One thing I noticed this time is that I had a lot more songs to listen to.
It is not necessarily that the bands got better -- though there were some pretty good ones -- but I had started making more of a point of naming specific songs in the reviews. If one song was more typical of the sound, or signified a switch, or had an unusually good intro... I mentioned that.
I think that is a reasonable thing to do for a review anyway, but I think part of what led me to do that was that when I was getting to each band's song of the day, it helped focus my picks. Now, returning to the review six years later, it still helps focus.
The really interesting thing with that, though, is that for most of the songs that I am using for this week, those tunes and lyrics have stayed in my brain anyway. Oddly, one of the songs would play in my mind periodically, and I would remember scenes from the video, but I couldn't remember the band name or the song name. Then, as I read the review, I knew when I saw it.
(You could argue that they didn't title well, but there are different philosophies about that.)
Last week's post mentioned a focus on Black musicians, primarily women but not exclusively.
This was also a year when I leveled up on my reviews of Native American artists, which I am going to spend a little more time on next week. That was largely a matter of taking a reading month that I was already celebrating, and then finding musicians as well. If knowing about the history of different groups is important, it is also important to know where they are now. Representation matters.
It would be very easy to only review white men. Reviewing musicians who follow me on Twitter, that is mostly what I get. I love them, but I also know there is more to the world. Once you start looking, that becomes very clear, and that is a thing I feel good about.
I was writing about race a lot, but I also had Drum Week, and I started writing these lists of problems and things I needed to work on. Mom was getting worse, and I worried about money, but that was all going to get much worse in the next year.
I only went to three concerts, including one I needed to leave early, but they were some pretty good shows.
Two other things stand out about the third hundred band reviews.
My standard practice was to tweet my reviews to the artists so they would know, but I had written one that I felt was negative. I found the music disappointing because it felt weakened by overproduction. That's not even a slam so much as a matter of taste, but I decided not to tweet the review at him.
I never thought about how someone who follows me (which is why I did the review in the first place) might still see it, and also that some people search their names.
Anyway, he saw it, and then he thanked me for listening and writing about it. We engaged, and it ended up being a really good experience. It didn't have to be, but I appreciate that it was and I still have great affection for him.
The other thing that was really cool is that I realized I had gotten better at being able to recommend music. I had listened to enough different bands, noticing differences and similarities, that I could extrapolate more and be more helpful.
That I realized that because I was followed by someone I had heard of was just icing on the cake:
http://sporkful.blogspot.com/2015/12/three-hundred.html
Songs for this week:
“Forget Me Not”
by Words & Noises -- This is the one I couldn't place. Sometimes I am not even sure that the song is that good, but it sticks with me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fic920XzEg
"Feel The Beat" by Third Place -- I have avoided this song because of the gratuitous profanity in the intro, but I do like the band, even though they were one of those bands of young men where it's like, just get over your dicks; we know you have them. They might have grown out of it by now.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOfpWrV5Vis
“Glory” by
Common and John Legend, from Selma -- Oscar, Grammy, and Golden Globe Winner, and it deserved it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUZOKvYcx_o
“Ghost Town”
by The Millenium -- I get mad at this video for making me so sad, but it works for the mood of the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USKANDxFL9Y
“Springtime Out
The Van Window” by Anthony Green -- This is really beautiful. I am in general more fond of Anthony Green than his music (a thing that happens), so I am glad he has this one that I can unreservedly love.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7cer9bFNcQ
“For My Own”
by New London Fire -- There will be at least three New London Fire songs used by the end of this retrospective, and I am fine with that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBrN0_R7Yz0
“Baggage” by
Derek Bishop -- Derek is the one who did not take offense to my saying his music was overproduced, and I will always respect him for that. This was my favorite of his songs before the interaction, and has stayed with me, but means more to me because of the interaction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_0b3b_yAyo
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