Music Review Section - Frequently Asked Questions
If you want something answered that isn't on this list, just let me know.
What makes you some kind of authority on music?
How does the commenting work?
Podcasts? What's the deal?
Why do you have Amazon and Insound buttons? Are you a sellout?
Why are most of your reviews fairly positive?
You often reference other artists in your reviews, isn't that a no-no?
Why did you give _fill in the blank_ a bad review?
Can I send you something to review?
I sent you something, why haven't you reviewed it yet?
Can I reprint your reviews in my site / magazine?
Do you make music yourself?
Is this it?
What makes you some kind of authority on music?
I don't profess to be an expert or authority on music at all, but it is something that I'm passionate about. I've been buying and listening to music for a long, long time now, and I like to share my opinions with others. Really, I'm probably no different than any other person who has something to say about music, other than that I've spent countless hours sitting and writing what I think about it and I have a website to put it all on.
How does the commenting work?
This is the newest development on the site, and one that I decided to implement
after getting such a good response with the reader submitted year end lists.
Feel free to comment on any of the articles I post and even to criticize me and
my reviews, but please be nice to other people posting. Everyone has an opinion,
and hopefully the articles and comments will be a good forum for people to discuss
things. I reserve the right to delete slanderous, libelous, and / or other blatantly
offensive comments, so just play nice and it should be a blast for everyone. As with the year-end lists, I'm sure I'll learn something from them as well. Just for note, the commenting doesn't allow HTML or embedded images, so if you want to post a link, just paste the URL into your comments. Comments on articles will close two weeks after their posted date (although I may extend some if a lively conversation gets rolling), so be sure to get your words in if you have something to say.
Podcasts? What's the deal?
I've always thought the idea of a music review site without any music on it was a little weird, so I tried to come up with an idea that would include the audio part of the equation. The podcast reviews aren't that much different than the written ones, with the major difference being that the recorded reviews have actual selections from the albums being reviewed interspersed with the review itself (basically, me reading the review). In order to stay within the boundaries of fair-use, sound samples are limited to roughly 30 seconds each, with approximately 5 samples per review. If you are an artist or label that I reviewed and you would like me to remove the podcast for your band or label, just contact me.
If you want to subscribe to the podcast feed, the address to plug into iTunes (or whatever software you're using) is: http://www.almostcool.org/rss.xml
Why do you have the Amazon and Insound buttons?
Are you a sellout?
Although I'm not in this thing to make money,
I do have to pay hefty hosting fees to keep the site going, and rather than
put banner ads or something else up on the site, I thought that adding the small buttons
would be the best way to try to even things out. I have a pretty large international readership, and I decided I wanted to create options for people in other countries, as well as readers who would rather purchase from a smaller online entity (Insound).
Why are most of your reviews fairly positive?
From being in a couple bands myself, I know how much time goes into making a release, and most of the time I try to find something nice to say about pretty much everything I review. If I don't care for something, I think it's pretty obvious in my writing, but I'm not doing my reviews to be snarky or mean, and there are many other places to go if you want that. In addition, there's a lot of music that I end up aquiring that just doesn't do a whole lot for me. Instead of writing something mean about it, I'd simply rather spend time (since I seem to have less and less of it lately) writing about the things that I do enjoy. You know the old saying, "if you can't find anything nice to say, don't say anything at all..."
You often reference other artists in your reviews, isn't that a no-no?
That's simply a matter of opinion, I believe. Although it's easy for some writers to describe a CD perfectly in flowery prose that would make sense to someone who is interested in the release, often times I find it best to offer up artists that I feel are similar, simply so readers have a better reference point. Some may call it lazy, but it makes sense to me.
Why did you give _fill in the blank_ a bad review?
Again, this kind of goes back to the first question. I'm only one person, and these are my reviews. I write how I feel about things and just because I give something a rating that may not be what you'd give, that's no reason to hate me (although I do enjoy a good discussion). Everyone has an opinion, and that's what's so great about the internet. If you find that you don't agree with me, most likely there's another site out there that will cater to your taste. On the other side of the coin, if you find yourself agreeing with me on several things, then I encourage you to stick around, or even make a suggestion.
Can I send you something to review?
Sure. What I usually tell interested artists and groups is to look through my site a bit and sort of get an idea of the things that I review. I like to hear all kinds of different things, but at the same time I'd like to be able to brag your release up on my site (which is hard for me to do if it's something I'm not really into). It won't take that long to spin through a couple reviews to get a rough idea, and in the end it will save both of us time. Oh, and contact me for an address to send things. Please don't send pictures or any other attachments when you email me, though, please. If you have a myspace page or website with sound clips, please mention that in the email and I'll check our your songs beforehand to save us both time.
I sent you something, why haven't you reviewed it yet?
As much as I'd like to be doing reviews full time and getting paid for it, unfortunately that's not the situation right now. I work a regular job like most everyone else, and write for the site whenever I get a chance. If you've sent something to me and I haven't reviewed it yet, don't get too stressed-out. Feel free to drop me an email to make sure that I got the package, but sending email after email to bug me about writing a review probably won't help. Also, because this is a one-man show, I can't positively promise to get around to everything that's sent my way, but I promise that I listen to everything and if it tickles my fancy, you'll for sure see something on the site about it.
Can I reprint your reviews in my site / magazine?
I'm cool with anyone re-using a review of mine on their site, as long as they're credited to this site and link back to it in some way. Also, if you're going to be using a lot of my reviews (like 10 or more), just drop an email my way to let me know. I'm sure we can work something out.
Do you make music yourself?
Yes. I used to be a member of the band Marianas. We made ambient/post/whatever rock music with a slathering of electronic touches. I'm currently working on another musical project that will hopefully see the light of day in the near future.
Is this it?
Not quite. If you get bored with the 1900-plus reviews in this section, you could always check out the rest of my site. I'm crazy in the coconut.
