Water music

...not talking about Haendel's masterpiece... I mean: liquid music or the super-digital (for me) brand-new (downloading/streaming) "format" which will free us from ANY and ALL formats... pure music coming from the binary 0/1 Wonderworld... more than radiowaves... the Perfect Sound Forever (oh, oh...)

... but that, right "that" hyped commercial dream... where I already heard it?!?

... now I remember: it was Philips B/V from Eindhoven, The Netherlands..., it was 1983, I guess...

So what?!?

192khz/24Bit, upsampling, super-duper AD/DA converters, and the mirage of an infinite playlist always available, a discotheque as large as The Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and the dream of a RIAA and jitter-free listening.

The tuner and radio at a larger extent, represented something similar in the near past, BUT the garbage coming from the radiowaves is an ever increasing reality, at least in my country... some live events are seldom broadcasted, BUT only represent a small digit percentage of the whole radio offer.

Abroad, thanking streaming Web feature, is slightly better, but we enter in the digital realm, (someway) loosing that "liquidness" - i.e. the myth of pureness of a live event broadcasted live: only musicians and microphones picking up the event = Music... yes, jitter and RIAA-free.

In any case, I was speculating in my absolutely unpretentious and down-to-earth way of thinking: after receiving more and more wise, well-informed and intriguing links on the matter of "liquid music" from Reinhard - leave alone the great, knowledged and (to me) unknown link bringing to a no-compromise new diigital approach of sci-fi conceived and built converters and the like - I tried to "defend" my "merry ignorance" on the matter, as my musical and aesthetic tastes do not mate too well with the almost infinite offer of Web.

My own having musical heros such as Hans Reichel and Fred Frith with extremely broad, yet small scale production or long time gone greats like Sandy Denny, Nick Drake, Robbie Basho and all the too numerous to be quoted groups and artists who recorded and no longer exists, whose discs I already own and purchased in their hey days.

While browsing at several Reinhard's hinted sites, I noticed that people, the users of these digital playgrounds, almost exclusively listen to classics - i.e. Jimi, Doors, Beatles... me and many, many others around already own ALL (or so) the above recordings... so, it's money involved - i.e. discs and disks cost is higher than downloading - and I love, simply, keeping music AND money unrelated... if I want and can afford and purchase a record I do, period.

Also downloading single tracks from a full record is unrespectful to the musician, the recording engineer, etc. etc. - but I'm an integralist;-)

How in the world could you only download "So What" from Miles' "Kind of Blue": it would be - it's my strong opinion - like asking to your girlfriend to... marry her own single tit or bottom, alone!?!

A politically uncorrect practice, indeed...

More than a "format" problem, is a problem of dealing and managing "wishes", as I absolutely know how my mind and my music hungriness works - i.e. it's like i "see" a cover or hear some "musical trailer" in my mind, through my inner ear or whatever.

This brings me to search on the shelves for "that" record, which I finally find, handle, smell, appreciate at several levels, also mnemonic, linking me to the past, when I purchased the disc, thinking to which girlfriend I had or where I purchased it, whatever, randomly.

I already told you about "Siesta" by Miles/Miller and "For the Roses" by Joni Mitchell discs which, both, smelled of a patchouli scent... olfattive music.

When I purchased "Harvest" by Neil Young, I remember kissing a girlfriend at the park, while the brand new disc was in my school bag, just purchased and still in plastic wrapping.

When I listened for the first time to, again, Neil Young's "After the Gold Rush", I had teethache (sic)...

... and so on and on...

It's truly a very personal relationship with (virtually) all and every disc and disk I own and my ideal listening session is always, say ALWAYS, a mind-game, a fond memory exercise and the pleasure from listening is GREATLY enhanced by the tactile and mnemonic experience.

As for books, for the dinosaur who's in me, i-Pad won't work, also if they tried to duplicate pages turning whoosh;-) - on a book I can write a note, squeeze it, read at rest-room or at seaside, I can throw as a weapon (happened several times;-)) - let it fly from hands to the floor, after reading same pages before sleeping, and you can double buy it to give as a gift with a dedication...

Like vinyl and its ceremonial, the books are in my DNA...

So what?

;-)