Not Lost In My In Box


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Au Revoir Simone "Screen Printing"

One of the benefits of having a blog is that bands, managers, labels and other promotion people contact me in pursuit of coverage.  The first person to contact me was the friendly Gillian Stoll about her friends The Dan Maxwell Band.  She had scoped my Springsteen spiels and since Dan Maxwell actually does a revved up version of Bruce’s “Racing in the Streets,” that was a good play.  I saw them in the middle of the night in a basement last summer, so happy to have been “worked” as a blogger.

Mostly these inquiries are from indie artists, but occasionally a big company will take someone they have signed and present them with a pinkie toe in the water (as opposed to the blockbuster approach).  Artists promoting themselves take a similar but more believable low-angle approach.  The idea is that you can take your time getting to know what it’s about without the deadline and pressure of a release date.

How to influence a tastemaker is what the game is about.

Angel Taylor

Angel Taylor

Angel Taylor (Columbia Records) recently sent out a three song sampler of quiet acoustic music with a xeroxed note that read:

“Hey.  Angel here.  I know you are super duper busy but I wanted to thank you for taking the time out to listen to my (heart drawing here).  My BFF Mark DiDia has good taste so I’m sure you are lovely.  Enjoy!  xoxo Angel.”

Almost like she wrote it and came up with the idea herself!  But there is already a web presence for her, with a quasi-indie/self-generated slant to it (a YouTube welcome promoting her blog, fake handwriting font).  She has dates opening for Adele, and has already been inside the fortress-like Cities 97 Minneapolis. I’d be surprised if Angel Taylor isn’t at SXSW and especially the non-commvention.

One interesting fact is they are not promoting her face: Angel Taylor is a woman of color and not a super-model.  If she wins at AAA radio, she might (PLEASE GIVE ME A MORE RECENT EXAMPLE!) be the first non-white woman to do so since Tracy Chapman.

Check out Angel Taylor here.  Incidentally, why is “AngelTaylor.com” still available?  Should I buy it in case she hits it?

The Easy Tease "Bold Displays of Cowardice"

The Easy Tease "Bold Displays of Cowardice"

The Easy Tease (independent) are a very unique band from New York City that is doing it all on their own, with a lot of style and humor.  The Easy Tease has been together for about two years.  The band is built around a duo, Maggie and Adam on banjo and piano, respectively, and they have a lot of great ideas and gumption to back them up with.  Their album “Bold Displays of Cowardice” is available on their home page.  The Easy Tease is an organic, self-powered band for the future, and I anticipate great things for this duo of Bard graduates and their assorted menagerie of musicians.

Get to know The Easy Tease!

It’s interesting to see the different levels and tones to the pitches, wouldn’t you say?  Angel Taylor is acknowledging that you got the cd from Columbia exec Mark DiDia, and while it’s a meek approach, she is letting you know there are tanks behind her.  The fact that Angel Taylor is using the US Mail and an old physical cd in a jiffy bag with an Avery label belies her status.  No one would send out a cd these days.

Maeve

Maeve

Maeve is a Boston-based trio that actually does communicate with its fans directly via regular email updates.  They have been doing it on their own and seem to build every time I hear them.  The current music “And the World Became Kind” can be heard on MySpace and they are coming to play here in New York on January 17.  They give credit to WERS for playing them but they should be massive on WUMB (and all the other granolas too).

Au Revoir Simone is an example of an indie band that doesn’t send out physical cds unless you pay for them!  They are currently promoting a remix project while assembling an all new album, and occasionally get a music 2.0 lift from things like the New York Times style section, the REI Go! Playlist and a contribution (Christmas Time is Here from Charlie Brown) to the latest Amnesty International Christmas Album — in case you didn’t notice, they get asked to do the big gigs.  In my opinion, Au Revoir Simone is one of America’s best independent artists.

Licorice has a logo!

Licorice has a logo!

Licorice is a New York-based band who have found me via their manager on Linkedin.com.  Their most recent ep is called “A Million Grains of Sand” and they are in Brooklyn.  They recently performed on the bizarre late night series of “new jazz” held after hours at the Blue Note.  They have a few dates coming up in Vermont later in the month I would like to catch.  Licorice is doing a good job, check them out!

Dave Gross and Gina Sicilia are the latest releases from the other Rosy, Richard Rosenblatt of Vizz-Tone Records.  Dave Gross has an amazing faculty on the guitar and Gina Sicilia has a unique barrelhouse style that is old and new at the same time.  This reminds me that yet another Rosey, the artist , has recently gotten in touch on Facebook (using her “government” Nancy Kaye) to let everyone know about her deal with Quango.

We Are They is a metal band promoted by Platform One Entertainment, a marketing/management from Chicago that is seeking exposure for them on earbender.com.  My old friend Jeff Sodakoff works there and promotes alternative radio stations for bands.  I appreciate being on Platform One’s radar, and am thus including a track, but with no link to their MySpace page, no bio and no picture because it was not supplied by their promoter (and why should I dig it up?).

We Are They – included to show that’s not how earbender does it, but here is their song called The Swashbuckling Rum Rum of Tom.

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