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Why such a boring description?
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helixir
Started Topics :
2
Posts :
10
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 18:10:47
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Hi All,
I've been seeing a lot album or ep release descriptions and artist profiles lately and something peculiar comes to mind.. I started to notice something that kinda makes me wonder. Try reading some... just for fun 
What do you see? What's being said and how do you like that?
Most of em are really boring.
They only tell WHAT the artists do, WHO they are and a little about WHAT's the music sounding like.
How can it be that these descriptions at soundcloud, psyshop or beatspace are so unimaginable boring?? Psytrance/Goatrance is there to trigger your imagination, isn't it? It's there also to give you an incredible experience. Doesn't matter what subgenres or styles you love, that's what this music (should be) is all about.
So why would all those artists(label managers) not be talking about WHY this release is so really amazing. Or WHY they made this particular piece of music. Or WHY they make music. Or just a funny strange story triggering the imagination and make you go wild even before hearing what's it all about. A little piece of story that reveals what this music is all about and what's inside the rabitwormhole .
I really don't give a piece of sh*t about somebody's musical career, or somebody's act together with big stars or somebody's countless albums and released tracks on various labels. That doesn't matter one single thing. It's about the mindset in which the music is made. I believe this mindset will profoundly influence the result.
What I'm curious about is WHY are artists degrading their work and 'who they are' by these really clueless descriptions? What are they trying to proof?
And what I'm more curious about and what I would like to think about with you:
Is the release description somehow related to the intention the music is made with? Or is it just a really fast put-together-text done by the label manager?
Later on I will share the true reason behind this description bashing And that's a truly profound little piece of knowledge I can't wait to share with you. 
  http://soundcloud.com/helixirjos
http://helixir.tumblr.com/ |
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Suloo
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
87
Posts :
2822
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 19:29
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Im into your idea a well..a nice little story would be an interesting read..but maybe better for the booklet..
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Beat Agency
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
53
Posts :
1752
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 19:32
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Try to describe yourself and see how difficult it is. We are musicians (I am not justifying mediocre label promotion here) not poets. And in the end it should be the music that does the "talking" and not whether you think it's annoying I have listed my discography instead of a rant about stars, the moon and Unicorns
I am always flabbergasted to the extend of criticism we artists have to live with. Criticism that got nothing to do with our music (You are welcome to give me any criticism you want about my music). Heck we are not rich artists who can afford professional PR people to write our interesting tales (and most of us are just ordinary Joe's with quite boring lives). But be my guest and write my "amazing story" for free www.beatagency.dk |
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minus
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
103
Posts :
1614
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 21:07
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how i see it is,,the artists, labels have come up with a standard way of putting forth a release, with info regarding the commercial side of the release.
that i think info is very essential,But, along with all this there should be well written reviews, which are written and put along with the release info on the day of the release,now along with that, there should be interviews with all the artists involved,the label people etc,, so that the genereal public,dancers and cd buyers get a clear picture as to how the whole process of compiling that release took place ,, or from an artit's album point of view, how the whole production process went about, his influences, some magic moments of inspiration etc.All this will make a complete package,kindoff like sharing the whole experience with everyone and will generate lots of interest in the release itself. all this can be done by the PR people, or labelheads can hire people who are capable of doing so in a proffesional manner and do it correctly,and smaller upcomming lables can ask their friends to help out. there are a lot more relevant points, but which will go offtopic, so i'll refrain for exploring those.
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Beat Agency
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
53
Posts :
1752
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 21:16
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I rather want to see honest reviews not licking bottom on the artists and labels. How many times do you see a critical review in this scene? I think I have seen two in 15 years.
www.beatagency.dk |
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minus
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
103
Posts :
1614
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 21:24
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ofcourse there r very few people who r writting good reviews,, but i went through the older reviews, and that time those people were writting awesome reviews, i guess more good reviews would definately help, but that is the Record Label people's job,, to get their cd's reviewed along with all the nessasary details,, after that the listeners inputs and honest reviews should be encouraged so more interest is generated.
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Login
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
65
Posts :
1707
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 22:06
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Quote:
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On 2011-06-13 21:16, Beat Agency wrote:
I rather want to see honest reviews not licking bottom on the artists and labels. How many times do you see a critical review in this scene? I think I have seen two in 15 years.
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I had seen quite a bunch in this site and psyreviews.
"The dedication to repetition — the search for nirvana in a single held tone or an endlessly cycling rhythm — is one of electronic music's noblest gestures." |
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Beat Agency
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
53
Posts :
1752
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 22:27
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Quote:
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On 2011-06-13 22:06, Login wrote:
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On 2011-06-13 21:16, Beat Agency wrote:
I rather want to see honest reviews not licking bottom on the artists and labels. How many times do you see a critical review in this scene? I think I have seen two in 15 years.
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I had seen quite a bunch in this site and psyreviews.
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Yeah but that is just one person who kind of made it his trademark to make negative reviews. I dont value his reviews that much as honest constructive but negative reviews as I see his as a series of show gimmicks.
www.beatagency.dk |
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Alfie Sunshine
Started Topics :
0
Posts :
24
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 22:36
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Quote:
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On 2011-06-13 22:27, Beat Agency wrote:
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On 2011-06-13 22:06, Login wrote:
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On 2011-06-13 21:16, Beat Agency wrote:
I rather want to see honest reviews not licking bottom on the artists and labels. How many times do you see a critical review in this scene? I think I have seen two in 15 years.
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I had seen quite a bunch in this site and psyreviews.
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Yeah but that is just one person who kind of made it his trademark to make negative reviews. I dont value his reviews that much as honest constructive but negative reviews as I see his as a show gimmicks.
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You don't understand British humour do you. Damion is one of the nicest, most polite people I've ever met. He's written some spot on reviews over the years, you're just seeing the negatives again. He doesn't listen to 'psy' trance anymore, he moved on, married a fit bird in Australia, likes Zen Lemonade (Gus Til) and is enjoying his life to the full.
Maybe you should do the same rather than sounding like a broken record. |
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Beat Agency
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
53
Posts :
1752
Posted : Jun 13, 2011 22:48
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Quote:
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On 2011-06-13 22:36, Alfie Sunshine wrote:
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On 2011-06-13 22:27, Beat Agency wrote:
Quote:
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On 2011-06-13 22:06, Login wrote:
Quote:
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On 2011-06-13 21:16, Beat Agency wrote:
I rather want to see honest reviews not licking bottom on the artists and labels. How many times do you see a critical review in this scene? I think I have seen two in 15 years.
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I had seen quite a bunch in this site and psyreviews.
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Yeah but that is just one person who kind of made it his trademark to make negative reviews. I dont value his reviews that much as honest constructive but negative reviews as I see his as a show gimmicks.
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You don't understand British humour do you. Damion is one of the nicest, most polite people I've ever met. He's written some spot on reviews over the years, you're just seeing the negatives again. He doesn't listen to 'psy' trance anymore, he moved on, married a fit bird in Australia, likes Zen Lemonade (Gus Til) and is enjoying his life to the full.
Maybe you should do the same rather than sounding like a broken record.
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I do understand British humor as it's pretty much the same as Danish humor My point was I do not see his reviews as anything but a show gimmick. I do not see them as serious reviews. I do like his humor though
www.beatagency.dk |
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rich
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
103
Posts :
2184
Posted : Jun 14, 2011 01:48
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Here's my theory: Reviewers get music sent to them to review (free music and probably just barely released yet yay!)
Write a negative review and will that artist/label send you the next release? Kinda doubt it.
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rich
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
103
Posts :
2184
Posted : Jun 14, 2011 01:52
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Actually I think this topic as about artist description.
The ones I've been reading are on Ektoplazm and I haven't thought any of those have been boring.
But, that is Ektoplazm, where they care about stuff a little more than labels seem. Or rather, their priorities and goals are different.
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Basilisk
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
168
Posts :
2984
Posted : Jun 14, 2011 02:12
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I agree that promo text is generally formulaic and unexciting... and speaking as someone who has written literally hundreds of these blurbs, I am certainly a repeat offender. Part of the problem is that I don't wish to hype a release too much nor explode people's expectations; I'd rather speak in reasonable terms and let people sort out for themselves whether the release is amazing or not. Sometimes a release is genuinely special, as when Etnoscope came out with "Way Over Deadline" or when ManMadeMan first stepped into the free music scene. For those releases I felt comfortable writing up a more extensive backstory. Other times the artist may provide some of their own words which I try to convey unimpeded (see the Midiskibis description for an example of creative promo text). For most other releases the story is not nearly as exciting. Most of the time I am presenting work from a new artist who discovered electronic music and decided to start writing their own, influenced by this style or that, with the hope of developing their own sound and making an impression on the world scene. In these cases I try to present just some basic facts and let the music speak.
For pure entertainment I highly recommend checking out some release descriptions from Geomagnetic:
http://www.geomagnetic.tv/releases.htm
For instance:
Quote:
| In the last year France has produced a steady stream of the worlds leading psytrance producers. Kinesis is among the hottest and brightest stars to come from this celestial cosmic nursery. Geomagnetic is proud to present a milestone in dance music with this impressively produced new album form veteran DJ/Producer Salva who is possibly more well known as Crying Freemen (his collaborative project). After many mesmerizing and uplifting tracks on compilations from the worlds leading labels and two popular and well received hit albums Kinesis presents us with his new masterpiece. This harmonic technology opens a gateway to other worlds that are BEYOND THE GALAXY. Each track blissfully encompasses multitudes of elements all perfectly tuned to enlighten and encourage your inner bliss. Powerful bass lines, melancholy and emotional melodies, phenomenal builds and dramatic surprises that leave the listener excited and hooked to the spacious chords that will definitely leave a lasting and positive impression great for repeat listening and dance floor memories! This new album from this leading trance pioneer is a must have for DJs, Collectors and Fans alike! To top it off Altom aka Voyager aka Thomas Dubril spent some loving time in the studio with each track mastering it with all of his legendary style and professional standards in engineering. This album will no doubt be the hit of this summer festival season and for years to come. |
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Or how about this...
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| Biokinetix is the hottest new presence from the French Underground Resistance. Aliens have taken over and patrol the skies but never fear Fabry is here with a killer of epic proportions. Like a fountain of magic power from the subterranean depths this wellspring of musical creativity and far out futuristic production tells a story of a people who will not submit to extra terrestrial control even when its lurking in our own government. Deep down earthlings know that their birthright is in the stars. This episode of the famous series explodes into action with the addition of a fully formed rebel army ready to battle the evil invasion of Extraneous Territorials~! The guerrilla contingents are lead by generals of the highest regard! Some are famous elite shock troopers and some are so secret you are just now getting briefed on their powers. All in all it’s a dream team of psychedelic ferocity! MESMERIZER, DIGITAL SOUND PROJECT, KINESIS vs CRYSTAL NETWORK, SABRETOOTH, POLYPHEME, BEATRAVE, BRAINDRIVER, JAWS UNDERGROUND, GEMINI are all summoned forth by BIOKINETIX to utilize their newest techniques to create the most effective strategies to boggle the minds and warp the bodies (in full power epic dance moves) in order to trap the aliens in wicked designed traps that look just like dancefloors. Once entranced by these high tech sonic mind control devices you will be able to easily identify the members of the human race and who is actually an alien in disguise. |
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Best of all:
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| Meteorburn, Portuguese duo, Sérgio aka Meteor & Xano aka Burn who are burning a hole in the dance floor with their non stop mega masher bass lines and full throttle mentalities coming deep from psy-space with a mission to deliver the hardest rocking chunky space debris right to your brain. ...there was a CRIME SCENE on planet CYBERTRON, inspectors have discovered funny clues, a PIZZA and a little SCHINTZEL. they realised this was a case for the SUPER SARDINE, who was called immediately to resolve the case. In his hands holding a bottle of AGUA PE, highly recommended for these crimes, the inspector begins to DIG THE PEAR that he has in his pocket, then takes the bottle to his mouth and says SCRATCH ME THIS!! Lets make a TOAST TO VACATIONS!. COMIC BOOK is the long awaited and highly anticipated next full length SUPER BLASTER from the dynamic duo of Hard Night Time Psytrance. Industrial, Gothic, Full Power, Twisted, Spaced Out and Totally Mental are just some of the words that come to mind with the first listen to an incredible new stage in the evolution of the genre. After releasing a successful compilation a 2009 and a well received debut album in 2010 and also over 20 hit singles on the leading hard psy labels and a slew of EPs and Remixes these nine new tracks emerge to truly tell a whole new story off. Meteor Burn also happens to be massively talented Mastering engineers who made many versions and tested them everywhere till the formula was just right (wait… lets refine it some more Xano…). Now is the time for the atmospheric explosion to occur and you will feel the blast across the planet as the shock wave leaves a lasting impression and forever changes the topology of this planet. Get your limited edition copies of this fine tuned and fully polished gem of intergalactic meteorite ore… still steaming hot from its burning detonation deep in the impact crater! |
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You have to hand to Geomagnetic for cranking out this kind of prose for all their many releases... maybe this is what you are looking for?
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rich
IsraTrance Full Member
Started Topics :
103
Posts :
2184
Posted : Jun 14, 2011 02:19
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If any of you were in the early punk scene you'd know how awesome Pushead's writeups were. Geogmagnetic's reminds me of that, for psytrance. Entertaining.
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filter
Moderator
Started Topics :
87
Posts :
703
Posted : Jun 14, 2011 03:07
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