The Bass Geek

I’m starting to think that the fate of the CD and the controversy over HD-DVD and Blu-ray just don’t matter anymore. The fate of shiny plastic discs pales in comparison to what’s available via a network, but it goes further than that. When you take the discs out of the equation, that changes the hardware needs as well. Does it matter that Apple doesn’t have a format preference yet, or that Microsoft has committed to HD-DVD while Sony is pushing Blu-ray? As long as the files come down a pipe and not through a disc, the whole thing becomes moot. In this way, the format wars play out differently than Beta vs. VHS. I can’t imagine this is a new or groundbreaking sentiment, really. Landmark Theaters are already pushing out movies on hard drives, most digital cable services have movies-on-demand, and iTunes (and probably soon Amazon) are selling via the ‘Net. But it does make it easier to skip ahead over the physical model, and therefore a content distrbution network, entirely.

Some Dell laptops I deal with on a regular basis don’t have built-in optical media drives. They sport connectable drives if you want to use them, but it’s perfectly capable of functioning without one (once the system is loaded, that is, assuming you don’t use a USB or Firewire drive to load the system). The signs, paired with downloading services, point the obvious direction. So what tips it over to abandoning physical media?

The iPod succeeded in fetishzing the device instead of the music. The common listener didn’t want the disc anymore, they wanted the device, and the listening came along with it. Since there usually aren’t liner notes that go along with a DVD, that need is eliminated, too. I’d think a download that included the same features that a DVD now includes (extra scenes, features, etc.) would do well. Since video games are now often based on movies (and the cut scenes in non-movie video games are pretty much movies unto themselves), maybe pairing the movie and the video game (with extra scenes unlocked through gameplay or something) would be a good sell. The Matrix may have pointed the way there - designers will just have to make sure the final product doesn’t suck.

And the ay has already been pointed with music as well. Like downloadable multitrack sessions from Trent Reznor, why not write games or small movies around the music? It’s not terribly rock and roll, I suppose (unless you’re Marillion and writing hobbit rock songs paired with a trip through Middle Earth or something), but these kind of projects carry new content and avoid the disc entirely.

And if you just want to listen to music? Download the music. That part’s already been done, although rumor has it Apple wants to take it from the home PC to the kiosk. Disclaimer, though: I’ve never heard of this site, and that principle seems to violate the premise of comfort and ease Apple enjoys. I’d bet more on touchscreen iPods on OS X for this next announcement.

Nothing groundbreaking, here. Maybe just another brick in the new structure.

In between lust for The Stick, I was thinking about a six-string fretless. My current fretless is servicable, and I don’t play it that much anyway, but I just got this “mwah” sound in my head I can’t shake right now.

. . . to start shows at the publicized time, man. Showing up at 7 for a show that doesn’t start for another hour-and-forty-five-minutes makes me feel both impatient and like a grumpy old man, yelling at kids to get on with it, already. I’ve waited two hours for Prince before, but that was Prince, and he’s the only one.

That said, there was a pretty good lineup at the Irving Theater this very night, if a little mismatched. Scourge of the Sea started with a folky, almost Crooked-Finger-esque sound. Svetlana achieved some moments of real beauty, and Hey Hey Melodica had some noteworthy songs (even if the dual glockenspiels and the slide whistle were a little precious). I wish I could have stayed for more of Johnny23, with their impressive live soundtrack to striking onstage video and film projection, but I just gave out. Even with the chemical assistance from both Cognizant Coffee Company and Lazy Daze, I just couldn’t make it.

The sound of the Irving Theater is markedly improved, and I’m curious to see what the new renovations will bring to this venue. Maybe it was their couches lulling me to sleep. I dunno.