The Awakening

Last Friday I bought myself a new compact disc. Just cos it's what I do somedays - too many days some may suggest.

This whole music buying thing is quite interesting. Once upon a time I was building up to being a nice anal retentive trainspotter record collector type - as you'd probably guess by looking here. For a while I was buying nearly everything Flying Nun released - sometimes on both CD and vinyl. Then I went overseas.

While overseas I really didn't have money to buy music - though over those 3 years I did end up buying a couple of dozen albums (including a couple of anal retentive foreign releases by NZ bands). During that time I discovered that my view of NZ music had been obscured by the rose-tinted glasses I was wearing. In reality some of the stuff I had been buying was pretty crap, I just refused to acknowledge it at the time. And being forced to lessen my purchases meant largely giving up my anal retentive ways. Thank Christ for that.

Since arriving back in this country getting on for ten years ago, I've noticed some changes in my music buying habits. For one I tend to find a lot of music on the internet and make choices based on what I read and hear there, rather than relying on local radio and print media. I tend to buy quite a lot of secondhand/cheap music these days - something I almost never did back in the day. Interestingly, over the last few years I've noticed my NZ music purchases as a percentage of overall music purchases are increasing - though now I would argue I'm generally buying it because I like it, not out of some parochial misguidance.

I've also noticed I haven't fully lost my anal retentive trainspotter record collector tendencies. I still feel I need to own (or at least have a copy) of every release by an artist I like. With most bands this needn't be the case. I believe that bands should grow with time, mature and develop, evolve and change. Some do. Some don't. This is how I justify buying everything by say Sigur Ros or Guided By Voices or David Kilgour, when to all intents and purposes one or two albums by each would be suffice. You just need to do your research to find out which one or two albums that should be.

Still I'm trying to escape these trainspotter tendancies. However, that didn't stop me buying the debut album by Dudley Benson. Dudley has been releasing EPs for a few years now. I kept coming across one at the local record store. I liked the design but didn't know anything about the guy/band. Then he got reviewed on The Sampler. Two days later the local record store had no copies of the reviewed EP, but still had copies of the earlier one with the artwork which intrigued me so. So I bought it.

First up, Dudley is a total not rock'n'roll name. Oddly enough the music is total not rock'n'roll. I hesitate to label it, but if you took the highly orchestrated works of , say, Sufjan Stevens (two albums necessary, tops) and stripped them back to minimal bits of the heavy orchestration you might be able to imagine Dudley's sound.

It's not something I'll listen to lots, but I will revisit it occasionally and be wowwed by it's beauty.

Here's the cover.

As I said, the artwork was what first intrigued me about this guy. I am a believer in judging a book by it's cover - and I like this cover (it certainly would have tempted me to buy it even without knowing the artist). When I bought The Awakening I noticed there were two versions - one in standard jewel case, and one in a cardboard sleeve (for $5 more). Naturally I bought the more expensive version.

Inside was an envelope.

And in the envelope was a library card.

Is it sad to like library cards? Especially ones for such potentially exciting books as this.

Here's the first Dudley Benson EP I bought - Steam Railways Of Britain. Love that dog. Love the train picture - unique to my copy. Oh yeah, the music's pretty cool too.

And the second EP - The Orders, Medals & Decorations EP. Again with unique cutout - this time a medal. And pretty cool music - including different mixes of songs from the first.

The cover of The Awakening reminds me of Andrew Ross's work. It's not an Andrew Ross, nor is it a copy, but it reminds me of his work (sorry private in-joke of sorts for one reader out there in the blogosphere).

And by nice coincidence in timing my review of Andrew's book is online now (and I deny any pre-planning or pre-emptive decision making involving the timing of this post and the availability of said review). If you're lucky you can win a copy of the book by answering a simple question. But you have to read the review first.