what percentage of the music you buy is "new"?

I'll NEVER get to that stage, I trust. I have my twists and phases and suspicions, and ultimately I think trying to keep up with every New! Thing! Now! is an impossible and thankless task that cheats yourself of the simple pleasure of listening, but the same can be said for trying to maintain an obsessive and overwhelming interest in the past and what it has. Therefore continue on and pursue your own interests above whatever the pressures surrounding you in terms of what you 'have' to be paying attention to/purchasing/going to see/delving into are. What will captivate you will do so at its own rate, as it should.

My most recent purchases this week were a new Broadcast EP and an old one, Languis albums new and old, a new collection of Fall B-sides from ten years back and Low's second album (finally). My most recent listens have included a Rapture mp3 (nice cover of "Dumb Waiters"), a Strawbs double-disc collection, No Sleep Till Hammersmith and something new on the Swim label. There's no pattern, there's just what's there, and I won't spend my time chasing down the latest obscuro shuffle-house remix or Yet Another New Rock Revolution Band From New York or Detroit unless I feel motivated enough to do so.

I wasn't aware there was such a stage.

I don't think it's possible to get to the stage where you don't want to hear old music: you could burn out on a specific genre, yeah, but all music that wasn't released in the past three or so years, or even in the past decade? All records you remember wanting but didn't buy at the time, for reasons you've forgotten? Never. It's easier to believe in people burning out on new music, because they think they've reached their saturation point or have some moral objection to all music after [insert year here].

But, then, most of the stuff I buy is fairly new to me, anyway, no matter when it was released.

When I have money, I tend to be purchasing stuff I missed out on from youth or location or taste - shoegazer, noise-pop, '80s indie-rock, pretty much all hip-hop, yada yada.

The only stuff I buy new is what I consider must-have - Cat Power's "You Are Free," Arab Strap's "Monday at the Hug & Pint,"
the new Radiohead. I'm much more willing to take a chance with something I've heard a little about from the '80s or early '90s.

Always a good way to shop. I like giving money right to the band so they can at least have a higher percentage of food-to-grease content in whatever greasy spoon they have to eat in later.

(I never pay any more than $13 for anything, generally, and with half.com and active used bins it isn't rare to find something that's been out for a month for a reasonable used price)

(And the majority of new albums I buy are by well-established artists - the most recent ones being Wayne Shorter, the Go-Betweens and Nick Cave.)