Music format, modern society, and my discontent

[Jim LotFP]

The past couple of days, I've been looking for more independent bands to invest in. Going to Metal Archives and searching for "Unsigned" or "None" in the record label field with a 2007 release date. Looking for the newest stuff.

What I found is a few dozen bands that have "releases" that exist only as streaming songs on Myspace, or a few downloadable mp3s on their website.

I was actually getting upset. Then I got upset for getting upset since there's no reason for it.

There's no moral or legal issue here: The creators are giving their music away, free and clear. Take them. They're yours.

So is the lack of commerce in the product making me think it's less legitimate? I found one band selling its music as downloads from its site. But there was no physical product to buy, so I immediately dismissed to possibility of listening to the band.

I’ve long said that when music ceases to be delivered in a physical form, I will cease to hear new music.

Oh, and someone who's wanting to write something for LotFP told me about this classic band he loves. I'd never even heard of them, and he offered to send me the album digitally. no no no no no. So he wants to send me a CDr (at least I assume he doesn't have an extra real copy sitting around to send). I'm not OK with that either.

So what's my problem? I think it's an important question to answer, considering what it is I do here and the changing landscape of music listening.

I think I just have a problem with convenience. Which is funny since I’m an extraordinarily lazy person. I hate being in cars. I generally hate television, and got really upset when Sanna bought some digital converter thing to give us access to half a dozen more channels. (She’s a goddamn vegetable, watching that thing for hours and hours every day.) I hate cell phones and think that it’s insane that anyone would have one… and I live in Finland, where cell phones are a matter of national pride because Nokia is a worldwide leader concerning the little beasts. I can’t stand the quick-cut style of modern horror and action movies, or video games (aside from turn-based strategy games like Civ), and even watching advertising on television seems mildly offensive.

Just this past couple of weeks I’ve discovered an awesome little joy – baking bread. I didn’t even know how much flour costs for crying out loud, but I found out that I can make my own bread that tastes better than anything at the supermarket and is cheaper. So now I am wondering why anybody buys bread and consider myself an idiot for buying it all these years.

I am a reader and a writer. Books, books, books. On real paper, hardcover if at all possible.

I hate the idea of “newer is better” as some sort of automatic truth, and I hate that planned obsolescence is a valid business plan. Software, anyone? (bonus track special edition six months after original release, anyone?) Everything has to be re-made, re-vamped, re-modernized. Comic books need to be rewritten from scratch (while at the same time delivering the classics to you… good business, no creative ethic)… role-playing games are written, not to be complete games, but to sell you a million other books to fully use the one book you thought you needed, plus the entire line will be scrapped in favor of a new edition in three years’ time.

My wife says I spend a lot of time online (as a counter to complaining about her TV watching). She is right. I’ve actively considered going offline completely. Deactivating my email, putting up a simple notice on lotfp.com that said something along the lines of “LotFP Printed Heavy Metal Magazine, here are the prices and here is the address for payment and submissions.” But my life wouldn’t work this way. Nobody would write letters and I wouldn’t get 1/10th the orders if cash through the mail was the only way.

I’ve explored how not to have a bank account. It’s impossible here in Finland. There are no checks and with no bank account, employers have no means to pay you (and there would be no method for receiving government benefits either…).

Yeah, exploring off-the-grid living and not coming up with viable methods for doing so really sucks.

People don’t have a sense of what’s theirs and what's not. I get paid this government money to go to this religious school to learn Swedish and Finnish. I went to the jobs office looking for work, manual labor preferably (last thing I want to do is sit in front of a computer at work as well as at play). I didn’t go there looking for a handout, but when nobody would talk to me about work and from the first meeting is was all about the paperwork and receiving money and shit, I stopped feeling guilty. Yeah, if I had my way these programs wouldn’t exist, but I didn’t ask for it, and I’m not dumb enough to refuse free money.

The fun part of that is: I don’t eat lunch at school. The bill for going to the school is about 25% lunch fees, and 75% classes. But half the time the lunch is gross and the other half of the time I find it more relaxing just to walk home (10 minute walk) and be there than to sit and chat with classmates. Everyone keeps telling me I should eat lunch there. I’m paying for it, after all! Then they act like I’m a complete cynic when I tell them that I’m not. It’s not my money I’m spending there. It’s Finnish taxpayer money. People I don’t know worked for that money that gets paid to my school for food that I don’t eat. It’s the silliest thing and I am not going to be bothered by it.

This all ties into the mp3 thing somehow. It smacks of convenience and “now” and having a temporary quality to it. Hit delete and it’s done. Don’t need to know who you’re listening to or what they’re about. There’s no need to invest in music. No time, no money, no nothing.

I’m not even talking about the scumbags who just download all sorts of music (and movies, and books, and whatever) regardless of whether the creators approve or not. (And my goal is not to remove commerce from music, but rather to remove the layers of non-creators and businessmen that make all their money while the artist gets a tiny percentage of it. I believe in capitalism even if I think corporations, stock markets, interest rates, chasing after endless growth, and all that extraneous bullshit should be taken out back and shot.) I really do believe there are a significant number of people who use downloading “responsibly” and do support the artist they like. But they can’t possibly give any one piece of work serious attention if their attitude is to plow through the infinite possibilities of downloads in order to find what they like, can they?

So what’s worse? Or more tragic, if I want to be overdramatic about it. Missing out on something because you haven’t had the opportunity to hear it? Or missing out because you heard it but it didn’t catch immediately so it wasn’t deemed worthy of further time or the expenditure of money?

I seem to have the attitude that anything worth doing is worth overdoing, and the importance of something is measured by one’s investment in it, not just by what you’d say is important.

And that’s why I don’t want to ever listen to clips on a band’s website. That’s why I don’t want to hear somebody’s song on Myspace. It just seems shallow listening. Some of my favorite albums – Morningrise and Min Tid Skal Komme spring to mind – would have been lost to me with this modern attitude because they took a long time to sink in. Traditional metal as a whole would have escaped me. Laughing at Nevermore and HammerFall (and laugh now if you want, but they were an effective doorway, even if their effectiveness as a destination is abysmal) for *singing* (that’s so cock-rock 80s, that non-growl stuff, haha!) was something I had to overcome. That was the core issue of that silly Iron Maiden review so long ago. I need time and I need contemplation and I actively engage with things that I listen to.

Now there’s a distinct possibility that I’m just retarded and everyone else on Earth overcomes all of these problems with ease. They adapt to the latest and greatest, so even after being fed one thing for awhile, they’ll scarf down this other new thing just as easily, so any concern that I have that things will be missed in a rush are entirely misplaced.

But I think these sorts of topics should be explored. As a publisher, I think readers should know the thought processes behind what’s written beyond what’s simply written.

And so the reason for posting this: I have a rambling jumble of thoughts on the subject, but I really need a clear path. A code of ethics, a manifesto, a constitution that can be both clear and reasonably permanent. Strong enough to not have to be changed with every new development but not so weak as to have to acknowledge every new thing that comes along.

You participate in the forum, so you’re investing that much more time in LotFP than people simply reading it. You have a different perspective than I do and don’t have to cut through the layers of psychosis that I do. So cut through my bullshit and tell me true things I haven’t thought of and let’s clear this up.

 

[BenMech]

There's a lot here to think about.

However, here's one easy example in mind about why newer is better - - -stale bread.

 

[skeptik]

I really don't see the problem in listening to material that the band personally makes available for listening. Of course there will inevitably be a degree of "shallowness" listening to single songs off of a Myspace page instead of hearing them contextually interwoven into the tapestry of an album, but I feel that one can invest enough time into a few tracks on Myspace or a band's website and legitimately be able to determine whether or not the band is worth a further investment of time, money, and dedication.

 

[Dan Berger]

It's an interesting topic, old man. I gots no answers, but change is inevitable. One generation laments the loss of vinyl, the next generation mourns the death of the CD, the following generation cries over the need for the insertion of the Illuminati mind chip... humanity loves to evolve and bitch about it at the same time - so you're right on track with your bemusement. Embrace it. It's part of getting old.

Change isn't always progress - but change is inevitable. We don't gotta love it, but we do have to live with it (although we don't have to join the party - look at how many bands are releasing vinyl these days). The "Quickening" of society is extremely disturbing and apparently leading to ill ends - but the masses are embracing it, thus it's unavoidable (unless you do remove yourself from the grid - which is certainly a viable albeit incredibly difficult option).

I'm slowly embracing the move to digital. I've ripped all of my CDs (and have two extra hard drives and 50 burned-DVD back-ups for the inevitable crashes - and boy was that a HUGE investment of time and money). I'm considering selling off my vast, basement-filling CD collection (to pay for those hard drives - and I almost never look at the booklets after the first read-through). I do miss the days of putting on a vinyl album and laying on the couch with big headphones on as I read along with the lyric sheet (dust jacket) - but I'm doing something similar these days with my iPod (sans the perusing of packaging, which is missed). I'd have an easier time with this whole digital shift if the prices weren't obscene - I'm still buying CDs and ripping them rather than paying a buck a song on iTunes, and probably will as long as that's possible. I do want something physical for my hard-earned cash - landfills be damned!

This forum is really pissing me off. I've had to log in three damned times now just to access my profile and leave two posts. There's probalby something ironic in that.

 

[Cheiron]

There are several famous Dan Bergers. Are you any of them?

-----

Just face it Jim. You are a hypocrit. You toss bands away for consideration, yet bitch that people don't give enough attention to small... independent bands... sigh. You want bands to be non-commercial, but when they are non-commercial you don't want to give them the time of day. When they don't pay some expenses for some crappy artist to do some crappy drawing for their album cover, agents, promos, disc pressing, etc. You don't want to hear it. But when you get it, you think "COMMERCIAL BULLSHIT!" and mark it off. Unless of course its from their own label, or non major label. At which point you probably enter your listening with biases.

You are definitely a context listener. Meaning, all your evaluations of albums have a context around them, which includes things other than the music. Nothing wrong with this. But don't ever expect to be satisfied. Because everybody will dissapoint you. Why do you think that people make music in the first place (the good music makers)? Its because nothing out there completely satisfies them. Probably same reason you started this magazine.

But you'll never be satisfied with any bands. You love Gates of Slumber right? But how many of us would have given two shits about your review if we had to go and buy their disc to find out if you know what you are talking about? Nicer to just zoom over to myspace.

Of course what is the fucking use of reviewers these days? We have one purpose now. To filter peoples time so they only go to myspace to listen to bands they think they might like. Or, perhaps our purpose is to just say "here's how the album is", instead of "here's how the song is." But yeah. We save them a minute or two of their time per song.

Bands put songs on their site for free to entise people to buy the whole product. Bands put entire albums for free when they can't sell one. And then they hope they develop a following to sell a future album, or to get label attention.

np: Steve Vai - Flexable Leftovers ((On Rhapsody music service. That is right. I pay $10 a month to get access to several hundred thousand or million albums I have no idea. I can check out so many bands (though not all.. and certaintly not all I want nor all their albums), without getting it "for free", or without a hard CD sitting around. But if I want to burn it I have to pay for it. I now buy albums that I want to listen to in the car regularly or that I know won't show up here.))

 

[Jim LotFP]

You want bands to be non-commercial, but when they are non-commercial you don't want to give them the time of day. When they don't pay some expenses for some crappy artist to do some crappy drawing for their album cover, agents, promos, disc pressing, etc. You don't want to hear it.

'splain more, please. Because I didn't even review anything with really good cover art this time out, I bought a good deal of what was reviewed (and not reviewed), gave positive reviews to several things that were on CDr, and I don't even know what you mean by "agents."

But you'll never be satisfied with any bands. You love Gates of Slumber right? But how many of us would have given two shits about your review if we had to go and buy their disc to find out if you know what you are talking about?

I don't understand this thinking at all, really. On one hand, reviewers have little relevance now because people can just listen to the shit anyway, on the other hand reviewers would be useless if people couldn't go listen to the shit to see if it matches up with what the reviewer said? I don't get it.

 

[Cheiron]

First, I can't comment on your latest issue. I haven't read it yet. Plan to tonight.


You said:
"I’ve long said that when music ceases to be delivered in a physical form, I will cease to hear new music."

Part of the physical form generally includes album covers. Its just part of the package. I'm just including all that goes into getting an album to your door. And that includes bands having management, labels haven't management etc. Agents was a bad term to use.

--

As for Gates of Slumber. My statement is that free music available works great. I can read your review of Gates of Slumber and then go and listen to some tracks, or some live vids of them playing. Your review indicates that I might be interested in their music. Their free music confirms that I'm interested in A) buying their music, and B) seeing them live.

On a somewhat side note, an artist I really like named Andrew Bordoni, is now basically putting out all his music for free as soon as he finishes songs (for the most part). I personally don't really like this approach. As I believe it reduces the focus of an 'album'. I love albums. I don't typically listen to songs (other than to find out of if I might want to listen to an album). Also, several artists, including Vai, have put out digitally accessible only albums. That's cool to me. Why press, and package a bunch of live shows, when you can just put them out online. It costs far less, so if far less people are interested in it they can get it.

Heck I'm like you in some ways though. I hate to read things online. And I generally dislike getting things free. I tend to listen to them with less attention. Its easier to turn it off if its a first dislike, than to give it several listens to try to hear the music so that I don't feel like I wasted my money. Now which opinion is more honest? As a reviewer, the latter is probably more honest since I'm evaluating if its worth buying. The former, if I'm evaluating the music for music alone, with no attachment of 'was this worth $X' or rather 'was this worth getting instead of Y album I was also considering'.

Ok. I'm just babbling right now. But my point is that I think that 'free' music deserves just as much attention and respect as packaged and delivered music.

So when you say: "And that’s why I don’t want to ever listen to clips on a band’s website. That’s why I don’t want to hear somebody’s song on Myspace. "

I'm saying that don't treat these listening experiences as ends in themselves, but rather as a possible path to an end of putting a true investment into a band.

 

[Jim LotFP]

You said:
"I’ve long said that when music ceases to be delivered in a physical form, I will cease to hear new music."

Part of the physical form generally includes album covers. Its just part of the package. I'm just including all that goes into getting an album to your door. And that includes bands having management, labels haven't management etc. Agents was a bad term to use.

Well yeah, good art is better than bad art, and something would need to be on the cover. Of course, simply putting the logo on the cover and nothing else generally prevents a cover from being awful.

But getting an album to my door doesn't require all those layers of business and involvement. That's the real power of the internet as far as connecting bands and listeners and why I really have a use for it - the ability to click a couple of buttons, and the band gets some money, and I have an album, in a format I want, on its way through the mail. None of this "4-6 weeks for delivery" bullshit of the ancient days, and none of the "label sells to the distributor who sells to the store who may or may not be carrying the album you want when you walk in the door" nonsense. Now if we can just figure out why some US bands think that sending a CD to Europe is worth adding a $7-$10 postage charge to the price of the album, we'd be all good.

As for Gates of Slumber. My statement is that free music available works great. I can read your review of Gates of Slumber and then go and listen to some tracks, or some live vids of them playing. Your review indicates that I might be interested in their music. Their free music confirms that I'm interested in A) buying their music, and B) seeing them live.

Yeah, that's pretty much how it works these days, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. heh. Part of it is arrogance ("Why can't they just take my word for it, the fuckers!"), part of it is being sick and tired of having a way of doing things that nobody else seems to ("I make orders after just reading reviews sometimes, why is it so difficult for other people to do so? It's only money..."), part of it is the fear that the band's quality, and my credibility, suddenly depends on snap judgement that may or may not happen while somebody's playing Minesweeper half jacked on Red Bull right after they just got told by their boss that they have to come in to work this weekend and that their hiking trip is canceled.

I'm saying that don't treat these listening experiences as ends in themselves, but rather as a possible path to an end of putting a true investment into a band.

That's fair, as long as we qualify that this "investment" isn't just the few euros I throw at them.

 

[JayKeeley]

Oh, and someone who's wanting to write something for LotFP told me about this classic band he loves. I'd never even heard of them, and he offered to send me the album digitally. no no no no no. So he wants to send me a CDr (at least I assume he doesn't have an extra real copy sitting around to send). I'm not OK with that either.

I don't understand. Assuming your anti-MP3 stance held any merit, what would be wrong with a CD-R? Would they need to buy you a copy of the album before submitting their writing?

So what’s worse? Or more tragic, if I want to be overdramatic about it. Missing out on something because you haven’t had the opportunity to hear it? Or missing out because you heard it but it didn’t catch immediately so it wasn’t deemed worthy of further time or the expenditure of money?

I would say, "missing out on something because you didn't have the opportunity to hear" is an absolute tragedy. That is what our life revolves around. To continually discover and attempt to find another 'favorite' artist. It kills us to know that it's an almost infinite search for bands, and yet at the same time, it excites us to know it's never ending. You're actually only cutting off your nose to spite your own face by missing out on the next big thing, simply because you need it in a particular media format.

The fans are waaaaay ahead of the webzine/fanzine writers now when it comes to knowing what exists, and for the most part, what's good and what's crap.

Of course, this doesn't always apply to unknown (unsigned, self releasing artists). So the fact that you're filtering through piles of junk on our behalf is actually a great way for us to discover new music. Likewise, Dill the Devil (a UM writer) has taken it upon himself to trench through the myspace bands and each month highlight three bands of interest. He tells me that this is the only reason for him to continue writing, otherwise he was turning into a promo whore. We've all been there.

Quite honestly, and as you've determined, the world doesn't need another Blind Guardian or Iced Earth review. That much is self-evident.

I gots no answers, but change is inevitable. One generation laments the loss of vinyl, the next generation mourns the death of the CD, the following generation cries over the need for the insertion of the Illuminati mind chip... humanity loves to evolve and bitch about it at the same time - so you're right on track with your bemusement. Embrace it. It's part of getting old.

Actually, the digitial format is a convenience for deciding what to buy on CD or indeed vinyl. It's not progression at all, if anything it's regressive, provided you don't stop at the MP3 format and never venture towards physical media.

Bear in mind, however, that "owning" and "listening" are two completely separate entities -- I choose to buy the CDs or vinyl I want (without the handicap of buying blind anymore, or based soley on someone else's written opinion, thank god those days are long gone), but I'll inevitably listen on my iPod ripped at 192k or 320k. (Both CD quality rips).

So yes, Dan, I'm like you: ripping my CDs to digital format so I don't have to carry 700 CDs with me everywhere I go, and then shelving the CD as part of my collection. I'm also in no rush to buy the CD now either -- I can take my time and wait for a better price, or a better edition. The last CD I bought was the recent Celestia re-release in digibook format. It looks beautiful, but the CD itself has only ever come out of it's packaging once, and that's when I ripped it to 320K.

But you'll never be satisfied with any bands. You love Gates of Slumber right? But how many of us would have given two shits about your review if we had to go and buy their disc to find out if you know what you are talking about? Nicer to just zoom over to myspace.

Goodness yes, the Gates of Slumber is a good example. In my case, I'm so glad I didn't buy based on the review alone. Those samples saved me $15. That's a terribly overrated band, IMO. Boring as fucking boring can be.

Of course what is the fucking use of reviewers these days? We have one purpose now. To filter peoples time so they only go to myspace to listen to bands they think they might like. Or, perhaps our purpose is to just say "here's how the album is", instead of "here's how the song is." But yeah. We save them a minute or two of their time per song.

Yeah, reviews are nigh redundant now. Have been for a while. Reviews might give me the inspiration to check out the samples and see if it holds up to what was written. However, knowing that a crappy little sample does nothing in context with the whole album listening experience, people just download the entire album now, give it a test drive for a week or so, and then decide whether it's worth buying. MySpace can suck a dick, and half the time, it doesn't even work through a company firewall.

I probably sound like a scratched record (pardon the pun) but reviews are for people who are out of the loop, and those people would have to be living under a rock in this age of information. There are just way too many info sources now and the fact that you can listen to the music yourself and make up your own mind has finally given the power back to the people to decide what's good vs bad themselves. This is excellent excellent excellent, it's levelled the playing field. No more labels sneaking something shitty into our collection because we didn't do our due dilligence.

That right there has strengthened the community of listeners. Where once there was a large community of fans trading tapes and homemade compilations, we've now just shifted it to the web. This is because (a) we've dispersed and no longer all all live in the same towns and go to the same shows, and (b) the community is spread across the world but yet the internet distance is transparent.

The forums are vital. They've almost become the backbone. 90% of what I discover is via the folks on my forum. Some of these folks are musicians too: Scald and Gwynbleidd band members, for example. We knew about "Headworm" some years back. These folks in turn have discovered music from other forums. Or they've discovered the music for the first time themselves and decided to alert us of the discovery. We as a forum community have become each others' eyes and ears. We even host recommendation threads from time to time and 'sticky' the thread, and the first rule is, the recommendation must be for an artist that few people have ever heard of. The post will also include an image of the album art, a brief description of the music, and three MP3 full length samples. And then it's up to us to decide whether it requires further pursuing. I've only bought twice from immediately reading one of these recommendation threads and listening to the samples. One was for Shining IV and the other for Klabautamann.

How many people here have heard Klabautamann? Do yourself a favor if no.

Otherwise, and in general, the discovery of music all starts with other fans making a recommendation and then following up with a sample (see: multiple sharing platforms now such as yousendit.com), or providing a link to samples. Within 30 minutes, we can discover a brand new artist, read their background, sample their music, and even buy their entire catalog.

Favorite current artists: Alcest, Deathspell Omega, Rudra, Peste Noire, Gwynbleidd -- all discovered based on forum banter.

Long live the interviews and features! One day, how about some coverage of the French BM scene? Or what's going on in Singapore? That sorta thing would be nice.

 

[JayKeeley]

Wow, that post didn't look quite as long when I was writing it.

 

[Jim LotFP]

I don't understand. Assuming your anti-MP3 stance held any merit, what would be wrong with a CD-R? Would they need to buy you a copy of the album before submitting their writing?

No, no, that's not it. I haven't heard anything that Dave or Andreas wrote about this issue, for instance. But someone's trying to send me a copy of the album so I can hear it too and I don't see any real difference than going online and downloading it.

 

[Sfarog]

I cherish the idea of a properly released/packaged cd, and am against CD-R's and ripped mp3's. I like the idea of a complete product, lyrics, booklet, graphics.. because it is meant to enhance or at least provide background for the musical content itself. It is what the artist had envisioned for you, the listener, to enjoy, aside from just the music itself.

Unfortunately, in today's day and age, and due to the ease of music thiefdom, you just can't expect that people will buy as many cd's, unless you make the cd product even more enhanced. 20 page booklet? different format of limited special edition stuff?

The truth is that if half of the people who downloaded Gwynbleidd would have actually gone and paid for the cd if they enjoyed the music, we'd be on our way to recording the next full length.

People sometimes excuse their (ripped music) downloading with "I'm just checking out stuff" or "its just the labels that are loosing on it". Guess what, wrong on both accounts. First of all most bands today provide samples and free downloads, and how much they choose to give away should be their own disgretion. Second, if the labels are loosing on it, the its less profitable for them to exist. If its less profitable, the lesser chance they will choose to exist and maintain bands.

Downloading ripped versions, making CD-R's sucks. And you know I'm not in metallica and not standing to loose a lot of money here. I'm just trying to cope with the fact that I'd like to make it to the studio again without blowing a half a year of my savings in the process.. Not to mention the other 3 guys in the band.

Imagine how great metal scene would be if more people supported their favorite artists?


sorry to go off on a slant

M.

 

[Cheiron]

I agree. Nobody should steal music. But if bands are giving it away for free, I'm not going to just say 'oh this can't be worth my time.'

 

[DBB]

There are just way too many info sources now and the fact that you can listen to the music yourself and make up your own mind has finally given the power back to the people to decide what's good vs bad themselves.

The truth is that if half of the people who downloaded Gwynbleidd would have actually gone and paid for the cd if they enjoyed the music, we'd be on our way to recording the next full length.

 

[JayKeeley]

Damn straight.

 

[Jim LotFP]

Another little nugget for consideration:

I don't want any albums right now.

I mean, I have a list of things I want to buy. 80s stuff, all of it, except for two albums from the 70s that I'm pretty pissy with my local shop for not having. Because this means if I want it, I have to go to some big company or a chain store to get it, because they're major-label releases. And I am not going to do that.

But I'm not looking at a want list and at my bank account and trying to reconcile the two. I'm not telling myself "I use mp3s to figure out if something is worth buying," gathering an ever-increasing list of things I like and listen to while my actual purchases are dictated by cash flow and other priorities rather than "what I like."

Basically, if something catches my interest right now, I can buy it immediately, without worrying about this, that, or the other thing.

So I'm not keeping up with the Joneses, but I'm not ahead of myself always wanting more than I can possibly have, either.

As a member of the media, I am against media overload. Who would have thought.

As for this:

The forums are vital. They've almost become the backbone. 90% of what I discover is via the folks on my forum.

I've stopped visiting most forums because everyone's "discussing" bands but nobody's saying anything about them. It's like I'm being advertised to. Give me thoughts and impressions and feelings and a sense of what the album means instead of what the album is (can you tell what immediately struck me all those years ago as soon as I read it?)... or fuck off.

Long live the interviews and features! One day, how about some coverage of the French BM scene? Or what's going on in Singapore? That sorta thing would be nice.

One of the things I hate about the reviews I wrote this time is the talk about where a band is from. It's relevant in exactly one case. Otherwise it's just goddamn stupid filler that my brain thinks to throw in there for the sake of looking like a review "should." So the likelihood of doing any sort of feature based on geography is pretty much nil.

Same for the possibility of covering much relating to black metal at all, really.

 

[circus_brimstone]

The primary reason I read reviews is to find out what other people think of albums I've listened to. So in that respect, there will always be room for reviews because many people want to know what others think of various forms of art. While they may not function exactly like they used to - advertisement, letting people in on new music, etc. - they will always be around, I think. Perhaps the above goes without saying, but I felt it needed to be said.

 

[wildfyr]

Why does some of this remind me of Mel Brooks as The Gov in Blazing Saddles saying, "Gentlemen, we have to protect our phoney baloney jobs!"

I'm just teasing here. No malice intended.

 

[Jim LotFP]

The truth is that if half of the people who downloaded Gwynbleidd would have actually gone and paid for the cd if they enjoyed the music, we'd be on our way to recording the next full length.

What kind of music do you play? What is your music about?

Do lyrics and production notes come with the CD?

Why is this an "EP" if it's almost 40 minutes?

And I realize that the page has music on it so an in-depth review may seem silly, but you do know the quotes you put on your Myspace blog don't actually decribe anything in particular, right?

I got $12 sitting around waiting for you to tell me that you deserve it. I'm easy - any music complaining about downloaders and using the word "thief" gets a look from me.

 

[Cheiron]

They are quite good Jim. And they played at this years Heathen Crusade.

Now go listen to them with full concentration, and then buy their fucking album. http://www.myspace.com/gwynbleidd