Years ago, it felt like one could keep eye on just about everything out there, and now, despite it is not vastly bigger "scene", seems like one is very quickly out of loop.
Of course we face the question: is it necessary to keep eye on all what's happening out there. Of course it is not necessary, but if one would want to keep eye on things, in times when sharing information is seemingly easier than ever, most often I have feeling that I have no idea what is really happening currently.
It may be also merely feeling. I recall talking with old noise veteran who concluded probably already 10 years ago that time of forums is gone and there are so good facebook groups to promote and reach people. I checked them out, just to find out that there was nothing worth of interest I would not know already. Just endless spamming without good enough reason. Everybody posting youtube links, nobody giving a fuck, seemed to be the daily routine, heh...
This Special Interest forum and email remains the main sources of information, and as soon as some label or band operates more via Instagram or facebook, or only on their website, it is very likely to be missed unless someone talks about. Not really feeling like using yet another and another social network. And rarely end up "surfing internet" like in old times, through band and label link pages.
So all in all, this is not complaint! I know that to follow what's going on, one should just follow what's going on, hah... Question on topic merely being how do you keep up with what's happening with industrial/noise and is it even crucial to "keep up". Instead just focus on things what sort of naturally falls on your path? Be it old or new.
As far as online goes just this forum for me man, sometimes discogs and friend's recommendations. I don't fuck with ig or fb. And no, I don't think it's crucial to keep up. Got enough music in collection / on hard drive already to last me till the day I die, there's old records I've listened to like 200 times and I still do.
this forum
IG
Friends recommendations
Facebook
The algorithms of Facebook and Instagram make it harder to keep up, sometimes having to sift through a lot of posts before seeing label or band updates, etc. You can work the algorithms in your favour over time, but still can't catch everything.
I have a Facebook group for the distro, only posting weekly new arrivals (same as the thread I have for the distro here), and it helps keep a few people in the loop and beyond that I think it's good to keep a presence on that platform. However, the larger groups like "NOISE POWER ELECTRONICS BLACK INDUSTRIAL", etc, I never bother looking at since it's usually like Mikko said, countless people just posting YouTube links and no one actually giving a fuck. Facebook pages are pointless as the posts just get lost in the feed.
Instagram is the same deal for me, weekly new arrivals posts exclusively (and constant use of hashtags). Able to get a good amount of followers by doing this alone, and having my personal account separate with no cross-posting is the best move as well. Can't stand people who have a personal account and a label/band account and post the same content on each - what's the point? It does more to annoy than anything else. Also through following only labels / bands / etc on the distro account I'm able to catch a few more posts than what I see in the feed on my personal account.
I think it's still important to keep boards like this active and I have more respect for the labels that post their updates here than the 'exclusive to Instagram' hype labels. That stuff disappears quickly and the 30 people that get copies are probably the only 30 people that need to care about them.
And in terms of keeping up in general I think just having a distro or following a distro is almost enough. Constant flood of new arrivals and new names to check out.
I use this forum and email. Some snail mail even! I personally really like it when artists or labels have mailing lists you can subscribe to - a few distros I use often do this also and it's convenient. In general I feel overwhelmed with the notion of "keeping up" and I feel if I miss out on stuff and regret it that's life and it can't be helped much.
Quote from: Force Neurotic on July 13, 2018, 06:21:34 PM
I personally really like it when artists or labels have mailing lists you can subscribe to - a few distros I use often do this also and it's convenient.
Yes, definitely. I forgot to mention this. Maybe the best way to keep up?
Quote from: absurdexposition on July 13, 2018, 06:31:16 PM
Quote from: Force Neurotic on July 13, 2018, 06:21:34 PM
I personally really like it when artists or labels have mailing lists you can subscribe to - a few distros I use often do this also and it's convenient.
Yes, definitely. I forgot to mention this. Maybe the best way to keep up?
Also, I tend to just shoot an email to artists I like even if they don't have one, asking if they could let me know when the next thing is available. Works out more often than not, even with labels and distros. Dunno how I forgot that, haha.
This forum is the main source of information. Also visiting some distros once a week or so to check for new arrivals or forthcomings. Mail lists, yes i am subscribed to some, they usually come with info i already know but they are fine as long as the sender doesn't spam -yes sending a weekly update is spam for me- , if that happens i unsub.
Although i had created my FB account for music information purposes, it doesn't help at all if that's your goal. As being said its algorithms getting worse and worse. Even if you have small number of friends and liked pages like me won't do it better. Now i mainly use it to spy other people's taste and life, haha. Basically a page to kill your time. - You can set getting notifications or priority about someone's posts, i have done with some, it works though looses its meaning if applied on many or if that someone posts dozens a day. I don't use any other "social" media.
Keeping up it's not important for me - anymore [?] - , although i consider myself updated. Just happens cause of my routine in the internet. - Yes, in these internet times, even with zero money anyone can have access to more music than his time on earth. Also i have to say that for me it feels bigger discovery to find a band / release from the past i didn't know or had missed than to listen a good promising "new entry" first.
Though keeping up has meaning if you don't want to pay double money later for stuff you missed and want, but it's too late ...
I get a lot of tips from this forum but I have to say it's mostly stuff that wouldn't be considered new and given the diversity of music discussed here it's often not even what you'd call noise or power electronics. Even so I think here is a great resource for delving into people's tastes and grabbing some good stuff. In general I've always felt like what has been called the 'scene' is so tiny yet constantly productive that there's no sense being too worried about keeping up with everything so I'm happy to take what I get from friends and people I'm in contact with who share recommendations. Let's not also forget that because it's such a small scene there's often a lot of hype and received opinion about stuff that you're really not missing out on if you don't hear. I do try to make a consistent effort keep up with some of the more hotly praised newer names but to be honest I rarely see or hear anything besides an obvious motivation to simply sound a bit like one of 3 or 4 classic acts and say naughty things. From what I understand the 'research' people put into their 'themes' is a big arbiter of worth at the moment...Seems to make people happy though so game on.
I follow Noise Receptor closely, both the blog and physical versions. Richard's reviews are always argued convincingly and I've made quite a lot of blind purchases based on his recommendations before. In practice I buy nearly all PE/Industrial from Unrest so I also keep an eye on the FB page. These jointly tend to keep me busy enough.
Main source is this forum. I use Instagram and Facebook as well and am subscribed to newsletters as well.
IG is sometimes useful for updates but FB is just messed up.
I mostly tend to use FB to keep up with gig announcements,
but they even show a lot of the time in my feed when they're already done thnx to the algorithm.
Oh and i look at my soundcloud stream as well.
I know when certain labels post new tracks a release is gonna follow shortly most of the times.
It's hard to keep informed on all that is happening... with the social media it was supposed to be easier, but it isn't. For me it basically works on checking this forum, getting a few mails from labes/distros/bands and people suggesting something they like, Noise Receptor and Special Interest zines. Anything else comes by chance. I try to follow the bands and labels I like, checking their web pages once in a while and anything new comes naturally with time. Sure I lose some cool stuff out there but, we can't have it all, we can't know it all.
I think that in this time and age it is all about catching attention. You can have the best release out there, but if for some reason it doesn't click on people to check it out, it is as good as nothing. For me the real promotion is a friend or a client sharing their opinion about something, after this comes the "hunt" for more info. This is the way I keep track on what's happening.
And about social media... Facebook is the only one I use and I only have it to keep in touch with people or having that possibility. Besides that, that crap is mostly a waste of time. A good tool gone bad.
Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on July 13, 2018, 04:37:43 PM... just focus on things what sort of naturally falls on your path? Be it old or new.
Yes. Which is pretty much how it's always been.
I like to get information via this forum or discogs, the music from labeltrades or from labels/distros i order regulary anyway.
QuoteJust endless spamming without good enough reason. Everybody posting youtube links, nobody giving a fuck, seemed to be the daily routine, heh...
You get too easy too much music everywhere, it seems. even spotify is a good resource for new or old music. it seems the streaming music lost the content, message, ideologie and is just music
Mainly this forum, the new releases thing on discogs, notifications from bandcamp and emails of newsletters/updates from certain labels. I don't really use social media stuff that much.
It seems impossible to be aware of everything coming out but it's not really necessary as other people here have mentioned. I have tons of releases already so there is a limit to how much I really need.
Quote from: deutscheasphalt on July 13, 2018, 05:11:20 PM
And no, It's not crucial to keep up.
Quoted and improved. I do not care.
Quote from: Si Clark on July 14, 2018, 06:23:13 PMMainly this forum, the new releases thing on discogs, notifications from bandcamp and emails of newsletters/updates from certain labels.
Same. Forums are really my only active seeking, and I'm usually filling in back catalogue more than gaining the new. Otherwise, email notifications from bandcamp and label and artist website subscriptions are my passive method. I don't know how much of a hassle it is for artists/labels to use bandcamp notifications or to install a subscription service on a website, but I really appreciate it when they do.
Are there any podcasts that talk about experimental musics, or at least touch upon them in a consistent and substantial way, while talking about other things like metal or hardcore? I don't mean playlists. Discussions or the contemporary version of
Maximum Rock N' Roll columns. Could be short.
Like for many others, my sources are this forum, a few distributors, the new releases feature on Discogs (although I very rarely come across something interesting there that I don't already know about) and that's about it. I've long accepted that I can't know/have everything and that's fine. It helps that over the years it's become clear what kinds of music I really like, and my range of interest is probably a lot narrower than that of many others on this forum. In fact, I'm going to downsize my collection and get rid of releases I don't absolutely love, because I have too much stuff I basically never listen to.
this forum
and ( surprise ) a lot from Instagram
Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on July 13, 2018, 04:37:43 PM
I checked them out, just to find out that there was nothing worth of interest I would not know already. Just endless spamming without good enough reason. Everybody posting youtube links, nobody giving a fuck, seemed to be the daily routine, heh...
Completely consistent with my experience of Facebook groups. There's a local (Australian/NZ) group I'm a member of, and it's almost exclusively occupied with spamming. It seems to me the architecture doesn't encourage discussion in the way forums once did. While the time of forums may seem to have largely passed, Special Interests remains a very useful port of call - even for a lurker like myself. There seems to be less people advocating for the work of others in general, and the 'Playlist' thread here is one location I can reliably find this occurring today. In the past it was often the enthusiasm of someone for the work of an unfamiliar artist that pushed me to investigate. Smaller distributers who actually go to the effort of writing at length about the material they're stocking can be helpful in this regard also.
I guess my impressions are much the same as most here. FB was useful in the past, but the new algorithms have turned it into an cesspool of pointless spam where useful information simply gets lost/ is missed. From the perspective of what I do with Noise Receptor, I used to get a decent amount of traction with posting new reviews on FB, but virtually to the hour after the new algorithms kicked in, the traffic was down to a couple of likes and comments at most. Not that I am chasing likes or anything like that, it is just telling that stuff this forum is interested in is getting burried in favour of commercially promoted/ paid posts.
So, really this forum is my go to hub for new info etc, and then just the usual labels and associated contacts/ networks I have always dealt with.
I do however get a sense of fracturing of focus within the underground and the emergence of localised micro scenes which dont seem to spread much wider then the few involved in it. Chris Groves talked a bit on this in the editorial of his last Night Science issue. But even if that is happening, I have been following this stuff for coming up to 25 years now, so whatever is really important out there I will hear about at one point or another - even if there is a year delay or whatever.
However, it is somewhat disconcerting that there seems to be so few younger folk who are interested and active in the post-industrial underground - and I mean those who really 'get it' and have strong ideas of the their own to carry the torch forwards. There are clear exceptions to that, such as the Fieldwork label and associated projects, but it has been silence from those quarters in the last few years.
But I am also glad to hear that Noise Receptor is useful some to find out about new stuff - as that is its role.
I still come to this forum primarily to see what everyone relevant is up to.
It's nice as everyone is in front of you and you're not waiting for some random IG post to get a little TASTE of what they're doing at that instant.
Have been discussing this lately, the IG / FB vs. forums and websites / blogsites, etc.
I don't have an IG account or a Facebook account, but have my blogspot / website that's set up so anyone who finds it can find out virtually everything about my projects in one package.
Again, who the fuck wants to look at an IG account when they just get little tidbits every so often of some of a project's actions?
I think the total inundation with fleeting information has killed some things like hundreds of pages of live reviews after some giant festival, etc. No one really likes to write anymore; most of the 'writers' coincidentally only on forums like this.
Was hanging out with Peter [Bacillus] and Will [BSBC / Nervous Corps] last night at a show and we were talking about how so many younger people are so fucking buried in fleeting genres that seem to be generated solely by borrowed nostalgia that they don't know what they like anymore.
I rely on this forum, Instagram and suggestions from people I know to keep my informed.
I have to really vet things though as there's just a colossal glut of stuff coming out and international shipping and a shit dollar make it hard to stay relevant with physical medium. I find the updates from Scream & Writhe, Analog Worship, New Forces and Oxen help me stay informed. I have a Facebook but I'm really on it for the messenger.
I would say that it's Instagram that keeps me most in the loop. A Derek Bailey reissue happening? You better believe I saw someone post about on IG first. A new Vomir tape? A new Wiese LP? I'm pretty sure the people I follow are posting about it.
You can now follow individual #hashtags on IG which has become very useful for sifting through the crud and getting specific information more easily. It is a useful and powerful tool, and works well once you follow a decent spread of sources.
Tip for instagram: don't use #drone as you just get a bunch of photographers following you who are disappointed that you do not share many aerial video contages of forests or mountain ranges.
This thread made me realise that I probably get more of my recommendations from social media than I thought and I'm not even that big a user of these things. I use Twitter and for all its many downsides you can in some ways just look at it like a load of your friends having short conversations. I tend to find out quite a lot about reissues and so in through chats people are having and retweets. There are quite a few decent labels and artists on there who can be followed if you want to hear about new stuff and given that people you know will probably be seeing this stuff too it's easy to keep up with. Similar can be said for some uses of Facebook. I use it for messenger and advertising gigs only but have been invited into some private groups that are essentially 'now listening' threads. Whether or not it's beeb new stuff much of the time I've found it a great way to discover things I didn't know already as well as have some good music talk from people I either know or who may be only a couple of degrees seperated from me. I definitely recommend a function like this for pooling info and enthusiasm among trusted folks if you have enough of them on Facebook
This forum forever and ever. I prefer IG over facebook for promotional use and thats about it. Thinking about a twitter but we'll see.
Oh yeah there are a few twitters I follow, I've found the Observations of Devience, Destination Out and Frozen Reeds twitter accounts are really great, Stephen O'Malley has a lot of great content as well and is a frequent tweeter. John Olsen, the Quietus, Greh Holger, Matt Purse... actually heck I guess I really like twitter
Quote from: Brad on July 15, 2018, 02:27:57 PM
Who would have seen that Phage Tapes would be releasing EBM/dark electro CDs in 2018? I've been really enjoying those, but I don't know if they count towards "keeping up with what's happening" in "this scene."
Sam has always enjoyed stuff like that, makes sense that he'd branch out into that.
Koufar and Terror Cell Unit full length cassettes will be dropping on Phage sometime this year inshallah. Sam still keeps it grimey, still keeps it real.
I've been enjoying going to forums to read conversations that aren't really in their wheelhouse. I say that with no pretension or sarcasm. For example, black metallers talking about crust. To hear different perspectives, and sometimes these conversations connect things with other dots and offer new, unheard recommendations. One of the more interesting things is that you can almost immediately tell who is a real music or sound lover. Listeners with ravenous appetites are almost always great resources for the new or more obscured gems.
Quote from: Zeno Marx on July 19, 2018, 07:39:18 PM
I've been enjoying going to forums to read conversations that aren't really in their wheelhouse. I say that with no pretension or sarcasm. For example, black metallers talking about crust. To hear different perspectives, and sometimes these conversations connect things with other dots and offer new, unheard recommendations. One of the more interesting things is that you can almost immediately tell who is a real music or sound lover. Listeners with ravenous appetites are almost always great resources for the new or more obscured gems.
Well-said, totally agree. This forum in particular has had some interesting discussions on jazz, prog, and even non-musical subjects like YT videos that have prompted a fresh look from me, even going as far as to revisit and appreciate stuff that didn't shake me the first time around.