Hello everyone,
Hope ye are all well…
Another week’s ramblings ahead…
I will start with links to some of the releases for tomorrow, which include WALKING ON CARS, DEEP PURPLE, ERIC CLAPTON, PHIL COLLINS and Cork’s ownTHE ALTERED HOURS. ( album launch tomorrow night in the Kino)
There are a good few more in but not on https://musiczone.ie yet.
So, releases for next Friday the 5th of February include from Pias the new FIELD MUSIC album ” commontime” on double orange vinyl for Indie shops only for a limited time, bit of a talking heads vibe going on here….
Also from PIAS are some 30th anniversary Vinyl reissues from ERASURE.
UNIVERSAL
UNIVERSAL for Friday the 5th of February have a new ELTON JOHN studio album “wonderful crazy night” on four formats, CD, DELUXE CD, LP and super douper boxy thingy… , they have a new album by ERIC PRYDZ and also the soundtrack to the ELLIOT SMITH documentary ” heaven adores you” ( must get to see it) check out this beauty if he is new to you…
Essential have the new record by THE CULT out next Friday also on CD and DLP on the COOKING VINYL label….heres a taste
It was a bit of a surprise yesterday to hear of the demise of xtravision, and not really a good surprise.
I know a couple of the lads who worked there well and i have thought of them both a bit over the last day or so. One of them was in fact one of Music Zones first employees when she was only a kid, i nearly worked every day of the year for the first 12 months ( MAY 2001 we opened) but i remember Jamie covering me for a match or two for the 2002 Soccer World cup ( GA background, hence the use of the soccer term)…..she worked part time for me for a couple of years and then went travelling for a bit and came back a good 10 years ago or so and settled in with xtravision…..the second,a sound lad who loves his Vinyl and who i know down through the years ( has a young family, my own age) and has being managing xtravision shops for the last 15 years or so, was moved out of the Douglas branch about 6 or 9 months to another branch, he was in at Christmas when word was out that the Douglas branch was closing and we felt he had missed a bullet with being moved out..couldn’t miss all the bullets in the end…..good lad, would love him on board if i had a spot…thats the personal damage it can do.
Some may understandably think that i may be delighted in a professional sense with xtravisions demise…not really the case.
If i can explain…
We sold the same products within reason but were very different shops i felt.
I want to survive and grow, obviously, but i feel overall the demise of physical bricks and mortar shops like HMV, GOLDEN DISCS, XTRAVISION or any of the indie guys is bad news for us all.
People have such choice now with how they consume media/ music….the buzz term in our game at the moment is multi channel platforms….less suppliers in the physical game, the less money can be made by the powers that be and hence the less interest those powers will show in that “platform”. ( just give the products to those beasts in the sky, they can sell it for us and we only have to ship it a couple of locations, makes sense, makes money, lets do it, they can rack it next to their dog poop cleaners)
That said though, DVD is under dreadful pressure, i am 4 full years in Douglas in March and in year one, DVD sales were close on 60% of turnover….this year ( year 4) running at about 19%….fell off a cliff.
They reckon 250,000 households in Ireland have Netflix, crucial point here is, those that have it were probably people who bought DVDs prior to getting it…..another tough day for the industry i am in.
XTRAVISION needed to change quickly when that cliff approached and when you have 80 shops, you don’t move to nimbly, if move at all…… Irish man Peter McGowan ( owner of Hilco…hmv, xtravision….Hilco are a commercial restructuring company….eemmmmmmm) is interviewed in the SUNDAY BUSINESS POST this Sunday..
WARNER
Warner for next Friday have a 2CD remastered album by MCGOUGH & MCGEAR….Macca’s younger brother, Hendrix on Guitar, Macca does a bit of producing…meant to be a classic…i don’t know it…poems and all sorts i think
WARNER also have new albums by CHRIS ISAAC, german prog metal by OBSCURA, and a fancy version of the Josh Groban album.
REPUBLIC OF MUSIC have new albums next week by JUNIOR BOYS on city slang ( electro pop) heres a listen….
ROM also have a new album by TELEGRAM…alternative rock 4 piece from London town…signed, coloured LP copies available…a live CLUTCH DVD and GRIMES debut album gets a reissue….her very first one that is….
SONY
SONY have the second album by FOXES out next week, hip hop sensation BRYSON TILLER gets a vinyl release….heres a snippet
Did i mention last week that KAMASI is back in…
On the local scene, aside from THE ALTERED HOURS and WALKING ON CARS releases tomorrow, we have a bit of live music in the shop.
Local and up and coming songwriter and musician GERALD AHERNE, is in store tomorrow playing a few tunes for us ….GERALD is only turned 17 but already there has been a lot of interest in him from record companies in the UK….Should be a good one tomorrow…..5pm tomorrow if you’re around.
check out the site for comings and goings
https://musiczone.ie
Sin e for this week,
thanks for listening,
ray.,