Assuming Dr. Mutex doesn't mind taking Paypal money, put me down for $10 too...
I very much like the idea of a category of Free/NYOP Best-Ofs for each year.
I'm planning an entire article/entry about Rebecca Peake, who are probably the single most remarkable new act I've encountered all year. There have been other blogs that have covered him/her/them (it seems to be a "collective" of some sort, who are recording and releasing a new song every single day for 366 straight days, starting April 1, 2011, and most (if not all) available for free/NYOP on Bandcamp and/or SoundCloud). But most of those other blogs aren't very detailed about their actual material, so I'm actually planning to take a shot at picking out the best tracks in the various genres they're working in, out of over 200 songs. So it may take me a while!
I can probably find a couple in jazz. I know I've happened upon a few here and there. There was that excellent big band album that began the whole Bandcamp Jazz thread, and Bram Weijters has some excellent albums as NYOP. I'm pretty sure I've seen a few others that have come through the dotd. James, James, James something, it's coming to me. Hell, I'd be satisfied to do a Top Three for jazz. I know of two I'd do right now and I'm positive I could find another. The only question is deadline. If we're looking to post this sometime in the second half of December, I could make it by then. If something is needed next week, not so sure.
I can chip in on the $25 charge, too. Whisper to me where I can paypal it, and let me know how much. $5? $10?
Also, I will be thinking about free/NYOP stuff I've come across that I think is very good. I don't know a lot, but I do remember coming across a few. If I can remember what they were, I'll offer it up. Probably would be Americana/folksy stuff.
If we're looking to post this sometime in the second half of December, I could make it by then. If something is needed next week, not so sure.
Same here. I am into last week of the semester this coming week, with grades to tally and exams to prepare, then will be in Africa for a few days and unsure of internet access, and then there will be jetlag, so I am being a little optimistic thinking I can do this...but I would like to, because there have been free things that are vying for inclusion on my overall best of 2011. My rough plan is to try to make the working list of candidates before I go and then do some listening on the plane. My feeling is that the Christmas stuff needs to be up with some time left before Christmas, but the best of is OK later in December.
Since it would be time sensitive, might I suggest that we produce top 2011 Free/NYOP picks as a group? Everyone select 2-3 and write a short paragraph about each. One person (I'll do it, if no one else) will compile the list, format and link the entry.
I'll select three jazz, but by no means do I have to be the only one who contributes jazz. If someone feels strongly about a jazz album that's not on my list, then I'll for its inclusion. Also, if someone shares my love of a particular jazz album and writes a better paragraph than I, well, then, obviously that person needs to be thrashed and 86'd from the site. Naturally.
Okay, I put up another draft for another ABC article. It's got a ways to go before it's ready for anybody to review. It's simply titled "ABC's DRAFT". I was convenient for me to get that up there right after the first, which is complete.
I don't like to make Favorites lists personally, but if I had to pick three free/NYOP Indie-Rock acts from 2011, they'd be the aforementioned Rebecca Peake, Eric Maskol, Love Culture, and I guess The Arctic Flow, though Arctic Flow's cover art is really awful, especially for a shoegaze act. (Not that that's a dealbreaker for me... I'm just sayin'.) For lo-fi, maybe Fearless by The Notes, but I actually wasn't super-thrilled with that one.
Anyway, by all means include those if anyone wants to post a list of faves, but like I say, that's not really my thang.
I'm willing to chip in some $ for any of the ongoing administrative/technical costs associated with musicisgood.org... just let me know how much (within reason) and where to PayPal the funds.
I have a review of Noam Pikelny's album (Progressive acoustic/bluegrass) that can use editorial attention. I'm still tinkering with it, but I could use some feedback on the clarity of the review: it's mostly instrumental, so I would like the descriptions to be precise.
@BT, I read it over, enjoyed it, and made I think three changes direct - a couple of apostrophes and a spelling (it reflects better on you that you don;t know how to spell "Britney Spears" than it does on me that I do). I also decided to try out the editing features on the blog dashboard - you should be able to see a load of comments on specific sentences right below your test in edit view, I think. Let me know if that worked. It makes more sense to do the copy editing there than airing it here.
@jonahpwll, I made a couple of small corrections to your piece also and added a couple of small textual queries, one of them a matter of a little substance, to the editorial comment field. Nice idea to link the three pieces, and the VIA review was nicely evocative.
In the process of editing the article, I accidentally changed a status and may have done something else. I kinda blundered into the edit without paying attention to what I was doing. I feel like I got everything back to where it was, but you might want to give it a quick glance to be sure the article will act how you originally expected it would.
I've been away for the weekend, so catching up. Very happy to contribute to costs, but can I pay some in advance please,for any future costs? Conversion charges on a small amount via Paypal can double or add even more to the cost for me, so I'd prefer to pay more up front with little extra charges than a small amount. Two or three years ago I bought something from the States on ebay via PayPal. The cost was something like $2.80, but in the end I paid around $7, as my credit card company put on a minimum fee. So Dr M if you let me have the details I'll let you have say $20 now
@GP - I thoroughly enjoyed reading your Christmas article! Extremely well written and informative, and it pushed all the right buttons for my taste. This is just the kind of blog piece I look for to get new ideas for my kind of music. I've already ordered the Cockburn CD and can't wait to get it. Thanks!
Thanks, Kez. Hope you like the Cockburn - it's been an annual staple for us since it came out (which I discovered when I sat down to write is more years ago than I thought :-))
I bought the Sean Smith while writing, so that's two sales from that piece.
ETA, this Friday will, I think, be the first time I've missed an Over the Rhine concert in Grand Rapids for over a decade. Sad but this time unavoidable.
GP, nice Christmas article - I first heard Cockburn's Mary Had A Baby from that album on a comp called A Different Kind Of Christmas I had on this strange little rectangular plastic box filled with tape, and that song really put the hook in me, and would still be on my A-list Xmas mix. The rest of that comp had some decent bits - the Dave Edmonds, the Q, and I liked Shawn Colvin too.
Thanks, BigD. Mary Had a Baby to me manages to sound more like a rambunctious party than most nativity songs manage. Looks like an interesting comp - how was T-Boone Burnett's 'God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen'? (That looks like potentially another combination of a song I like and a singer I like).
GP, the T-Bone song was a good one too - sort of slide or dobro playing the melody as I recall - time to find that bag of Xmas goodies - I have vowed to actually play more of them this year, but I have to tread with caution around the home because my wife's years in retail have inflicted a Christmas music allergy upon her, but if all else fails I can take them to work. It's sad because even the cool and unusual songs will earn me the look of doom if I broach the subject, particularly after a work day. I suppose it might well do the same to me were I subjected to a daily bombardment of continuous bad holiday music. I continue to seek mind cleansing alternatives none the less.
Once I find my comp tapes and CDs I'll check back in with a few of my favorites.
@Craig, I was trying the other day to remember if it was you who posted something about Kickstarter and the Saharan Cell Phone music - and I see you posted it today in the listening thread. Why not review it for the blog? Has a cool backstory and would extend our genre range again.
Do we have any stats for site traffic for musicisgood.org?
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious about the impact of an Over the Rhine Facebook post.
Comments
I'm planning an entire article/entry about Rebecca Peake, who are probably the single most remarkable new act I've encountered all year. There have been other blogs that have covered him/her/them (it seems to be a "collective" of some sort, who are recording and releasing a new song every single day for 366 straight days, starting April 1, 2011, and most (if not all) available for free/NYOP on Bandcamp and/or SoundCloud). But most of those other blogs aren't very detailed about their actual material, so I'm actually planning to take a shot at picking out the best tracks in the various genres they're working in, out of over 200 songs. So it may take me a while!
I can probably come up with something on the free/nyop. Maybe some hip hop to fill out the genres.
Craig
Also, I will be thinking about free/NYOP stuff I've come across that I think is very good. I don't know a lot, but I do remember coming across a few. If I can remember what they were, I'll offer it up. Probably would be Americana/folksy stuff.
Same here. I am into last week of the semester this coming week, with grades to tally and exams to prepare, then will be in Africa for a few days and unsure of internet access, and then there will be jetlag, so I am being a little optimistic thinking I can do this...but I would like to, because there have been free things that are vying for inclusion on my overall best of 2011. My rough plan is to try to make the working list of candidates before I go and then do some listening on the plane. My feeling is that the Christmas stuff needs to be up with some time left before Christmas, but the best of is OK later in December.
Otherwise, whenever the dispatcher wishes to send it out, you have my blessing.
Anyway, by all means include those if anyone wants to post a list of faves, but like I say, that's not really my thang.
I changed it to "guided tour"; agree with suggestion. Also deleted that apostrophe in the date. Thanks for that.
@Craig
In the process of editing the article, I accidentally changed a status and may have done something else. I kinda blundered into the edit without paying attention to what I was doing. I feel like I got everything back to where it was, but you might want to give it a quick glance to be sure the article will act how you originally expected it would.
Cheers.
IMO, it's spelled Bretagne or Breton.
I bought the Sean Smith while writing, so that's two sales from that piece.
ETA, this Friday will, I think, be the first time I've missed an Over the Rhine concert in Grand Rapids for over a decade. Sad but this time unavoidable.
Once I find my comp tapes and CDs I'll check back in with a few of my favorites.
Thanks for the comments, GP, I used most of them. I removed the comments about blocks because it seemed too much of a specialist's term.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who's curious about the impact of an Over the Rhine Facebook post.
Good idea on the article. I'll give it some thought on how best to do that.
I'll take a look when I get a chance BT. Nereffid is scheduled to go up tomorrow, but I don't have anything scheduled yet for Thursday.
Craig
Craig