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The boys are back in town

The Strokes have made their first single of their first album in 5 years 'Angels' available for free download last night (no pun intended) which caused their website to crash and seemingly every alternative music lover getting excited to the bone. The news of the Strokes recording a new album caused excitement already. Every piece of news made fans all across the internet believe more and more that this is really going to happen. And bam! There's the first track! Everyone needed to hear it first and everyone needed to have an opinion about it and everyone need to tell the world how much they love it and how much the Strokes have been missed.

Did we all really? And with we all I mean everyone who isn't the Strokes number one fan.

With all the media attention from professional music sites, blogs and the amateurs alike, there really was no escaping from this news. One thing first, I like the Strokes. A good few years back I've seen them live and it was really enjoyable. I have really nothing against them, they make good music. But I can't say I really missed them. Nor do I understand why they are treated like Gods of rock n roll, why it's them who changed the world, basically what's so special about them. They are 5 scruffy boys from New York who picked up a guitar, and very well so, know how to rock and know how to write a straight forward tune. No bullshit, simply rock. Scruffy boys got themselves nice appartments and nicer girlfriends obviously, made some pretentious and in some cases possibly questionable solo efforts. Nothing wrong with that. Maybe they are a cult band. But did we all really need to collectively count down the minutes until we could all download the song 'Under Cover Of Darkness'? Did we really? Or haven't we all kind of fallen into the hands of a clever media attack in which we all took part whether we were aware of it or not. In fact, and I'm aware of that, by writing his blog I too give attention the to new single and new album of The Strokes. Who said publicity is expensive? This piece is paid for by my boss. The Strokes have launched a massive media attack upon us and it barely cost them anything, except possible loss of sale for their single, which will undoubtly pay itself back (it's common these days, it's good marketing). And whether they deserve it or not, we all know: The Strokes are back.

Personally I've heard 'Under Cover Of Darkness' only once, in a hurry, this morning and not completely. It's The Strokes, undeniable. It's catchy, it stayed in my head until I switched on my walkman this morning, about 15 minutes after hearing it. But am I in a total Strokes craze? No. But then I never was. It's good though.

Why the young downloads and the old cherishes vinyl

Currently the talk about the death of physical album releases has become more prominent again, triggered by the announcement by HMV that they'll be closing 60 of their stores in the UK. That's a massive amount of stores and yes indeed, this may mean a lot of towns in the UK will lose their very last music store. This is a sad thing. A very sad thing. Are people really so ignorant to not care about owning the real deal anymore? I do admit to listen to most of my music on my walkman or on my laptop while spending my time online (this sounds so much sadder than it really is I suppose), my walkman is just convenient and my laptop, that's laziness for most part, I'm too lazy to go to my CD cabinet, pick out a CD, make that choice (torture) and change the CD when it's finished. I however cherish the album and when I don't feel like listening to random songs (like on the radio but then only songs you like), I listen to the album, be it on my walkman or on my laptop. Nothing beats the sound of the CD or LP but that's the price I'm paying for being a lazy bastard.

The world is at our fingertips, we slide through our mobile phones, play and share, it's all so easy and so fast. Do we even remember what we're listening to? Those who grew up with this technology, who know no better than to slip and slide through a screen only a few inches small, can you blame them? Why would you go to a store, buy some silver disc and then go home to rip it before being able to listen to it. It's too much hassle for today's younger generation and the older, well, why bother right?

It's not really surprising that in this age where album sales drop dramatically the demand for cassettes and vinyl grows every day. Those who don't want to conform to modern times yearn back to the good old times, before Napster (or, maybe not quite before Napster because before Lars Ulrich heard about Napster, it was like being a kid in a candy store) and what's older than the MP3, what's older than the CD? Exactly, vinyl and tapes. It even sounds old and genuine. We can hold it, gaze at the artwork, read the booklet. Back to the times where we actually went into the store, bought an album and hurried home to put the needle on it or press play and read the thank you notes in the booklet. It was one of the first things I always read, the thank you notes. I actually still do that and I'm really disappointed when it just says 'family and friends'. I want names! Even though I wouldn't know who these people are and how they relate to the artist, the thank you notes... you don't get that with an MP3!

Record stores aren't allowed to die, not in the streets and not online. Music is important. Music is something you want to be happy about. Did you know you don't even own the MP3s we download? We buy the right to listen to the MP3, but we do not own them. It's just a file. A CD, LP, a cassette, that's something you own. You can touch it, feel it, read it, and unlike an MP3 album, you can give away a CD as a present. Seriously, think about that and then try to put a ribbon on a MP3. You can't. I got a CD gift check for my birthday last month, I'm going to own myself some music this Saturday. But in the end, the only person who really owns their music is the artist him or herself and that's the way it should be.

While writing this I listened on my laptop to 2010's most amazing album 'American Gong' and 2008's masterpiece 'Real Emotional Trash'. Ripped from the actual CD, naturally.