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Thread: Finding Prog at the library

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    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Finding Prog at the library

    I may have posted something like this a few years ago but I don't remember. Anyway, what prog or prog related albums have you seen or borrowed from your local library. Today I saw "Close to the Edge" and "Selling England by the Pound" but picked up David Gilmour- "live in Gdansk" and Trower and Bruce- "Seven Moons"(not prog but so far it sounds good).
    Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)

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    My first listen to Curved Air’s second album was from the LP I borrowed from the local li-bary.
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Progbear View Post
    My first listen to Curved Air’s second album was from the LP I borrowed from the local li-bary.
    Plenty of progressive music at my local library: nypl.org

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    Member Digital_Man's Avatar
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    Well you guys are lucky. Do you remember a prog band called North Star? I remember seeing their cd "tempest"(the instrumental one I believe)at a local library about ten to twelve years ago(it was still fairly new at the time). It really surprised me seeing it. I can't remember off the top of my head seeing or borrowing any other obscure prog albums. I did borrow Billy Cobham's "spectrum" at the same library once though which was a cool find. There are no lps at my current library but then again I don't own a turntable at the moment anyway.
    Do not suffer through the game of chance that plays....always doors to lock away your dreams (To Be Over)

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    I probably would not have got to hear David Gilmour - On an Island, had I not seen it on the shelves at my local library and borrowed it. Immediately decided to purchase.

    Another album I discovered that way was Crowded House - intriguer.

    I don't think I've ever seen anything by the "Big 6" or "Big 8" of prog at the library, but then it's only a suburban city council library, and I suspect the City of Perth library would have a wider selection.

  6. #6
    I don't really go to the library anymore, but several years ago I did on a fairly regular basis. The first (and thus far only) time I've heard KC's Discipline was when I borrowed it then (maybe 5 or 6 yrs. ago).
    'The smell of strange colours are heard everywhere'- Threshold

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    I owe it all to my library system. My local library and the Helsinki main library at Pasila provided my first exposure to many classic and obscure progressive rock albums. First there were tapes of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall in 1990. Then there were LPs of In the Court of the Crimson King, Ummagumma Wolf City, Mekanīk Destruktīw Kommandöh, Ekkedien tanssi, Avtograf and Idée Fixe, among others. But mainly it's been CDs, from 1992 to the present day, of bands ranging from Ageness to Yatha Sidra, more so after first all the public libraries in Helsinki and then in the adjoining cities were integrated into a single library system.

    I had tape/MD/CD-R copies of many obscure albums for years, before I had a chance of obtaining them on CD. In fact, at the moment I have Benoīt Widemann's Tsunami on loan from the libarary's storage "vault", as I have had about once a year since I first borrowed it and then failed to find a CD copy on the market. With Univers Zero and Twelfth Night, for example, I had to sample their albums from other sources, but it is heartening to see that the library collection has since followed my own collection and included these artists as well.

    At the moment, a search for "progressive rock" yields 3,618 hits in my library database. Not all of them are strictly on the mark - Foreigner's Mr. Moonlight has always raised a chuckle. There is no mega rare stuff, but the reissues and new releases from the last ten years are covered pretty well. And if I want, I can easily have five different editions of In the Court of the Crimson King for comparison. I'd say it's a nice progressive rock collection.

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    A highlight for me was finding the Genesis 1970-1975 boxed set at the local library. I was doing an online search of the catalog for something else Genesis related and came across it. So I was deep into Genesis for several weeks.

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    Member Zeuhlmate's Avatar
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    I discovered Magma: MDK on the local library in 1974 - and it was an interesting place to visit and browse
    Today I dont see much prog or other outskirts there. The 'serious' music is mostly jazz and classical - and then of course all the crap, that libraries also feels an obligation to supply to 'the people' - but give them what they want, thats why they pay their taxes.

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    Maybe I'm stating the obvious, but some things seem to be perennially 'checked out,' rarely to be found on the shelf. One must find it on line and place a hold on it.

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    Member Jerjo's Avatar
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    Out here in the sticks, the nearest library is nearly forty miles away. We get an actual bookmobile in town every three weeks. The selection is pretty much geared to the population. I have a card but never use it.

    When I lived in the Twin Cities I would find prog at our suburban library. My best score was the 2005 remaster of Porcupine Tree's Up the Downstair.
    I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart

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    Member helicase's Avatar
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    My local library regularly clears out cds nobody's borrowing to make room for new cds. They are often in like new condition and they only ask 2 euros for them. So the library is actually a minor source for my collection! Most of what I buy from them is classical, but sometimes I pick up a jazz or prog disc. Earlier this week I bought a double cd with organ music by Louis Vierne (going for nearly 30 euros online). My most recent prog finds were IQ - Dark Matter and Porcupine Tree - Fear of a Blank Planet.

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    I think the last 'prog' at the library was the Dewey Decimal system ....
    "Normal is just the average of extremes" - Gary Lessor

  14. #14
    A long time ago I discovered Eela Craig in the library.

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    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    I read this thread title as 'Finding Pot at the Library' -

    Anyway, best I've seen is Frank Zappa's The Yellow Shark

  16. #16
    Years ago (1990 ish) when I was about 12 I found Wind and Wuthering, Abacab and Trespass on cassette (with those awesome yellow spines!) in Oxford library. I think I had 2 or 3 Genesis albums at the time, so this totally felt like winning the lottery Years later, this time in Manchester library I found a ridiculous amount of Zappa albums: Waka Jawaka, Sheik Yerbouti, Joe's Garage, most of the early mothers stuff...it was a real goldmine.

    Matt.

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    That's Mr. to you, Sir!! Trane's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by helicase View Post
    My local library regularly clears out cds nobody's borrowing to make room for new cds. They are often in like new condition and they only ask 2 euros for them. So the library is actually a minor source for my collection!
    mine does that too, which I find a horrible idea...

    it's precisely the stuff nobody borrows that they should keep (if they don't, who will do that kind of archiving).... instead of Madona albums that everybody (or almost) owns
    my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.

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