Monday, December 23, 2013

The Music Biz Post-Apocalypse: Holiday Edition!!!

     In this blog post, I will continue to explore some interesting and talented DIY artists of the post-apocalypse discovered on Soundlcoud and Bandcamp. In celebration of the holiday season, I have chosen 4 artists who make spirit-lifting music with a touch of darkness and quirkiness. I hope you enjoy the music as much as I do. Again, I will refrain from in-depth musical descriptions. As I have previously stated, “Talking about music is like dancing about architecture.” That quote has been attributed to both Steve Martin and Frank Zappa. Who actually said it? Who knows and who really cares, but it rings true to my ears. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukah, Kwanza, Diwali (which was in November), Winter Solstice, New Year and any other holiday celebration I may have forgotten. Oh and for the Atheists and Witnesses de Jehova: Happy whatever!



1. Fall:

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      Fall, aka Maury van Loon, hails from Plymouth, Britain, and has quite a following on Soundcloud and rightfully so. Her music is equal parts uplifting and dark. Her use of classical-music inspired instrumentation with a modern twist defies genre.




2. Viele Produkte:

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     Viele Produkte, aka Emmy A. from Austin, Texas makes some great technological/intelligent dance music with heart and soul as well as some beautiful ambient music. Check out the holiday mix, over a half hour of slamming, atmospheric electronic music and one of my favorite recent posts by this artist.
3. Man Under Moon:

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    Philip Stanford is a self- proclaimed “Bustling, Wine & Ale Swilling, Music Loving, Roman Nosed, Sword-Bearing Producer, Composer & Artist, A Citizen of The World, A Man Under Moon.” His Black Swan e.p. sets the holiday mood for me with the combination of dark wind, bells and piano which eventually explodes into a celebration! The entire e.p. is worth a good listen. Enjoy!
4. Kasper Obscura:

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     Mr. Obskura, from Boston, Mass., describes his music as “Unusual sounds for unusual moods. An uncommon ambient electronic composer with a love for bringing the worlds within out.” I will not argue with that and I will also add that this music has a quirky uplifting sense to it which makes it perfect for my holiday music discovery list. Listen to his 2 Bandcamp releases, “7713” and “Kasper Obskura.” You will thank me for turning you on…

Saturday, December 7, 2013

The Music Biz Post-Apocalypse: part 1 of many

     It is finally here and we can thank the music business itself for its inevitable commencement: The corporate music business post-apocalypse. The same music business that once helped launch and raise the public awareness of groundbreaking artists ranging from Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Kraftwerk, the Clash, Siouxsie & the Banshees, Public Enemy, NWA, the Smiths, Nine Inch Nails, Killing Joke, Metallica and on and on to artists who defined exciting subgenres during the latter half of 20th century, has finally destroyed the amazing artistic music machine it created. Corporate greed and mass-produced aural sludge ultimately became the focus of the industry once they figured out what fast food chains like McDonald’s and Taco Bell figured out about the masses long ago. In short, the average consumer will devour through any available orifice whatever crap is fed into said orifices if it is shoved up them often enough and with enough filler to make it stick. They also figured out that the best way to make loads of cash through the marketing of music is to spend as little as possible creating the art and as much as needed in promoting it. Again, the make-it-stick even if it is garbage theory in full effect. I could go on and on about this. However, it is likely that those of you who are reading this already know it, live it and are equally disgusted by it, so I will refrain from any further preaching to the choir. Instead I will focus on the wonderful opportunity this presents to artists who still consider the creation of music an artistic endeavor rather than a way to get laid, get out of working a day job and to immortalize themselves for 15 entire glorious minutes of fame. I won’t get anyone too excited about getting rich quick through sheer brilliance and determination, as this DIY road is a rocky one with a shitload of sharp turns, thick fog and steep cliffs at best. However, we now have at our disposal the ability to create high quality recordings, album art, promotion kits, live shows, web sites and we now have a direct outlet to fans of honest music, all for much less than it once cost musicians and bands to put stamps on and mail out their mailing lists. 

James Chadderton's Manchester Apocalypse Palace Theater
      

     I have always considered myself just as much as an obsessive music fan as a music artist and still get as excited as a kid on Christmas morning when I discover new artists that obviously love to make music as much as I do. Passion is infectious and when I sense it in a newly discovered artist, I find myself clamoring to devour as much of said artist's music as I can sink my claws into and then I love to spread the word like mother-fucking peanut butter.  

Peanut Butter: artist unknown
     

     Without spending another second of your time on anything other than listening to some honest, passionate, DIY music, I present this post's first 4 artists, all of whom have been discovered through social media and/or good old fashioned word-of-mouth. I will NOT attempt to describe any of this music. I hate that and I hate that writers actually attempt to do so. I have purchased and wasted my time on music described incredibly exciting by flowery writers who obviously do not hear things as I do and I am sure I have missed out on some great stuff written off by writers with tastes different than mine. 

1. Uncertain Reverie:

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     Katie Griesar is a sound artist from Portland, Oregon. I discovered her incredibly atmospheric music on Soundcloud and I am blown away that she does not have MILLIONS of plays, comments and hearts for her works. It would be incredibly difficult for me to focus your attention on any one or any several tracks as every-damn-thing she does is wonderful, so here is the link:



2. Raelx 2013:

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     Mike Mooser & Colin Gross, aka Raelx2013, are the most diverse artists I have ever discovered in the underground. Making visual art and music since the 1970s, they create their diverse works with passion, honesty and integrity. Raelx2013 music has been described by many of their peers and fans as a cross between Robert Johnson's simplicity and raw talent combined with Syd Barrett's inventive madness. They hail from Philadelphia, PA and can be found on Twitter, @mdmooser. 



3. Ideomatic: 

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     I have spent many an autumn morning shaving and showering to the music of Ideomatic. This music evokes the spirit of some of my favorite 80s and 90s electronic music. Great melodic synths and infectious drum machines/bass sequences are the focus of this awesome stuff. Another great Soundcloud discovery...



4. Nystada:

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     No, I do not work for Soundcloud. It is just a coincidence that all 4 of the artists in my first installment feature their music on this great forum for DIY artists. Nystada, aka Daniel, is my bath and meditation music of choice these days. You can also find this artist, who hails from Hamburg, Germany on Twitter, @fragile. He is talented, approachable and gracious, and can be found collaborating with various like-minded artists. His sense of erratic and unique rhythms are second to none, in my humble opinion!



     Please spread the word if you like what you hear. These artists are obviously passionate about their work, probably do not get paid what they are worth and could very likely use your support in this post-apocalyptic period. Thanks for listening!

Cheers,

Michael Ferentino