Aidan Baker - Concretion. Another free one from a while back. Downloaded it some time ago, finally listened to it. First two tracks I like a lot; the third one I found harder work.
I've downloaded four albums today, two free and two NYOP. All are great - who needs emusic?
I was thinking earlier today that Bandcamp has become the prime means of encountering music in its formative stage, really outstripping the promise of both eMusic and Amie Street. Streaming, multiple formats, merchandising, and suggested pricing offer many options of how to appreciate what we hear and at what level we want to contribute to it. And I am always surprised that although I could always stream albums, I find a desire to contribute something.
I have been finding so much music on Bandcamp, it was one of the reasons I put E Music on hold. The fact you can hear all the tracks, decent notes and reviews of the music plus links that work.
It is something you have to work at but the sheer number of quality music and lables I have found do make it one of my major sources of new music
although I could always stream albums, I find a desire to contribute something
I think one of the key differences is that they have managed to create the feeling that you are primarily buying from the artist (or the boutique label) rather than from bandcamp. This sets them apart from most other outlets and to me contributes a lot to the feeling of willingness to contribute, augmented by the sense of voluntariness that comes with NYOP. I find the same with Experimedia - they are a distributor/store, but because I know that it is run by an individual who is doing it out of passion for the music and who interacts and answers emails, the other week I actually postponed buying a CD from them a couple of days until a sale had ended because I would rather Jeremy get the full income from my purchase. Can't say I'll do that often, and there are not many places where I would take that approach, but it had a lot to do with knowing the vendor a little and the relationship being more personal. (I probably wouldn't do that on downloads, which are more like pure income in the first place).
ETA: now if only bandcamp would fix their search engine so that direct searches for things you know are there don;t turn up empty.
Yes I do agree with you GP about their search engine, for me the weakest part of the Bandcamp experience. But a lot of it is to do with artists/labels trying to get their work into as many categories as possible to maximise exposure
Speaking of Bandcamp...
Sampler from upcoming label of jazz saxist Greg Osby. As I think I have mentioned before, this hangs together better as an album than samplers generally do. Interesting listen with the current trend toward more R&B-influenced jazz.
Yeah, I still kind of need emusic too. It's getting harder, but lots of obscure stuff that I specifically want is still cheaper there.
Noto's best pieces (like "anthem berlin", now playing) have an awe-inspiring sonic purity. He is an artist whom I regularly find myself mentally stepping back and admiring as I listen. By the way, I discovered recently that the cover art from this one is from an installation art piece he did using sound waves to create patterns in milk.
Second play today, really liking this. In a way I still need emusic - I am sure after a couple of months on hold I'll go back, as prices are cheap for me, just like BN, but I just got so frustrated with it that I need a break!
When I posted this album on the New & Notable, I didn't realize how utterly brilliant (and still growing) it is. I just saw an album feat. Domotic wich in itself is notable in my world.
- With no doubt one of the highlights of 2012 . . .
Egyptology - The Skies
- " A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away », those canonical words could be inscribed into Egyptologys grand works frontispiece. Built one block after another using antediluvian rhythm boxes and synthesizers, from the sub low frequencies deep down in the foundations up to the high frequencies skimming the tails of comets, The Skies could also be the sonic illustration of a science-fiction narrative which took place thousands and thousands years ago Olivier Lamm (O.Lamm) and Stéphane Laporte (Domotic, Centenaire) were already well known for their post-electronica and avant-pop explorations among the Active Suspension/Clapping Music collective in the early 2000s. For Egyptology, they decided to pool their love for the mighty white noise sound and vintage electronic instruments (Roland SH101, Roland MC 202, Korg MS10, Korg 700s Mini, Yamaha CS-15, Juno 106, Roland JX3P, Prophet 600, Philicorda ) while cultivating their differences.
Concocted over a long period of time in their own home-studios, their erudite mixtures emulsify glimmering chants and synthetic dusts of overdriven sounds on magnetic tape, like hieroglyphs were written on modern day papyrus.
Musical sequel (or prequel) to a very ancient narrative of things to come, The Skies harmonizes the memorial sounds of our electronic godfathers (Joe Meek, Isao Tomita, Mort Garson, Vangelis, the BBC Radiophonic Workshop) through the eyes and heart of a child (synthetic music from French TV shows of the 70s) and builds them into an parascending trip which is less retrofuturistic or retromaniacal than conscious of the past, the present and the future which co-exist in all great epics."
- Clapping Music.
- @ Kargatron:
Some of the tracks does IMO have that "edgy sonic coolness, beauty, and menace all in one" about them (track 2, as an example)
I was thinking earlier today that Bandcamp has become the prime means of encountering music in its formative stage, really outstripping the promise of both eMusic and Amie Street.
it's not really, tho. i mean, yes, it has a lot of albums -- a lot of albums. but there's so much, and so little guidance helping to separate the wheat from the chaff, that it's like being dropped into a huge warehouse with no map and no assistance. don't get me wrong, i like bandcamp. but i find it's usefulness limited, unless i know exactly what i'm looking for.
@Daniel, [edited text] I used to do this: Go to bandcamp. Click on a genre. Click on page 2 of the results at the bottom. The replace the number "2" in the url with a random number between 1 and 100. Start streaming. This is both the joy and the limitation of bandcamp - hard to find things but fun to just drop in at random and be able to listen to stuff. Have made quite a few finds that way, and if you make the comparison point e.g. spotify, which also lets me listen, spotify is too target-oriented, so it's harder to drop in at random. But they have changed the page loading somehow so that method does not work any more. Still, I can still jump in increments along the page numbers.
ETA: This is weird. Something has changed at bandcamp. If you browse by genre it only gives you 10 pages of results. There used to be hundreds. When did that happen? And why?????
Philippe Petit & Friends - Silk-Screened - (Karl Records 2010)[/size]
"Post-Avant Jazz" soundtrack FOR FANS OF Four Tet, Alice Coltrane, Efterklang, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, The Drift & Strings Of Consciousness... "Silk-Screened documents another direction from French artist Philippe Petit, whose aim is to always surprise his listeners by releasing records which follow each other while not sounding the same. For now he is taking us in a cinematic world of dense mixtures of acoustic instrumentation and digital filtering, swaying and unfolding in ways that blend together jazz, modern classical and post rock. Pursuing a tradition he had started with his "Reciprocess" project, given away with The Wire magazine issue 301. . . . ."[/size]
- Norman Records
- Phillipe Petit @ Emusers
amclark, BN and others - just a week or so before I joined emusers!
I discovered a new 'remainder' shop for CDs, DVDs and games yesterday afternoon. I bought this, Eric Clapton Pilgrim, Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Harmony, Catatonia Greatest Hits, a Jools Holland CD, and Tom Jones Reload all for just under £12. Not bad! I can see some more visits there before they move on. Sadly very little jazz available, mostly CDs from 80s until about 2005.
Comments
Aidan Baker - Concretion. Another free one from a while back. Downloaded it some time ago, finally listened to it. First two tracks I like a lot; the third one I found harder work.
The Bevis Frond - Leaving of London hope the links work
I've downloaded four albums today, two free and two NYOP. All are great - who needs emusic?
It is something you have to work at but the sheer number of quality music and lables I have found do make it one of my major sources of new music
I think one of the key differences is that they have managed to create the feeling that you are primarily buying from the artist (or the boutique label) rather than from bandcamp. This sets them apart from most other outlets and to me contributes a lot to the feeling of willingness to contribute, augmented by the sense of voluntariness that comes with NYOP. I find the same with Experimedia - they are a distributor/store, but because I know that it is run by an individual who is doing it out of passion for the music and who interacts and answers emails, the other week I actually postponed buying a CD from them a couple of days until a sale had ended because I would rather Jeremy get the full income from my purchase. Can't say I'll do that often, and there are not many places where I would take that approach, but it had a lot to do with knowing the vendor a little and the relationship being more personal. (I probably wouldn't do that on downloads, which are more like pure income in the first place).
ETA: now if only bandcamp would fix their search engine so that direct searches for things you know are there don;t turn up empty.
Sampler from upcoming label of jazz saxist Greg Osby. As I think I have mentioned before, this hangs together better as an album than samplers generally do. Interesting listen with the current trend toward more R&B-influenced jazz.
I grabbed this brilliant album for a little less than 1 Euro (with my grandfather plan):
- Besides, Emusic still has the biggest collection of Independant labels and artists on this planet . . .
Noto's best pieces (like "anthem berlin", now playing) have an awe-inspiring sonic purity. He is an artist whom I regularly find myself mentally stepping back and admiring as I listen. By the way, I discovered recently that the cover art from this one is from an installation art piece he did using sound waves to create patterns in milk.
Second play today, really liking this. In a way I still need emusic - I am sure after a couple of months on hold I'll go back, as prices are cheap for me, just like BN, but I just got so frustrated with it that I need a break!
Craig
- With no doubt one of the highlights of 2012 . . .
Egyptology - The Skies - @ Kargatron:
Some of the tracks does IMO have that "edgy sonic coolness, beauty, and menace all in one" about them (track 2, as an example)
- Well, it IS more than a year ago . . . rusty memory and all that . . .
;-)
NP Egyptology on repeat.
Quite possibly my favorite Bowie.
Craig
it's not really, tho. i mean, yes, it has a lot of albums -- a lot of albums. but there's so much, and so little guidance helping to separate the wheat from the chaff, that it's like being dropped into a huge warehouse with no map and no assistance. don't get me wrong, i like bandcamp. but i find it's usefulness limited, unless i know exactly what i'm looking for.
@Daniel, [edited text] I used to do this: Go to bandcamp. Click on a genre. Click on page 2 of the results at the bottom. The replace the number "2" in the url with a random number between 1 and 100. Start streaming. This is both the joy and the limitation of bandcamp - hard to find things but fun to just drop in at random and be able to listen to stuff. Have made quite a few finds that way, and if you make the comparison point e.g. spotify, which also lets me listen, spotify is too target-oriented, so it's harder to drop in at random. But they have changed the page loading somehow so that method does not work any more. Still, I can still jump in increments along the page numbers.
ETA: This is weird. Something has changed at bandcamp. If you browse by genre it only gives you 10 pages of results. There used to be hundreds. When did that happen? And why?????
Philippe Petit & Friends - Silk-Screened - (Karl Records 2010)[/size]
"Post-Avant Jazz" soundtrack FOR FANS OF Four Tet, Alice Coltrane, Efterklang, Kammerflimmer Kollektief, The Drift & Strings Of Consciousness... "Silk-Screened documents another direction from French artist Philippe Petit, whose aim is to always surprise his listeners by releasing records which follow each other while not sounding the same. For now he is taking us in a cinematic world of dense mixtures of acoustic instrumentation and digital filtering, swaying and unfolding in ways that blend together jazz, modern classical and post rock. Pursuing a tradition he had started with his "Reciprocess" project, given away with The Wire magazine issue 301. . . . ."[/size]
- Norman Records
- Phillipe Petit @ Emusers
I discovered a new 'remainder' shop for CDs, DVDs and games yesterday afternoon. I bought this, Eric Clapton Pilgrim, Ladysmith Black Mambazo in Harmony, Catatonia Greatest Hits, a Jools Holland CD, and Tom Jones Reload all for just under £12. Not bad! I can see some more visits there before they move on. Sadly very little jazz available, mostly CDs from 80s until about 2005.