Changes in the format and delivery of music—in both technology and packaging—would seem to have spelled the death of context for contemporary popular music, liner notes being only one element of that context. Our music has become much more a part of our multitasking lifestyle, only rarely indulged in as the sole focus of our [...]
But liner notes are not necessarily groundbreaking. Of the 45 Grammy winners, historic and retrospective albums have the edge. Both the 1978 and 1979 awards, for instance, went to the notes for Bing Crosby reissues; for the past five years, the award has gone to the notes for historic reissues of the music of Fats [...]
[I threatened, about a week ago, to run a story I'd written about the demise of liner notes; here it is. It was written almost two years ago, so a couple of temporal references are no longer quite accurate; I haven't attempted to correct them. I was also shocked to see that I'd rehearsed my [...]
I want to use the blog today to call your attention to a new documentary that’s streaming in its entirety (77 mins.) this week on Pitchfork’s web site: I Need That Record! The Death (Or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store, posted on Record Store Day (Saturday, April 17). The film is directed, written, [...]