NEOS, KAIROS, AEON: Record Companies from Hell

[snyprrr]

Here!!

Let's have at it.


I got burned on the Maderna Cycle on NEOS. I was overwhelmed by the availability and the samples and the emotion and hysteria, that I got four Volumes right away, only to find that Maderna wasn't as "quiet" as I'd hoped, and now I'm stuck with getting to know a Composer that is going to be more difficult than I thought (I was already happy with the Philips Oboe Concertos 1-3 and the DG disc, and whatever else I had). So, because generally these CDs go for just a few more than other releases, I try try try to talk myself out of as many Composers as possible (Ferneyhough). It's just that, when one of these companies gets a hold on your favorite Composer, it usually means severe pain on YOUR pocketbook.

Maybe some of you have endless pockets...



Send me your rejects!!

[Artem]

I love these, but, personally, I'm surprised that there's actually market for such labels out there, especially with NEOS. Kairos seem to be doing reasonable number of 4-6 disks per year, it seems, but Neos releases the same number almost every month. Who buys all their stuff?!

[nathanb]

I actually sold all my CDs about 4 years ago [and an 85 pound amplifier and a bunch of effect pedals] to line my pockets with hundred dollar bills and go on a top secret sexy roadtrip with absolutely no trail of bank statements. I wound up taking charcoal pills a week later on suicidal overdose, but hey, you only live once?

Anyhow, that is to say, selling all your CDs and starting back with a count of like, 2 or 3, tends to discourage the collector, so I actually didn't start buying physical copies of music again until about a year ago. Just a couple days ago, I organized my CDs, and I have a whole row of shelf filled! It's 90% NEOS, and each NEOS is a disc that can't be bought in MP3 format; they actually offered MP3s until about the latter third of their catalogue. So I'm doing pretty good on that portion of their catalogue, actually. But oh it burns...

Besides NEOS classics, I have 100% of the first two thirds of their catalogue on my iPod (about 75% of the latter third), and I have 100% of the KAIROS catalogue on my iPod (am buying only CDs for KAIROS from here on out because they're slow enough to be affordable). But yeah, that's MP3s, so not very cool.