Archive for November, 2008
Things I’m listening to right now
Over the past few nights as I’ve lain in bed, writing in my journal before switching off the light, I’ve had the speakers set against the window and I’ve been listening to the music. Nothing groundbreaking.
Right now, I’m listening to Beulah’s The Coast Is Never Clear.
Last night, I was listening to Sufjan Stevens’ Illinois.
The previous night I was admiring the guitar stylings of Elliott Smith on Either/Or. What a great record that is. I really enjoy the way his guitar playing is part of the song structure. Not sure if that makes sense. But he doesn’t play a lead per se. The twists of his acoustic guitar are the chord progression and the melody at the same time. It’s a shame that he’s gone.
Sunday night I was listening to Drum’s Not Dead by Liars. Just like Princeton could use a guy like Joel, the world could use a band like Liars. Everything sounds underground. Everything sounds like its from another planet. But they still have a very real soul. Alebit a strange one. But a real one nonetheless.
Also I picked up Ryan Adams’ Jacksonville City Nights which is supposed to be the best record of the glut that he released last year.
And I picked up the new Walkmen, You and Me. They sound like Basement Tapes-era Dylan. I enjoy the grating howl of Hamilton Leithauser. They are some six degrees of separation or something away from some scenes I’ve briefly been a part of.
Also, I put I’ve been wearing out my vinyl copy of Jim Carroll’s Catholic Boy. A time capsule. All the people who died. Well they’re all my friends. And they died. New York. Punk. You know what I mean? I once gave Jim a ride to Virginia Beach to read in a poetry festival but that’s a story for another time. He’s a good man.
Also, I really think the new Kanye single ‘Love Lockdown’ is brilliant. I realize he’s using some tired sounds but, like fashion, he’s making the old new. It works for me. I like those Brazilian drum sounds. They are groovy.
Tags: music review
Email the people what they want
I spend a lot of time thinking about emails and getting people’s attention. I think about the right subject line for an email, the right text within the email, and I try to balance all of those choices with what marketing people might describe as branding or positioning constraints. Albeit, in the context of a simple correspondence designed to introduce more people to music I’ve been making.
The first principle of music marketing (for me): Give someone something in every email.
Usually I mean a song. As in the case of the email I sent out yesterday, I mean two songs (demos, really). But there always needs to be something special that gives people a reason to open it and enjoy it and not unsubscribe.
If, for whatever reason, I can’t include a song or two , I will at least include a pretty picture of something. But primarily, I’m interested in giving people that same pretty picture with an image embedded as a link into it. Also, I have future ideas of creating images like a treasure map and having lots of weird and strange links embedded, many different song ideas and other little websites hidden in the pixels.
Opinion polls
Today I’m putting out an opinion poll through the mailing list asking people to rate the two songs I’m including. Those songs are Listen and One More Reason. This is a new experiment for me. It’s interesting maybe because both at the beginning of the mp3 and in the body of the email I include the chord progressions to the tunes so people can play along at home.
Also, because I’m trying to clearly establish that these tunes are not a finished product but are, instead, things in the process of being shaped. In the old days, I’d hear people say “Don’t put out anything that isn’t perfect. Why would you send out a rough mix?” But that was before the tools of technology helped created a more fluid and seamless ongoing conversation twixt and artist and their fans.
Nevertheless, there is a good point that you probably shouldn’t put out a rough mix that is just close enough to the final version to be distractingly sub-par. Because people won’t be able to tell the difference and you’ll end up with a half-satisfied interaction.
Instead, I’m trying to be totally transparent about the idea that this is NOT fully finished, that this is something in the ongoing stages of creation, and that I’m actually interested in people’s input towards helping shape the final product. So the trick is, “Is something half-formed still listenable?”
Of course, my self-serving answer is “Yes”. You can capture a vibe and an energy for an incomplete work that still has a special quality without having to hire all the great musicians or even play to a click. But if you can capture some authenticity in the vocal performance and works towards something real, you get a bit of the magic. And, because you’re explicitly asking for input, you can engage the audience in a conversation that wasn’t previously feasible.
We’ll see if this thing works. If you just want to listen to the tunes, go here. And if you want to vote:
Upcoming things
Here are some upcoming things.
On Monday, I’ll put out an experiment in authenticity titled ‘the hi-lo country’ and featuring two songs a week for three weeks of demos and semi-formed phrases, experiments and gestures. This is through the email list. Reasons and explanations to follow but, again, the idea is an experiment in raw authenticity. Also, how-to since I include the chord progressions at the beginning of each song so you can play along at home and maybe write your own song because that is what the good people of the world are doing these days.
Also, next Friday, Paul, me and Joe are mastering the record. So that is exciting.
And also, there is a show coming up four weeks from last Wednesday or three weeks from this coming Wendesday or, alternativey, 26 days from now. The show is Rockwood and will feature good songs from the new record. Although, truthfully, they’re all good.
Tags: Add new tag, playing live, songwriting
