I was born into the Sound of Philadelphia family in 1974. My father, Larry Gold, was a cellist in TSOPs house band, MFSB (the letters stand for Mother Father Sister Brother, or Motherfucker Son of a Bitch, depending whos asking). Later, he wrote string and horn arrangements for Teddy Pendergrass and McFadden & Whitehead, sitting at our Yamaha upright with his friend Jerry Cohen, the brilliant keyboard player and co-writer of Aint No Stoppin Us Now. I fell in love with this music listening to that piano, and going to sessions at Sigma Sound Studios when I was little.
Lots of things I never knew existed, including Laura Nyro collaborating with Labelle, post-Motown Jacksons produced by Gamble & Huff, etc.
I remember when those first 2 Philly Sound comps dropped at eMu. Growing up in the area, I recognized Ben Krass (the guy on the front of The Philly Sound Get Down) because of his cheesy, low budget commercials on TV. It was fascinating to find out his connection to the music scene there. I can't remember now if I have both of those comps, but I definitely enjoyed whichever ones I got.
A fascinating review Doofy, thanks. Although I never bought many philly records at the time it was one of the musical backgrounds to my twenties, always on the radio, and brings back memories. Like Lowlife I went to the Laura Nyro to find I couldn't even listen to the samples!
That Philly soul article is great, thanks. Most of them aren't available for download here but I listened to Billy Paul's Ebony Woman on Spotify and it was brilliant, gonna follow up the rest if they're on Spotify too.
one of the reasons i held onto my emusic membership for so long (6 years) is because it forced me to buy music on a monthly basis. i figured if i let it go, i'd stop buying, more or less.
that's what happened. about a year ago, because of some identity theft, i needed a new credit card. this meant i had to take an affirmative act -- updating the credit card information that emusic had on file -- or lose my membership. i hedged, delayed, and then, the membership was gone. the laptop where i got my music is slow now (i don't download music onto my new firm laptop), my external drive has a bad driver and my ipod is old. if i wanted to restart downloading music via the internet, i'd need a new laptop, external drive and ipod, so i haven't bothered. buying cd's is a pain. there's almost no record stores in miami anymore, and i'm gun-shy about buying online, cuz of my identity theft experience. i finally went to a record store this weekend, but it was not something i'll likely do often (spotty selection, too far away, etc.). even if i started buying online again, i'm sure i wouldn't download anything close to the number of records i did when i had a fixed monthly allotment and a mandate to use-or-lose my allotment on a monthly basis.
a little sad that i've let the membership slide. i'm guessing emusic prices rose recently -- again -- but i imagine they're still substantially less than a $15.00 or $20.00 new disc.
Blimey, just got a £20 credit from emusic for 'membership and feedback'. Anyone else get this? I'm wondering if it was for pointing out on the message board that they had a problem with their charts.
We wanted to tell you how much we appreciate your membership and your feedback on eMusic's Message Boards. It's your comments, compliments, and critiques that help us identify features that are most important to our members.
We can think of no better way than with a bonus 20 music credit added to your account.This music credit is valid through June 29, 2013.
Not sure where to start? Check out our New Arrivals or explore our Infinite Explorationsjust enter an artist's name, and it will continue to suggest countless related artists worth checking out. Please contact Member Services if you have any questions
I guess I'll just have to bring my balance down to my monthly credit max before the 29. and then there will be time to use the rest before next refresh.
@Daniel - Sorry to hear about your misfortunes. Reminds me of how I started on eMu - lost my job and had to cut my expenses drastically. Didn't buy any CDs for awhile, and then finally switched to them once I realized I could get 8 or 9 albums a month for 20 bucks. Those were the days.
Sorry to hear about the identity theft, Daniel. It has happened to my partner recently too, so I know how horrible it is. They managed to get into her Amazon account, which she's closed down as a result, and now they are gradually working their way around all sorts of other websites, trying to do password changes. Luckily, only Amazon's been poor enough to let the hackers in so far, and every other site has sent my partner an email querying the password change request, but it is disturbing nonetheless watching them work their way round the internet, trying her details on all the other sites. Just goes to show you really do need different passwords for different sites.
haha, sorry, i really have nothing to complain about. i mean, it's definitely been a challenging time, but on the whole it's been okay. i moved from name-partnership in one small firm to name-partnership in another small firm. my family is healthy and happy, notwithstanding my occasional grumpiness. emusic, and music buying in general, mostly fell by the wayside.
Well I nearly missed that one! I was going on hold this month but decided to stay another month to get some of the albums from the Mali Top 25 list I put up here a week or so ago. I was due to refresh yesterday, but was back late from work, so hadn't started downloading, so hopefully the first 40 plus tracks will go from the £20.
Well, they've got scheduled maintenance tomorrow at 7AM so I'm cashing in the bonus tonight with some items that had caught my eye but I might have hesitated otherwise - first, Jazzblues by Amos Garrett, an instro guitar dude type recording, Get It! by Tinsley Ellis, another all instro by a long time blues guitar guy, and Easton Island by Elliot Easton's Tiki Gods, a very surf noir kind of instro album (if you have the Jackie Brown soundtrack album you might remember Monte Carlo Nights from him - this is a new album finally). A little change leftover to ponder and a thank you, eMu.
Er, just a moment, I'm going to pretend I didn't just buy those recordings (the Elliot Easton was a lock anyhow and the Amos Garrett pretty much) and instead consider myself to have used the 20 clams towards easing the price of this baby off my SFL that I just hadn't been able to get past the price of - The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series - Joe Pass, 5 discs, 90 tracks and I am officially well pleased. The good news for everyone else is that now that I've sprung for it a eurotrash graverobber comp copy of it is bound to appear any day. Eh, bon chance.
I have gone on hold again. Before I have always thought I'd be back fairly soon, which is actually what happened, I couldn't stay away. This time I really feel that is it. I spent £8 on boosters to get a final few things from my SFL. But it is actually quite a relief in many ways to make the decision. I have put my account onto a 90 day hold, so I will see what happens towards the end of October. Something of significance has got to happen to make me want to go back
Swinnnnnddddllle! Oh, the humanity. I think I just got taken for $2 and change that I didn't use up before my refresh - the very first time ever in all these years. I'm crushed. I thought my refresh date was the 2nd, and it was the 1st. Oh well, screw it. This just reflects my having more important things to worry about - the newest eMu releases not being among them. Not a good portent for the relevance of eMu to my life - a bit too pricey for the casual acquisition. Then again being so ass deep in music as I am I have decided casual no longer cuts it - if it isn't something I'm really going to like a lot or fill some important space in my collection I have hit the brakes. I don't have the room, digitally or physically, or the time for anything less. Still have a substantial SFL backlog over there, and if my increased deliberation over it's contents cost me a couple of clams whatever.
I have the most random ass shit in my Saved For Later bucket. It's a mix of classic albums that I want to get around to discovering if I already own on CD, new stuff that is on the fringes of Jazz but don't have time to listen to now, new age music that clearly isn't jazz but I think is kind of pretty and don't want to forget about even though I have no intention of buying it (I think), new age music that I know I don't like but wanted the opportunity to enjoy the album cover again at some future date, various ECM Records releases (see two prior comments about new age music), and a hodgepodge of other music that I refer to as the Why-Guys... music that I saved for later but can't deduce why I saved it for later.
And even though I revisit my SFL bucket maybe once a month (if that), I blithely add new albums to it like I'm the SFL Johnny on the spot.
Encountered that word several times at work in written format last week, and though I did my best to stifle my laughter, cubicle cities can be so damn quiet at times that I'm sure people all up and down the room heard muffled hysterics coming from my general area.
Possibly, but not likely. I did however decide to put the account on hold for a while. At least, I thought I did. Turns out i suspended my account so I had to use up the rest of a booster pack before i lost access to my account on the 22nd of Sept.
I'm sure I'll be back next spring for another garden experiment or until i get tired of converting old vinyl.
I am not sure the "Recommended for You" feature on emusic has ever recaptured the effectiveness of the old recommendation system, but I was under the vague impression that it had to be based on some algorithm tracking trends in your downloads. Occasionally it shows me helpful things. But accidentally looking at it today I've come to the conclusion that it's not nearly as smart as I was assuming, despite my very moderate expectations. A few days ago I downloaded (the very excellent) Wandermüde by Stephan Mathieu and David Sylvian. Thing is, it's listed at emusic under David Sylvian (at Amazon too, which seems to be leading people who have no idea what ambient music is to buy and hate it because it's not songs). Now the whole of my "recommended for you" panel is albums by Japan, Rain Tree Crow, Bryan Ferry, Mick Karn, Talk Talk, and the Durutti Column. Leading me to the conclusion that all it is doing is seizing randomly on one thing I bought recently and trying to upsell. (It wasn't even the last album I bought - that would be Ian Boddy; and my recent downloads have not been all 1980s pop - there's been ECM jazz, Chris Watson, etc.). In other words, it's not really a recommendation engine at all in any sense based on actual music, more like a "customers who bought this also bought" thing, the kind of thing that at one time meant that whatever you bought at Amazon you got recommended the Lion King DVD.
That is more than a little disconcerting. Even though I've been off eMusic for about year now, I still think regularly about how many artists I discovered through eMusic.
I agree GP, I don't find it particularly helpful that often. I download an eclectic mix from emusic - mainly English and Celtic folk, West African music and new jazz recordings. This would stretch any recommendation system, but it ought to be able to keep to those categories. I regularly get recommended East European folk, Indian music and 'ancient' jazz reissues in quantity.
I am still doing battle with them over the Pure Bathing Culture album and the track issues. I think that after next month I will go on hold again, I am only waiting for the new Hammock realease on Nov 11.
Comments
Lots of things I never knew existed, including Laura Nyro collaborating with Labelle, post-Motown Jacksons produced by Gamble & Huff, etc.
Got excited by the Laura Nyro but not available in the UK.
NYOP Bandcamp
that's what happened. about a year ago, because of some identity theft, i needed a new credit card. this meant i had to take an affirmative act -- updating the credit card information that emusic had on file -- or lose my membership. i hedged, delayed, and then, the membership was gone. the laptop where i got my music is slow now (i don't download music onto my new firm laptop), my external drive has a bad driver and my ipod is old. if i wanted to restart downloading music via the internet, i'd need a new laptop, external drive and ipod, so i haven't bothered. buying cd's is a pain. there's almost no record stores in miami anymore, and i'm gun-shy about buying online, cuz of my identity theft experience. i finally went to a record store this weekend, but it was not something i'll likely do often (spotty selection, too far away, etc.). even if i started buying online again, i'm sure i wouldn't download anything close to the number of records i did when i had a fixed monthly allotment and a mandate to use-or-lose my allotment on a monthly basis.
a little sad that i've let the membership slide. i'm guessing emusic prices rose recently -- again -- but i imagine they're still substantially less than a $15.00 or $20.00 new disc.
I guess I'll just have to bring my balance down to my monthly credit max before the 29. and then there will be time to use the rest before next refresh.
I hope you're getting back on your feet.
haha, sorry, i really have nothing to complain about. i mean, it's definitely been a challenging time, but on the whole it's been okay. i moved from name-partnership in one small firm to name-partnership in another small firm. my family is healthy and happy, notwithstanding my occasional grumpiness. emusic, and music buying in general, mostly fell by the wayside.
Er, just a moment, I'm going to pretend I didn't just buy those recordings (the Elliot Easton was a lock anyhow and the Amos Garrett pretty much) and instead consider myself to have used the 20 clams towards easing the price of this baby off my SFL that I just hadn't been able to get past the price of - The Capitol Vaults Jazz Series - Joe Pass, 5 discs, 90 tracks and I am officially well pleased. The good news for everyone else is that now that I've sprung for it a eurotrash graverobber comp copy of it is bound to appear any day. Eh, bon chance.
And even though I revisit my SFL bucket maybe once a month (if that), I blithely add new albums to it like I'm the SFL Johnny on the spot.
#Whatevs #Guh
/furniture
#monies
Encountered that word several times at work in written format last week, and though I did my best to stifle my laughter, cubicle cities can be so damn quiet at times that I'm sure people all up and down the room heard muffled hysterics coming from my general area.
Possibly, but not likely. I did however decide to put the account on hold for a while. At least, I thought I did. Turns out i suspended my account so I had to use up the rest of a booster pack before i lost access to my account on the 22nd of Sept.
I'm sure I'll be back next spring for another garden experiment or until i get tired of converting old vinyl.