HW/OFF: Support College Radio Music...

[Keith Henderson]

Hi Folks...

Well, this seems to be a subject of some debate, i.e., how much money are we
'expected' to spend trying to support a global underground music genre.  And
if that's more than we can afford, what are the alternatives?  Short of
cheating the artists themselves.

My solution, seeing as I only earn a graduate student's measly salary (I
*once* earned a real salary, but I hated that particular job), is that I do
whatever's necessary to procure whatever format I can.  Preferably CDs in
mint/near mint condition, but I'll do with lesser quality stuff in hopes of
someday finding a CD replacement at a discount.  What that takes is a lot of
time searching, and some patience, and quite a bit of luck.

But of course, with the hundreds of CDs I purchase a year, that still adds
up to a tremendous amount of dough that I spend.  I really have no other
hobbies that suck alot of dough (I went to see Pvt. Ryan last night...the
first movie I saw in a theatre since Dec. 1997), so I can afford (almost) to
spend that much money. So I've ordered from most space/prog/psych dealers in
the world at some point.  There are a couple favourites that I keep coming
back to, but I think most all offer something different that I'm after.

On the ones we've been discussing, I'll go through a bit of anecdotal
seek-and-find here...

>>Sundial--Return Journey
>>Sundial--Other Way Out

I think I found both of these in a store (My Generation in Cleveland) for
about $12 or $13 apiece.  Both domestic releases (GaAs).

>>Modern Art--All Aboard the Mind Train

Bought this online somewhere pretty recently, for something like $12 or so.
GaAs release (#2051).

>>Darxtar--Darker

Somebody in Sweden (was it Henrik or Johan?) managed to come across
(seemingly) the very last couple of copies in existence still in the
marketplace, and thankfully picked up a copy for me.  Earlier, I had traded
for a tape of this album, which I've already passed onto someone else at
Strange Daze '98.

>>Darxtar--Daybreak
>>Spacious Mind--Cosmic Minds at Play
>>Spacious Mind--Organic Mind Solution
>>Spacious Mind--Sailing the Seagoat

All four of these were purchased directly from Garageland in Umeå by Johan
Edlundh (IIRC) as part of a mass boc-l order project, which didn't quite go
smoothly, as Garageland was slow at every turn responding.  But I also
bought a used copy of Daybreak for a friend, from somebody who posted on a
newsgroup...I think it was $15 ppd. Not a great deal, but still a few
dollars off.

>>Melting Euphoria--Through the Strands of Time

This one I bought directly from the band at Strange Daze '98 for a mere $10.
They sold lots of these I believe.

>>Melting Euphoria--Upon the Solar Winds

I think I found this in a store right here in Columbus (Singing Dog), as
they've always been pretty good about bringing in Cleopatra stuff.  Probably
$13 for this one.

>>Word of Life--Dust

I had traded for a tape of this one (which I still have), but while I was in
Pittsburgh recently to see Black Sabbath, I made my usual trip to Dave's
Music Mine (a place I've shopped at for 20 years (honest!), although it was
known as Garbage Records when I was 16 and found Hawkwind vinyl there) and
found a used CD copy for $6.  Those are moments I don't forget!!  (Like the
time I found Dead Flowers' Smell the Fragrence for $3 here in Columbus!)

>>Saddar Bazaar--Path of the Rose

I bought this two weeks ago from Doug Shaver in Kansas City (Crown Chakra)
for damn cheap...like $11 I think.  That sale may still be on, I'm not sure.
deshaver at yahoo.com to check.

Keith H. (FAA)

>>I've got these in stock:
>>
>>Darxtar - Daybreak $A25
>>Spacious Mind - Organic Mind Solution $A33
>
>---See, that's what I mean!! I'm not paying $20--$40 for a stinkin' CD! :)
>Nothing personal, Paul. College students need sustenance just as much as
>musicians.

You've got to remember that the Aussie dollar isn't worth anything!  :)  So,
these prices are quite reasonable.

>BTW: Today's set went pretty well. Set list (if I remember everything):
>
>The Brain--Access & Amplify (which I bought at full price recently! As cheap
>as I may be, I do occasionally buy a CD at regular domestic price.)

Well, I got this one as a bonus CD in the four-pack Cleopatra repackaged
collection of "Space Daze" material.  Apparently, the bonus CDs varied from
pack-to-pack, as others here got something different.  You couldn't actually
tell what it was until you bought/opened it.  I think it's a pretty decent
CD, esp. since I got the entire 4CD set for like $22.  I bought it here in
Columbus at a store over on the east side, which I've never visited since.
They're kind of a Grateful Dead-type music store with other sorts of
'paraphernalia.'

I also saw the Brain in concert in Pittsburgh (in a converted Catholic
Church, complete with pews & pipe organ) as one of the opening acts for
Cluster (the other being Bond Bergland, who did pretty cool solo
guitar/sequencing stuff).
I posted a review here I think...maybe in the archives from two years back
or so.

Anyway, to sum up, I shop everywhere and almost every day and that's pretty
much what it takes (sorry to say) to find all of these things at an average
price that doesn't make me default on the rent payments.  I live in
Columbus, but I've been to every major prog/psych/space CD store in the
entire northeast quarter of the country (and Toronto), usually as I'm
travelling to shows and such.  Ear-X-Tacy (Louisville, KY), My Generation &
Time Traveller (Cleveland), Eide's and Dave's (Pittsburgh) are my favourites
in this part of the country.  And then lately I've been going to California
alot to shop in the Bay Area, where the best stores are (as far as selection
goes)...Amoeba, Rasputin, and Mod Lang (Berkeley).  The used section I go to
first, as I often find a lot of cheapie goodies, and then I feel better
about spending $20 a disc for a couple really hard-to-find items in the
regular stacks.  I'm going to ProgFest in May to see Porcupine Tree & Magma,
so I'll be back there soon...last time I got 14 discs in one day-trip to
Berkeley.  Yikes!  (Cap'n Lockheed for $10 at Rasputin - I remember that
one!  And they stocked ST37's Spaceage...how crazy is that?)

Keith H. (FAA)

P.S.  I don't think Marc's here at the moment, but his email's mpower at ml.com
if you want to contact him directly.

P.P.S.  As far as the amazing number of great underground space/psych bands
in this country goes, I'm with you, Chuck.  They need more exposure!!  We
here at Aural Innovations (and that includes Scott, Christian (where are
you?), and Paul) are doing our best to make folks aware of this great
stuff!!!  If you go to our homepage
(http://www.infinet.com/~jkranitz/space/space.html), you can see the maps
I've made (with links to most bands' sites) that indicate how many there are
(more every day!!).  And soon I'll have my 'space rock source map' finished
that will show/link to all of the labels, mail order sites, 'zines, etc.
that cater to the space/psych community in the US/Canada.  I hope it will be
helpful to you all.

P.P.P.S.  Good luck with your show, Chuck, and contact me directly about
what to do to get CD-R's made of the discs I have, as I believe the 'ends
justify the means' in this case.  Henderson.120 at osu.edu

ObUSspacerockCDfortheday:  7% Solution - All About Satellites and Spaceships
(new one out soon on Lone Starfighter Records in San Antonio, Texas.  You
can link to their site from ours (Aural Innovations))

Motto for the day:  "I tithe for Space Rock."  :)