I've been thinking about the blog recently, and the fact that I've posted five or six albums every week for getting on for seven years, which means that I'm now coming up to 2,000 posts. This does mean that I'm finding fewer and fewer actual unreleased albums to post, and those that I do stumble across tend to be from the lesser known artists. I have had a few other concepts running through the years which I was quite pleased with, like ...and on guitar, The Hitmakers Sing, the on-going collection of 60's girl singers who have never had an official compilation, and the b-sides collections of recent indie bands, but I'm also running out of ideas for those as well. The series of albums where I removed extraneous instruments was fun, but was over too quickly, and the series of re-imagined 60's psyche albums is also drawing to a close. As there has only been one comment on the actual music posted for the last fifteen days (thanks LonChes) then I don't know if what I'm posting is of interest any more, and so to give me a bit more free time I'm going to scale back on the posts, to one or two a time, a couple of times a week. I have enough in draft to tide me over for a while, but they do tend to be the more obscure artists who people might not have heard of, so do let me know if these are worth posting, and if anyone has any suggestions for b-sides collections, rarities albums or anything else that they'd like to hear then do leave a comment.
pj
May I suggest a couple of collections of rarities by Thomas Dolby? He has several soundtrack works not widely known or distributed (Howard the Duck, Ferngully, We're Back, toys, some videogames...) and some interesting b sides (Your Karma hit my dogma, Sale of the Century, Field Work...)
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought of Dolby for a b-sides collection, so will look into it.
DeletePj, I love this site and while I don't always have an interest in all that you post, I have regularly found artists that I have never heard of and loved the music. I am a rare provider of comments (maybe four times over the past few years but your site is literally the first that I open each day.
ReplyDeleteAs for stuff going forward? Well! my big loves are progressive rock, Neo-prog, David Bowie, The Beatles, Peter Gabriel but, it's your blog and your very wide range of discoveries have more than satisfied my tastes.
I fully understand your desire to turn down the throttle given the large amount of time that you must spend providing us music nerds with all of this wonderful stuff. Thank you so much for all of your hard work over the years and please keep it all going, even if it ends up as a series of irregular posts.
even though i don't download a lot from your site i quite enjoy reading it. sorry for not leaving comments (i'll try to do better. i totally get the need for validation, which you deserve) as for suggestions i would ask do you have interest in jazz?
ReplyDeleteI do have an interest in jazz, in particular hard bop from early 50's to mid 60's - Coltrane, Monk, Brubeck, Davis etc. Did you have something in mind?
DeleteEverything you say is certainly understandable. Just know that I'm a person who checks the site pretty much every day, downloads sometimes, and rarely leaves a comment. Whatever you decide to do, all your efforts have always been appreciated.
ReplyDeleteMark (from New York State)
Your ideas sound great! I have only been here for about a year, but I love all your offerings, and enjoy reading your comments. Keep 'em coming, homeboy!!!
ReplyDeleteMight one suggest a Scritti Pollitti B-sides & stray tracks compilation, ditto folk ambient techno group Ultramarine ? both worthy of alternative albums ? Love your blog, keep up the good work
ReplyDeleteScritti Politti were at the top of my list for a b-sides collection, but this actually has everything that I would have included, so I never did one. https://www.discogs.com/master/84481-Scritti-Politti-Early
DeleteDon’t know if it would be of interest to you or anyone else, but I have some CDs of live shows and a compilation of alt-country greats Blue Mountain. No live shows or B-sides comps seem to show up anywhere on the internet these days. I could ship them to you if have an interest.
ReplyDeleteHi!! Yeah, I'm another "regular" patron who rarely comments!! For me, I check regularly and when there are 4 or 5 albums of interest I download in one go!! Thanks for all your hard work!
ReplyDeleteI don't think I've ever commented here but I have appreciated your work for a few years now and though many of us visitors don't say anything, we exist and are grateful for all of the work you have done. I think you should follow your interests; this is supposed to be fun.
ReplyDeleteThat said, the top three things I wish I had better or more complete versions of:
- Marshall Crenshaw (there are 3-4 comps of early demos out there with somewhat overlapping takes as well as some early white whales)
- Jim Sullivan UFO (Century City version of album and single, properly cleaned up dubs)
- The New Pornographers (some imports and vinyl only stuff)
The blog Funky16Corners used to post theme mixes which were often fun; maybe there is inspiration to be found there?
The albumsthatshouldexist blog has posted loads of Crenshaw stuff, including early demos, so check that out. https://albumsthatshouldexist.blogspot.com/search/label/Marshall%20Crenshaw. I'll check out The New Pornographers as I do like Neko Case.
DeleteJust wanted to say that I love what you do and i do follow regularly. Not many ideas from me, the thing I love is that you come up with lot of "unthought of" stuff, which is really great. Having said that, I will keep following event if you scale down a bit
ReplyDeleteLike others, I hit your site regularly and don't comment often. For what it's worth, my favorite part of this site is you come up with things I didn't know anything about. More often than not, I'm amazed at how little I know about music I've followed for years. Whatever you decide and however often you post, I'll continue to visit regularly and appreciate whatever is shared. Thanks...
ReplyDeleteFYI: I'm not interested in new music
ReplyDeletePJ, this site is a phenomenal resource. The work you put in and your knowledge of the bands and solo artists is superb. I thank you for all your posts. As for suggestions, New Zealand’s Flying Nun label has an unmatched roster of brilliant bands going back more than 40 years. The Chills, The Bats, Straitjacket Fits, The Clean, 3Ds etc.
ReplyDeleteI love your posts even if I didn't download it. All very interesting.
ReplyDeleteHow about the Dodos UK 1967 Album. Any Hot Chocolate and Dave Dee Dozy Beaky Mick and Tich unreleased Tracks. Thanks. Ed
ReplyDeleteDodos is on the way, and DDDBM&T is here https://albumsiwishexisted2.blogspot.com/search/label/Dave%20Dee%20Dozy%20Beaky%20Mick%20%26%20Tich.
DeleteMissed the mention of Hot Chocolate, but they are here https://albumsiwishexisted2.blogspot.com/2020/07/hot-chocolate-i-want-to-be-free-1973.html.
DeleteGene, a great band from the 90s
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog since I've found it.And even though I do not download everything I find all your comments great esoecially on those artists Ihad never heard of before. Collections of b-sides,unreleased albums abd stray tracks compilations are the things I like most.THANKS
ReplyDeleteI too enjoy your site, in particular the stripped albums. How about doing Love Forever Changes? That would be interesting and not been heard before. Thanks for your work.
ReplyDeleteI did think about doing the Love album, but the strings are such an integral part of the music that I think it would just sound too weird without them. It's still on my list, though.
DeleteI can easily understand what you are saying...a lot of effort and you are not sure if anyone likes it. I check your site pretty much every day, download occasionally but rarely leave a comment. I love the stories you tell of these obscure (to me) artists. I typically download music that may be in the power pop genre. In fact, if I run into older music somewhere else, I often check your index to see if you have said something about the artist.
ReplyDeleteAll your work is appreciated by me and even if you post on a reduced level, I will still check in!
Tom (FL)
I don't check yours or other blogs as much as I did a few years ago because life has taken a few unexpected twists and turns. But I do try to catch up every few months when I get a chance. I appreciate all your hard work over the years and thank you for it.
ReplyDeleteLOVE your work and should probably have been more publicly appreciative by now. Totally get that scaling down for your own sanity might be a good move. A compilation that'd be so bizarre it'd easily fit here would be great glam rock b-sides/the other side of glam rock (because quite a few of those bands - Mud, Sweet, Slade etc. - were so sensitive about being dismissed as purveyors of formula chart rubbish they slipped in the odd b-side to showcase themselves a different way. Slade's Kill them at the Hot Club, Grecian Lament by Mud and one of the more explosive heavy metal workouts by Sweet would be go-tos, Life's an Elevator by T.Rex as well.
ReplyDeleteI've already posted b-sides collections by Mud, Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Slade, The Rubettes, Kenny, and Mott The Hoople, but it might be worth looking at some of the more obscure bands and see what they did.
ReplyDeleteHave you ever thought of posting B sides or rarities from Aurora?
ReplyDeleteIs that the Norwegian singer Aurora? I hadn't heard of her before now so I'll have to look into it.
ReplyDeleteAnother suggestion - the early 80s English/Irish band The Passions. I would particularly love to hear a digitised version of their six-song double 7" EP Africa Mine. Mainly because I just became aware of its existence about an hour ago, 43 years after it was released. Thanks for the amazing work you do.
ReplyDeletePaul from albumsthatshouldexist here. I've noticed you never post live concerts. Why is that? If you did that, it would keep you very busy. Most of the stuff I post at my blog these days is concerts.
ReplyDeleteFrom the start I've always been more interested in studio recordings, and the few live concerts that I've posted tend to have been radio broadcasts, like Kraftwerk, so good quality, or stuff from Tangerine Dream, also good quality as the audience keep quiet during the performances. It's something to think about, but it would have to be something very unusual to catch my attention.
DeletePaul again here. I have another idea for you. There are many, many musical acts that could use a greatest hits or best of album and either never got one or got a bad one. You could do a whole series of those.
ReplyDeleteAnother good idea. Lesser known bands who only released a few albums could do with a primer to introduce people to them. I'll have to try and think of some. Did you have any ideas?
DeleteI don't have specific suggestions cos you should pick bands you love. But I have two general suggestions. One is that when a band changes record labels a lot, often there isn't one good best of for their different time periods. And two is that in recent days there often isn't a best of at all, unless the band is really popular. For instance, the other day I was looking for a best of for singer-songwriter Freedy Johnston, and didn't find one. People like that could really use one to introduce their music to potential new fans.
DeleteI echo those letting you know that your work is much appreciated, even by those of us who pass many posts by. You do things that only music blogs can do. I hope that you continue.
ReplyDeletepj, hello. Like many other comments here, I come to your site regularly but not frequently. I'm always amazed at the range of artists you blog about. I love reading your comments, download lots and even listen to most of them. Thanks for all your efforts
ReplyDeleteI don't come here very often, I'm more of a punk/indie guy but I am ALWAYS really impressed with what you do. The attention to detail and the caring about all these long lost tracks is amazing. Plus I will ALWAYS hold you in the highest of esteem for the Pete Wylie/Wah! compilation from 2020! That was stunning! (One potential idea would be compilations of the same song by different artists - Now That's What I Call Louis Louis!).
ReplyDeleteI must admit that I am quite proud of the Wah! collection, as not only does it include a ton of great music, which the many individual labels might not have been able to licence to each other, but the title was perfect, and that led to the equally fine artwork.
ReplyDeleteYou do great work here and there is always more to do if you have the inclination, but I know it takes a lot of time. Your Christine Quaite post was outstanding, as was Sandra Barry. If you're looking for other more recent artists to cover, Arctic Monkeys have left a lot of non-LP tracks behind.
ReplyDelete