So I Set Up A Patreon

Clicky here to check it out!

I'm under no delusion that this will become a significant source of income. The purpose of my Patreon is to open up options for requests. While I'm fine with folks sending me material, it's also a little limiting to those who can actually afford it. This method shares the financial burden, so it's not completely on the requestor's part to buy and ship music to me.

Tiers are as follows:

$5 Donation: Request A Review.
Self explanatory. Request will be slotted as per my usual alphabetical stipulation.

$10 Donation: Request A Review, Plus Skip The Queue!
That's right. Your request gets slotted to the front of the line, alphabetical stipulation be damned!

$50 Donation: Request A Discography.
Reviews of an artist's album discography! This can include acts that I haven't reviewed yet (ie: Orbital, Autechre, Tupac, Metallica, etc.), or rounding out those I've only touched upon. Requested artist discography has to contain at least 3 LPs, with a max of 10 LPs requested (sorry, Merzbow fans). This is also open to DJ mixes.

Of course, all requests are subject to availability of requested items. My preferred sources are Bandcamp and Amazon (.ca, as shipping from .com or .co.uk is stoopid expensive), though have no problem using the Discogs Marketplace if the price is reasonable enough (<$30). CD also remains preferred, but if a digital version is more financially practical or simply the only option, I'll go with that. Also, the release must have an entry at Discogs, so no Soundcloud demo exclusives or some-such.

Since most folks are likely only interested in one request, you only have to contribute to the Patreon for the one month the request is given, after which you'll have to remove it once paid out. If you're interested in more than one request, however, simply keep your Patreon going and you can request a new item in the new month.

However, some you may just want to donate for the sake of it (!!). Patreon tells me that I should include exclusive content for such Patreons, so I've set up some Goals too, reviving a former feature in the process. Yes, it's a return of Spotify Suggestions!

Each week, Spotify creates a 30-track Discover playlist, providing songs and artists close to my listening tastes that I haven't really dug into. It's yielded some interesting offerings, and a handy way of nudging me out of my comfort zone. I've thought about doing Mini-Reviews of these, but never got around to it, so focused on the main stuff as I've been. Still, it could make for a nice little Patreon bonus, so let's go with that. Goals are thus as follows:

$10/month: mini-reviews of the first 5 songs from my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist, posted every Sunday.

$50/month: mini-review limit increased to 10 songs from my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist.

$100/month: mini-review limit increased to 20 songs from my Spotify Discover Weekly playlist.

$200/month: mini-reviews of all 30 songs from my Spotify Discovery Weekly playlist.


There, I think that covers it all. Again, I'm not expecting much out of this, but at least it's there for those who are interested. Seems a waste to not use these tools that are available to content creators, no matter how far-flung their corners of the interwebs may be.

I DID IT! I DID IT! ...and yet, there's still so much to do.

Well.

Guess I should write something here. I mean, this was originally the endpoint, the stretch goal, the final target, the reason for all existence. Okay, maybe not that significant an achievement, but definitely a task I was determined to do to completion, and by José, I actually did it, even if it took far longer than initially intended. To what end, though? What have I learned in listening to every album I own in alphabetical order? Have I gained any greater insight into my music consuming habits, any deeper understanding of my own sense of self for having done this? Or was this all just one big silly diversion for everyone involved, something to wile the months away like a never-ending Let's Play series. Come to think of it, why did I even start this in the first place? Cue the flashback dissolve.

I've mentioned my motivation in doing this was to spice up my listening habits, but what was the ignition that spurred me forward? To my recollection (it's been over seven years now), I'd hit a state of utter apathy with contemporary music. I felt no desire to explore new stuff because all the new stuff I was being told was the best contemporary music had to offer was frightfully dull. The critical vanguards of electronic music may have moved on from 'minimal', but they remained devoted to 'deep and serious' sounds – or had flash-in-pan infatuations with funky novelties like disco edits. Meanwhile, the popular stuff was reaching peak bro, the likes of Guetta and Skrillex dominating the discourse.

If I'd seriously dug around, I'm sure I'd have found items that tickled my ears just fine, but the drive to do so simply wasn't there. I kept glancing back to the past, wondering what I may have missed or overlooked, including what I'd amassed in my own collection to that point. Over the course of nearly twenty years, I'd gathered around 500 albums into my possession, and while I had some favourites, many others had gone neglected in that time. With precious little new inspiring me, I figured then was as good as any point to revisit everything in some orderly fashion.

Writing about it was furthest from my mind, but after a year had passed, I realized there were plenty of notes, ideas and opinions germinating with each item I listened to. Was there much interest in music bloggers anymore though? Everything was moving on to video reviews and podcasting, which seemed like a fun idea if I could find an angle for it. Maybe I could just start writing again, get the creative fires sparking, see where it led me, and worry about the other stuff later. And since I'd just be writing for myself, I wouldn't have to worry about all those niggling formalities 'proper music journalists' do, which made the TranceCritic experience an utter chore towards its end. Take a few creative chances here and there for my own amusement, while waxing philosophical should the inspiration strike me. Mmm, that's the stuff.

Another reason I revisited all my music was the killer combo of record store closures and financial constraints. Even if I wanted to go hunting about for new tunes, my options had substantially dwindled by the year 2011. Yet, I soon found myself gainfully employed, and online stores like Amazon and Bandcamp were providing me with greater access to obscure items than I'd ever had before. As a result my CD collection has nearly tripled in size from when I first started this adventure, a feat I would have found unfathomable back then. No wonder my early estimates of when I'd finish were woefully under-guessed.

Not only did increased purchasing power help fill in a bunch of blanks I'd passed over, but spurred me on to unexpected discoveries of other items along the way. Some I'd never have even stumbled upon if it wasn't from what little 'research' I do for these reviews. All the dark ambient's the most obvious example, but plenty others too (modern ambient techno, ancient Berlin-School krautrock, synthwave ....Oak Ridge Boys). If there's any real takeaway from having devoted so much time to this blog, it's how I'm enjoying that insatiable hunt for music like never before.

Where does that leave me now, though? What's next? My initial plan once I reached The Hacker & Eric Borgo's Zone was to move on to another non-music writing project I'd put on the backburner, but I've devoted nearly six years to this little corner of the interwebs – seems anticlimactic to just up and leave it fallow as is.

Besides, I'm not really done, am I? Even as I ran through this final stretch of CDs, I was still acquiring new music along the way, 80 album's worth (holy cow, how did that happen!?). Plus, there's all those CDs I listened to in the first year that I never wrote reviews for, and it's just wrong to not include some of my all time favourite albums in this blog. My last Banco de Gaia review can't be You Are Here, it must be Big Men Cry! All said, I've currently got at least another 200 reviews I can do, which I'm obviously going to do. It must be done, the OCD compels me.

But I feel I could do more, explore ideas for other features. Bring back 5-song mini-reviews or Spotify Suggestions (senseless or otherwise). Maybe even get a Patreon going for request reviews. Yeah, I know I've got nowhere near the readership to make a living off that service – I'm hilariously bad at self-promotion – but as I may not be so gainfully employed at my regular job in the next couple years (yay restructuring), it's foolish of me not to consider alternative means of income, even if it's little more than side-scratch.

Food for thought anyway. For now, I'm taking a little break from the blog to focus on another project that demands attention. Let me know if any of these ideas are of interest, or if you might have suggestions of your own.

ACE TRACKS: December 2016

*Whew*

Was that ever the long-haul, seemingly dragging on with no end in sight. This final stretch felt nothing less than desperately crawling across a grueling marathon finish line, the path to the end littered with broken glass, coarse rock salt, and scattered baby diapers.

But enough about the previous calendar year – how’s about completing that massive alphabetical backlog, eh? I quipped back in… September? October?? Well, sometime at the start of it that it might take me until the end of the year to get through it all. I didn’t think it actually would, my steady rate of nearly a review per day scheduling me to have wrapped up sometime in early November at worst. Looking back though, I was incredibly optimistic, having ‘penned’ around seventy-five reviews out of the lot. Holy cow, excluding ‘U’, that’s the same amount as the entirety of the remaining letters in my regular queue (‘V’-‘Z’). No wonder it took so long. One thing’s for sure though, is I need myself a little break, a chance to recharge the brain for this final-final stretch after what’s been an exhausting past few months for a multitude of reasons. But before that, here’s the ACE TRACKS for the month of December, 2016.


Full track list here.

MISSING ALBUMS:
Various - Splash!
Cosmic Replicant - Soul Of The Universe
ZerO One - protOtype2

Percentage Of Hip-Hop: 0%
Percentage of Rock: 0%
Most “WTF?” Track: Not a thing.

Fairly standard playlist, what with only half the amount of albums covered this past month. A little ambient, dark ambient, ambient techno, and some d’n’b too. I’m surprised it even reached four and half hours long.

So yeah, no reviews for January, but should be back come February to take on the ‘U’ portion of my collection. The currently-building backlog will have to wait until after that, as I’d like to make some progress with my main objective in this insane project. In the meanwhile, if you’re just dropping in for a looksee, or happen to have stumbled upon this blog for the first time, by all means explore the 1,000+ reviews already here - that's plenty 'nuff reading to tide y'all over the next thirty days. As for me, it’s time to focus on another music project that’s finally making headway. What might that be, you ask? Well…

One Thousand.

Not reviews. Not releases reviewed. Just posts, which includes a few fluff updates in there. Like this one! Guess folks expect some pomp for this accomplishment of sorts, so here it is.

In Trance We Trust: Super Champion Review Project Turbo - Round 2 Fight!

C-c-c-comber Breaker! Wait, wrong game. Initiate Super Fire Blow! No, that's not it. Test my might? Oh HELL no! New challengers appear! Yeah, that's the stuff.

Whatever famous fighting game phrase you prefer, I am indeed breaking up my regular queue for a brief return to the world of In Trance We Trust. Revisiting the series' music for my December 2013 ACE TRACKS Playlist got me curious whether the label was still kicking around or had quietly folded into the glowstick illuminated night. Not only has it held on, but even knocked out another mix, reaching the mighty Volume Twenty in a 3CD extravaganza! Damn, I knew I shouldn't have let Dan Hibiki deliver the final blow to the series. Guess it’s time for me to step into the fighting arena for another round (plus a few assists from various Street Fighter Alpha 3 participants, ‘natch).

Of course, I can’t return to a DJ mix series without adding some stipulations for which volumes I’ll buy. Last round, I picked up every edition that was cheaper than In Trance We Trust 011, my official introduction to these CDs. Turned out every single mix after DJ Phynn’s set fell into that condition, so I’m left with very few still out there regardless. Since I was getting In Trance We Trust 020 no matter what (because glutton for punishment, right?), I figured rounding up whatever mixes were cheaper than that one as the best option for a purchasing stipulation. So now I have every volume of In Trance We Trust aside from the first four (expensive rare now). That includes In Trance We Trust 011, but the CD still hasn’t arrived, now two weeks overdue - I don’t know if it ever will. I’d rather not waste anymore time waiting, but I’ll see if I can come up with something in its space instead.

Electronic Music Critic ACE TRACKS, Now As Spotify Playlists!

[2024 UPDATE!]
So looks like many of these playlists have gone the way of 404 oblivion. Can't say I'm surprised Spotify would delete them if I'm no longer subscribed, but man, what a bitch to have to go through every ACE TRACKS UPDATE post and replace those dead embeds with Deezer ones. At least all those Playlists transfered over there, and hey, even included a bunch of missing tracks! Keeping this post up as is for archival purposes. Yeah, those Amazon clips were the bunk, never playing much of anything and always the least interesting parts of the songs. Nay, ya'll want to hear these tunes in their full, glorious versions, and now that Spotify's finally gotten inside my Canadian borders, it's time to treat the ACE TRACKS Playlist properly. Thus, I'm putting together monthly playlists featuring every song, tune, or track within that period to earn ACE TRACK honors (provided it's on Spotify), and make it available here to enjoy. Sweetening the deal, I'll also arrange the tunes in a mixtapey sort of way, so it's not just chunks of single artists you're listening to. I mean, if you wanted to do that, you could listen to the albums in full, right?

The Playlist at the sidebar will be refreshed at the start of every month, and yes, I'm also making Month Playlists for every prior one too. Since that's two years worth though, I'm only making them when I have time, and will only post an update at this blog at the end of the month.

Since not everyone out there has a Spotify account, the reviews themselves will continue having Amazon clips and links for purchases, which I still encourage. Spotify's a cool service and all, but nothin' impresses the ladies like all d'em hard copies. (artists get better money out of it too...)

A Month Off To Recharge

You may have noticed things slowing down a little around here, and it's not for a lack of time or material. Put simply, I'm creatively burnt out. I've been writing for this blog almost daily for the past two years, save an off week here or there as other concerns took up my attention. Not counting the 2010 stuff, I think I just recently passed the five-hundred mark too (yay!), though a fraction of original TranceCritic reviews are floating in there. Still, that's a whole lot of writing, more than I ever did for TranceCritic in five years of effort, and I feel like I've finally hit my wall. These past couple weeks I was getting by with copious amounts of caffeine, but that's a crutch, one I really need to cut back on. No, this is simply mental exhaustion, so I do what anyone that's worked too hard for too long does: take some time off.

And no, this isn't another "I give up on writing music!" rant. I'm still dedicated to reviewing every damn CD I own in alphabetical order, but a break is definitely needed from this. And what better time to do so than the dog days of Summer,where general traffic is low. Plus, letters "O" through "T" are some of my heaviest blocks of releases going forward, and a fresh, invigorated mind's better for that than slogging through while wired on Rock Stars.

There might be the odd update here for EDM World Weekly News, but if you're checking back in for new reviews, best wait until September for that. Or, I dunno, browse through the back reviews in the meanwhile. With over 500 of them, that's plenty of reading!

Fabric On A Budget, Round 2

Back to this gimmick, eh? I figured, “why not”, maybe turn it into a yearly thing, something for readers of this blog to look forward to during the early spring. Odds were good enough that at least a couple more Fabrics or Fabriclives would hit the Amazon bargain bins since my last Fabric On A Budget, perhaps even enough for a week's worth of reviews. I had to cast my net wide though, since surely I’d gotten all the cheapest mixes the year before. Thus, my conditions for 2014:

Canada Amazon: < $5
US Amazon: < $0.50
UK Amazon: = 0.01£ (because even with tons of budget-saving options in the franchise’s native land, the shipping costs totally ruin my penny-pinching concept)

My cheap trawling yielded a whopping eighteen releases. Yes, on top of repeat offerings like Tayo, Audion, and M.A.N.D.Y., eighteen more mixes hit the bargain bins. I know I keep saying this every time I set out upon a ‘DJ Series Retrospective (On The Cheap)' project, but dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into?

As before, the names cropping up are both surprising and predictable, though the years and sounds perhaps not as much. There are even a few early editions in this batch, which is nice to see, though I’m disappointed the earliest one, DJ Hype’s Fabriclive 03, seems to have disappeared into mail-order limbo. On the other hand, that means I only have to review seventeen of these mixes instead! (why oh why couldn’t one of the 2007 ones have been lost...)

I’ve a few releases to go through in my regular alphabetical backlog, and then we’ll dive into Fabric On A Budget, Round 2 (Revenge Of The Boogaloo) in earnest. Bring it on!

A Rule Alteration Going Forward

*Whew* That's the 'L's finished, and thus I'm at about the mid-point through this insane listening/blogging project. While I'm by no means halfway completed going through everything I have (much less if I decide to restart at the beginning to accommodate the first few letters for completion's sake), this does at least mark the mid-point of the alphabet (including numerical titles as one 'letter') - and no, 'Q' barely counts in this project, trust me on that.

It also creates a slight problem with Rule #1, whereby anytime I purchase something new that falls behind in my alphabetical list, that release goes to the front of the queue. This wasn't such a big deal when I was dealing with but a few letters, but I'm now facing half an alphabet, and growing longer with each completed letter, thus the potential backlog list increasing with each new bundle I buy (as you'll see shortly), which I feel gums up my regular progress.

So, a modification of Rule #1. Instead of automatically listening and reviewing new purchases as they arrive, they'll remain in a 'to-review' pile until I've made at least half-progress through a current letter. For instance, as I've just finished 'L', I'll now review my alphabetical backlog, then carry on through 'M'. Upon finishing up through the mid-point of 'M' - in this case, 'Mi' - I'll go through the backlog again, and so on. This also gives me the chance to properly digest new material instead of jumping into them so cold.

That's all on this small update. Time to go identify minerals for marks.

Electronic Music Critic, now with Amazon Links & Clips!

I never intended for this. When I started blogging again, it was as a lark, something to keep the writing juices going while focusing on work, college, and other assorted pet projects. Little did I know that, not only would I find that groove again, but hold onto it for as long as I have, with no real sign of losing it either. And while the readership I've generated since hasn't been a runaway internet smash or anything, it's grown to the point where I'm getting requests for actual audio clips.

I neglected it at first because it felt like more committed time to scouring for such clips than was worth investing for a side-hobby. Most blogs rely on YouTube links, and as those can be taken down at any point, you're constantly having to maintain them, lest you end up with a series of broken ones over time. And hosting the music myself was out of the question, the legal hassel involved so not worth it, which left me with legitimate sources.

Well, I did have an Amazon account when I started EMC, one I hardly gave much thought because, back then, there weren't many MP3 options to share clips with. Lo and behold though, times have changed, and Amazon's MP3 store has grown significantly, such that not including available audio to all this music I'm reviewing is utterly foolhardy. True, they're crummy thirty-second clips, often not even playing the best portions of said tracks, but it's something. As for why I don't also get Beatport and iTunes accounts, I'm an Amazon slut through and through; plus, you can get actual hard-copies at Amazon! I'm not looking to make big money off including Amazon links - Hell, I'm not even expecting to make a pittance. If I'm praising something as 'must own', however, I should at least give you the option of nabbing a copy for yourself.

So here's what you can expect going forward:

AMAZON BUTTON: Underneath each 'ACE TRACK' list, this button will, if available, lead you to the release's Amazon page. If a hard-copy option isn't available, it will take you to an MP3 option instead. If there is no Amazon Button, chances are it's a free net-album (eg: Ectoplazm downloads).

MP3 PLAYER: Underneath the Amazon Button will be an MP3 playlist of the release, which will include most, if not all, the tracks contained on the release. If there's no Player, chances are the album doesn't exist in an official MP3 form at Amazon (common with many older CDs). I'll make franken-Lists for the Burned CDs I review, but cobbling together a Playlist of scattered tracks that appear on regular CDs is more time than I'm willing to invest right now. Maybe down the road, if there's enough requests for it.

ACE TRACK PLAYLIST: In the sidebar, there's now a permanent Playlist that contains clips of anything I've given ACE TRACK status, provided Amazon has it available as an MP3. Now you can hear what I've sung the praises of! As I'm always listening to something new, this list will be constantly updated with each new review.

And that's about it. I spent nearly 20 hours straight this past day adding Amazon links and widgets to everything I could since Model 500's Classics. That's 300+ reviews! Holy cow, I must have been insane doing that. Wish I'd just have included these options from the start, but I sure didn't think I'd have written this much in 15 months. Dunno if the effort will be worth it, but if folks now have a reason to check back some of those older reviews, I say it has.

*2015 UPDATE*:
Turns out Amazon don't like it when you aren't generating enough revenue, promptly cancelling my Associate's Account. Oh well

In Trance We Trust: Super Champion Review Project Turbo

Here’s the deal: way back when, I reviewed the eleventh volume of the In Trance We Trust DJ mix series, helmed by Phynn for that particular edition. As with so many trance mixes of the time, it was a middling affair for the most part, one that prompted me to derail my overly-detailed coverage to play some Street Fighter Alpha 3. An odd thing to do for a ‘professional amateur’ review, for sure, but fun nonetheless. I was rather looking forward to hearing it again in my alphabetical order, just for old time’s sake and maybe recount another Street Fighter session. One snag though: I no longer have that mix, which is odd considering I know I listened to it just a couple years back.

Whatever. I can just get another copy again if I really wanted to, probably at a reduced price through Amazon no less. Hmm, but if I’m going to do that, why not also do another ‘DJ mix series on cheap’ retrospective? It’s been a while since the last one, and though instinct tells me otherwise, I’ve long been curious to hear if the In Trance We Trust series might offer some long-lost gems. The concept of the label does have easy appeal, with classy cover art, a clubbier sound, and often giving up-and-comers a chance for greater exposure. Okay, it’s also a sub-label of Black Hole Recordings, which means there’s undoubtedly loads of Dutch trance cheddar to wade through. Yet, considering epic, anthem trance excess has faded from popularity, those tunes can now be appreciated on a different level, as appealing artifacts of a time passed. Shyah. Right. And Paris Hilton will win the DJMag Top 100.

There’ve been nineteen (!) main volumes of In Trance We Trust over the years, so I had to place a limit on how many were picked up. Since only a couple turned up under the $5 mark I used for prior retrospectives, I instead settled on everything I could find that was cheaper than Phynn’s edition. Turns out a lot of them were. I’m… going to regret this, aren’t I?

(Oh, and I didn’t bother getting Phynn’s mix again; funnier to see who’s considered of lesser value than him)

Finally, in honor of the Street Fighter derailment in my original TranceCritic review, each volume will feature a brief, guest reviewer from Alpha 3. Who will show up? Who will even know what trance music is? What characters are even in Alpha 3?? Stay tuned in the following week for these answers and more!

The Fabric Project (on a budget)

Here’s the scoop. Shortly after posting those two Fabric reviews, I decided to go about gathering more. Not so much for the sake of reviewing them - though I definitely will - but to sate my own curiosity over how many of them have held up over the years. With many of them now available at affordable prices, it’s no thang on my part to start a respectable Fabric collection. So where do I start at? The best ones, of course. Nah, screw that.

While perusing online shops, I noticed quite a few were ridiculously cheap; like, one penny’s worth even. I was quite shocked by some of the names relegated to such depths, at which point a delightful idea sparked in me brainpan. Why not get these ones instead? Sure, they may not be any good, but at worst they’ll be adequate, right? Fabric wouldn’t release anything of wretched quality, right? Right!?

I still had to limit myself though, as many of the best deals come from UK shops. Trouble with ordering from the Isle o’ Brits are the ridiculous shipping costs; after all, it was such fees that made Fabric CDs stupid expensive on the shop shelves here in the first place. Even if I’m only paying a dollar (Canadian!) for one, there’s still nearly thirteen bucks worth of shipping cost. So, I limited myself to those editions of Fabric and FabricLive (because why not) that were only fifty cents. I also found an American shop that were selling a few Fabrics at a much more reasonable ‘shipping + handling’ rate, so picked up whatever they had at less than a fiver.

And which editions of this long-running, respect series were deemed barely worth the cost of the CD they were printed upon? Ah, you’ll just have to wait and see. Not immediately either, as they’ve only now started arriving in the mail (damn import logjams). Until they have all come in, I’ll carry on with my regular material, after which I’ll go over the Fabric and FabricLive discs in numerical order. All I’ll say at this point is I’m expecting eight of ‘em, and none are below their twentieth volumes.

So, like, where's the music reviews, huh?

Oh, you know how it goes. Distractions and stuff, right? Er, well, I guess that's not helpful.

Okay, so I admit I haven't done much in the way of new music reviews for a couple months now. Part of that has to do with a move to a new apartment, and another part of that has to do with needing to focus my writing efforts on scholastic endeavors. There is another factor though, and it unfortunately will impede my efforts to review new releases for a little while longer: finances.

Without getting too detailed into it, my current amount of debt is at a level I'm not comfortable with. Mind, I'm by no means deep in a hole, but I want to spend some time this year whittling it down to a more manageable amount so the interest doesn't kill me should my creditors decide to jack up the rates. This means cutting costs on other things, and I've decided to include my regular music purchases as a part of this - in other words, less 'risk' albums I know little about, and only personally anticipated releases instead. The drawback, of course, is less new material to review.

Still, I don't want to let this blog linger between such reviews, so to make up for this, I'm going to draw upon my current collection for material, though with a twist. Taking a cue from the Random Reviews I'd do from time to time at TranceCritic, I'll randomly select five songs each week and do a Mini-Review (about a paragraph long) of each. It shall be called: The Weekly 5 Song Mini-Review. (name can change if someone comes up with something catchier) And when I say five songs, I mean of any style of music - heck, it may even include a spoken-word skit! Whatever comes up in my random selection, I will included it. Keep in mind this will be mostly for fun, not at all serious like the seriously serious regular reviews that are serious.

Also, I've realized that it's taking a HELL of a lot longer to upload all those old TC reviews at a rate of one per week than I anticipated, so I'm doubling that time to do a rate of one every half-week. I should now finish it by, oh, 2012 or so.