it was you who escalated that to "bandcamp-centric".
right. that's my point. you may stumble into a recommendation about an obscure bandcamp title, but otherwise, it's hard to pinpoint what's worthwhile. i'd actually welcome an ongoing blog devoted solely to analyzing bandcamp titles that aren't will be largely ignored by traditional review sites.
Yes, that could indeed be useful. Even if it were just lists with links and three-line reviews. Maybe MiG should do a periodic Bandcamp roundup, drawing from the bandcamp thread here and peoples' other finds.
NP:
Just discovered this, and it's on bandcamp. Liking it quite a bit so far. It's on emusic and Mtraks as well.
I guess we're all agreed this is the most important American music release of the decade, right?
Well, I think so anyway. Was excited to learn recently (on Don Byron's website) that Allen's coming back to Chicago to play this music at the opening of the Jazz Fest...Honest to God thinking of changing some travel plans to make sure I'm here for it.
Craig, I followed your lead in getting The Men with the recent Amazon credit. Still sorting it out, but so far I'm getting notes of speed metal, the Rolling Stones, and My Morning Jacket. Opening track is just killer, and what sold me on the album.
Daniel, certainly the concept of destroying Nickelback with laser beams is going to be intriguing to a lot of people.
Going back to the discussion about one track albums, I am very happy to try something out when it is only one credit, even with a 30 second sample. It costs 42p in the UK, but in effect it is 20p with my grandfathered plan, so I am always willing to try something I might not like at that price. But at £4.99, say, I'd be far more reluctant. It is difficult to understand, though, how emusic can operate with such prices, but I suppose it balances out with the 16 track albums that cost far more.
In the late 60s and early 70s in the UK the ISB were one of those bands you either really liked or could not really see the point of what they were doing. I was in the second category. Some friends persuaded me to see them live around 1970. It was one of the worst concerts that I have ever been to, sound bad and over in about 35-40 minutes. It was so bad it has stuck in my memory - I now suspect drug influenced. I saw this in my library so thought I would listen again to see how I got on now over 40 years later to see if I was wrong back then!
@ Greg . . .
I didn't care too much about ISB either back in the days. They were so much different from what listened to. It WAS the years when Pink Floyd were setting their controls for the heart of the sun.
From listening to them decades later, I'll say: Great songwriting, very charming vocals, very skilled musicians and not in any way outdated.
- I think that they have earned a place in music history, and in that respect may interest Emusers like Kez.
- I just couldn't resist to dig up this album and my post about it in "Those Were The Days": The Incredible String Band - The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion (1967)
The Incredible String Band " (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966.[1] The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974. The group's members are musical pioneers in psych folk and, by integrating a wide variety of traditional music forms and instruments, in the development of world music. The group reformed in 1999 and continued to perform until 2006.
- From Wiki Biography
Yes I agree BN - my tastes have obviously changed over the years as I quite liked the CD, and will certainly play again. And you are right about Pink Floyd setting the musical direction then - from memory around the time I saw ISB it was Atom Heart Mother era, which I saw PF perform just a few months later. Time to play an old CD after this trip down memory lane! (Pink Floyd Atom Heart Mother for those that do not recognise the cow!)
But it is strange how in those days one liked a range of musical types. I was also listening to folk music (eg Fairport Convention, Fotheringay), blues (John Mayall etc) Beatles Solo, Summer of Love West Coast (CSN and Y, Love, Jefferson Airplane, Doors etc) all different genres in a way a twenty year old would be much less likley to do today.
@BN and Greg: Personally, there was a lot of music I used to listen to entirely through the lenses of Prog Rock and Avant Guarde Jazz, ignoring many other elements. However, a listening to In the Court of the Crimson King a few years ago jolted: there's a lot of Folk Rock in that album!
@Daniel: We're talking about different types of "discoveries". I'm also not suggesting that there are dozens of blogs that focus solely on Bandcamp, but if you seriously want a list a blogs that make use of bandcamp (free album blogs and music review blogs), I humbly ask you to wait a little bit.
@GP: we had discussed earlier writing some posts about how to purchase music. We should consider a users guide to Bandcamp. I have some notes I'll put up later.
I have never checked out Incredible String Band, but I have come across them a lot because I have this mental block in getting that band confused with String Driven Thing, another psychedelic band from Scotland that I dearly love. I didn't discover String Driven Thing until a few years ago when I was a member of emusic.
Coincidentally, I just noticed that a live "lost recording" of String Driven Thing was just released April 17:
Amazon description:
"The classic early 70s String Driven Thing line up of Chris Adams guitar and vocals, Pauline Adams vocals and percussion, Colin Wilson bass, and Grahame Smith violin (Hamill/Van der Graaf) recorded on the Foxtrot Tour with Genesis. Frontman Chris Adams has suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and is rushed to hospital, where doctors recommend that he take four weeks rest to let his lung reflate. But unwilling to drop out of the impending tour, Chris elects for the alternative treatment which, in his words involved ''watching a brace and bit being used to drill a hole through my chest''. 14 days later, and against doctors' advice, the band took to the Rainbow stage. In the following gigs, including Manchester Free Trade Hall where this recently unearthed recording was made, the band performed sets with such stunning energy that multiple encores became the norm. I think you'll agree with me that Ozit has rediscovered a lost masterpiece."
Doofy - I wouldn't have pegged The Men as something you would like, but glad to hear you do! Your pretty well right on with what you're hearing, although 'speed metal' might be a bit strong. Personally, I put it more in the hardcore category, but I'm picky that way!
I love how Sacred Bones somewhat binds their releases together with the cover info.
Just in case this helps someone else avoid regret (and relevant to guides to bandcamp): that An Evening in the Village album that you all keep playing was free for a limited time. I clicked to buy it and had the download link sent to my email, but was rushing out the door and did not have time to do the download. But I thought I was OK since I had just "purchased" it according to the conventions of every other site I can think of. When I tried to download it later (after the free offer had expired) the download file was no longer available. So important bandcamp tip: if it's time limited you have to complete the download in that time.
@greg, I think it's an essential part of music literacy to recognize the cow.
Re: Evening in the Village--I hope no one is confused: it was a flash sale, one weekend only. The current price at BC is $5. It's also $5.99 at eMusic (alas, not in FLAC). This is a well-made album, the kind of project I imagine many folk musicians would love to make: reading traditional music back into traditional music from Classical music.
Prof, that happened to me on the same album. Won't make that mistake again!
Craig, I defer to your superior knowledge of metal sub-genres. It's just a great monster-rock sound...Like those all too rare occasions when the bar band starts playing and your jaw drops and you realize you're in for something good! I probably listen to more "Rock/Pop" than it appears from my postings here, which are after all when I'm sitting at the computer (working hard, hardly working, etc...)
On which note....somebody posted this on the eMu board, and so far it is just too funky for words. There is a substantive write-up w/ mpfrees at SoulSides. Jazz, soul, blaxploitation, and that's just the first 3 tracks...Possibly too groovy for work music!
This is rather nice despite the awful artwork. Free in MP3 or FLAC.
Our dears, New Year is one of the most important and most beautiful holidays with lots of joy, belief and sincerity. Therefore on this occasion we have prepared you a gift our first release: LEAVING ELEVEN (LVS001), various artists compilation of 17 great quality IDM, Ambient, Drone, Glitch, Electronic tracks, is out now!
Seventeen different artists with different visions on electronics from all over the world: Digitonal, Hobo Cubes, IJO, Joel Tammik, Krill.Minima, Maps And Diagrams, Mind Over Midi, Ninestein, Pawn, Pleq, Sense, Sleepy Town Manufacture, Sonmi451, Sraunus, The Green Kingdom, The New Honey Shade, Yvat. We would like to thank all the artists involved in this release for their good work, and all the people who support us.
- A great new album from one of the Bang on a Can'ers:
Notes: - "Following the critically acclaimed Frog's Eye, Big Grenadilla/Mumbai marks the second Cantaloupe Music collaboration between composer/clarinetist Evan Ziporyn and Gil Rose's Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP). It is also the second time that Evan has teamed up with world-renowned tabla player Sandeep Das - a member of the Silk Road Ensemble - thus forging together a non-western master musician with a premiere western orchestra.
Founder and longtime member of of the Bang on a Can All-Stars and founder of the Gamelan Galak Tika, Evan Ziporyn creates music at the crossroads of genre and culture. Having avoided the standard classical orchestra for most of his career, Evan came around to viewing the western orchestra as a world music ensemble - a reliquary of folk instruments and practices, rebuilt and retuned to play together; something that was constantly evolving - and he wanted to be a part of the evolution, to bring more outside elements in. An album that could have been titled "Outsider Concertos", Big Grenadilla and Mumbai have done just that: two works written for orchestra featuring non-orchestral instruments. . . . . "
- Cantaloupe Music - http://www.ziporyn.com/
Comments
right. that's my point. you may stumble into a recommendation about an obscure bandcamp title, but otherwise, it's hard to pinpoint what's worthwhile. i'd actually welcome an ongoing blog devoted solely to analyzing bandcamp titles that aren't will be largely ignored by traditional review sites.
NP:
Just discovered this, and it's on bandcamp. Liking it quite a bit so far. It's on emusic and Mtraks as well.
(url=>amz)
looked this band up because they are playing alongside Tortoise at the show I'm going to tonight. Pleasant stuff.
Well, I think so anyway. Was excited to learn recently (on Don Byron's website) that Allen's coming back to Chicago to play this music at the opening of the Jazz Fest...Honest to God thinking of changing some travel plans to make sure I'm here for it.
then
- these are the other two support bands this evening. This last one is my favorite of what I've listened to - has a little more fluency and moodiness.
There aren't words to express how much I love this album. It has been a long time since an album has smacked me this hard.
Craig
uhhhhh . . . i think you're forgetting another CLASSIC american music release of the decade. egregious oversight, imo, but okay.
Daniel, certainly the concept of destroying Nickelback with laser beams is going to be intriguing to a lot of people.
my vote is to slam a sharp pencil deep into their ears. but destroying with laser beams is okay, too. as long as it's done.
Tom
In the late 60s and early 70s in the UK the ISB were one of those bands you either really liked or could not really see the point of what they were doing. I was in the second category. Some friends persuaded me to see them live around 1970. It was one of the worst concerts that I have ever been to, sound bad and over in about 35-40 minutes. It was so bad it has stuck in my memory - I now suspect drug influenced. I saw this in my library so thought I would listen again to see how I got on now over 40 years later to see if I was wrong back then!
I didn't care too much about ISB either back in the days. They were so much different from what listened to. It WAS the years when Pink Floyd were setting their controls for the heart of the sun.
From listening to them decades later, I'll say: Great songwriting, very charming vocals, very skilled musicians and not in any way outdated.
- I think that they have earned a place in music history, and in that respect may interest Emusers like Kez.
- I just couldn't resist to dig up this album and my post about it in "Those Were The Days":
The Incredible String Band - The 5000 Spirits Or The Layers Of The Onion (1967)
The Incredible String Band
" (sometimes abbreviated as ISB) were a psychedelic folk band formed in Scotland in 1966.[1] The band built a considerable following, especially within British counterculture, before splitting up in 1974. The group's members are musical pioneers in psych folk and, by integrating a wide variety of traditional music forms and instruments, in the development of world music. The group reformed in 1999 and continued to perform until 2006.
- From Wiki Biography
The Mad Hatter's Song - First Girl I Loved - The Hedgehog's Song
But it is strange how in those days one liked a range of musical types. I was also listening to folk music (eg Fairport Convention, Fotheringay), blues (John Mayall etc) Beatles Solo, Summer of Love West Coast (CSN and Y, Love, Jefferson Airplane, Doors etc) all different genres in a way a twenty year old would be much less likley to do today.
@Daniel: We're talking about different types of "discoveries". I'm also not suggesting that there are dozens of blogs that focus solely on Bandcamp, but if you seriously want a list a blogs that make use of bandcamp (free album blogs and music review blogs), I humbly ask you to wait a little bit.
@GP: we had discussed earlier writing some posts about how to purchase music. We should consider a users guide to Bandcamp. I have some notes I'll put up later.
Coincidentally, I just noticed that a live "lost recording" of String Driven Thing was just released April 17:
Amazon description:
"The classic early 70s String Driven Thing line up of Chris Adams guitar and vocals, Pauline Adams vocals and percussion, Colin Wilson bass, and Grahame Smith violin (Hamill/Van der Graaf) recorded on the Foxtrot Tour with Genesis. Frontman Chris Adams has suffered a spontaneous pneumothorax (collapsed lung) and is rushed to hospital, where doctors recommend that he take four weeks rest to let his lung reflate. But unwilling to drop out of the impending tour, Chris elects for the alternative treatment which, in his words involved ''watching a brace and bit being used to drill a hole through my chest''. 14 days later, and against doctors' advice, the band took to the Rainbow stage. In the following gigs, including Manchester Free Trade Hall where this recently unearthed recording was made, the band performed sets with such stunning energy that multiple encores became the norm. I think you'll agree with me that Ozit has rediscovered a lost masterpiece."
I love how Sacred Bones somewhat binds their releases together with the cover info.
Craig
@greg, I think it's an essential part of music literacy to recognize the cow.
Re: Evening in the Village--I hope no one is confused: it was a flash sale, one weekend only. The current price at BC is $5. It's also $5.99 at eMusic (alas, not in FLAC). This is a well-made album, the kind of project I imagine many folk musicians would love to make: reading traditional music back into traditional music from Classical music.
Craig, I defer to your superior knowledge of metal sub-genres. It's just a great monster-rock sound...Like those all too rare occasions when the bar band starts playing and your jaw drops and you realize you're in for something good! I probably listen to more "Rock/Pop" than it appears from my postings here, which are after all when I'm sitting at the computer (working hard, hardly working, etc...)
On which note....somebody posted this on the eMu board, and so far it is just too funky for words. There is a substantive write-up w/ mpfrees at SoulSides. Jazz, soul, blaxploitation, and that's just the first 3 tracks...Possibly too groovy for work music!
This is rather nice despite the awful artwork. Free in MP3 or FLAC.
Notes:
- "Following the critically acclaimed Frog's Eye, Big Grenadilla/Mumbai marks the second Cantaloupe Music collaboration between composer/clarinetist Evan Ziporyn and Gil Rose's Boston Modern Orchestra Project (BMOP). It is also the second time that Evan has teamed up with world-renowned tabla player Sandeep Das - a member of the Silk Road Ensemble - thus forging together a non-western master musician with a premiere western orchestra.
Founder and longtime member of of the Bang on a Can All-Stars and founder of the Gamelan Galak Tika, Evan Ziporyn creates music at the crossroads of genre and culture. Having avoided the standard classical orchestra for most of his career, Evan came around to viewing the western orchestra as a world music ensemble - a reliquary of folk instruments and practices, rebuilt and retuned to play together; something that was constantly evolving - and he wanted to be a part of the evolution, to bring more outside elements in. An album that could have been titled "Outsider Concertos", Big Grenadilla and Mumbai have done just that: two works written for orchestra featuring non-orchestral instruments. . . . . "
- Cantaloupe Music - http://www.ziporyn.com/
Craig
(url=>band's website)
RIYL Matthew Shipp's Blue Series