It's been a fun year for music and me. I started Escape Sounds as a continuation of my radio show of the same name. As 2008 kicked off I found myself scrambling for new and old tracks to meet my new-songs quota. It was desperately fun building a unique playlist every week, and I ended up introducing myself to just as much old as new. That's why I've made three lists--two of current releases and one from the past--, and If all goes as planned, I'll also be putting out an hour long playlist each week of my favorites.

Confused Thought
The number of ways to expose pieces of music is climbing. Songs placed in tv ads and trailers are often received more positively by the public then they would be on the radio. Using this, Apple has changed the careers of artists like Feist and most recently Chairlift for the better. Videogames, however, remain shunned by the music elite. I find myself loving bands like Bang Camaro (of Guitar Hero fame) and Faunts (from Mass Effect) but also afraid to share them with friends. I imagine that had these bands been vetted by a respected blog, their shows would be packed, but right now, adding a track to a videogame is as good as a death sentence. In essence, it presents a band to a market that doesn't care to pay for albums or go to shows. It's a market that deeply enjoys the perceived trashiest art form, and lacks serious self respect. It's inevitable that this will change but not in the foreseeable future.

Disappointing Trend
It must be fun to rock out to your own cacophony in front of an excited audience like the ground breaking, wall-of-sound bands of old, but now that it's been done before, it doesn't make for a good listen. Most distressing has been the drowning/masking of important, redeeming musical elements. My encounter with Crystal Stilts two weeks ago left me wondering why no one seemed to care that not a single lyric could be made out, and a Ponytail performance was so awash in distortion that their guitar technicality was unnecessary. There was Titus Andronicus who managed cut their levels so much that the songs were impossible to differentiate. I walked away from this stuff irritated because I want to be open minded, but it seems it's hard for me. I love noise; I love subtractive synthesis. But I can't appreciate what I'll call encrypted art. If a musician transforms her sound so much that it's as good as random, it's impossible to take anything away no matter how much passion is involved.

Crystal Stilts - Crystal Stilts.mp3