One of the great things about today’s technological infrastructure (well, until the whole thing collapses and we revert to banging rocks together) is that you can have your favorite local radio station somewhere on the opposite side of the planet. Which is the case for me. Which means I get to hear stuff that will likely never make it to American radio (which still exists) or my students’ mp3 players or phones (my other source of new music recommendations).
I liked this one enough to buy it, to support the band. I recommend listening late at night, in some deserted parking lot or seldom-travelled back road. Extra points if you have someone there to dance with.
Thank you for sharing, I enjoyed that very much! No one to dance with, sadly, but it’s my favourite kind of dancing song.
Which is such a boon when you live in a place where your preferred style of music would never be played, or you want to keep up with a certain style or culture.
As a kid, I lived in Vancouver and was into hard rock and prog rock, then we moved to a town where country and pop pablum (e.g. Carpenters, Bay City Rollers) was the only stuff on the radio. It was a wasteland for years of my life. In stark contrast, I moved from Canada to Asia in 2001 (haven’t returned since) and have been able to keep up on modern trends…most of which hasn’t been worth listening to (e.g. Nickelback). Quelle irony.
A channel like Goth Radio (one of my favourites) would never have a chance in a single big North American city, forget anywhere else.
http://www.goth-radio.com/
Internet radio and distribution is great for both fans and musicians. It lets them connect far easier than depending on a corrupt music industry looking to maximize profit. A group that might sell 40,000 copies (hell, even 5,000) could never get a major record deal, but they can independently sell MP3s online and make money, finding an audience they never could if they were dependent on “traditional” forms of distribution (e.g. Jonathan Coulton) and maybe even find places to tour. It’s mail order tape gone viral.
I recently ran across a group who make brilliant music, 8 Bit Weapon. They use only 8 bit computing technology (Apple II, Atari 800, Amigas, etc.) to perform and produce music. People like me could never have heard of them without the internet, they would never have enough commercial appeal. Thanks to the internet, they’ve had high enough profile to find an audience and work with people like Kraftwerk and Devo, which no small group would normally get to.
http://www.8bitweapon.com/music.htm
http://youtu.be/-MkHew7g6CM