the reissue industry boom of the last decade

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i say dud. its made labels and the industry and maybe even artists lazy. all people care about is retro and learning everything about the past instead of forging something new. or trying to do that, at least. why rerererererelease old ancient albums from dinosaurs when you could instead invest in some new talent whos current catalogue could be exploited as back catalogue fodder in two decades time? im sick of the 60s and 70s being resold back to us over and over again. give me something new, please.

― newshit, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:10 (twenty years ago)

... the 80s revival - there's something new

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:12 (twenty years ago)

you would have thought that the greater availability of old music would actually enrich contemporary music.

― N_RQ, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:14 (twenty years ago)

http://www.importantrecordstore.com/images/content/distributed/goodbyebabylon.jpg

― Michael J McGonigal (mike mcgonigal), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:15 (twenty years ago)

Classic up to a point, IE when you can buy a playable copy of, say, "Love, Death and the Lady" for a tenner, not sixty-five quid. Fucking mega dud when older albums are "remastered" through L2 so that all the music's dynamics are flattened out of it.

I'm not exactly convinced that there is anything "new" that's marketable. Rock music is kind of like chris barber jazz revivalism now, as far as I can see.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:16 (twenty years ago)

on the one hand we have the reissue market is killing music argument

and, on the other, we have the familiar compaint that people dont know old bands, and blindly like new ones that 'rip them off' (the g04/ff argument i suppose)

can both arguments be true? i guess, possibly, if you were to say that new band x regurgitates old band y because of easily obtainable cd reissues?

strangely enough, when ive been at parties or peoples houses and stuff recently, ive noticed the old standby 'classics' disappearing from view, thankfully. yes, the generic 04 indie replacements may not be any good, but at least its a change

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:24 (twenty years ago)

Nothing wrong about old material. What is not so great is if an album is remastered and reissued although the old version was sounding good enough that there's nothing new about the remaster anyway.

I've chosen not to pick up the new Yes remasters, because I am content enough with the mid 90s ones anyway, and I doubt that a lot more could possibly be benefited audio-wise. Considering Rhino are responsible for the newest editions, I guess the liner lones are top class, but that's just not enough for me to invest in them.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:34 (twenty years ago)

actually i like reissues because when i was 16-17, ie really into music, there were lots of tracks that you just couldn't get. 'looking for the perfect beat', dd and steinski -- these were all out of reach for ages. a big record for me back then was the major force reissue ono'wax. if i were 16-17 now, i'd want to be able to hear all that stuff.

― N_RQ, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:38 (twenty years ago)

Gier, I have those Yes ones, and they are actually very good. I was a bit skeptical, but I wound up replacing the previous ones with these.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:40 (twenty years ago)

If anything, there are waaay too many new releases these days and not enough re-issues (check out the re-issue threads for laundry lists). I think there's something on the order of 30,000 official new releases put out a year by the majors & independents, plus an untold gazillion number of records self-released by artists now.

It's simply too easy to release music now. Anyone who can muster the motor skills to bang their hand on a keyboard and grunt simultaneously while hitting the 'record' button on their PC is doing so. How could you seriously complain about this glut?

― Keith C (kcraw916), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 10:41 (twenty years ago)

If anything, there are waaay too many new releases these days and not enough re-issues (check out the re-issue threads for laundry lists).

Maybe because the new acts of the past 20 years just don't hold up on the nostalgia market? They simple aren't good enough to last?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:35 (twenty years ago)

I thought you were an 80s buff Geir?

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:38 (twenty years ago)

I like reisssues better than new stuff.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:47 (twenty years ago)

i say classic, if only for no new york. i'd never have gotten ahold of it (except illegal... actually my copy is a bootleg as well... so...)

― nathalie in a bar under the sea (stevie nixed), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:52 (twenty years ago)

Seems like reissues have been going steady ever since the mid 80s, back when CDs started.

― Mark (MarkR), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:55 (twenty years ago)

I'd say somewhere in between really.

Or maybe

The large scale, ceaseless reissuing of 60's/70's/80's/90's chart repertoire - Dud

Back Catalogue albums with good quality artwork, sympathetic mastering and bonus material - Classic

Most of the stuff I've been excited about recently have been BC reissues, Judee Sill, Cure, Stereolab, VDGG, Shirley Collins.

― mzui (mzui), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:57 (twenty years ago)

Dud until Prince (and co) are rereleased.

― Jedmond (Jedmond), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

There were plenty of vinyl reissues pre-CD, whole record companies which did nothing but reissues: Edsel, Big Beat, Ace, See For Miles et al

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:58 (twenty years ago)

In Britain, it's been going since the Top Of The Pops albums in the 70's. As a major concern maybe the first 'Now' album (84?) is the start of the recompiling mania.

― mzui (mzui), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 11:59 (twenty years ago)

Now records only cover the last six months. Surely 'Nuggets' or Harry Smith's Folk Anthology is what you mean.

― N_)RQ, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 12:04 (twenty years ago)

Mark OTM. In the states the major label reissue boom really took off in 1990-91, when vinyl was simultaneously taken off the market.

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 12:06 (twenty years ago)

We were there first

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 12:06 (twenty years ago)

I thought you were an 80s buff Geir?

Only the one half of the 80s that is no longer part of the past 20 years.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 12:07 (twenty years ago)

Now records only cover the last six months. Surely 'Nuggets' or Harry Smith's Folk Anthology is what you mean.

Nope, I'm talking about the compilation end of the reissues market.

― mzui (mzui), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 12:17 (twenty years ago)

Obviously going to have to disagree with "Newshit". I think part of the problem with contemporary music (at least made by 20-somethings) is that they *aren't* really aware of their musical heritage--or they are fixated on a few "big" artists/bands and don't have any breadth. As more/better stuff becomes readily available, it's my hope that young people will be exposed to a greater swath, and realise that in fact they have to step it up a notch (or four) if they want to start making music that isn't at best a passing fad.

May I ask, how old are you, newshit?

― I.M. (I.M.), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 16:01 (twenty years ago)

I was on the tube next to a student the other day and he wasn't sure whether or not he could vote twice, once at home and once in London. He was wearing a Joy Division t-shirt.

My point being, if there is a point, that it's not just a music thing.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 16:19 (twenty years ago)

it's made me somewhat jaded, i guess. there was a time in the early nineties where i would've killed to hear the whole Actuel series or all those Lee Perry records or Taj Mahal Travellers or Trad Gras och Stenar or whatever else. those things just did not exist in anyway that was accessible to pedestrians or folks that don't barter in three digit sums for vinyl. even as they fill the shelves now, i have given up on even bothering with the whole Actuel series, though i am still grateful for the TMT and TGOS stuff.

― Beta (abeta), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 16:48 (twenty years ago)

Absolute ridiculous dud. I'm so sick of hearing about music from the past. We should forget about music from the past and focus on music from the here and now.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

i'm fascinated by the record collector angle on this - especially when it comes to hard to find stuff that gets reissued on vinyl. maybe it's taken some of the challenge out of it, but aren't you still free to find those old, rare copies while mr. pedestrian picks it up on cd or flashy new vinyl?

i think it's classic only because it democratizes the music by making it affordable and available.

― blackmail.is.my.life (blackmail.is.my.life), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

blackmail,

absolutely, 100% agreed. but i think the issue might be less about the work involved in finding the old copy than the fact that the fresh, 'careful' reissue devalues the old copy. while a new pressing on heavy vinyl doesn't necessarily guarantee a better listening experience, it does make it hard to sell an old disc with a questionable history....

still, without used record stores, what record stores would there be?

― Evanston Wade (EWW), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 03:05 (twenty years ago)

how can making music available be anything but dud? certain remastering procedures can be dud, as can the habit of releasing an album with umpteen useless "bonus tracks" tacked on. but otherwise, c'mon. if it devalues the old vinyl, that's great, record "collectors" are nazis anyway.

so yeah, blackmail otm.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:25 (twenty years ago)

haha i meant "be anything but CLASSIC" of course.

it's late, i'm drunk.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:25 (twenty years ago)

I admit being a whore to a slew of reissues.. in particular the Deluxe Edition series that includes everyone from Marvin Gaye to Diana Ross to Sonic Youth to Eric B. and Rakim. I LOVE these double CDs, I love the liner notes, I love the pictures of the master tape boxes underneath the clear trays.... I'll admit being a full blown sucka for it all. Same with the Cure reissues. And the Adam Ant reissues.

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:27 (twenty years ago)

oh, and all those double Edsel issues of T. Rex

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:28 (twenty years ago)

About Joy Division and how to vote: Ian Curtis was a Tory.

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:31 (twenty years ago)

Wot the Donut said. Currently the period which I admit I just love the best -- UK late seventies/early eighties -- is getting one hell of a reissue/revamp thing across the boards. About damn time!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

there's a lot of top reissues coming out only in Japan lately, including a bunch of Deram label stuff and Shack's Zilch.. i wish they were a bit less of a drama to track down :(

― shine headlights on me (electricsound), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:34 (twenty years ago)

also when, say, the brian eno cds are re-re-reissued, that just means i can find the previous reissues in the used racks for $9 each!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:35 (twenty years ago)

(xpost)

Indeed - recently picked up a copy of Mike Westbrook's Love Songs on Jap import CD; pricey but worth it (especially as Westbrook has refused permission for Universal to reissue the album here, for reasons known only to himself).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:42 (twenty years ago)

who is mike westbrook?

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:44 (twenty years ago)

Son this is he.

This is what I wrote about his greatest record (which will be coming out again on domestic CD in the nearness of future).

― Marcello Carlin (nostudium), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 05:47 (twenty years ago)

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the reissue industry boom of the last decade - C or D??