Discogs - Collection listings guide

Having listed most of my personal vinyl collection I thought I'd share my experience and some tips on how best to list your own records on the Discogs database. It's well worthwhile not just as a record (sic) of your personal collection but it gives you a valuation (based on recent sales in the Discogs marketplace) and apparently this can be used for insurance purposes too (the collection is downloadable in a spreadsheet format). Trading your records then becomes a doddle also.

So here goes with my suggestions:

• Best search using catalogue number (more accurate). This is recommended as there are often several bands with same or similar names. Album titles (unless particularly bizarre) can throw up many results.
• Generally there is no need to add spaces between numbers and letters as displayed on the product. Dashes, stars and backslashes maybe more important (but not always it seems). Discogs seems to search on basis of alphanumeric strings.
• Barcodes (usually printed on the back of the cover) started appearing on albums from the early 80s and can be a quick way of finding your record. Best to write the complete code including the first and last numbers outside of the barcode itself. The Discogs app (for phones and tablets) has a barcode scanner that can save time. However, multiple similar search results often appear. Imho it's still quicker to use the catalogue number as usually these are shorter than the barcode numbers anyway and sometimes half a dozen characters is all that is needed.
• If several similar entries appear in the search results select (all versions) if available, as the top entry might not actually be the correct one and it’s best to use the following process to locate your copy.
• If no ‘all versions’ you might be lucky and hit on the exact listing you need, follow it through to the Release page and check all the details carefully (see below for more info). 
• If this isn’t your copy or if there are multiple results appearing then best to just click on any one so it goes through to that release page, then click on the ‘All versions of this release’ (top right)
• All versions brings you to the Master Release page - click ‘🔍Find My Version’ (sometimes this is off screen below all the track listings so scroll down as necessary).
• Best to work mainly from the physical record itself now.
• Narrow down specifics - i.e. in Format select Vinyl if a record.
• Check Country of manufacture if written on the label (or sleeve). If it’s an unusual country (i.e. outside the US, UK massive music industries) you might find there are only a few pressings. On the other hand you may find multiple pressings from the same country (sometimes running up into the hundreds for very popular releases) in this case the matrices are where you should start to narrow it down.
• Label (Record companies) are not always helpful imho as there are often releases on similar labels in different countries and the label info can be doubled up or confusing.
• Dates might relate to the original release year and / or actual pressing date, although often a reissue might use the original date. so not conclusive..
• Now check the matrix in the lock groove, time to get that magnifying glass out and some bright or natural light! Add as much info into the ‘Search Releases’ box as possible and see if it picks up your copy.  
• Usually there will be the catalogue number, followed by the side indicator (A, B etc) and then some other numbers like 3U-1-2. These all help to identify a pressing. Adding more of the matrix will help to identify your copy although sometimes the reverse is true and reducing the suffixes i.e. -1-1-2 down can be more helpful at least initially.
• The listed matrices (scroll right down to the bottom of the listing) can often help to identify your particular issue.
• If someone else has already listed that particular copy in the database but your copy has slightly different matrices - you can add your ‘variant’ if you like, but there’s a different set of rules for submissions and you need to be quite sure that it hasn’t already been added elsewhere). Sometimes even one character difference or even apparently the same info (see label designs below) can mean you are looking at the wrong release.
• There are many German pressings marked as R/S Alsdorf in the lock groove. A shorter ‘Alsdorf’ then the following number to find a release seems to work.
• Sometimes the Mastering House (and /or engineer) will have a credit, look for Townhouse, Strawberry, Bilbo etc. You probably might not need this extra info but some pressings are defined by where they were mastered.
• Occasionally there will be humorous phrases written in the groove which again can help identify a first press for example. Have found a few I never knew were there!
• If not finding your copy at all then try working backwards reducing info to just the basic catalogue number until you have a selection of results to work on.
• Sometimes there will be multiple copies that look almost identical and seem to have the same details. If some are obviously from different countries (if you’re unable to work out where it was manufactured) these can be disregarded if the locations are too unusual (i.e. you’re pretty sure it didn’t come from Israel) but you’ll probably have to click on a few to see if they match up to the copy you have.
• Sometimes the matrix number can give false positives, i.e. a copy appears that is obviously not the one you have. Try checking the B side version and adding other numbers that might also be etched into the groove. Even the mastering house might help.
• Another tactic I use is to look at the images, specifically the actual disc label pictures as the differences in layout, text information, and even colour, can help to definitively track down your copy. Particularly the text around the edge of the label, does it have 1,2 or 3 lines, some in a different language, and how far round the edge does it reach (look at other design elements to line up with). Look for missing or extra logos, particularly foreign rights societies (LC, BIEM etc) generally if it looks different to the copy in your hands it is another listing you are looking for.
• Sometimes the info is identical across several copies but they are differentiated by cover (sleeve) finish, e.g embossed, textured, lacquered finishes. Check for these words in the top descriptions next to the picture of the artwork.
• Coloured, picture disk and special finish options should also appear here.
• Often even after finding similar (or sometimes the same) matrices it is still best to check the label designs if there are multiple copies to identify the correct copy.

Condition grading - my 2p worth

M (Mint) = New, untouched, probably even sealed copy

NM- (Near Mint) = As new, almost totally perfect

VG+ (Very Good plus) = Has been played but generally in great condition, no obvious scratches, scuffs or sticky marks

All the ones below this you can pretty much make up depending on how you feel the vinyl looks / sounds

As far as covers go VG+ seems a good grading if it’s not got any creases, rips, tears, sticker damage, ring wear or cat attack.

Again downgrade from here as necessary.

If you sell anything and say it’s M or NM and it really isn’t as good as I’ve mentioned above, expect moans! VG+ is good compromise even if the record seems almost good enough to be the level up, customer can always be happier if it’s better than expected!

Totnes - Parking and The Pedestrian Question

It’s no secret that most people would probably prefer that Totnes Fore and High Streets were free of vehicles; as they seem dangerous, polluting and needless. But in my opinion much as a completely car free zone would be appreciated by some, the needs of others must be given priority for the town to survive as an exciting, busy and prosperous place.

Totnes with it’s long, steep drag up the hill is not like many other urban centres which have lent themselves easily to pedestrianisation with their centralised, wide, flat open spaces. Totnes has a different character and it’s why many people wish to visit, both from a local perspective and for all the tourists that come to see the town. Tourists do not much go to visit Newton Abbot for example…Totnes has history experienced through its arch(es), Norman castle, quirky Elizabethan buildings and the Butterwalk, all of which give context and background to one of the best local markets right in the middle of all this (and where it should stay!).

But access is paramount to the success of this town, and it can only thrive by allowing those people who want to come to get where they want to go quickly and easily, and with the minimum fuss. For local businesses to do well enough to pay for the maintenance and upkeep of these amazing properties, customers need to be easily able to get to their shops and also be able to feel that they can use their cars to take their purchases and / or family and friends with them.

So, and this may sound a little crazy but bear with me here, what Totnes really needs is more cars! Yes more cars that bring more people to visit and more trade to the town. Cars that are given priority access, cheaper parking and left alone by over zealous council money gatherers who seem happy to camp out in the pouring rain just to catch one of the aforementioned customers / visitors for being 5 minutes over time. (Yes this is from personal experience!). Basically, if prospective shoppers are stung in their pockets almost every time they come to town then they’ll just decide to go elsewhere, probably to an out of town centre where parking is free and there are no wardens..an unfair advantage that needs to be skewed back in the favour of town centres imho.

Overbearing and over patrolled parking control is simply not good for businesses in the immediate area (although it might appear to be good business for the council or private firms). Shopkeepers need to think carefully about whether they are being deprived of trade by these practices, because it is my belief that this is damaging to the economic vitality of this town (and most others in England too), and helping who exactly? 

There are people, both businesses and locals alike, who require constant access by car to their town centre properties for deliveries and everyday tasks.  The businesses benefit from pop and shoppers, i.e. the ability to quickly get in to the street, buy what’s needed and go again. The curtailing of this practice from a lack of a decent parking strategy, and those pesky fine slappers, has already affected the mix of businesses in the town, and many local people decry the lack of ‘normal’ everyday shops compared to the proliferation of charities, designer bits and bobs and coffee shops. Not that I personally have anything against these types of businesses, but you can see how local people have been driven out (sic) of using the town with their cars. Only Morrisons has benefitted from this policy. Even if cars become predominantly electric (and so less polluting) they will still need somewhere to park, so this issue is going to remain current for some years to come.

My family has owned a shop in the centre of Totnes since 1971 and personally ran a business there for some 32 years. During that time we saw many clumsy attempts at pedestrianisation; including speed bumps that just annoyed delivery drivers and motorists alike (and increased pollution) and also the hideous oil drum that was placed next to the arch with a bent ‘pedestrians only’ sign concreted into it, which did wonders for those important visitors’ photos! It's just not going to work as a black and white decision, but a strategy to reduce traffic flow along the main street to a fraction of its current level would make for a semi-pedestrianised zone.

Sure the main street has been used as a rat run to get to the top of the bypass, and as a racing hill climb for bikers back in the day, but in my opinion it’s the format of the road that is the problem. I advocate a ‘shared space’ approach that does away with the delineation of pavement to road, and so the issue of where people should go and where cars feel they have the right of way. Currently people are worried about stepping into the road, and car drivers get annoyed that the people are in 'their' road so the best thing to do is to take up the tarmac and remove the pavements (which have already had all their lovely original york paving slabs stollen some years back..) and replace it with cobbles right across the road. Cars just can’t drive fast over this surface as it is uncomfortable (but not so annoying and delivery hampering as speed bumps, or if well laid even to pedestrians). Where this surface is implemented both drivers and pedestrians know that in this shared space that obviously people have the right of way, so cars have to drive slower and be more alert to their surroundings. Eventually many car drivers will just get frustrated by the slow progress and not drive through any more. 

This approach has been used in many European countries, and is gaining some traction as has been proved to make these zones safer and more pleasant for all, and without needing loads of ugly signs, lights or bollards to make it work. Another benefit to a more historic town such as Totnes is that the cobbles (and lack of horrible yellow lines) just look more authentic too. So the rat run would be dispensed with as the main street would become a ‘go-slow’ area.

There has been a bit of a backlash recently against shared spaces, but mostly where they have been created for busy junctions when before there were lots of traffic lights, zebra crossings etc and in those cases maybe it’s not such a good idea, but for the main street of Totnes which is a single road with no lights, I believe it could work very well.

Another method to help reduce the vehicular usage of the street is to give cars alternative, easier routes into the centre that lead to ample parking zones that have quick walking access to the relevant parts of the town that people need to get to. As mentioned earlier, a parking strategy is vital to the continued health of the economy and so there needs to be appropriate amounts of parking very near both Fore Street and High Street. 

For the top of town the answer has been available for many years, but could soon fall victim to the grasp of those developers who would infill the southern area just to line their pockets without a second thought as to whether another estate of houses would relieve the town of vital parking amenities. I am old enough to remember Heath’s Nurseries in that area and, as far as I remember, that land was bequeathed to the benefit of the town, not for these others to make a fast buck out of. Already the link road has been designed in such a way as to lead into various housing plots (you thought it was laid out for the car parks or to reduce the rat run?!) It can easily be seen how bit by bit the developers are picking off the various car parks that are the lifeblood of the top of town.

This was a car park but no more..

It was mooted some years back to build a decked parking in what is known as the gravel car park, but certain people caused a stir over this, constantly referring to it as a ‘multi-storey’ conjuring images of monstrosities like the one that used to be in the centre of Brixham and so put paid to that plan in quick time. Some say it was even the Freemasons who complained as it would be too close to their hall! But in my opinion a decked car park is still a good option as if the main body of this was built into the top end of that area 2 floors could go in up to the level of the properties currently higher up the hill without any noticeable affect and possibly a third, or more, could go underground.

Gravel car park showing the elevation

In recompense the developers could get (most) of what they want by continuing to build over the further out car parking towards the Leechwell, which is all probably a bit far away from the centre anyway.

It is so important that pedestrians don’t have to walk too far into the town centre as people are unfortunately by nature a bit lazy and just won’t walk if they can avoid it! An access route to the proposed decked car park to the back of the Civic Hall has already been infilled with housing some years ago (see the white building in the center of the picture above).

Another way to alleviate some traffic flow away from the main street is to create a proper vehicular access through the gravel car park to the short stay parking at the rear of the Civic Hall.  Currently this is pedestrian only (and runs alongside the Freemason’s hall..) and would need to just slightly cut through the double section of old wall. Some few hardy souls do attempt to drive up South Street and do the 3 point turn around this wall (even vans on market days!) so by smoothing the road through to the top this would also reduce traffic coming up past the Grove infant school’s front gates. Certainly for those pop and shoppers this would give them a new route into the centre of town without using the High Street. Pedestrian access to the Narrows is also facilitated via the top end of South Street. Also the market could be serviced directly from behind the Civic again cutting down on traffic needing to use the main street to access the market square.

Pointless chaos

Straight through access to town centre

What is almost surely true is that if this option is not exercised soon then the builders will move in and extinguish this idea forever by plonking houses all over the gravel car park, and once they are there it’s virtually impossible to go back, once it’s built on it’s gone for good..

However, my second parking suggestion is for Fore Street and is asking just that! Many years ago my father fought the proposal to build a supermarket behind Fore Street, labelling it as a white elephant, too small and the wrong site. Well after a string of different retailers have tried and failed to make a go of this we now find that Budgens have given up too. and it looks like no-one else is interested either.  

Sorry looking and fit for nowt

So what am I proposing? This area is the perfect place to site the lower town car park. Demolish the old Budgens / Somerfield building and build a decent car park there instead. Again the site is hidden from view and on an elevation so parking on several levels could be built, and the pedestrian exit comes out just below the arch and so is great for people to access the centre.

Couldn't exit in a better spot!

Already pedestrian friendly..

Access to this site is just off the Station Road roundabout by Morrisons garage so would immediately bring people from Torbay, Newton Abbot and further afield directly into the heart of the town with minimum fuss and again help to reduce traffic on the main street.

Access not far from the Station Rd. roundabout.

Also a coach parking area could be incorporated to get tourists into the centre (so they don't have to climb the whole hill either). There is also easy walking access back to the lower part of Fore Street past the old King William pub.

Unfortunately, I just can’t see SHDC having the guts to implement such a plan, despite it’s obvious advantage to the economic health of the town and reduction of traffic (all currently vying for those few spaces available along the street). Although it could definitely be a money spinner for them if enough spaces are provided, and surely the car parking charges would pay for the site and redevelopment needed?  Although I would propose that the first hour is free to encourage more business to the town.

So then, more cars needed to bring more people and more trade to the town, but not in the main street, just within easy reach of this street. Then share the street to improve the dynamic, appearance and workability of the town. Total pedestrianisation, without proper thought to the requirements of this unusual layout and the traders who are its lifeblood, will only lead to gentrification and the gradual decline of this fantastic town with its bustling life. 

It’s the business people who need to stand up and be counted in this debate, they need to call for a proper parking strategy, at least along similar lines as proposed here, in order to protect their livelihoods for the future growth of the town. Their customers being penalised and scared away and the encroaching developers threatening to build in every hole available is surely something to get vocal about! However, there seemed to be more outcry over the possibility of a Costa coming to Totnes than the affected people demanding a proper solution is put into place before the options disappear..

In my opinion for too long many towns have been held hostage by the curse of the traffic warden and traders are just not doing enough to make sure that easy access to their businesses is both protected and enhanced in whatever way possible, as they are the ones who are both paying the elevated business rates and providing the colour and interest with their choice of trades that brings people, both locals and visitors to the town.

Pedestrianisation without proper forethought for how to bring people directly into the centre is just a pipe dream and for me is not even really the issue at large here. Even ideas of part pedestrianisation on certain days etc. would just be an excuse to create more ugly signage and confuse people. Sure more footfall is needed in the town, but expecting people to walk all the way up the street, or even be able to properly do their shopping on a bus is not realistic. Easy access is key to the survival of Totnes and time is running out to do something about it. Already I hear that there are plans to infill the Budgens site with a care home..this is just more short termism at large as this isn't going to help improve Totnes in any way, and let's be honest here are these new residents going to be using the town much, and where are their visitors/families going to park?

Is the council on your side? It’s a good question, and I think you need to look at the history here and to also consider whether their issuing of as many parking fines as possible is helpful to the town? Whether in recent times that the possible suggestion of building houses all over the Civic market square could ever have been in the interests of anyone other than associated developers?  

The massive increase of new housing that has already impacted on the hills above Longmarsh (and now all along Steamer Quay too) and other sites (like the Kevics lower school) are going to be bringing many more people into the town with little or no respective investment in infrastructure (let alone jobs). Where are all these prospective new customers going to park if the council have allowed the car parks to be built over and ignored the possibilities of providing better access and parking via the options outlined above?

It's time to demand a proper parking strategy or suffer the consequences...

Fizzy Logic?

So, the world is in danger of imminent destruction, or at least irreversible climate change, due to the carbon dioxide emissions from man-made sources such as flying in aeroplanes (see GreenThing)

Of course, there are other sources of carbon dioxide that make a big impact, notably cows / cattle whose flatulence and excrement contributes enormously, so think of this next time you eat a MacDonalds / Burger King...

But one surely major player in the carbon dioxide equation has got to be fizzy drinks. Think about it, companies like Coca Cola and Pepsi (who between them produce and distribute many of the known brands of fizzy pop) actually have massive factories where they deliberately create zillions of cubic metres of carbon dioxide. This is then pumped into bottles with acres of sugar, or those horrible sweetener chemicals, add a bit of flavouring and colouring and bob's your uncle you have an instant global warming time bomb!

Surely something should be said, if not even done about these shameless polluters? If the scientists are right (and not just jumping on the political funding bandwagon...) then a world without Coca Cola and its ilk may well be a cooler place to be, if perhaps lacking a bit of pizzaz and a little flatter too... burp! ;-)

Medicines & Glue

No, this isn't a article suggesting that you sniff glue instead of taking prescribed medicines, but these two items do seem to have something in common...

Ok I'll start with the glue and take the medicines later. Why is it that when you buy a tube of glue in packaging, whether it's superglue (in any of its varieties) or contact adhesive, wood glue or even Uhu, that all the instructions only seem to appear on the packaging itself? So, after the first use (or two if you're being careful to keep the glue in its plastic - that you had to cut open with scissors leaving a sharp edge..) you throw the packaging away, only to find that the next time you need to use the glue that you don't remember how to use it properly.

Was it supposed to be applied to one surface only, or both? Do you need a continuous coverage, or just spots here and there, and just how long do you need to wait before joining the two parts together? And then how long do you have to hold it together before it sets enough to let go (oh dear it fell apart...) and then how long is it going to take before it's set completely and the item is ready to use like before?

All this info was on the packaging and not on the tube. So why is this? Could it be that the manufacturers want us to waste endless tubes of glue through lack of information, i.e. we end up throwing them away as they don't work properly because we couldn't remember how to use the stuff correctly. I wonder... Certainly won't hurt their repeat sales if we have to go and buy yet another tube just for the instructions again!

That leads me on to the medicines, where a similar thing seems to be going on. Why is it that many medicines come in such plane packaging, both bottles and boxes? The instructions for use are almost always a piece of paper folded up inside the box, often written in about 30 different languages too. So once again we have the situation where the medicine doesn't have any instructions (or even warnings in many cases) on the bottle, and nothing of any use on its box either. Invariably the little piece of paper is the first thing to get lost, and then of course you don't know what the dosage should be; was it 2 tablets 4 times a day or 4 tablets every 2 hours... 

Also many medicines must be applied / used in a certain manner and there could be dangers, and or side effects, involved that are only mentioned on that piece of paper. Why on earth can't they just print this stuff in the language of the country of sale on the box? It would be much more informative, and safer too.

On top of this, most medicines have strange generic names that rarely hint at their actual remedy, so you've got no idea what the hell Gerandiumoxygelfen is actually for if you lose that little bit of paper. Why it can't just have words like 'for sore throats' or 'for insect stings' written under these brand names I cannot fathom. Could it be that the manufacturers actually want us to waste all these medicines so that we have to go out and buy new ones because we don't know how to deal with the medicine in question and dare not use the stuff incorrectly? I wonder... At the very least the important information should always be on the bottles, especially if you consider the warnings currently printed on many packets of tobacco!

Transformers

Thought I'd start with something fairly easy to pick at...

Anyway so what's the give with power supplies for all our lovely consumer toys, eh? Have you noticed how you just can't share the charger, power adaptor or supply for your phone, camcorder, camera, laptop, games console etc. etc?

Ok, within a given group of equipment the voltages and currents needed are often pretty much the same, but the manufacturers, in their infinite wisdom, seem to find endless new-fangled sockets and plugs to prevent us using them on other bits of kit. To add to the misery they change the voltages too so that gear won't either even fire up, or it'll blow up (hence invalidating your warranty too). So you find things like 7.2V on a camcorder that could easily have been something fairly standard like 6 or 9V.

And mobile phones too, virtually none of them are interchangeable these days. It used to be that if you had a Nokia then you could use the psu from anyone else that had a Nokia, very handy in those moments of dead battery.

So why do they do it, technical reasons perhaps? No of course not, they make them all different so you have to go out and buy a replacement, often at hefty street prices, and then if you need a car charger it also has to be acquired too.

Once your bits of kit finally bite the dust, as they all too soon inevitably do, then you end up with a pile of unusable chargers and connectors. Try taking these to the recycling people, they'll have the phone, fine thanks, but aren't interested in these!

If you look online you can find OEM copies of most power adaptors, often from Chinese sources (hey they made the originals in the first place) at a fraction of the cost, so someone in the middle is making a killing out of us suckers...

The manufacturers love these wall warts so much they almost always use them in preference of putting the power supply inside a bit of gear. For example I've just bought an electric piano and it's got plenty of room in its case for the power supply, but oh no it's got an ugly lump that plugs into it (like its a shaver or something!). A standard IEC mains cable would have been much better, but hey that's too easy and cheap to replace if I lose it...

Seems someone needs to stop this ridiculous and wasteful practice before we all drown in a mountain of black bits, or perhaps they'll transform into something useful magically, I doubt it ;-)

Well good news! Seems that after pressure from european administrators that power supplies for 'most' mobile phones are due to be standardised, thus preventing at least some of the aforementioned wastage. Apparently even Apple are due to implement this change for their iPhone too (remains to be seen) but this is a positive step forward for a change!

My only concern is that they seem to have plumped for the mini USB plug as the connector which, I feel, is a mistake as this is a standard socket on computers and digital cameras and, it's not going to take long before someone plugs their phone psu into the socket designed for transferring photos etc. with I expect the wrong result...

INtro

Welcome to my blog and welcome to the Interzone.

After many eons of keeping stum I've finally decided to air my rants on you the general internet peeps at large.

My intention is to let off some steam regarding several issues close to my edge and, at the same time, to centralise my ongoing projects and interests in, at least I hope, a partially cohesive space...

Look out for articles on Art, Music and Politics, all of which both inspire and aggravate me in roughly equal proportions. Some of these posts will be factual, some fictional and others plain conjecture, hearsay and opinionated crap. It's up to you to read between the lines and search for the truth; wherever it may exist in this crazy mixed up world that we all inhabit, for better or worse, or maybe just better than a wet fish?