-effort jams and back into the pop songs which actually require a lot more WORK?

I already know the answer for myself: compose [a song] before [putting it on the] computer. I need:

1. an instrument with which to compose, and
2. enough time (in solitude) to work out a song on the compositional instrument, and then capture those ideas in the computer, without fear of interruption.

The fear of interruption prevents me from composing "offline" (away from computer or tape), because I hate the feeling of having a good idea that I'm trying to finish, and then getting interrupted and not getting to record that idea... And then forgetting the idea, or forgetting the bits that made it really cool... In order to compose comfortably and confidently, I need solitude. I need a block of time (preferably every day) where I am "guaranteed" to be able to compose without interruption.

Those of you with girlfriends/boyfriends and/or kids know how hard it is to get that precious creative solitude.

My guess is that Cope's "problem" is not a lack of compositional tools, but rather a lack of solitude. It's safer for him to "wing it" and to jam with his friends and capture whatever comes out during those hastily arranged/performed sessions than for him to sit down and try to write a pop song with his family right there in the same house.

Cope seems to love [spending time with] his wife and kids, and we should be happy for him. On the other hand, *somehow* he is finding a way to yank some time away from them in order to work on his books.

I wonder if it's easier to write a book w/ interruptions than it is to write a song w/ interruptions. Probably. When you write a book, you are "saving" (documenting, preserving) your thoughts at all time. If you're interrupted in the middle of--

--a sentence, then it's relatively easy to pick up where you left off.

When you are writing a song, however, unless you have a dictaphone recording your noodlings the entire time, there is no ongoing documentation, no "auto-save". Until you actually record (or transcribe) your musical ideas, they exist only in your memory and aren't preserved in any reliable way. Even if you do use a dictaphone and listen to where you left off, you still need to spend time re-learning the notes, getting back the "magic" of the idea... Music is much more dependent upon mood and feel than writing, and once you lose the mood/feel (due to interruption), it's difficult, and often impossible, to get it back.

So, my theory is that Cope's active family life is what's making it easier for him to write books than songs. Until his kids are grown up (or at least off at school), it'll probably be difficult for him to find the time to write nice pop songs for us.

If this is the case, should we condemn Cope for being a Family Man? Should we perhaps feel a little bit ashamed every time we catch ourselves complaining about there not being a real album since 1996?

Trav

p.s. When do kids go to school in Britain and how old are Cope's kids?

Mmmmm food for thought there..

I would disagree with the idea that Copey hasn't done a "real" album in a long time. Perhaps a better phrasing would be "more commercial" (Yikes!). I think his output is extraordinary and covers a wide range of tastes - not all that hit a chord with the diehard fanbase.

I thought 20 Mothers and Interpreter were incredibly good albums and I think since Peggy Suicide, Julian's commercial albums have got better and better. But at the same time I applaud the more experimental stuff like Queen Elizabeth and especially Odin which I think has a phenomenal sound to it.

Considering Copey's a father and must be under the pressure that only a family can bring (not a bad thing though I'm sure!) his output in terms of books, albums, live shows etc is quite staggering. I only wish I could be that productive :-)

Trav:

I'm sure I'm courting controversy here, but you've finally brought up the one topic that has (to a grand degree) been the reason why I've been silent in this Cope room. Julian's recent releases leave me absolutely blank. This is not a personal slam at him as a person or the folks who like this stuff. I just decided I don't want to hear it anymore. 45 minutes of stupid wah-wah trance guitars do nothing for me.

Yes, I like hooks and LYRICS and arrangements and an all-embracing SONG, not some neolithic chant or a rambling non-sequitur that sounds like some old Krautrock. I (like many good people) are PAYING for the records the people we admire release--those who choose to release less-than-acceptible product should re-think their strategy or be ashamed for foisting this shit upon us when in this day and age, we can ill afford it. MAKE MUSIC. ENTERTAIN ME. PROVOKE ME MELODICALLY. Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining. DO WHAT YOU DO BEST.

Pretty simple.

isnt rome wasnt buried in a day a real album

i only buy real albums and if this isnt real i want money back

do real albums have better sleeves etc

like it though

Rome is *almost* a "real" album in my eyes, but not quite... Maybe I'm being nitpicky but:

1. There doesn't seem to be a US release; is it mail-order only?
2. I don't think it has any singles. None of the songs scream "single" like a few did on Interpreter.
3. It isn't actually attributed to Julian Cope per se; the CD's title is "Julian Cope's Rome Wasn't Burned in a Day". It does say "all songs by Julian Cope", though...
4. The cover spends a lot of energy promoting the gig and bands other than Cope.

I don't know, maybe Rome is a "real" album to some, but I regard it a hasty promo. I'm thankful that it exists, though, because I really like "Eccentrifugal Force".

Anyone know where I can fing guitar tabs for Cope songs? Specifically 'Hairy Music'! (LOVE that one!) but all others interest me also. Mail me at ronnie@keirle.freeserve.co.uk

Just got word that Julian has added one more show to his current tour. Here's the details:

Thurs 30 Sept 04 8pm £15 (£12.50 concs)
West End Centre Queens Road Aldershot Hampshire GU11 3JD
Box Office 01252 330040
www.westendcentre.co.uk
Julian will be appearing with Dogntank

Hi everyone:

Has anyone placed an order with Head Heritage recently and NOT received their order (or a reply to an inquiring follow up)? I ordered my copy of "Zoology" on August 7th and still have received nothing. No word on whether my order was actually processed (they had problems with internet/phone service), etc. Strange.

A few tidbits for the music aficionados amongst us:

1. WIRE's new DVD (& accompanying CD), "On The Box"--available from Wire Mail Order. Valentine's Day, 1979, live on Germany's "Rockpalast", playing material from "Chairs Missing" and the not-yet-released "154".
2. The 3 CD set of The Kinks' "The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society".
3. Department S' "Sub-Stance". I forgot how much I liked this band.
4. If you haven't seen it/bought it, The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" DVD. Just re-watched it for the millionth time.

If I think of more, I'll post it!

Rob, In the past few months I have ordered quite a bit from HH without any trouble (Zoology, Roger, TC Lethbridge). All items have come through quite quickly, in about a week. Sorry to hear that you are having problems. Do you order using their online order form charged to your credit card? Has your card been charged already? That's how I place my orders and so far its always worked. I'd drop another line to JoAnne and Wendy (info@headheritage.co.uk). I know there was some talk of things slowing down a bit during the summer because of vacations, so hopefully that is all it is. Good luck - Andrew

Hey Andrew:

Actually, I've written two or three e-mails to the info@ address; gave them the order number and I haven't heard anything at all. Since I've ordered so many items from the U.K. lately, I'm not certain what would be charged to my card as of yet--and I haven't received the mailed statement. It just seems odd that I received the confirmation for my order immediately and then nothing else. It could be they're out of stock of the CD, but at least let me know with a follow-up or return e-mail.

Like I said, it seems unlike HH.

Hope all is well with you--

Cheers

I have a teardrop explodes poster(20"x26") and a julian cope st julian poster(19x26"). many times unsucessful selling them on ebay. i will throw them out if no one wants them. contact me pictures

What What !

I've been told by Mister Astley Le Jasper that ROGER would perhaps be up for contributing to an "Interpreters" CD if you pass on the details, Mr Trav. In the meantime, U all are welcome to visit the Kingdom Of Roger website, check out the news and generally interfere over there. FONK ON BROTHAS AND SISTAS !

Lots of activity in the run up to the launch of the Megalithic European. Head Heritage has some pages up about it and Thorsons (the publisher) has just upload some info too:

http://www.thorsonselement.com/megalithic

The will be launching a competition very soon with 10 copies of the book up for grabs and there is also a Megalithic European screensaver to download!

I received a copy of the book a couple of days ago and haven't put it down yet. Excellent stuff!

There is another BBC Radio interview with Julian this weekend. Here are the details from the BBC web site, plus you can listen live over the web:

Sunday 17 October

Join Stuart Maconie for three hours of the weird and the wonderful from 1700-2000.

On this week's Freak Zone we'll be joined in the studio by JulianCope. The former front man of The Teadrop Explodes will be talking to Stuart about his 5th book The Megalithic European.

Freakzone Specialist Eddi Fiegel will be joining us in the studio to talk about the life and works of 60s French alternative popster Jacques Dutronc.

Our Album of the Week is Scott Walker's Kilt, there's more Live Freaks and Session Tracksfrom the BBC archive, plus the usual mix of all the strange and beautiful tunes we can lay our hands on

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/presenters/freakzone/

Just got an email from B'ham Waterstones reminding me of the upcoming B'ham Book Signing (even though I am in Canada), thought I'd post it here as it does have a few details about the event and the fact that the knock the price of the ticket off the cost of the book:

Hello there, I thought I'd let you know about the book signing we're doing at Waterstone's New Street Birmingham.

It's on Tuesday 2nd November (as you know) at 6.30pm. Tickets are available now (selling fast!) at 3 pounds each and are redeemable on the night against purchase of the new book. Our phone number at the store is 0121 631 4333 and tickets are held at our Ground Floor tillpoint.

. i seem to recall that the vinyl version of Peggy Suicide has a short little track that was left off the CD becasueat the time cds couldn't hold enough. is this true or am i on drugs?

If I remember correctly, the tape version of PEGGY SUICIDE had "Uptight", which wasn't on the CD. It wasn't too short, though.

so i forget the all important question :) is it on more recent versions of the cd?

Uptight is indeed missing from the CD release of Peggy Suicide, but did appear on the vinyl and cassette releases.

To the best of my knowledge, Uptight does not appear on any of the domestic (ie UK) CD reissues of Peggy Suicide.

The forthcoming Screaming Secrets Discography upgrade will feature details on pretty much all the formats of the various Cope releases, including Peggy Suicide. So if you want to know the difference between the original Island release and the Island Masters reissue, then that's the place to be! ;)

There's also an extra fade back at the end of Safesurfer on the vinyl version of Peggy Suicide that isn't on the cd. A rejigged version of Uptight, called Tighten Up appears on Floored Genius 3.

I just go the new Live in Japan cd. What does everone think? Right now, I'm not sure about it. Did also get a killer bootleg dvd of his Tumbridge Wells gig October 3rd which includes the Dogntank set. Now that disc is fuckin' ace!

Just a reminder while I'm here, that Throsons has set up a competition where you can win one of ten copies of the Megalithic European. Full details at: http://www.thorsonselement.com/megalithiceuropean/

Whoa! Does this place still exist then? I haven't been here for years.

What's this about a Tunbridge Wells DVD? I was there, I recommend it to everybody! (Didn't see anybody with a camera though.)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3955289.stm

"Veteran BBC broadcaster John Peel has died at the age of 65, while on holiday in Peru". The news reports states that he had died from a heart attack.

A real shock and very sad news indeed. John Peel was an early champion for the likes of Julian Cope and The Teardrop Explodes, especially for the legendary Peel Sessions. In fact Peel regularly played new and unknown bands on his show, helping them achieve wider recognition.

He'd become so much of an institution in the UK music scene that you were left with the impression that he'd always be there. A very sad day indeed.

A very sad day indeed for the music industry. Radio will never be the same. Myself, like many many others thank John Peel for introducing me to a wider range of music and for giving so many up and coming bands a chance to get noticed. The airwaves will not be the same and Radio 1 might as well give up and go home now. Rest in peace John.

Amazon? What here at Rail On? Things at HH not enough for you any more eh? We knew you'd come back eventually! Can't see you on the Tumbridge Wells dvd, but I'm told you are in the thick of the crowd as usual!

amazon? on Rail On? With her reputation? What were they thinking? Oh well........ ;-P

A very sad day, indeed. I'm still stunned by the passing of John Peel. I never thought we'd have to hear "Teenage Kicks", the way he wanted it, THIS SOON.

God rest his soul and bless his family.

Eh up mi ducks!!

My CD player (Technics SL-PD5 5-cd changer) has started skipping at least once on almost every CD. I've cleaned it several times with 2 different products (Allsop and Memorex), and have opened it up and blew out the case w/ compressed air. I couldn't see any dust or hairs blocking the laser. My guess is that maybe the player is just old (~5 years). It's too cheap ($100) to be worth get serviced.

So, I'm thinking about getting new CD player. My requirements are:

1. 5-cd changer
2. can play most/all CDRs
3. can play mp3s -- this would be nice, but isn't a deal-breaker

Do y'all know of any good players for around $100-$150?

Trav:

The Sony 5 disc player may be exactly what you're looking for.

I've already had my fill of Technics and their not-very-long lasting dual cassette deck (archaic, I know). I'm ready to abandon cassette demo recording and move to full-on digital 8 track, thus negating my need for a cassette deck!

Listening to Live Japan '91... pretty cool! My favorite song on it is Sleeping Gas... :) :) :)

T

Hey Rob, thanks for the info! Which model of Sony? I found the following 5-cd changers::

• CDP-CA70ES
• CDP-CE275
• CDP-CE375
• SCD-CE775
• RCD-W500C ($250, handles mp3s)
• SCD-C222ES
• SCD-C555ES ($1700!)

Hey Trav:

The CE 275 is the one!

I'm about to re-embark on my demo-ing way... While The Punch Line have built/are operating Synchronic West Studios, where "...to get to the other side" is nearly complete, I'm about to upgrade Synchronic East by finally ditching my Tascam Portastudio 07 4-track for a Fostex VF-80EX 8 track digital for demos, etc.

Finally made it to the modern world. No more cassettes...and more room to overdub!

You know, it would have been nice to mention it was me below. Apologies!

Hey Rob,

Congrats on your upgrade! That 8-track looks powerful, a definite upgrade from an analog 4-track!

I'm curious why you ended up picking a standalone solution rather than making the switch to computer-based recording. Was it for portability? Familiarity? Cost?

(When I got my Triton, I was hoping to avoid "tainting" my music with computers... but once I started using a computer for all my music, it's hard to imaging editing on anything else!)

Thanks for the tip on the Sony player!

Trav

Trav:

A few reasons, really:

1. the Fostex came in a complete package with monitor speakers, headphones, mic, boom stand, cables, etc. and 50 blank CD's--Musician's Friend is a great way to shop for equipment (there's a plug for ya). I ordered it today, actually, while finally re-building my home studio (Synchronic East).
2. The Tascam wound up in a repair specialist no less than 3 times in 10 years. All for a cassette 4-track. Plus, 3 dual-cassette decks. What a waste. Between repair costs and new decks, I should have done this ages ago.
3. This Fostex can be linked to our Roland VS-880 systems that we've been doing the album on, now making us 24-track, reality wise (not counting the 24 virtual tracks).
4. The cost of this package was only $849!

All in all, it will be a learning experience for me, but some of my dearest friends use 8-track (or 16 track) digital and they've rhapsodized endlessly about the benefits and ease, so this makes sense. I can't tell you how many people I've known over the years who constantly change/upgrade stuff--two home recording systems in 10 years is pretty good, especially when you're trying not to re-land in debt!

I'll send new material as soon as the machinery arrives (late this week?).

This used to be the future

Hey Rob, deffinately go digital! It makes life so easy. I just been playing around with Apple's GarageBand. It so unbelievably easy, plus you record straight into it. If you buy a new mac it comes preloaded as part of the iLife package.

On another note, don't forget that Thorsons still has its competition up to win copies of The Megalithic European. It closes on November 30th and its a pretty easy question to answer:

http://www.thorsonselement.com/megalithiceuropean/

yup it was a pretty easy question to answer... even i knew it... u-know! just got the live japan '91, zoology, and finally the tc lethbridge stuff... i really like the live japan, and the zoology is not bad for "b"sides and bootlegs... but really have only had a couple of 'go thru's with each so far, and julians stuff has awlwayz taken some 'work'... andrew r u a fan of the apple notebooks? or ibooks? any feelings on either? if i ever get my pub rob, i think i'll ask ur opinionz on good sound systems... if the financing is there...hmmm... trav, beware of that amazon lady... she's deffo a "bad seed"... if fact there's rumor that she has married that vybik character... can u believe there has been another wedding that we weren't invited to? i mean like y'awl weren't invited either...? rite?

Ron - I've never had much need for a laptop as I do all my computer stuff either at work or home. I use the 1.6 Ghz Mac G5 at both places. These are the lower end machines and still they are amazingly fast. It would be the same system on the powerbooks, so I guess they would rock too! The thing with Apple is that they make everything so easy. The iLife package enables you to deal with all your music needs as well as video via iMovie and iDVD and its all so seamless.

Yes, as a graphic designer I am biased towards Mac as that is basically all I've ever used since 1990. The great thing about them too is that they also look so frickin' cool. The webmaster at work just got the G5 iMac and its such an amazing looking thing: http://www.apple.com/imac/

I did see someone using the 17" powerbook. They are huge! So to conclude, I would recemmend anything Mac and these days they are so seamless with IBM based machines. You can easily transfer documents and now even connect to each other.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving...while I have to confess, I'm on an iMac (finally upgraded this past May to OS 10.2), I'm STILL filled with anticipation of learning how to use the new Fostex 8 track (which is due to be delivered this coming Tuesday). It's all very one step at a time for me, although I have to say that if I think my demos sounded good on cassette with just 4-tracks being bounced, then the 8 track should do me solid...

Just a very quick update: The Punch Line album is near completion; I'm going to be working on new songs for the first time in 6 years (newly written material, that is), as well as revisiting many of the songs that I still have in reserve (of which there are many--perhaps two more albums' worth). Nonetheless, my creative juices are flowing and I'm sure the band will be playing live come the spring, when the album is out and we've tightened our live set. For anyone in the New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania/Connecticut area, you'll probably be seeing us soon enough.

Finally, anyone see the movie "Dig", starring The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre? Really smart, yet very sad--one band's focus and "rise" (for the amount of exposure the Warhols have in the U.S.) and the decline of another (seeing BJM onstage is both riveting and uncomfortable)... Check it out when you can.

cheers for that Andrew... it does sound like the way to go... and i'm really tired of virus' and trojans on micrsoft stuff... cors it's for me oldest boy... whom has recently discovered 'xtreme' mountain biking... so... the 17" iz probably not in his future... maybe the 12" or 14"... he does love his ipod... and the few times i've messed with mac's they seem pretty straight forward... andywayz... good thing he's getting old enuff for a real job...<please soon>

oh man... is "Dig" one of those movies that the pimple faced kids at blockbuster just kinda look "zoned" about? uh... never mind they do that about almost every question you ask them... actually grufty jim was expousing the greatness of 'Brazil' on his blog soz was kinda looking for it... http://www.cloud23.net/index.cfm?p=1 oops! my bad i think it was actually merrick that was touting "Brazil"... http://bristlingbadger.blogspot.com/2004/10/brazil-what-movies-are-for.html

pennsylvania/connecticut area might be able to do... new york/new jersey... hmmm...

Brazil is an amazing movie and a deffinate must-see. Its kind of weird at times, but the cinematography is superb. Can't remember who directed it off the top of my head, no doubt its someone famous and I should know better etc. Don't know "Dig" at all.

in the words of the wonderous sir morfe...

"ARRRGGHHHYYY..."

u just had to say that didn't u Andrew...

well something else to add to the xmas wish list!

r u doing any of the gigs in '05?

Okay, so now having the digital 8 track, I am taking my baby steps to record the demos for what will become the second album from The Punch Line, tentatively titled "Always Bridesmaids". So far so good--I'm doing this all piecemeal as yesterday was my first attempt to use this thing. Guitar in one hand (new cherry red Squier Strat, courtesy of my lovely wife), operator's manual in the other.

After I get through the first three or four new Punch Line songs, I'll revisit the Cope canon and see if there's anything I can attempt now that I have all this extra track availability!

Seasons Greetings O Rail On regulars!

There's a few updates over on the Screaming Secrets website - including the long-awaited upgrade for the Discography section. As well as updates and amendments for the Teardrop Explodes section, there's also the brand new Julian Cope section which looks at Copey's solo releases from 1983 through to 1990.

As ever, each entry has sleeve images, notes and trivia along with a rough guide to prices. More updates to the Discography will follow in 2005.

We've also got a new Survey online asking Which artist or musician would you like to see Julian working with in the future?.

There's also a new poll on the news page exploring what sort of new release you'd like to see coming next from Head Heritage.

Hey, looks like we're having problems again with Rail On "disappearing".

Thanks to Andrew for telling me!

Whenever this happens, the best I can do is upload my most recent backup. Hopefully it won't die again any time soon!

So I guess the big question is:

Has anyone gotten Citizen Cain'ed yet?

Haven't received it yet, but then I only ordered it a few days back. It'll be interesting to hear what its like.

Hey everybody!

In case you didn't notice it, Rail On's posting logic stopped working over the past few days. This is because the server was upgraded. The good news is that the new server is better than the old server. The bad news is that it took a while to get the scripts working again. Sorry for the down time!

Anyone get Cain'd yet? People on head-to-head seem enthusiastic about it. I'm curious what "we" think about it, though.

Another quick update: I finally ordered a new CD changer. Instead of a Sony (which seemed to get mixed reviews), I ended up getting the ONKYO DX-C390. Here were the reasons:

1. it had the most consistently positive reviews of any player under $200
2. it can play mp3s (!)
3. my tuner's an onkyo, and i like it (plus, their remotes might work well together)

Finally, one more quick note and question. I've been listening to Echo and the Bunnymen for the first time in ages, and am struck by how similar some of their songs are to Teardrop Explodes. It's not just stuff on Crocodiles that's Teardroppy, but also stuff from the self-titled LP. Interesting.

I'm thinking again about getting the Echo boxed set. However, another option is to order all the re-releases of the Echo LPs, which have bonus tracks added to them. I love the idea of getting bonus tracks, but I don't know whether it's better to get the LPs or the boxed set. Certainly not both (I'm not *that* big a fan)!

Suggestions?

Trav

Got "Cain'd" yesterday, listened to it a couple of times last night. I recall Cope saying that you shouldn't review an album until you've listened to it 30 times, so I'll keep it brief.

Its got good moments and bad moments in my mind. I love the second, quieter cd. Feels Like A Crying Shame is an instant classic. The first cd is a bit too "Brain Donor" in my mind. I know Doggen appears throughout the cd, but the similarity at times is a bit too much. Also, is it just my copy, but at times the production seems slightly distorted. Maybe this is intentional, but there is a deffinate fuzziness to the vocals and music on some tracks.

The packaging is great. I love the black jewel case - its very mysterious, and a really nice feature is the inclusion of lyrics in the booklet! One thing that amused me was when I loaded it into iTunes to transfer to my iPod the genre description for the album came up as "unclassifiable", which kind of sums Cope up in one word... I wouldn't have it any other way!

Having said all that, I'm going to hold back judgement until at least another 28 listens! I have put cover scans and details up on Trampolene already, so check it out.

I like the new look of Trampolene! It's very orderly. :)

The first thing I plan to do when I get Citizen Cain'd is burn it to a single CD. That way, I'll have a backup, and it'll take up one less spot in my CD changer. Other people on here might want to do the same thing.

What's the best (free) tool for converting audio CDs into WAVs? Right now I have CDex. I've read good reviews about Exact Audio Copy, but don't know which version to get (is it still in beta?)

Trav

No idea about turning cds into WAV files. I now use iTunes for almost everything. When you import a cd into iTunes it automatically converts the file into either an mp3 or ACC file, and then when you burn a cd from the iTunes library it automatically converts them back to aiff files as it burns. iTunes is simply awesome and its also available for windows!

My other recommendation is buy an iPod. I've been loading cds onto it like crazy and right now I have almost five days of music on there and i've still only used up 7GB of the 20GB. I think I've now loaded at least 40 cds onto it. Tis a sweet thing indeed and worth every penny - plus it doubles up as a convenient firewire drive. Trash all thos cds and get an iPod!

Well done on the new look for the Trampolene site Andrew - very classy! ^_^

Ditto on the iTunes and iPod recommendations. Once you get them, there's no going back!

Who's off to see Mr Cope tomorrow then?

Well I've had an ipod for a while and I now have 4327 tracks on it god knows what the other 5300 are gonna be!

Its the best this i've bought in ages. Does anyone know if the italk mic is any good for recording gig's

Russ

Congrats on the new site Andrew, I've got a little behind on mine as Skyray and the work i'm doing for Paul Simpson is taking up a lot of time, there is also my Frank Sidebottom site as well!

The iPod has been getting excellent reviews. However, it's still primarily for *portable* playback, right?

Also, what happens if your iPod gets stolen? Is there an easy way to backup its contents? Do you guys actually backup its contents?

I've been listening to Rome Wasn't Burned in a Day while waiting for Citizen Cain'd. My favorite track by far is "Eccentrifugal Force". It's probably favorite Cope song since Jehovahkill. The rest of Rome is okay; it doesn't leap out at me. I like when Cope focuses on either super-catchy ditties (e.g., Skellington) or on long, jamming grooves.

T

Jazz Butcher fans -- I just found a bunch of mp3s on the Jazz Butcher and Sumosonic sites:

• http://www.jazzbutcher.com/htdb/audio
• http://www.sumosonic.com/htdb/output.html

Enjoy!

Trav

Got Citizen Cain'd yesterday. Here are my first, as-I-listen impressions:

1. Hell is Wicked

Short, listenable, doesn't really go anywhere.

2. I Can't Hardly Stand It

Huh??? Noisy, distorted garage rock.

3. I'm Living In The Room They Found Saddam In

Slow, guitar-and-organ jangle. Distorted vocals. I can see how people might not like this one. It's repetitive, without much groove.

4. Gimme Head

Hard-rock, not much of a song. I like the guitar solos, though. Unfortunately, it's not long enough to get much of a groove going.

5. Dying To Meet You

Sounds like Brain Donor. It's catchy, though. The banging piano reminds me of "Out of My Mind on Dope and Speed".

6. I Will Be Absorbed

Sounds like a 60s/70s candle-waving anthem. Not really my style. If you didn't like "The Road of Dreams", I doubt you'll like this!

7. Feels Like A Crying Shame

Cool! This one sounds more like what I was expecting: a long, repetitive, slightly dancy groove with nice guitar work on top and cool vocals.

8. World War Pigs

Simple, nice. The vocals are mixed a little loud, but the chorus is catchy.

9. Stomping Dionysus

Sounds like something off of Skellington!

10. Homeless Strangers

Vaguely country-ish, doesn't sound much like Cope, but definitely doesn't sound like Brain Donor.

11. The Living Dead

Slow, sounds like something from Skellington 2. Pretty gloomy. Not something you're gonna find yourself humming in the shower.

12. Edge of Death

Brain Donor-esque. It sorta became background music while I listened to it.

Overall:

The first 6 tracks' production is absolutely horrid. There's nothing charming about this particular "lo-fi" approach; I much prefer the lo-fi production of Skellington and Droolian. The mix is full of distortion and mud. I guess I was expecting something more like Jehovahkill. Instead, it's like a bunch of Brain Donor demos or B-sides. My guess is that most people who hear these tracks will be unimpressed (or annoyed) on first listen. Only time will tell if these tracks grow on us.

The second 6 sound a lot more like 90s Cope. It's not the awesomest in terms of composition or performance, but it's listenable. I rarely like Cope songs on first listen, so maybe some of these will become "classics" for me... Again, time will tell.

I can see now why he split the release into 2 CDs. The first is like Brain Donor, the second is like 90s Cope. I don't know if these tracks could be interlaced nicely.

The underlying theme seems to be Death.

I'll try to post an update in a few weeks, after I've had time to "absorb" it.

Trav

Now Trav, didn't anyone ever tell you never to review an album on the first listen!

IPods - They are dead easy to back up because they connect to your computer like a hard drive, plus you can sync iTunes between your computer and your iPod so when you connect it automatically checks to make sure they are the same. I have this option turned off as I like to manage the files manually.

The iPod is so much more than a MP3 player, although thats what it is primarily. As well as a portable hard drive, I use the time, calendar, note fucntions. But there are also games you can play and I like the fact that I can connect my digital camera to it and transfer files to it when the flash card gets full. I don't have the colour iPod just the 20GB model, but this is great for long vacations etc when you run out of disk space on the camera.

Russ - DON'T USE THE IMic FOR LIVE RECORDING - YOU'LL BE VERY DISAPPOINTED!!! The iMic is only good to use it as a dictaphone, or for recording lectures etc. Absolute crap with live music. Every review I have read of people trying this said it came out very distorted.

What happens if your iPod gets stolen? Huh? You report it to the police of course. Like any other computer equipment - BACK IT UP! Its so easy to back up as to be untrue. As I said above, if you have the sync function on it does it for you. Then if it crashes you can easily transfer the files back from your computer to the iPod. With the firewire connection it is so fast to be untru. Last night I backed up a project I am working on to the iPod and it transfered 1.2GB of files in less than a minute. Yes, 1.2GB! The thing is so frickin' amazing it blows me away.

Enjoy the gigs if your going. For some reason today I am feeling completely bummed out because I'm not going. Sometimes I hate being here and so very far away from where the action and all the cool kids are!

Andrew, thanks for the info! I guess it makes sense to maintain a mirror of your mp3s on your pc. You have to rip to PC anyway, right?

What headphones do you use?

Trav

Yes, you have to rip first to a computer based version of iTunes and then copy to the iPod. I use the headphones that came with the iPod, they are the in-ear bud type thingys, the sound they give are excellent!

For more information go to: http://www.apple.com

Just to clarify - with the iPod you've not really any need to back up as all the files originate on iTunes on your computer. They then get downloaded as playlists onto your iPod.

So who else went to the Festival Hall gig then? Cracking versions of Bouncing Babies and Reward - not to mention Bandy's First Jump. I'll have some pics available on the Screaming Secrets website soon so you can see Copey and co in all their glory.

I've just posted this up on Trampolene, but thought I'd share it here too. Its a report on aspects fo teh Royal Festival Hall gig last Friday, with Julian up to his usual Reynard-stomach-slahing antics again. You can also check out pictures of the event using the link below:

"Reynard was bizarre, bordering on loony! Julian had these bondage trousers on which he fastened together between his knees, then instead of singing the bit about '...he reached down and took the bag...', he started on about '..all he had was a German army helmet to piss in as he climbed up a hill and when he got to the top of the hill he shouted out "fuck you Jehovah, fuck you Allah and fuck you God who calls himself God" '.

Then Julian climed right up to the top of his big mike stand rocking backwards and forwards quite violently repeating the f-yous as above. The mike stand toppled over taking Julian with it, he got back up and took it apart and ripping his shirt open began doing the cutting with the bit of mic stand he had in his hand.

I am not sure if he actually cut himself, I couldn't really see from where I was, due to Holy McGrail and Thighpaulsandra blocking my view on stage.

The start of the first set was incredible too. Julian just walked on and the band ripped into "Hanging Out.." and JC just immediately lept into the audience and the majority of the song was sung with JC out in the audience!

There was hardly any banter all evening, a very tight and professional outing by Julian. Highlights for me: Bandys First Jump, Bouncing Babies, Hanging Out and Feels like a crying shame."

Some pictures from Friday's Royal Festival Hall gig have already been kindly posted for all of us to see at the following link:

http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/kralkmit2/my_photos

iTunes sounds like a neat idea, except for the impermanence of the music.

If I buy a CD, I feel like I will always be able to listen to it, as long as I have a CD player. If CD players start becoming rare, I can copy the CD to a "lossless" format (e.g., wav). I'm in control of how I listen to the music I bought, and preserving my music collection in a new format costs me nothing except time (and disk space).

With iTunes, you're not downloading .wav files, right? You're not even downloading mp3s, or if you are, they're copy protected in some way, right? (I really don't know for sure). Well, what happens to your iTunes collection 10-20 years from now, when iTunes players are rare? What are the chances that you'll have been able to convert them to a new format? What if the iTunes company (Apple?) makes it difficult, illegal, or expensive to convert your iTunes?

Also, iTunes are compressed, right? Today people seem content with mp3s (I'm listening to some right now), but I remember 5-10 years ago when people were content with RealAudio too. Nowadays RealAudio's considered too "lo-fi" for a music collection, and mp3 is the "standard". What happens when broadband connections get so fast that everyone's streaming .wav (16x44) files instead of mp3s? Or even dvd-quality audio (24x96)? Will you still be able to enjoy listening to the "lo-fi" iTunes files, or will you feel compelled to upgrade to an uncompress format?

If a company promises that at some point in the future, you'll be able to upgrade all your current iTunes to unprotected, uncompressed audio (which you currently get by buying a CD), then iTunes looks promising. Otherwise, you're at their mercy.

Anyway, those are my iTunes thoughts... I really don't know how iTunes works today, so my above comments might be full of factual errors. If so, sorry!

Trav

I got my Onkyo DX-C390 CD/MP3 changer, and it's great! I love the fact that I can listen to mp3 CDs! This means I can put 10 hours of Tripecac (or whatever) mp3s on a CDR and listen all day without putting any strain on my computers! In fact, if I put 6 mp3 CDs in it, I've got 60 hours of music, without ever having to handle CDs! I'm sure it's not as convenient as an iPod, but it's a big improvement over my old non-mp3 CD changer.

I've listened to Citizen Cain'd about 5 times so far. The first 6 songs have been growing on me; their crummy production doesn't annoy me like it did on the first listen.

My least favorite song is "Edge of Death"; what was he thinking??? IMO, this is the least "fun" song he's done since that Odin CD. Unless you're obsessed with death, what appeal does it have? Does anyone like it? Am I just too fun loving and shallow to "get it"?

Trav

iTunes does store files in a lossless format in either AAC or MP3 files. More here: http://www.apple.com/itunes/import.html

I can't imagine a situation when iTunes will be "rare" anymore than buying a CD today is a risky investment because CD players may not always be with us. MP3 is pretty much the standard format these days and it's not just iTunes that can play them.

Remember also that compressing files isn't just so they'll download faster, it's also about having the disk space to store them.

Real Audio files have their uses, especially if you want to provide music files via a website but you don't want them easily copied. I use them myself on some of the websites I'm responsible for.

For me personally, I am unlikely to ever switch to anything other than iTunes. As with the iPod, once I switched I couldn't see any logical reason to use any other method.

Paul -

Thanks for the info. Having a lossless format is a big plus for iTunes. Once something is in "Apple Lossless" format, though, can you convert it to an unprotected wav file?

The only certainty with computers is that things will change. Hard disks will soon be big enough to hold 500 CDs (uncompressed), then 1000, then 2000... Right now I can fit my entire 300+ CD collection on a single (250 GB) hard disk. In 5 years, we'll probably have multi-terabyte drives, and I seriously *doubt* we'll have multi-thousand CD collections. The only way disk space will remain an issue is if we start collecting higher-resolution audio files (e.g., DVD audio). Even then, I thing hard disks will outgrow any audio storage needs we'll ever have.

Back in the 80s, our creative/collecting medium was text. We wrote papers and computer programs. Word processors inflated the size of our files. At some point in the late 80s it became impossible to store all my writings on a single floppy. However, that "space crunch" didn't last long; by the 90s, we had multi-MB drives, and then multi-GB drives, and the size of a text or word-processing file became trivial. Nowadays, it's completely impossible to fill up your hard drive with text/word processing files.

In the 90s, the new medium was images. We had scanners and potentially thousands of prints and slides to scan. Each image could take a "whopping" 1MB or two (if stored as a bitmap), meaning we could no longer use floppies. We *could*, however, store hundreds of pictures on our multi-MB hard disks. Once our hard disks broke the GB barrier, it became unlikely that we could fill up our hard disk with images. Nowadays, with 200 GB drives, we can store hundreds of thousands or even millions of images, depending on what compression we use. It's now pretty much "impossible" to fill up a modern hard disk with images. It's hard enough to fill up a CDR with them!

Then came audio files. They're much bigger than images, but even today, it's become easier and easier to house your entire collection on a single disk. Eventually it will become "impossible" to fill up a modern hard disk with audio.

Next will be video files. And after that, who knows?

The point is, storage space should not be regarded as a long-term factor for your collections. Given enough time, the storage requirements of your collections will become irrelevant.

What remain relevant are:

1. the quality of the encoding (which is why lossless is important)
2. your control over the encoding (backing up, converting to other formats, etc.)

Unless iTunes will automatically upgrade the quality of your recordings (e.g., from normal mp3 to lossless audio or even DVD audio) *and* will grant you complete control over the encoding (allowing you to copy, edit, and play your tunes whenever and wherever you want), you are effectively degrading the long-term quality of your collection.

(By "you" I don't mean you, Paul, I mean "the iTunes collector")...

Make sense?

Trav

I can grasp your argument Trav but I would say that if you were concerned on that level then don't encode any music files full stop.

As I say, it's on a par with being concerned on getting your music on CD because there's a chance that the CD will be redundant in x number of years. OK, the argument is valid for videos vs DVD's but then ultimately is there any format that has guaranteed permanence?

As far as iTunes goes, why would I want to convert those files to WAV format or any other? I have the files in a lossless, portable format which suits all my requirements. Unless Apple are planning to go out of business any time soon then it's not really cause for concern.

If I did want to convert any files, which I have done for web-use (typically MP3 to Real Audio), then I've had no problems in the past doing this from iTunes files.

Also, hard disk space is always a going concern for the reasons you state. Make the disk bigger and you'll soon fill up that space. My iTunes library is already ridiculously large. With the advent of accessing movies on your PC it becomes even more of a concern. I download a lot of anime titles and they're easily 150-250mb a pop. When you have a series of perhaps 30+ episodes, it really builds up.

A! Spambots have found Rail On.

Get deleting Trav or you're contributing to their search engine rankings.

I run open guestbooks on other sites and have been struggling to adopt methods that prevent spambots getting on them. They're also a plague on forums as well - as Screaming Secrets proved before we shut off open registration.

okay, I delete the SPAM.

I also updated the posting logic to my new logic (used on my new site, which will eventually replace this one). Hopefully this post will work. If you're getting email notifications and see this message a few times, sorry!

Travis

Looks like it worked. :)

Trav

Re: iTunes and the future...

Personally Trav, I think you worry way too much about this and over-think the whole concept. I may be dead in 20 minutes never mind 20 years, so why worry about whether I'll be able to listen to the format in 2025! Many of us had to rebuy albums when cds came out, no doubt we'll have to do it again at some point. Chances are in 20 years time you'll plug your finger into the wall and download the songs into your head.

Also, I have done some comparissons between the loss-less ACC format and other bit rates (192 in particular) and to be honest, I can't tell them apart.

Keep it simple, keep it real and don't think too much!

I'm a rare contributor here these days, but I had to step in to reassure ron that he wasn't ignored when I got hitched to the bountiful amazon. To be honest, I don't remember a thing about it and neither does she (and it's not the first marriage to have happened in those circumstances), but as so many people are sure we are married we just accept it. Where? When? In front of whom? These are all good questions for which we have no good answers, or even bad ones.

Rumours that we are renewing our vows in Italy in the very near future have been verified by former members of the Iraq Weapons Of Mass Destruction Location Team.

By the way, ron - Mrs. ron looks lovely. Clare? (It was a heavy night.) Sorry not to have had more time with you.

Right, I'll be off. The missus will have my tea on the table.

"What Do You Mean By Dead?"

Seattle-based rock outfit Death Cab For Cutie have produced a cover vesion of World Shut Your Mouth which is online here: http://liquidbuilder.com/dcfc/

Which begs the question - what's the news on future Interpreters releases Trav?

Yay, Death Cab! You know they were originally from Bellingham? (where I live now)

Interpreters

I have about half a CD worth of material ready to go, and am still waiting for submissions from several people. It seems like sending a CDR in the mail is too inconvenient these days for many people. What I might do is setup an anonymous FTP site (like in the old days) so that it's easier for people to submit songs.

As for the format (CD vs MP3), I think I'd like to do the same thing I do with Tripecac, which is:

1. make all mp3s available for download
2. make a printable CD cover available for download
3. encourage people to burn their own CDs (and to burn CDs for other people)
4. charge a fee to burn CDs for people (I don't wanna spend my free time burning CDs!)
5. send a free CD to each contributor

To get a clearer idea of what I have in mind, check out my Tripecac site: http://tripecac.com/

My hope is that by making the mp3s freely available, we avoid the legal/ethical issues. It'll be super-clear that nobody is trying to make money off the effort, and that it's just for fun. I've seen other tribute projects that work this way too (e.g., Jazz Butcher).

How's that sound?

T

Hi guys! A couple quick questions:

1. Anyone heard the Head Heritage sampler yet? Is it any good? Are Cope's 2 new tracks good?
2. How do you guys keep up to date with your favorite bands' releases? Do you manually visit their websites to see if anything has been released? Or are there centralized release sites or other ways of automating the checking?

Thanks!

Trav

Received the Sampler disk yesterday. I've only had one chance to listen to it, so the jury's still out on it, but there are some great tracks on there - and some not so great tracks too. I love the Litmus track and would like to hear more of them - it reminds me a lot of hawkwind to be honest. The two Cope tracks are ok. "Due to Lack of Interest..." is stronger than "Saturday Night..." on first listen, but that might change. Deffinately worth buying though and it only took a week or so to get here.

Andrew, funny you mention Hawkwind - I just got my first Hawkwind CD (Space Ritual) a couple days ago. If you change the sci-fi poetry into druidy poetry, it sounds a lot like Brain Donor!

Trav

I was quite heavily into Hawkwind in my teenage years. Saw them live quite a few times at the Birmingham Odeon in the 1980s - always a interesting experience. I have a lot of their earlier albums on vinyl, must go and dig them out. Best albums in my mind are:

• X In Search of Space
• Doremi Fasol Latido
• Hall of the Mountain Grill
• Warrior on the Edge of Time

I even painted a wall in my bedroom with the cover scene from Warrior on the Edge of Time. I find Cope's stuff is starting to sound a bit Hawkwind-ish to be honest. Which is funny as when he found the other guys in the Teardrop Explodes smokin' it up he supposedly cried "Bloody Hell, now we are in Hawkwind!", or something like that.

Anyone into the Au Pairs?

I got Sense and Sensuality a week or so ago, and I love it!!! (My only gripe is that I ordered the 16-track version but Amazon sent me the 10-track version, twice!)

Great band. Hard to find their CD, though!

Trav

So Bush and the Boys won't let Julian play in the god ol' u.s. of a. (See this months Address Drudion at HH if you don't know already). The worlds gone mad I tell ya, flippin' mad! It makes absolutely no sense to me, it just makes me sad. I think all American's should grow beards in protest.

Sad Andrew

test

I hate tests... they make me nervous

Cope will be live in session this Thursday (March 24) on BBC Radio 2's Mark Radcliffe Show at 10:30pm GMT. You can listen live at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/radcliffemaconie/?

Cool! When do you think the show will go live on the web? Right now it's 10:36 PM GMT (if I've done my math correctly).

Trav

If you were listening live Trav, you probably heard that Julian was a no-show for the session. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious, and hopefully they will reschedule his appearance very soon.

You can either listen live to radio 2's broadcasts - there should be a listen live button somewhere on the page. Or if you miss any of the shows you can listen to them again on the Radcliffe page. They are usually pretty quick at posting up the shows after they have aired.

Hey all:

Having finally eschwed the whole Mod thing and getting back to serious music making of a rock-and-roll nature with The Punch Line (and YES, the album's tracks are complete--we just have a few overdubs and mixing to do), I've been fairly quiet and away from the Cope-loop. Obviously, not much new reportage, but if you're in the mood for pure pop, then check out www.thepunchline.net and sample some of what "...to get to the other side" will sound like.

In other news--not been listening to much, save for The Minutemen, Huskers and Meat Puppets. I find it mildly disturbing and quite amusing that SST's heyday has crept back into my musical scope.

So this is what turning 40 does for you... I like it. A lot.

Can anyone fix me up with copies of the tribute CDs? I can send blanks or money! Please contact me on mikehalliday@tiscali.co.uk

What if I put the tribute songs online for download (as mp3s)?

I have enough disk space for it now.

Trav

Simon Reynolds sent me this email a few weeks ago. I bought his book via Amazon.com. It's great! It's inspired me to buy more post-punk CDs. The only "fault" in the book is that it talks a lot about British culture and politics. American readers might find themselves skipping bits of it, but y'all with UK familiarity might dig the whole thing. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it, and recommend it to anyone interesting in post-punk. Here's Simon's email: