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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: be chimp-like in the morning

So I've gotten sucked into Garageband.com . This web site has picked up many of the indie artists who were cast adrift when mp3.com went belly up. But Garageband is a bird with distinctly different fetahers. Indie artists post a song which is then entered into a competition. Other artists (and not-so-artists) then review pairs of songs. the reviews range from very specific and knowledgeable to misplaced rage to downright strange. Somehow out of this emerges a winner from each pair which then goes on to a second round. It has been eye-opening to say the least.

i had no idea what I was getting into but thought I'd try it just to see what happened. I chose the somewhat moody and abstruse "O Sleeper, O Outsider" to start with. Don't ask me why - it just seemed like the thing to do. Initial reviews were negative (uh, to say the least) and pretty hard to take. But gradually things seemed to turn around and little by little the reviews improved. I noticed most of the good ones were coming from the U.K. and Europe. It became very apparent that Americans by-and-large didn't get it (Where's the beat? What's with those weird lyrics? Hate your voice!) whereas Europeans and Brits definitely did get it. I musta been born on the wrong continent!

Anyway, somehow I've wound up with almost the full 5 stars (top rating is 5) despite the downer reviews and won the first round. Now, I've got to start again with Round 2. I have no idea where this goes but I'm in it so I'll stick it out. (I'll read the reviews with one eye closed.)

On a completely different note... One of the nice things about programming an in-flight audio channel is that lots of record labels send me lots of CDs. I'm currently listening to Adrian Sherwood's NTAH. It's wonderful!!! Unusual grooves, wicked samples, the unexpected at every turn. Good, clean creative FUN!

Speaking of discovering new music: Check out Woodstock Taylor at Garageband.com. A truly individual voice in a sea of sound-alikes. Check out her song Clone July. Swingy, odd, quirky, and very, very good! Another superb artist I found there is Gunner. Check out his song "Tokyo". very, very cool.

Copyright 2004 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.

Read A Brief History Of Love Songs by Robin Frederick at the Sound Experience Music web site.