Marketing Spam of the Day

So I just got an email from a company that allegedly produces 3D animation music videos. It was pretty obviously a mass email that I just so happened to end up on their special list for, but usually I’m okay with stuff like this. That’s how I somehow ended up on Whistler’s snow report email list, and a few blog email lists that I’ve actually really enjoyed reading, so usually it’s no big deal.

Generally the filters that get you hooked up with something like Whistler’s snow report are pretty good at sending these to appropriate contacts. As a musician, once you release something, you are inundated with emails for musician-related services. The initial wave takes a while to die down, but eventually the targeting gets better and it’s less crap and more services that you could maybe see yourself using.

Now I’m not thrilled with my life being analyzed for ways to sell me things – I don’t want to give that impression – but it’s much better than being targeted blindly for everything; advertising has come a long way, sneaky and questionable as most of their practices may be.

But in this age of directed advertisement, sometimes the advertisers’ filters aren’t good enough. Music videos? Sounds intriguing; I’m a musician. They even call me out as an instrumental artist, so it would appear as though they’re on board with that sort of thing. Because most people are not; I’ve gotten similar emails in the past for rap video production ...not my forte.

So they hook me in with their opener that actually sounds like they’ve done their homework.

Then they proceed to tell me about their lyric video services. You know, the ones where the lyrics scroll down the page while the song is playing… And they keep repeating the word “instrumental,” like somehow it makes sense that an instrumental act would want a lyric video.

Sometimes you just gotta scratch your head.

In the immortal words of Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”

Another Rainy Country-Tuesday

I read a review on Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s earlier today that described them as, “making depression danceable.”

And it got me thinking… I know people get seasonal depression during the winter, but sometimes I feel like I’ve got that with the spring. I’m a winter guy. Winter means snow and snowboarding and comfortable temperatures and low humidity and feeling accomplished when I leave work and it’s dark. Spring means awkward temperatures and humidity and torrential downpours of cold rain and driving into the sun in the morning and driving into the sun at night. And on an especially rainy country-Tuesday, it's even worse.

But far more than any perceived seasonal depression is this idea that music can be so emotive as to make you want to dance while depressed. Or, perhaps, another band/song could make you want to cry while happy.

Music facilitates complex emotions that don’t make sense out of the context of music.

And that’s why it’s so important; it makes us feel these emotions that society tries to obfuscate.

With the example of Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s, you’ve got this band that you can hear hitting rock bottom. They make you desperate for them. You want to help them, but you don’t want them to stop. They make you dismally reflective, but give you that urge to move your feet. One moment you want to belt out lyrics along with them, but the next you are soaking it all in and absorbed in the music.

And you can’t escape those feelings. They set their hook and lure you captive, sending shivers down your spine. And maybe it’s that you want to be there, in that place, or maybe it’s that you can’t will yourself away. It’s when the music is taking hold. Let it in.

 

P.S. I just discovered that their next album is out on April 22… Preorder it.

So Much New Music!

Does it ever seem to you like music comes in droves? Where you’ll have these long stretches where you don’t really get any new music, you don’t see any shows, and you don’t play any. Then, out of nowhere, you’ve got a busy calendar and a stack of new CDs (yes, I haven’t quite moved away from physical media). And in an instant, you go from musical monotony to too much to process.

It happens. At least to me. And it seems like it’s a pretty normal trend. The number of half-written album reviews and half-written show reviews that I have littering various folders on my computer are starting to get out of hand. And it’s from times when I’ll get a new album and suddenly have 6, or I’ll go to a show and suddenly I’m going to 3 or 4 shows.

So here’s where I stand:

On April first, I picked up Abby Madden’s debut album. She had it as a free download and I’d much rather get a digital copy for free and then either buy a physical copy later or tip her the next time I see her play. I’ve wanted to listen to the album to see what she’s been up to and now I’ll be playing a set a show she’s playing on Saturday so it made it even more important to get a listen. That hasn’t happened yet.

Then yesterday, April second, I got to a show. A few good friends, Caleb Hawley and Trey Overholt, were playing at Milkboy in Philly. So far, the count is two: one album, one show. However, Caleb and Trey both just released new albums that I hadn’t picked up or listened to yet. I still need to get Trey’s because, for excuses that weren’t good enough, no one took cards (that was the main reason I got a smart phone!), but I plan to pick his up soon.

That makes three albums and one show. Except between Trey and Caleb was Max Swan. I had never heard of him before, but now I’m going to insist that everyone hear of him. That good.

Suddenly, I’ve got four new albums to listen to and one show. And on top of that, Matt Stevens just put out a new album, Lucid, which should be arriving in the mail any day now. Five albums, one show. And just like that, I’m overwhelmed. If I tried to cover it all, I would just litter my desktop with more unfinished reviews.

But I can’t not do it all. Or at least try. I’m just so excited and pumped on music that it all needs to happen. So here’s to seeing what the next few days of writing (or a complete lack thereof) hold!