The Ecto list & the pop market

I think Glenn is absolutely right in his message on this subject.

For me, lyrics are the added bonus (or the added thing I detest about a 
song).  It's the overall sound first that either interests me or doesn't.

> But maybe it's not that "we" turn against artists when they become 
> popular, it's that people are more likely to voice their dislike of an 
> artist they perceive to be part of the list's canon. 

This is true, I think, but what is more true for me is that I'll speak 
out if part of an artist's work _has_ interested me and parts have 
not, especially if is an artist who has been popular on ecto. 

I will occasionally give an dissenting opinion about a new artist (like
my recent mixed review of the Missy Higgins ep), but mostly if I'm not
interested in the artist, I just won't bother saying anything.

The three artists Glenn mentions--Rachael Sage, Trina Hamlin, and Vienna 
Teng--are perfect examples.  I'm not personally drawn to these artists' 
music, but I'm happy for their success, particularly Vienna Teng as we 
knew her when her first disc first came out and Rachael Sage, whose 
dedication to her work is pretty inspiring.  (Trina Hamlin has less of a 
presence in my consciousness.)

What I find heartbreaking is absolutely loving an artist's work and then
being disappointed by their later work.  For me this has nothing to do
with their popularity on ecto or in the wider world, but in my own ears
and head.  A good example for me is Sarah's work.  I liked the promise in
_Touch_ and loved _Solace_, which is the album I've had the strongest
connection with.  _Fumbling_ for me was a split, where half of it I found
cheesy and off-putting, and a disappointing harbinger of the softening of
her sound.  The soft Sarah does nothing for me, so much so that I'm not
even interested in hearing her new album.  I loved _Solace_ so much, 
though, that I'm annoyed that I don't care for her later work.

Jewel is the same thing.  It was a hard one for me because I'm not
generally drawn to the folky singer-songwriter thing, but the Innerchange
tapes charmed me.  I could see so much potential for her doing work that
would knock me out.  Her story songs are amazing, like "Painters" and
"Nicotine Love", where she paints portraits of individuals that seem truly
real.  But she went another direction, emphasizing the side of her music
that I didn't much care for (her deliberately naive songs and her didactic
preachy songs), and I found that disappointing.

It's a burr under my saddle when I'm so drawn to an artist's work for a 
while and then not.  My original liking for their work hasn't gone--it's 
not that they just haven't worn well with me, though that does sometimes 
happen--because I still like to listen to the Innerchange tapes and 
_Solace_.

Tori for me is less of a disappointment.  I haven't loved her later work
as much as I love _Boys for Pele_ which is so over the top it knocks me
out, but I still find her work interesting.  _Scarlet's Walk_ is too much
for me as a whole (it just feels repetitive and indistinct when I listen
to the whole album), but when I listen to it broken up I love the parts of
it.  (Interestingly, this happens to me with _choirgirl_, too, but there 
the album doesn't particularly draw me to play it, but when I do I really 
like each song individually).

Ecto has also a strong soft pop & folkie singer-songwriter emphasis of
latter years, and this isn't the kind of music I personally like to listen
to much.  Of late I have been discovering more music through an another
music list, (electroambientdreampop).  This is where I heard of recent
favourites Daughter Darling, Petracovich, Speaker Bite Me, and Under Byen.  
And through reading the reviews in _Mojo_ magazine, which is where I first
heard of Thea Gilmore, Jim Moray, Fiery Furnaces, and some other recent 
favourites.

A few really cool things have come through The Ectophiles' Guide for 
review, like Kat Terran and Reba Hasko.

My tastes have tended to veer more toward electronic-based music like Lamb
(I love their first two, find the third a little dull, but again love
their brand new one) or weird stuff (I highly recommend the wildly
idiosyncratic Fiery Furnaces' _Gallowsbird's Bark_).  

Noe Venable's _The world is bound by secret knots_ is definitely one of my
favourite albums of this year, and that I did hear of through ecto.

--Neile

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