Like the Tupac(s) of pop-punk
My copy of the Ergs! Ben Kweller EP repress showed up in the mail yesterday. I pre-ordered the sucker from Freedom School Records, and it ran me something like $15.
Now, like it says on the Ergs! website, “the vinyl record itself, whether it has 3 songs on it or 20, costs the same amount of money to make.” I don’t care about the actual cost. I do care about the fact that, in the age of Internet, vinyl should always - and I mean fucking always - come with a download card / coupon / slip / whatever. The guy who runs Seven Ten Twelve has a company called Transmit Vinyl, and they have “an introductory rate of $25 for 500 unique codes for 192K Mp3s.” That’s a goddamn nickel per record.
Now, I’ve got to get back to searching Shareminer for a decent download of a record for which I paid fifteen fucking dollars, and still can’t listen to on my iPod. Although - to be fair, I’m really frustrated because this is a seven-year-old record, and it’s flippin’ great. Plus, Thrash Compactor and their split with the Measure [sa] come out this year, and I’d really like to not have to run everything I buy on vinyl through my computer and Audacity.
Also, can “Pool Pass” be the summer jam for 2009 if it was released in 2002? Catchy as hell, about trying to get into the pool to meet a girl… is there anything more summer jam than that? The tune’s a little rougher than what I’m familiar with from Upstairs/Downstairs and Dorkrockcorkrod, but it’s not like the Ergs! have ever been polished. Case in point:
I say, if it comes out on CD, real fans buy both. If it is vinyl only, there’s something to be said for having it in its only format. That’s what some bands want; you have to respect that, right?
Besides, if you really, really need it on your iPod, you can always input your turntable/amp into your computer and add the info to the tracks.