I know, I know, the site just had a big facelift only a few months ago. Well, I’m changing it again. What of it? The site will pick up pace in September hopefully. But, it will be more of a blog when I have the time rather than actually writing music reviews and what not. We’ll see how it goes. College football is here. Hallelujah!
Archive for the ‘Random Thoughts’ Category
- Music Review Archives have been updated through April…sorry I’ve been slack on that in the last couple of months. SAL is up over 500 reviews now. Holy crap!
- Tonight, I am writing reviews for the first time in quite a while. Life has been very hectic lately, personal and professional. I apologize…hopefully the lag time will be kept brief.
- A site redesign is just around the corner (hopefully). I’m talking to a few people as I certainly don’t want to have anything to do with it.
- Contributors are a go. Should be later this month that I get that going. I have one lined up, one in mind and am open to a couple more. If you are interested send me an email (will@soundaslanguage.com).
Think that is it for now.
In the interest of full disclosure, I am excited to announce that I will now be working with Beartrap PR. Beartrap was started a few years ago by my buddy Chuck Daley who I worked with at Deep Elm Records. I have watched it grow tremendously and am honored to become a part of that growth. Chuck has worked with some amazing bands and I have covered many of them at SAL over the last few years. Here is Beartrap’s endearing little mission statement:
Beartrap is a DIY promotion and publicity company that’s focused on establishing a strong community with the people who are dedicated to making (or supporting) music for the sake of music.
I am not sure what all of this will mean for SAL. By no means are we dead though. Things might be a little sluggish at times but hopefully I will still be updating the site on a daily basis for the most part. However, this week might be a bit slow as I make the transition.
While it might raise some ethical questions, I assure you SAL will NOT become a Beartrap promotional site. Obviously, as of right now, I will not be reviewing any more Beartrap bands from here on out.
You know where to find me if you have any questions.
As you may have noticed, we are supporting Barack Obama here at SAL. I read a story this morning that, once again, backed our decision to do so. With several powerful democrats now calling for Hillary Clinton to drop out of the race, it was interesting to see what Obama thought of those particular requests. And, yet again, Obama says the opposite of what you would think a “normal” politician might spew. He refuses to shoot out the gibberish of “for the good of the party” or “so we can get started on the general election”…he simply states that Senator Clinton deserves to run as long as she sees fit. Perhaps it is only a small piece of the puzzle but it continues to serve the bigger picture. Much like his unlikely and historic speech on race, Obama continues to follow the less politically trampled upon path. And jaded voters like myself will continue to take notice.
This is what I got in the mail today…

I am playing with the site today so bare with me.
Let me know if you like the old design better or if you are digging on this new look.
Post categories are at the bottom FYI.
Werd.

Hope everybody had a good holiday. SAL is in hibernation mode for now. It might last a few more days longer or it might last all of January…who knows. But, I did take some time to update my first 2008 playlist if you wanna check that out.
Oh, and my Top Ten was featured online by my great local rag, Columbia’s Free Times, right here. I was stoked about it. See ya soon.
- Shakira featuring Danzig “Hips Don’t Lie”…doesn’t get much better than this!
(The wolf’s at the door…so we open the door!)
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHv3qO_Y8kk]
- Say what you want about South Carolina but it is December and I am wearing shorts and flip flops. Suck it!
- If you can not think of ten albums that you liked this year then maybe you should just stop listening to music…seriously!
- I have heard “Blog Rock” used a few times lately and must say it makes me laugh every time. I think the term can be referenced back to bands like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah who built their popularity strictly from Pitchfork and the blogging world (not necessarily talent and hard work). And it continues with bands like Black Kids and Vampire Weekend today. I also take offense to it cause I in no way want to be a part of this phenomenon.
- If you are a label why would you release a record in November, December or January? I just don’t get it. Unless you just do not care about any sort of press. If so, I can appreciate that. Virtual don’t-give-a-shit high five right back at ya!
- I am officially sick of music. My top 50 countdown begins Monday. If you want your top ten list up on SAL better send it to will@soundaslanguage.com ASAP!
Music review links have been updated (finally)! 407 reviews on SAL since I started…blows my mind. Anywho, December should be a busy month here. I have a list of about twenty albums that I would like to review before the end of the year. Can I do it? Probably not, but I am going to try. If you have any requests for stuff I should review on SAL before the end of the year let me know ASAP and I will try to get to it. Also, everybody start preparing your year-end top ten lists. You can send them to me at will@soundaslanguage.com and I will publish them at the end of the month.
You know, I started to discount Pitchfork’s relevance a long time ago. Now though, they just make me angry. Chase over at Standard Lipsum recently railed the hipster paradise for giving a terribly negative review (4.4 to be exact) to an exclusive iTunes benefit compilation. 100% of the proceeds of these songs would go towards FINCA. So, please tell me, what’s the point in critiquing songs that go towards a good cause? Would it not have been appropriate to just “pass” on this one? Do the people at Pitchfork feel good about discouraging people to buy songs that go towards a good cause?
The need of Pitchfork and its writers to consistently put down music/artists with their high brow “essays” is troubling to say the least. Even records that do score well are usually chock full of back-handed compliments (recent reviews of Georgie James and The Avett Brothers come to mind). Instead of spreading the word about great records and artists, Pitchfork have belittled music into a simple and degrading numbers game. And with that, they continue their injustice on music.
Heading to the metropolis of Lake City, SC for Thanksgiving. Hope everybody has a good Turkey Day!
I am heading to NYC in the morning so things will be dead here at SAL over the next 4-5 days. Except for the Travis Morrison/Takka Takka (check out the post below) show at Union Hall in Brooklyn on Friday night, I have no idea what I am doing. If anybody has any suggestions for my visit you can email me…will@soundaslanguage.com. See you next week kids.
My daily reading at Seth’s Blog turned me onto FreeRice.com. Improve your vocabulary while feeding the hungry. A noble and addictive site…a rare treat in this wasteland called the Internet.
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