International Creative Network

Comments on Small Music

May 05, 2007

• Jrim says
  Mate, what took you so long...? It's only, like, 5 minutes' walk from your flat or something...
• Jo3y says
  I finally went here today. Incredibly awesome.

Feb 18, 2007

• Jo3y says
  Damn, that looks pretty nice. Definitely a good alternative to soulseek, morals wise. Although soulseek is ridiculously good if you pay the 5$ for "priority" or whatever.

Feb 17, 2007

• Jrim says
  It was some time last year that I started to get pangs of guilt about the amount of music I was downloading off Soulseek. Don't get me wrong: I'm all for piracy if it means corporate behemoths like Time Warner have to rethink their deeply fucked-up business models. But then, I wasn't downloading Kumi Koda: I was getting stuff my obscure people on obscure labels, most of whom could probably do with a bit of financial encouragement. Of course, I'm too far gone now to return to the days in which I actually shelled out for every CD in which I was half-interested, but Small Music seems like a nice compromise. It's a rental shop, it's close to where I like, and - most importantly - it has the kind of music I want to listen to. Loads of underground Japanese stuff, electronica, abstract rock, jazz, leftfield hip-hop, etc. etc. plus a whole host of albums I never realised existed outside the pages of The Wire magazine. Christ, I might actually get round to familiarising myself with the work of Phil Niblock and Alvin Lucier... who would've thunk it? Weekly rentals cost ¥300 for most CDs (more for boxed sets - that 10-CD Steve Reich collection will set you back ¥600). Membership costs ¥300 for one year, and you get 3 free rentals when you sign up. Not sure if the staff speak English, but the application materials were all bilingual so presumably they do.

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