The rating system
The rating system I use for this blog is somewhat unique. It's not a reflection of how much I like the music itself as much as it is of how far I am along the process of conversion from consumer to fan. So, over time you may well see some of these ratings go up if I mention an artist again. And indeed go down, as musical changes of direction or failure to keep my interest are just some of the reasons that may affect a rating.
Congratulations, you've made a temporary blip of interest on my radar. Now how are you going to keep it?
I've seen enough of you to recognise and remember you, but I'm undecided so I'm not really following you (yet). I may make a spur of the moment decision to check in on what you're up to once in a while, but even that's no guarantee. May also apply to artists I am aware of, but whose music I've decided I don't have enough interest in to want to pursue further based on what I've heard.
I'm liking what I hear in general, but I still wouldn't describe myself as a fan. I will be wandering past your site occasionally, and there is something like a 50% chance I'll be buying your next offering once I find out about it, providing I have the money available.
Now I am a fan, so the chances are I'll be past your site once every month or two at least. There's a 90%+ chance your next offering is already sold, and occasionally I might even be going for something more than the basic package (if you have one)
Reserved for very few, this is about as close to internet stalker as you can get. I am actively watching because I do not want to miss your next release date, tour in my area etc. etc. You may not always be aware of the fact I'm looking over your shoulder to see what you're up to, but trust me, I'm there on a weekly if not more like a daily basis. Depending on how you tend to release your information, I may well be signed to your mailing list as well.
What I've been looking at
The past month or so seems to have been dominated by a mix of discoveries and disappointments.
Cheryl from the
Jade Diary tweeted about a video by an artist I hadn't heard of before, and they seem to be one well worth following up on to listen to more of. Lovers Electric are from Australia and I'm actually pretty willing to bet that if you like listening to Jade Diary, you'll enjoy this duo too.
Despite having an album out with his sideproject less than 6 months ago, it seems Brad Cox is still in full music writing form. An additional track "We Light the Way" has been posted on the
We Love the Underground Soundcloud page. In addition to that the new Skitzo Calypso album called "Ghosts" already has a release date early in the New Year. It looks like their website is undergoing a revamp to go with this as there's currently only a frontpage with a countdown timer available.There's nothing quite like political issues to get artists out in force. The "Occupy Wall Street" movement which has since spread to other cities across the globe has prodded a few of the artists I follow into musical action. Most notable amongst these is
Matthew Ebel, who has made 3 songs he already had regarding monetary inequality downloadable for free from his website homepage. Look for the scrolling banner at the top of the page, if you want to get hold of a copy of "They got the money", "It's raining bankers" and "Not our bed".
Meanwhile
Simon Scardanelli's new band Dr Scardo is releasing its first single and it's also along the same lines. Check out the video for "Wall Street Hustle" below - the images in it really say it all.And of course the lineup wouldn't be complete with some
Mysti Mayhem thrown into the mix. Here's a video from her on the subject.Getonic is a new service which allows artists to sell music direct from their facebook page. OK, you might think that's nothing new, but the twist here is that rather than using a credit card, or even a service such as Paypal, this one allows you to buy using your mobile phone. I haven't looked into the full details behind this one yet, but it seems that the purchase gets added as an item on your mobile phone bill. Prices vary slightly from country to country, but a track cost of $1.50 is said to generate 64 cents of revenue for the artist once the phone charges and Getonic's admin fee are taken into account.
I've started listening to some more of the
Popes of Chilitown since originally spotting them on Strummerville, but so far I'm feeling a bit disappointed compared to the track that originally got my attention and I'm starting to think I'm not going to develop any kind of interest. It's hard to put my finger on exactly why, but I've a suspicion I'm finding them a bit too weak lyrically.Also on the disappointments side there's still no sign of the
Natalia Safran album that was supposedly being printed a couple of months ago. In just a few days she'll reach the milestone of having raised her money on Sellaband for this album three years ago. Lori Greco doesn't seem to be doing much better on this front either, as she's already passed the 2 year mark since raising her money, though at least she is keeping people a lot more informed of what is going on than Natalia has been. The latest news from Lori is that there's a good chance her album won't be released until next year now. And as for Radio Orange - they were announcing on their page more than a year ago that all that was left was some artwork but haven't been seen since, meaning they're also already well past the 2 year mark since they raised their funds on Sellaband. If Sellaband thinks they're going to persuade people to spend money on the site when they've got problems like this still hanging around they must be crazy, yet so far they've done sweet FA in terms of getting things sorted or even explaining to believers what's causing the delay.And finally, whilst not totally unexpected, I was also sorry to hear of the death of Ray Baisden. As one of the few believers from the early days of Sellaband who was both a part of the community and passionate about music, he'll be missed by both other believers and artists alike.
