Musical exploration on a budget
With millions of music websites and services to choose from, it’s easy to get overwhelmed when you’re trying to discover new music. Stop wasting time and read along as I dissect a new musical organism each week, giving you the scoop on how it works, where to find it, and any good music I find along the way. The best part? Every source I review will be absolutely free. So, next time you’re hungry for new music, turn to The Soup Kitchen to get your fill…pro bono.
Week one: Lawrence Public Library
For most, college may have given the word “library” a negative connotation, but in the quest to discover new music for free, the public library is an exciting and easy method of quenching your thirst for new music.
When I first discovered the public library’s collection of CDs, I was amazed by how up-to-date and extensive their selection was. It’s a gold mine for free music. Just off the top of my head, some artists I found were of Montreal, Bibio, Flying Lotus, Ladyhawke, Wavves, Avey Tare, Animal Collective, Yeasayer, Mos Def, MF Doom, and A TON more… After a few hours of exploring, I had about 70 CDs in my basket. Unfortunately, you can only check out 50 at a time. As my roommate and I would find out later in the week, however, 50 CDs is almost too many. Our computers literally reached their memory capacity after we had uploaded everything.
The obvious downside to taking advantage of the public library’s collection is that there is no way to preview the albums before you rent them. One must take a Russian roulette sort of approach when trying to discover new music, but because this is a free service, there isn’t much at stake. The cool part about renting physical copies of albums is that you can upload anything you want to iTunes and transfer it to a portable device. Another advantage of getting music from the library and not from an electronic source is the album art! You can leaf through the CD booklets and enjoy messages from the bands and cool artwork.
For me, the coolest part about getting music from the library is that you can actually request any album and the majority of the time, they’ll purchase it to add to their collection! To request a CD, ask a librarian for a “Suggestion For Purchase” form. It just asks for some basic information and your library card number. Once the CD arrives, you’ll be the first person who gets to rent it. That’s pretty darn cool…
Don’t live in Lawrence? Check online to find the nearest public library to you!
What you need: A library card. To get one, just go to the front desk and give them some basic information. You can start checking CDs out that same day!
Benefits:
-Upload CDs to iTunes for free
-No cost for rental
-Request any album and the library will add it to their collection
-Find music that some websites don’t offer
-Explore the full album of artists, not just the most famous tracks
Limitations:
-Only 50 CDs at a time
-Rental period of 30 days (BUT you can renew the item if nobody else has requested it)
-Possible late fees (if you don’t return items within 30 days)
-No way to preview CDs
Favorite tracks from this week’s source:
-“Sugarette” by Bibio (Ambivalence Avenue)
-“Hankuri” by Madman Jaga (Nigeria Afrobeat Special: The New Explosive Sound in 1970’s Nigeria)
-“This Head I Hold” by Electric Guest (This Head I Hold)
-“Ripe” by Givers (In Light)
Information
Source type: Public service
Address: 707 Vermont Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
Phone number: (785) 843- 3833 Website: http://www.lawrence.lib.ks.us/ (here, you can explore the library’s database to see what CDs, books, and movies the library has to offer and to renew any items you have already checked out)
by erica tausch