Thanks, I Love Music

I am very, very glad to have been able to point such a devoted and thoughtful music fan as the fellow Ewing towards such a good song.

But I am fairly sure that this forum has never led me to check anything out, perhaps for the same reason that I'm surprised that Ewing has already gone and got hold of a song I only mentioned yesterday. I mean, even supposing that something could be made to sound really, really interesting, how would you go about getting hold of it? I buy other people records as presents occasionally, but I haven't bought myself a record for months. Where do people buy records nowadays? Do they find what they're after - even the sometimes obscure (and for all I know, excellent) things mentioned on this forum? Do they really feel comfortable about buying things when they don't know much about them and don't know what they'll sound like? What do they do with the records when they've bought them? Do these new, unknown quantities fit into people's lives, and on to their shelves, without strain?

I think what I am groping towards attempting to say is: by and large, 'new music' no longer really exists for me.

But, oh, I forgot - I did buy Hyacinths & Thistles at one of the Hammersmith gigs, and I do like half of it a lot. 'He Didn't' is just indispensable, though not - of course - if you haven't heard it.

Ive taken many views/advice/theories on board since finding ILM but Ned has had the biggest influence on my record buying, reminding me of stuff i loved and no longer possessed - no-man,cranes,cocteau twins, shoegazing stuff etc.Mark S and Ethan have amused me greatly while making me think. Robin has prompted questions ive been asking myself about my rural roots affecting the music i engage with and want to create.DJ Martian, Norman, Otis and Omar have led my listening in new directions - how else would i have found out about High Tide/Os Mutantes/Boredoms/Turbonegro ands loads of other stuff. Momus led me to Cornelius, but even better -'buzzlebee' by The High Llamas and tootootoo many ideas - which dont go down well in the pub. But 33, between jobs, no longer reading the music press as much, re-buying records from my teens/early twenties and resisting the lure of the new, limiting my new collection to the 180 i can fit in my CD unit, not downloading, i seem to be looking for things to hold everything together by reaching into the past - seem to spend time in hmv thinking 'do i need this new record, what will it do for me' - hence my question about meta links/paths. i am in POP CRISIS and curiously feeling comfortable with it. Feeling no desire to hang out in clubs anymore, , ive also have cut down on gig-going bigtime. (Ive written more lyrics/music though).

The Grammy goes to ....the pinefox, who has asked all the right questions of me - or made ME question my motives/behaviour etc.

ye shall know me by my overuse of the word 'stuff'

Practically everything I've bought recently has something to do with ILM, as it's my main source of information now - do you think I trust the NME?

Wow!!!

See, *somebody* likes me. Sort of. God, that *moves* me, that does.

Racer - I am in 'pop crisis' too, in the sense that I feel there is no future for pop music: I mean, no future for pop music for me. (There is clearly a future for the ILM folks who love Destiny's Child, Autechre etc etc and can look forward to decades more of technological experiment, etc etc.) But for me it feels like the end of the road. Pretty much the last (I mean, the final) thing in pop for me is my own stuff. When I've written my last song, maybe it really will all be over.

I know that you (?) and Josh K (?) have pointed out that the past is the future - that what's back there is still rich & exciting. I *absolutely* agree - I'm with you both on this. But as Stevie T might point out, the past doesn't feel quite the same without a future.

I'm not sure about this. I may be exaggerating. I am mainly trying to sympathize with your own (enjoyable?) situation.

Thanx - now i really must go off and argue with someone !

Stop moaning, you two.

As 4 me: I wd not have bought "Cupid & Psyche 85" off the street yesterday if not for this forum.

ILM was more an influence on me some months asgo. Still is, but I find myself getting more excited about trax I've been "discovering" on my own on local radio stations lately. Vitamin C, Toya, Nivea, and now via Dellio, Blink 182. Can I just say that the new Hova track and the current R&B crop are godsends?

"Stop moaning"??

Any more talk like that and I'm shutting down the official Tracer Hand fanclub e-mail discussion list.

Clinic. Sigur Ros. Mum. Those Bastard Souls. Beta Band. Thin White Rope. Godspeed YBE! Can. Gastr Del Sol. Dismemberment Plan.

All bands I was turned onto by ILM (and alt.music alternative back in the day).

Sterling: "H to tha izzo / V to tha izzay"...what a chorus! What the hell has Vitamin C done that's good? I'm very curious.

Her cover of "I know what boys like" as you'd know if you read in review. :=). Indeed, that's the anthem, get your damn hands up.

Racer: I'm pleased that my ruminations have affected some ILM-ers.

Actually, my geographical background doesn't affect the music I choose to listen to at all ... what it does affect, often, is my attitude towards the people who make it.