Norman Records weblog thing

Regular viewers of the site will have noticed how much vinyl has rocketed up over the last year or so. A lot of this has to do with the weak pound but these days a lot of labels are doing bespoke editions of 100 ish which will cost you 30 quid plus. Our album of the week this week is 22 quid (we’re taking a bit of a hit on that believe it or not as we wanted the music out there), the new Sublime Frequencies LPs are 30 quid ish. Vinyl is getting well expensive!! Those Animal Collective boxes were 77 quid after shipping to the UK for a triple LP.  That is fucking expensive. So do you think vinyl is gonna price itself out of the market? Or are these bespoke editions gonna keep the physical format alive? You’d think with the world in recession that folks wouldn’t be able to afford to buy these limited editions but they’re selling out like flies. Fusetron sold out of the Animal Collective box set in 2 hours apparently. Crazy times…..
P x

Anything really exciting grabbing you these days?? It seems there’s loads and loads of new things out each week. So much in fact it’s hard to keep up with everything, but amongst the plethora of releases some goodness shines. The new D_rradio and A Hawk & A Hacksaw albums are stunning….  Am still completely and utterly obsessed by Natural Snow Buildings… That Peter Wright album from a couple of weeks ago was quite amazing.  Oh and I’m struggling to not play Bat For Lashes all the time as well. I got some amazing reissue on Sub Rosa of Pakistani sarod music which makes me feel like I’m in an opium den… nice…. Omar Souleyman is doing it for me big style… I can’t wait for that 1st album to come in on vinyl.  Those Mississippi LP’s are pretty awesome too. All the comps are well worth getting if you’re into archive blues and gospel gear! There’s loads of cool stuff out!!
Phil x

Did you know that major chains like HMV etc have the music distributors by the balls? You probably did as distributors need to get sales and the pitiful sales they get from independents won’t pay for a cup of tea. But did you know that indie labels pay for extra discounts that HMV get? This is a practice that ‘apparently’ all distros use. So as well as getting full sale or return with distros they also get extra discounts funded by labels without labels permission. Now I’m sure most won’t care but don’t you think labels should have the choice where the extra discount should go? There’s tons of things out each week and different shops will do better with different releases.  For example I can’t imagine HMV’s selling many merzbow releases so why not give the labels the choice to decide who to give the discount to instead of automatically giving it to the big boys? Surely that would generate more sales for artists and distros if it was targeted more?

By the way this doesn’t stem from us wanting bigger discounts (though it would be nice!). It comes from labels who’ve just found the news out and were horrified they weren’t supporting the indies

Well this may seem a but boring and industry like but it’s an interesting point and we’d like to know what you think.

tricky one this as almost everything is recycled these days which I suppose is better for the environment ‘n all but your ears feel well bored.

I think the last thing that I heard was truly groundbreaking was probably Windowlicker by Aphex Twin. I can’t really think of another record that’s come along that just sounds like it’s totally a new thing.

Am well into that Natural Snow Buildings album on Students of Decay by the way. One of the best things I’ve heard in ages!!

What did you think of Ghostbusters 2?

Do you think it’s in good health?? Sure sales might be down but there’s more people than ever making music and that has to be a good thing?? And if people are downloading more music for free than they used to buy does that mean they’re enjoying more music? Or perhaps they’re enjoying it less as they don’t have the time to enjoy it??

Now more people are making music do you think that’s a good thing? Now you don’t have to go into studios, you can record at home with a computer and some decent microphones.

Where do you see things going??
What do you think? I don’t think anything anymore. I just listen to what other people say and go with the most popular opinion
P x

yeah we’ve made some changes… The major ones are the search is now at the top right of the page (where it should be) and we’ve now got tabs on the item pages. I guess the other big one is sound clips which aren’t properly sorted but you can check a couple out here which the young Nathon did in his own time…

http://www.normanrecords.com/records/93793

http://www.normanrecords.com/records/97447

let us know what you think!!

OK after much debate of what the next important blog topic should be, we’ve decided on what do you like to listen to while you’re get busy with your other half.  Maybe you like a spot of Mister Mister while you’re doing some night plumbing? Maybe Prurient gets you in the mood if you’re a bit nasty? or perhaps you like some sedate ambience to ignore while you’re getting it on. Me?? I love a bit of Phil Collins while I’m cracking one off…..
P x

OK folks. I was gonna start the year with the usual who’s gonna be doing the big shit this year and asking yous lot what you thought. But it was probably gonna be Little Boots, White Lies and Empire Of The Sun and I can’t be arsed reading all your replies if that’s all you’re gonna write. I was looking at the BBC who’s gonna be big this year and half of ‘em look like they’ve just come off the set of The Mighty Boosh.

I’ve just kicked the shit out of a bottle of wine and format snobbery came to mind. See each week we get a handful of releases that are CD only and I think it’s a shame that folks won’t get to hear them as they just won’t buy anything that isn’t vinyl. I’m pretty sure it’s just vinyl folks who are snobby. People who buy tapes will happily but other formats… same for CD’s if they have record playing equipment. So what is it about vinyl lovers that makes ‘em all snobby? Don’t get me wrong here. I’m not on a massive diatribe against vinyl lovers. I’m one myself. If I’ve got the choice I’ll always take home vinyl even if it means getting less tracks (sometimes). But what about those ace albums like The Caretaker CD, The Advisory Circle CD, Bersarin Quartett CD… all CD only. Not gonna be out on vinyl.  This week our 2  albums of the week are CD only and will never be out on vinyl. Both of ‘em are superb. I know certain people would love ‘em but they refuse to buy it as it’s not on vinyl. Personally I kind of think that’s ridiculous. You’re looking at our site each week presumerably as you love music. It doesn’t matter what format it comes on as long as you’ve got the music right (MP3’s aside as that’s not really a format as you can’t hold it…my definition of a format means it needs to be physically tangible). I can’t get my head around it all. Please explain… oh and if you want to say what you reckon is gonna be big this eyar then I’m all ears. I’m holding out for a wings revival…

P x

OK send in your lists of your favourite records of the year please. We’ll stick ours on here as soon as weve done them!!
ta
Phil