I have always wondered what it would be like to be the spawn of a rich and famous person. Feel like I would get more creative control over my personal brand at a young age because my parents wouldn’t be limited by financial constraints and other ‘real world’/middle class excuses. Seems like David Beckham is a cool dad taking his kids to a Jonas Brothers concert. Even though he sorta has to go to a ‘ghey ass’ event, it seems like it is an important thing to do in order to ‘let people know that ur rich and famous.’
Wonder what it is like to go to a Jonas Brothers concert. I feel like every1 is probably dressed in stupid lil vests, scarves, and retarded newsie hats. Not sure how to feel about the new wave of ‘Target rock star tween fashion.’ Would feel pretty sad if my kid wanted to dress like that, but I think Beckham’s kids are chill because they probably have stylists. If u had shopping-spree access to any mall in America when u were a tween, would u end up ‘looking like a little flamer’, a ‘name brand’ billboard, or ’sweet as hell’?
Did u know what skinny jeans / electro wayfarers were when u were a pre-tween? feel sad that my parents weren’t ‘loaded’ and famous.
Do you wish you had a lil alt spawn? What type of concerts would u take him/her to? When u / ur wife is pregnant, will u make her put an earbud into her belly button and play your child relevant buzz band mp3s? When u r a kid, can u truly appreciate getting VIP perks? Is it still ‘authentic tween’ to be into the Jonas Brothers, or are more people into Justin Bieber / Grayson? Will David Beckham lead the USA to a World Cup victory?
It’s so crazy how the internet impacts many of the marketing + design decisions of today’s artists and musicians. The drive for SEO, search engine optimization, is important for musicians to be able to differentiate their products, and make sure consumers can find their music+web presence without much noise. As a blog that relies on artists to give me their digital media for free, I appreciate anything an artist can do to make sure my blog / their product will get more google hits from ‘random ass people’ trying to find info / leaks / free mp3s from a band. (Wonder if I really deserve ad money for my voice/reach, or if I blogs should be ‘profit sharing’ with artists).
Artists can utilize a lot of fun tricks to make sure their bands + albums + songs are SEOed. Pick a band name that no one else has so that it will show up first in google (Grizzly Bear and Panda Bear seem to be actually competing against real bears for google hits). Pick an album name that is a made up word that no1 has ever even typed. Collaborate with artists who have a deeper history within google to get more ‘goog cred.’ Name a song after some phrase that will get you accidental google hits. Put a Jonas Brother in your music video so that the Google algorithm escalates your band’s importance according to ‘the system.’
Not sure how google works, but there are apparently ‘trained professionals’ who will help you ‘trick google’ into thinking ur site / brand is important. I guess it is important for businesses since so many consumers make random, under-informed decisions just because they ‘trust google.’ M.I.A. recently named her new album “/\/\/\Y/\”, which is supposed to spell out MAYA, except using forward and back slashes. It seems like this was ’something kewl’ to do in order to exploit typography + the modern usage of slashes in order to signify the directory-based lifestyle that we live on the web. However, as ‘clever’ as this might be typographically, I wonder if it is a ‘complete disaster’ for the sake of Search Engine Optimization. I attempted to google the album name, and I came up with no results. It seems like the only thing that the search engine can pick up is the “Y” utilized in album name. Not really ’sure’ about how google / html / php / the internet language works, but it seems like the “slashes” in the name aren’t picked up as being part of a typographical gimmick. Maybe her new album is some sort of marketing gimmick for Yahoo.
Even tried to do a twitter search to see what sort of ‘live buzz’ on the album was going down. Do u know if it is a good thing if your album is ungooglable? Will google eventually ‘pick up’ on this backslash + forward slash error? Can M.I.A. call the Google CEO and tell him to ‘index her shit’? Does n e 1 know how google works? Is there like an old guy who has to go through a file cabinet 2 find results for you every time you search for something?
Sorta reminds me of when Justice named their album “†”, then had to give it the alternate name “Cross” just to make sure every1 could google it. Do u think indie bands are ‘trying too hard to be alt’ by giving their albums typographically interesting names, or do they need to just ‘let google drive their decisions’? Will M.I.A. be forced to change her album name when people can’t google it / search iTunes for it / search Amazon for it? Will M.I.A. go on an ‘anti-google twitter tirade’ within the next 2 months? Do you feel like your core fan base will buy/DL the album no matter how difficult it is to get to, but you have to make sure that ‘new markets’ of lazy fans can easily find your album? Are ’special characters’ too gimmicky to be utilized in album names? Should blogs be ‘pissed’ at M.I.A. for not making her new album more google-friendly? If M.I.A.’s album doesn’t sell well, can she blame it on Google for failing to index her progressive album name? Is SEO ‘bullshit’? If u can’t use google to find an album, will it be impossible for the album to leak? What are the ultimate google-driven indie music decisions of all time? Are artists + businesses “constrained’ by having to consider the googlability of their brand, or is the ’search engine’ a tool that has helped every1 access more information + opportunities for commerce than ever?
Do u remember the popular 2k9/early 2k10 buzzband known as jj? It seems like they have fallen out of the buzz cycle after they were part of ‘the SXSW massacre’ when a few former-buzzbands were exposed as underdeveloped live acts that take away the mystique of ‘random ass lil bands from the internet.’
It seems like Elin, the lead singer was ‘chilling hard’, and got her photograph taken. I am not sure if she is from Iceland, or maybe some sort of cutesy Scandinavian country. Feel worried about her eyelashes. Maybe she is on Latisse, the popular eyelash growing drug/steroid/growth hormone endorsed by famous person Brooke Shields. Do yall want longer, fuller, more buzzworthy eyelashes? Are eyelashes an underrated part of a personal brand? Do u think eyelash enhancing drugs should be banned within the indiesphere?
Do u think she is fashionable, or some sort of Scandinavian Stevie Nicks?
Was jj ‘ever good’ or were they a forced buzz band? Do u pronounce it ‘jj’ or ‘the jj’? Do u have long, full eyelashes? Is having no eyelashes ‘alt’? If I grow my eyelashes super long, will my band get more buzz? Is Brooke Shields ‘hot’/'depressed’ [via child actors]? Is this jj girl going to be the next Bjork?
Volkswagen made some new tiny lil car called the Polo, and this commercial from Australia makes it seem like they are ‘making fun of trendy ass holes’ in order to segment a target market. They are mainly making fun of the groups of lonely bros who all end up looking like one another because they are all too insecure to make personal branding decisions on their own. They ‘find comfort’ in looking the same / having the same interests / buying the same clothes / eating the same food / moving into a 3-5 bedroom apartment together / other acts of bro-ishness.
Feel like maybe this commercial sorta represents when alternative bros grow up, and don’t find a life partner by age 26-27, and end up ‘being way too bro’ for their age. Will mainstreamers see this and laugh at ‘those mother effing hipsters’ or is hipster bashing sorta a niche kind of humor? I think that it is a ’slam dunk’ for ad firms to talk about crafting a unique identity for people who buy their product. Like ‘individuality’ is a new concept that has never really been explored by commercials/miscellaneous advertisements. Do u think if u bought this car, u would be a unique individual? [via Fight Club themes for high schoolers]
Did this commercial make u ‘feel free’ from ur group of friends? Do ur group of friends hold u back because they jock ur style? Are groups of bros always hilarious when they ‘all look the same’, all ‘chase the same pussy’, and ‘get all bitchy with one another like a group of girls’? R u a trend follower or a trend leader? R u a ‘lemming’ or a ’sheep’?
Should I buy a Volkswagen? Have yall heard of POLOs, or is that some sort of Euro / Aussie thing made for small roads and non-fat people? Is this campaign ‘funny and quirky’ or is it too niche to be played during a Super Bowl? Are u let down every time a Volkswagen commercial doesn’t feature a highly bloggable Grizzly Bear song [link]? Do u get along with ur bros? Should I grow a beard / moustache because my bros did? Are alternative bros more/less insecure than mainstream bros? If ur bro jumped off a cliff, would u do it, or are u a post-individual?
Pitchfork Media is a popular online magazine, famous for giving ‘hard ass’ ratings to indie bands, serving as gatekeepers to authentic blog buzz / critical acclaim. LCD Soundsystem’s latest album This Is Happening leaked several weeks ago, but it will be formally released tomorrow. Pitchfork must have obtained the leak, because they reviewed it, giving it a ‘controversial’ 9.2.
Did this album really deserve a 9.2 or is this LCD Soundsystem’s ‘weakest top-to-bottom’ product?
Many LCD Soundsystem purists respect James Murphy, but claim that this album ‘leaves them wanting something more.’ Some say that LCD Soundsystem has already made the revant catalog that they need “I spent my whole life wanting to be cool… but I’ve come to realize that coolness doesn’t exist the way I once assumed,” said Murphy in a recent Guardian feature. This realization probably has something to do with his rising cultural cache. After all, Murphy has done what all other music fiends only dream about– he’s flipped the system and become the embodiment of coolness. This is a phenomenal coup. And he’s quick to rationalize his current status to the New Yorker: “I understand that if someone’s going to make me his idea of cool I can’t control that.”
It’s somewhat ironic, then, that Murphy’s reign as New York’s ambassador of post-hip-everything finds him nearly losing his cool on This Is Happening. His early singles and first album were him joking to himself, Sound of Silver was a collective rush of us vs. them, and now it’s about him and her. This is also by far the bloodiest LCD Soundsystem album– a series of bare, lacerating manifestos about distance between people, set to the fizzing art/dance-rock greatest hits inside Murphy’s skull. “Love is a murderer,” he sings on “I Can Change”. He’s not kidding.
I feel like LCD Soundsystem’s generic press coverage focuses on James Murphy being an old, self-aware dude, so then music magazines will talk about ‘how trends have such a short lifespan’, but James Murphy is the one authentic thing that lasts 4ever that ‘every1 can agree on.’ Not even sure if this album was that good, or if it was just sort of a ‘victory lap’ type of album.
Basically, James Murphy has alternative tenure where he is ‘grandfathered in’ to favorable reviews, but he is not all artsy and weird like the Animal Collective dudes, so articles/reviews about LCD Soundsystem ‘bring out the worst’ in music journalism/writing because people have to get all historical + weave in some sort of timeline of social/musical trends.
Feel like the previous album is ‘better’ than this album (because it had a few more ‘good mp3s’), but it also received a 9.2. Feel like maybe they ‘didn’t have the balls’ to drop him a few tenths of a point, or possibly 2k10 is just a mad weak year. If James Murphy was 10-20 years younger, would LCD Soundsystem be ‘perceived’ the same way? Would he be ‘marketed’ like some sort of young Brooklynite who immigrated to the buzzcubator? Would LCD Soundsystem have a higher commercial ceiling? Would they be marketed like Passion Pit?
I feel kinda better about listening to Animal Collective, because they are singing about being husbands + dads. I’m not even sure what James Murphy is singing about, seems like it is some old bro singing about ‘taking advantage’ of drunk girls, then spending tons of time reflecting on the totes dated social concept of ‘cool’ / how ‘fleeting’ trends + ‘the scene’ can be. Feel like maybe James Murphy should make disco jams about being a solid life partner, and wanting to provide shelter via adobe-wave architecture for his family.
Is the rating ‘too high’ because this album is overrated, or have ‘the numbers become all inflated in the 2k10 economy? Worried that there will be some sort of historical collapse of the strength of the Pitchfork currency. We need to stop giving out buzz loans to bands that don’t qualify as being genuinely ‘buzzworthy’ and getting a 1-2 point boost for being ‘new and exciting.’
Feel like maybe Pitchfork has been ‘handing out a shit load’ of 8.4-8.6es over the past year to ‘cool bands’ that people feel comfortable liking, so then albums like this have to get inflated. Guess this means it is a ‘frontrunner’ for 2k10 album of the year for people who want to brand the year as belonging to James Murphy.
Did LCD Soundsystem deserve a 9.2? Have the ‘progressed’ musically? Should they write more songs that sound like “Kids” and “Electric Feel”? Was this album a ‘let down’? Do u feel comfortable with this being 1 of the best albums of 2k10? Is James Murphy a chill bro, or does he need to sing more about family values?
Just days after being ‘endorsed’ by mainstream star Solange Knowles [link], HIPSTER RUNOFF has taken a big hit from lofi legend Ariel Pink. In an audio interview with Viva Radio, the official radio station of American Apparel retail stores, Ariel Pink is asked about his leaked album, Before Today, which was branded as one of the most important leaks/album releases of 2k10 by the internet/blogosphere. He claims that HIPSTER RUNOFF / the comments section is ‘the source’ of the leak, possibly.
Is HRO bad for indie artists?
Stream interview
21:30 mark: Ariel Pink says that for more information about his leak, u can visit the HIPSTER RUNOFF comment section for his album leak. 40:56 mark: Ariel Pink and a member of the band make a reference to the Tito Jackson Sex Dungeon post, made by the Alt Report [link]
He goes on to say that leaks are ‘chill’ just as long as you buy the album. Does he sound like he h8s HRO, or is he chill with it, since both brands are ‘mad authentic’/lo-wave?
Feel sad that Ariel h8s Hipster Runoff. I don’t think that his album was leaked on/by my website. Not sure if my ‘coverage’ drove up demand for the leak [link]. Thought I was just being the chill bro of blogs, letting people ‘know whats up’/filtering out what is relevant. Worried that the HRO brand is ‘going mainstream’ and authentic lo-fi artists are turning on the site. Worried that I am the ‘next niche blog’ to lose my voice/credibility/brand/readership as indie markets are engulfed by the mainstream.
As an HRO commenter, r u ‘pissed’ that he accused u of being a leak bro, or are you just happy that Ariel Pink chills in the comments section of HRO? Do album leaks hurt album sales, or expose artists to consumers who were never gonna buy the album anyways? Is there any way we could track the number of leaks to build a new metric of ‘truly buzzworthy albums with early adopter/die hard music fans’? Is “Before Today” the frontrunner for album of the year? Will “Before Today” be better than Panda Bear’s “TOMBOY”? Is the HIPSTER RUNOFF weblog bad for indie bands, or is it ‘a valuable consumer force’ 2 have on ur side? [via high pitchfork ratings in 2k6]
