*BC Series* Review: Cloudkicker - Beacons

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Album

Back to the Bandcamp releases. This was the album that made me aware of the site, having been recommended by some site that I found in a random search for free music. Clearly, I was impressed enough to take great interest in the site, so it would seem I owe a lot to this album.

Cloudkicker is a one-man, instrumental progressive rock/metal project out of Columbus, Ohio. While my preferences in prog-rock are typically based on high-quality instrumentation, I generally lean toward acts with talented vocalists and interesting lyrical themes. It's a genre in which instrumental projects are usually very pretentious, and often boring. Cloudkicker doesn't come off that way to me.

Upcoming Release: Dragonfly Lingo - Flux

I don't intend to make a habit of coming back to an artist after only one other review, but with the release of Dragonfly Lingo's highly anticipated EP Flux just around the corner (scheduled to drop on Valentine's Day), I think I've waited long enough.

*BC series* New Release: Sanxion7 - red01.ruby

For this one, I'm going to start by focusing on the latest release, and get a little bit into the most recent prior ones.

I'm always happy to give an artist a chance when he's a fellow Wisconsinite. The music scene in Madison is often overlooked for reasons I can't understand. For years, I've heard from a diverse assortment of very talented artists that fail to gain the exposure they deserve. Hopefully, the Bandcamp model is giving artists like Sanxion7 an opportunity they might not otherwise have.

*BC series* New Release: Dragonfly Lingo - Offscreen

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Album

I'm starting off my series of Bandcamp reviews with what is so far my favorite work amongst the electronic stuff I've checked out.

Having designed sound for stage productions and at least one piece for an independent film (which unfortunately didn't make the final cut) gives Dragonfly Lingo's Mitia Wexler a bit of an edge in implementing the concept for his debut album, Offscreen.

Bandcamp review mini-series

So, what do you* really want to know about this magical, cheap website, Bandcamp? The same thing as with any other such site. I know exactly what you're expecting: all that cheap and free music in one place...the music is pure SHIT, isn't it? Fear not, for I am preparing to answer that question in a few future reviews.

It seems to be a fairly common perception that cheap/free = crap, and that's often quite accurate. But bear in mind that due to BC's pricing model, the artist is likely making MORE from sales than with a major label! Don't assume that an artist on a site like this isn't talented enough to get on a major label. There's some quality shit here; it's not all amateur-hour, basement-recorded, glorified karaoke garbage.

Now I'm sure there doesn't need to be another rant like this on the Internet, but I'm going there anyway. Most major labels are bullshit. Everyone should know by now that big labels don't sign artists based on their talent, but based on how well they will sell. That is a financially sensible strategy, but it's also a weakness. There's a lot of talent not signed to major labels, and a lot of it is on BC. And yes, there's shit as well. This is equal opportunity, just as the Internet should be. This model is not an alternative, not just a place for artists to go when they can't make it to a major label. It's a replacement. It's what the future of this fucking industry should be.

If you need recommendations to get you started, keep an eye out during the next week or two. I have at least 4 BC albums that need reviewing, and I'll be looking for more as well. The first one is coming tonight.

Website: Bandcamp

Every now and then, a music-oriented website comes to my attention and really impresses me. MySpace started out as a nifty idea for the independent artist, but the potential for abuse and shift in direction was obvious from the get-go. When I first found mp3.com over a decade ago, it was a fantastic site for discovering lesser-known artists, but they whored themselves out pretty quickly.

I finally found the perfect spiritual successor to mp3.com, and it looks like they've implemented a solid model with great potential. It's the perfect example for the direction the music industry should be taking in the age of the Internet. The name of the site is Bandcamp, and when I first discovered it about two months ago, I decided right away that it should be the subject of my first website review. After giving it some time and thought, here are my observations.