a sad day

http://oinkmemorial.blogspot.com/

OiNK has died. over the last two years of my life, my taste in music has expanded at an absurd rate due to this resource. it exposed me to post-punk, krautrock, obscure psychedelic acts and incredibly rare recordings that I would have never discovered without it.

when i woke up and the news of the site being shut down was made known, it was like someone i knew had died. it sounds extreme, but oink was such a community- it really was one of the most important tools that shaped who I became over the past few years.

i don't want to get into music downloading and the ethics here... i do feel like its important to support the artists and i'll always purchase something if i like it enough. however the guiding force in making an album should be the music itself, not the money that comes out of it. imo no truly great albums can be made if their main existence is an a commodity. not real. no good. people who make music should be happy anyone's listening at all. someone else taking time of out of their lives to focus your attention on something you made? it's an honor, really. there's so many bands out there. so many great bands. more shitty bands. but if you're a band at all, people listening to you isn't a right that's granted upon formation, it's a privilege if it comes at all.

all in all, i'm sad that i no longer have the opportunity to preview basically any album in my wildest dreams before shelling out for it. i've bought way too many terrible albums in my life and they take up valuable closet space. you know how many albums i've sold back that i've bought within the past 3 or 4 years? maybe a handful, no more. what about the OOP albums that i can't even buy!? how would i have heard the feelies without OiNK?! my life without the feelies... oh no.

and the field mice?! TWEE. add twee to my oink genre discovery list. damn i'm going to miss this. when will something else roll along? i am no pirate. i am my father's son.