I have a question. Inspiration struck and I'm 3/4 of the way through writing another blog piece. I was thinking back to that great thread that Kez started about themed custom EPs. One of the ones I suggested there I did actually make into a virtual EP and have played it regularly - the one themed around trains. I am writing it up as a suggested playlist with a brief history of the use of train sounds as a compositional element in modern electronic music.
The question is, before I title it, should this be a post-genre (like Vital Albums)? Should it be a category? Seems to me it could have potential, and that there might well be some reader interest in posts that suggest a five-song playlist on a theme. It's bite-sized and novel. It could also be five songs by an artist we want to highlight, or five songs that illustrate a genre.
Much as I am *loving* Nereffid's history of classical music, I am finding myself wishing in addition for a shortlist of single tracks that would help me learn what he is describing - it's too much of an investment to buy several whole albums (at least immediately), but I would be interested in and willing to buy a single track that well illustrates each development described.
If so, any ideas for titles for the genre? (I am terrible at titles) Should the concept be playlists rather than EPs? Vital playlists?
Love the idea. Every year I put together a 'Best of 20--' mix and was planning to make a post about the 2011 version. It's more than 5 tracks, though, so I think it should be something like 'Mix Tape Series' that would cover both that and the themed EPs.
I like that. So I would title this one "Mixtape 5: Trains" and create a category Mixtape Series to put it in. Or does "Mixtape 5" sound too much like the fifth in a series of mixtapes? (The web seems to lean to mixtape rather than mix tape)
One of my cats loves water. At the moment our bath is not draining well. Yesterday after I showered there was about 2 inches of water in the bath. Said cat jumped in and then spent a couple of minutes alternately lifting each front paw and shaking the water from it before putting it back in the water so he could shake the other one dry. It was hilarious at the time.
Another hesitation: calling it a mixtape is more up to date, but doesn't it awaken the expectation that what bis offered will indeed be a mixtape, with the songs all mixed together and the resulting file available to stream or download? (Rather than my more old-fashioned but unproblematically legal list of tracks and where to buy them)
ETA: By the way, on another note, in January I get the task of teaching my institution's intensive January German course, where we cover a semester of material in three weeks of intensive all-day learning. I've taught it a couple of times before, and when combined with administrative responsibilities that don't go away in the mean time, it's a very intense month. I am unlikely to produce much at all for the blog during the month of January, I'm afraid. There are a couple of albums coming out in early January that I'd like to review if they live up to expectations, so I might manage a review, but no promises.
Would it be better to have a title that doesn't need explaining? In time people are not going to come into the genre through the first post that has the explanation.
(See also my ETA above)
Or would we just have a standard italic sentence at the head of each post?
@ Bad Thoughts - I just submitted my contribution to the free/nyop joint piece. I think you had volunteered to put it all together in one post (?). Anyway, wanted to let you know it was there.
@GP - Great idea for a new category "Mixtape Series" !
Title for your piece seems better to me without the 5 in it (cause it does kind of imply the fifth in a series to me) - simply "Mixtape Series: Trains" looks good to me, fwiw.
Also, just throwing this in - about Craig's sentence under discussion:
"Over on the right side of the screen [that] you are currently reading is Music is Goods Blogroll" is what I think Craig means.
And as long as we're doing some cleanup, BT's Christmas piece has a "be be" in the first paragraph.
I wouldn't worry about any confusion about people's expectations on the meaning of Mixtape. It's gonna be hard to come up with a name for it that doesn't have potential alternate meanings or insinuations.
But as far as streaming goes, it would be nice if we did offer some embedded audio of all or some of the various Mixtape lists. Between bandcamp. soundcloud, grooveshark, youtube, and lastfm, we should be able to have a decent supply of music to stream for our lists.
@BT - Was I supposed to leave my free/nyop contribution in draft form? I noticed GP's nyop piece is a draft, but mine is 'pending review' since I hit the submit button. Let me know if I should put it back to draft.
I've been away for a week or so and great to see how this thread has developed in that time! I've learned a lot from many of the articles, but I am going to single out all those relating to classical muiusc, so thanks Nerefidd and Kez
I have some family issues that arose in the last week. I won't be able to compile a Free/NYOP post in the next ten days (or do any other blog work, for that matter). Recollage is fair game.
@BT, sorry you're having things to deal with. Everyone, how urgent is this? Can it wait or should we try to have it up by year's end? I could take over polishing it. Scissorman, are you still going to contribute something to it? Is there anything else we are still working on?
Oh, and also: depending on who is still going to submit stuff I am back to my original question about this. My own picks are all ambient or post-rock. Kez has added one that I haven't listened to yet. If I simply go with what we have I am not sure it's very credible as a best free stuff article - it's more like personal picks within a genre or two. For all I know there was a killer free jazz album this year that would be beyond my ability to evaluate. So if what we have is what there is I'm more inclined to run with it as a personal piece; if we'd rather wait for others to chip in more diverse selections that would be great too. No pressure on anyone, I'm just looking to get clear where this is actually heading, so I know whether to work on it or let it ride for a while.
I'm still aiming to get a couple jazz pieces in there, but it's tough to find many jazz bandcamps that are free/nyop worth mentioning. Also, with the holidays, it seems like I'm rarely in town lately with time to just sit down and write. I will try to get a few things up in the next couple days.
Fair enough. I'll write some thoughts on recollage. Does anyone else have those other titles BT mentioned and want to pen a 30 word appreciation? (There are several Jason Parker fans here, no?)
Oh, hey, that's a good point... how many words are we looking to write for each of these album selections? I may be overwriting this for the purposes of this article.
Actually more like 100, I was signalling that even a minimum review might be worth it. Here's a sample from my draft:
"Following on from his debut album, Burning of Wine Benjamin Dauer released Saturation Event on the feedbackloop label, an album described by Dauer as " a sonic exploration of the place that exists between being awake and asleep." Dauer continues: "I wanted to capture some of the feeling, that haze or cloud, that descends upon your mind just before letting go and drifting off." You could certainly do worse than drift off to this, but it also more than repays an attentive listen at higher volume. Fluctuating between light and dark textures, the album sustains a sense of spacious tension, blurred edges, lush tones, and constantly shifting beauty. The textures are rich and complex, and decent headphones are recommended. Download it for free here."
Certainly doesn't need to be any longer than that if we are presenting a selection.
Blog post idea: somebody (Craig? Greg? Can't remember who's most into it) write a site review of that cassette tapes from Africa website and include a couple of mini-reviews of suggested albums to start with. I didn't know about the site before I heard about it on emusers, and that must be true for others.
Comments
The question is, before I title it, should this be a post-genre (like Vital Albums)? Should it be a category? Seems to me it could have potential, and that there might well be some reader interest in posts that suggest a five-song playlist on a theme. It's bite-sized and novel. It could also be five songs by an artist we want to highlight, or five songs that illustrate a genre.
Much as I am *loving* Nereffid's history of classical music, I am finding myself wishing in addition for a shortlist of single tracks that would help me learn what he is describing - it's too much of an investment to buy several whole albums (at least immediately), but I would be interested in and willing to buy a single track that well illustrates each development described.
If so, any ideas for titles for the genre? (I am terrible at titles) Should the concept be playlists rather than EPs? Vital playlists?
Any help/suggestions appreciated.
And, yes, as a Category.
Craig
Why does my cat like to put her toys in water? Bowls, toilets, spilled water, anywhere that water is collected, that's where you'll find her toys.
One of my cats loves water. At the moment our bath is not draining well. Yesterday after I showered there was about 2 inches of water in the bath. Said cat jumped in and then spent a couple of minutes alternately lifting each front paw and shaking the water from it before putting it back in the water so he could shake the other one dry. It was hilarious at the time.
ETA: By the way, on another note, in January I get the task of teaching my institution's intensive January German course, where we cover a semester of material in three weeks of intensive all-day learning. I've taught it a couple of times before, and when combined with administrative responsibilities that don't go away in the mean time, it's a very intense month. I am unlikely to produce much at all for the blog during the month of January, I'm afraid. There are a couple of albums coming out in early January that I'd like to review if they live up to expectations, so I might manage a review, but no promises.
Craig
(See also my ETA above)
Or would we just have a standard italic sentence at the head of each post?
No worries about January, we'll be fine. I think I'm going to stop posting things on weekends anyway.
Craig
Title for your piece seems better to me without the 5 in it (cause it does kind of imply the fifth in a series to me) - simply "Mixtape Series: Trains" looks good to me, fwiw.
Also, just throwing this in - about Craig's sentence under discussion:
"Over on the right side of the screen [that] you are currently reading is Music is Goods Blogroll" is what I think Craig means.
And as long as we're doing some cleanup, BT's Christmas piece has a "be be" in the first paragraph.
But as far as streaming goes, it would be nice if we did offer some embedded audio of all or some of the various Mixtape lists. Between bandcamp. soundcloud, grooveshark, youtube, and lastfm, we should be able to have a decent supply of music to stream for our lists.
I think that's supposed to be there. Isn't the whole reason for celebrating christmas because of the birth of be be Jesus?
@GP - I like Mixtape Recipes
@BT - Was I supposed to leave my free/nyop contribution in draft form? I noticed GP's nyop piece is a draft, but mine is 'pending review' since I hit the submit button. Let me know if I should put it back to draft.
Craig
I have some family issues that arose in the last week. I won't be able to compile a Free/NYOP post in the next ten days (or do any other blog work, for that matter). Recollage is fair game.
Is it really 30 words?
"Following on from his debut album, Burning of Wine Benjamin Dauer released Saturation Event on the feedbackloop label, an album described by Dauer as " a sonic exploration of the place that exists between being awake and asleep." Dauer continues: "I wanted to capture some of the feeling, that haze or cloud, that descends upon your mind just before letting go and drifting off." You could certainly do worse than drift off to this, but it also more than repays an attentive listen at higher volume. Fluctuating between light and dark textures, the album sustains a sense of spacious tension, blurred edges, lush tones, and constantly shifting beauty. The textures are rich and complex, and decent headphones are recommended. Download it for free here."
Certainly doesn't need to be any longer than that if we are presenting a selection.
Just an idea for a rainy day.