Grails Galore

The internet is a vast and murky sea, rife with places not worth the pixels consumed to put them together. Its size is so daunting that I usually find myself frequenting the same two dozen or so sites in my Favorites folder, doubtful that any foray beyond that number will reward the effort. Pop-ups, Adware and the ubiquitous cookie are all real dangers with every excursion. Additions to my folder are rare, but thanks to Phil’s counsel, I’ve just added two: Church Number Nine and Nothing Is. He’s absolutely right: both should be added to the Points of Interest posthaste.

I’m not usually one to download mp3s. Enough music arrives through postal channels and when it comes to debates about sound quality, I’m on the side of the naysayers who frown at compressed fidelity the format offers. However, the free jazz treasures available gratis at both sites make it hard to hold such a party line. Most of the original recordings in question were anti-audiophile to begin with. Taped in lofts or in distant proximity to festival stages on late-60s and early-70s portable audio equipment, there’s ample crackle and fuzz interlaced with the musical sounds. To the free jazz maven, the majority of the LPs accessible on both sites mirror the title of a recent Yazoo compilation of Pre-War Blues and Gospel: “The Stuff That Dreams are Made Of”. These are the platters that would require a small fortune to procure and that’s assuming you could even locate copies for sale. Sure, the thrill of a vinyl safari isn’t present in the shooting-fish-in-a-barrel ease of downloading them en mass. But to the lazy 21st century music consumer that’s hardly a reason to carp. The mirrored architecture of download pages coupled with an Ethernet connection makes the process a snap.

The only obstacle (& it’s a minor one) stems from the proprietary software employed to house the music. In order to keep things free & moving expeditiously, non-subscribers are limited to one download per hour and made to wait an average of a minute before receiving word that a file is ready for capture. Small prices to be privy to albums like the Noah Howard & Frank Lowe Village Vanguard set on Freedom, or just made available today, Force, a long forgotten duo album from Archie Shepp & Max Roach. Moreover, for those who don’t mind shelling out ducats, the subscriber rates, levied in Euros, seem very reasonable. Frequent return trips to both sites and my listening backload is now easily a dozen albums deep. A quick transfer of files to cdr or my Muvo portable player and I’ll have a lengthy soundtrack for an upcoming holiday trip home to visit the folks.

Ethical issues along the lines of those discussed in the recent Vault thread definitely play a role in the activities of both sites. Antanase and James, the sites’ proprietors, take pains to communicate both their intent (that of disseminating music that deserves to be heard) and willingness to remove any files that visitors deem inappropriate. Proof of this policy put into action came with a rapid response to Chuck Nessa’s request for the removal of several albums from the Church Number Nine holdings. Overall, sound and conscientious operating procedures from my perspective. Copious thanks to both A & J for making this music available.