Posts filed under 'General'
It’s been forever and a day since I last posted and, well, you tens of readers are probably mad that I’ve left you hanging for so long — and rightly so. I am very sorry for my conspicuous absence. It seems I’ve been trying to write a meaningful wrap up to “the year that was ‘07″ since just after Christmas and still have not been able to finish. I’ve also been meaning to post a bunch of free music I’ve come across lately — none of which has been so phenomenally stellar that I just had to write about it, but it’s hasn’t been all that bad either, just not powerful enough to force a post out of me. Frankly, I’m just done. MOLLY O’POVERTY’s GUIDE just never really took off in terms of hit stats and affiliate referrals. I’ve made a grand total of seven dollars and some odd cents in purchases off the iTunes Music Store; that’s not even enough to cover one year’s domain registration renewal! (Let alone 4 years worth of bandwidth, domain registration and email service.) True, I didn’t do it for the money, but I wanted the Guide to be a successful endeavor, not something that languished and was a drain on my time and resources. Right out of the gate, though, I thought I was on to something. After being featured on Lifehacker.com my hits were huge but it never amounted to a sustained userbase. And please don’t think to yourself, ‘Yeah, but if she just posted more… and more frequently’ because I did. Er, I used to, back in the first year or so. Music is my life, my raison d’être. Trust me when I say, it takes A LOT of time to find and write about music in any way that’s significant. And right now, that time —my time— is better spent in more meaningful, more rewarding pursuits. I could just point people to any old free thing, but that’s hardly disserning. Here’s a snapshot of things I’ve yet to download, listen to, and/or post about dating back at least two years. Anyone would feel overwhelmed, right? That and there’s just not enough hours in the week.
I once had this grandiose vision in my head that the GUIDE would become a “brand” synonymous with free, good-sounding, reliable music choices. When I first started out in 2005, Entertainment Weekly had a section called “Download This” where they usually featured at least one free tune worth downloading — and I thought that was a perfect place for Molly to be! The go-to gal for free tunes. But now, the industry has changed even more drastically than in the post-Napster era (circa 2000). Entire albums are being given away for free as experiments in trust, also in an effort to counteract piracy, many by reputable/recognizable artists like Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails to name just two. Free (and DRM-Free) music just isn’t the commodity it used to be now that everyone’s doing it.
So if the point of all this is lost on you, know that there really is plenty of FREE music to be had just about everywhere you look; iTunes, Beatport, AmazonMp3, Traxsource, Clickgroove, BeatsDigital, 7Digital, not to mention all the individual records labels I’ve spotlighted over the years… The list goes on and on. (Do yourself a favor: create a “music-only” email account and sign up for each site’s newsletter or mailing list anywhere you buy or find music.) The truth is you’ll be inundated, but if you just glance over every email that comes in, you’ll most likely find something every week to be added to your playists to the tune of $zero. That’s my suggestion to fill the void my little Guide leaves behind, if indeed there’s a void to be left.
And, as a final note, if anyone is interested in taking over the GUIDE, be my guest. Just drop me an email. For those of you that stuck around this long, I thank you from the bottom of my heart facsimile and I wish you all the best. It was fun while it lasted, kiddies. Any comments you’d like to leave will help ease the pain during this difficult time.
Molly O’ Over and out.
p.s. As a final gesture of goodwill (and a twinge of guilt about leaving you on your own), here’s the .opml file of all the blogs-n-sites I check out several times a week to find out what’s hot or not these days. Just download, unzip the .opml file and import it into your favorite RSS news reader. Voila! My arsenal of information overload is yours! And now that the full-version of best news reader for the Mac, NetNewsWire, is available for FREE, why not use it?
February 5th, 2008
Hello all! It’s been about a month since I posted last and for no real good reason — well, for one good reason, actually. There’s been nothing new and free that’s caught my ear’s attention! You know, I take some flack for not posting often enough but I hope that long-time readers understand that it’s not easy to find music that’s not only FREE but enjoyable and listenable. Sure, I could randomly post about some crap band that’s offering their music for free (or for a suggested donation) but I have to actually LIKE the music I recommend to you. Make no mistake, with very few exceptions, the tracks I post about are on honestly and truly on my iPod or burnt onto a CD playing in my car. I really am listening to Róisín Murphy, Samantha James, Colette, Ruth Ann and Tracey Thorn. After almost two and half years, I’m still listening to Emorej and Cuebism. Frankly, I think to find something that grabs me by the ears once a month is pretty damn good, considering how discerning I am.
So, if you’re one of the loyal Guide readers that laments my lack of posts, let me just say these two things: Thanks for sticking with me and B) it’s about quality not quantity.
November 14th, 2007
Wow! Things on the music front have slowed to a crawl this summer. I’ve been trolling the vast interwebs for something to promote or highlight – but found none. There’s no more Mercedes-Benz Mixed-Tapes to look forward to. Beatport.com hasn’t been promoting any MPFree giveaways in months either. Another old reliable, Earplug only seems to feature MP3 and/or streaming mixes in their “Listen” section that I can’t guarantee the legality of. So, what’s a music-obsessed girl to do??!
Any suggestions dear readers?
August 16th, 2007
For the horribly annoying auto-play of Marcel’s “Change Colours Again” video. I thought I had fixed it. Strange that nobody complained.
May 13th, 2007
I upgraded to WordPress 2.1 today so hopefully there won’t be any unforeseen issues. So far it’s been pretty painless. While I was doing all that geeky tech stuff, I decided to finally try a new theme (Freshy) to the Guide but it screwed up to many links and categories… not to mentioned it wiped out my listing of archived posts. I really like the look of Freshy but it’ll take a pretty big effort on my part to sort things out. So for now, I’m sticking with the lovely Blix theme that has served me well for the last two years.
UPGRADE UPDATE:
Well, I’m having a bunch of issues. The ARCHIVES, ABOUT and CONTACT tabs have disappeared as well as some mix ups in the LINKS and CATEGORIES. Please be patient with the Guide as I work them out and enjoy the few new posts in the meantime.
March 24th, 2007
Let me just say WELCOME! Thanks to reinvigorate I now know where visitors to the Guide are coming from. So, no matter where you are from, I hope you’ll find music on this site to your liking. So far this month, I’ve had record attendance and looks like I’ll be breaking traffic records by month’s end. That makes me very happy to know more of you are coming by, coming back – and staying longer.
Drop me a line and say ‘hi!’ (And if I got the greeting in your language wrong, please let me know!) I’d love to hear from you.
March 23rd, 2007
Come on out and feel the love this Saturday (9/23) at San Francisco LoveFest, billed as the nation’s biggest FREE dance party and festival. (It’s a bit of a misnomer actually, as a $10 donation is suggested; of course, there are perks to donating though, like discount drink tickets and such.) The parade will be gliding right by my new place and I thought this would be a perfect time to take advantage of all that my new home town has to offer.
Before you get there, be sure to grab your FREE Official 2006 LoveFest Mix Compilation at upgraded BeatPort 3.0 via this link. It’s a full one hour continuous DJ mix set that’s sure to make you fall in love.
September 21st, 2006
Hello, everyone. It’s been three weeks since my last post so I suppose I should let you know what’s going on. For the second time in less than a year, I’ve had a major life change and a move. I picked up stakes and moved to the city by the Bay.
I’ve also come to grips with the fact that as much as I truly love discovering new music and sharing it with people, it requires just too much time and energy to dedicate to it. Right now, my focus needs to be on other tasks, namely rebuilding my life and giving myself the space to have a fresh start in a brand new city. In the back of my mind when I started this little enterprise, I had grandiose dreams for MO’PGTMFM becoming synonymous with free & legal music. But for the Guide to have become a brand name, it would have required constant attention and a little bit of luck – both of which were in short supply during this last year. Besides, other bloggers are covering the scene way better and more consistently than I ever could.
So, sadly, I’ve closed up shop on the Guide. No more posts (at least not for the foreseeable future). The links will stay up for the time being as I think they are of some value. If you have something meaningful to say, like what your favorite discovery was… I’d love to read about it. If you’re going to make 32 posts about Cialis or other erectile disfunction medicines, please do me a favor and Fuck off. (Yeah, I’ve got the mouth of a sailor. What’s it to ya?) I know that did little good but it made me feel better!
Sincere thanks for being a Guide reader and for participating in my experiment. Like Casey Kasem is fond of saying: Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.
August 14th, 2006
After drowning in comment spam, I’ve decided to give it another shot. Comments are open again and I’m looking forward to some credible interaction with Guide readers.
July 1st, 2006
As you can see, gone is the MP3 player that I hadn’t refreshed since December. Because it’s Flash-based, I had no way to tell how many people where actually using it, besides me of course (I found it handy for listening to the entire playlist when I was on freelance assignments). Plus, it was a big ol’ pain in the ass to have to update it each time I made a post. Right now, I’m looking for a solution that allows me to play the version I’m hosting or linking to without having to make a a second, reduced-quality MP3 for streaming purposes and then upload a new playlist just for the player. I found one on joomla.com but apparently it would only work as a module to the joomla system and not as a free-standing, add-it-to-your-own-blog type thing. So, if anybody has a suggestion…
I’ve added a direct click-thru link to iTunes FREE Single of the Week. I figured, why not have one place where the most consistent FREE stuff is available to you? Even if I don’t happen to like this week’s single or genre, maybe others will. And of course, since it’s FREE, I’m not making any money off you so you’re safe to click thru here like everywhere else.
April 27th, 2006
Guide reader Daniel clued me into this terrific website a few days ago and I’m ever so grateful. UpItUp Records is an electronica net-label based in Italy. There’s lots to explore here so click around. The meat-and-potatoes of the site is the 16 “upfree” album releases (follow the “Quick Jump to —->” at the bottom of their neat Sims-like homepage to navigate directly to each album’s page). I’ve downloaded about five albums so far. You can download each release zipped together – including cover art – or you can download tracks individually, which is a nice feature. So far I’m digging “Valley of the Penguins” off upfree 16, entitled PRIMIX FOR KIDS. But with so much music, it’ll be a while before I get around to digesting all UpItUp has to offer. Go feast your ears!
January 16th, 2006
Howdy, Guide readers! As you’ve probably noticed, I haven’t updated the songs in the sidebar player in about a month out of laziness and time constraints. On that subject, I’m wondering if it’s even worth it? Are you listening to it? For me, I use the player to stream tunes when I’m on assignments since I’m not always using my computer which has the downloads. But since it’s flash-based, I don’t get any statistics on how many people are clicking on it.
As an alternative, I was considering using the del.icio.us playtagger but I don’t like the interface as much. I guess I’d like to know if it’s helpful to you to be able to preview the track first before you go download it. What do you think?
January 16th, 2006
Ruth-Ann (formerly lead singer of the UK trip-hop band, Olive) has had a long delayed solo album in the works. Back in January, it was said to be released sometime this year. Now, sadly, it seems we’ll have to wait until ‘06 to hear what her and Michael Cretu (of Enigma fame) have dreamed up. I loved Olive. 1997’s EXTRA VIRGIN is a seminal album for me; I consider it one of the finest CDs of its genre. Olive’s second album, TRICKLE, was a bit of a downer but it had a few stunners on it, namely the gorgeous Love Affair. Ruth-Ann has done several guest vocal stints on Enigma albums, including Boum-Boum and Following the Sun (off VOYAGEUR) and Gravity of Love and Silence Must Be Heard (off THE SCREEN BEHIND THE MIRROR). She’s also guested on tracks for the French house group, Kojak. Yes, I have it bad for the sound of her voice.
Funny that I should mention Enigma, as another producer who worked with her and Cretu by the name of Jens Gad has 4 tracks he’s recorded with Ruth-Ann… but they are just sitting unreleased for some unknown reason (well, unknown to me!). I tried contacting him but got a very generic response. Seeing as how the four songs are only short samples and I can’t make them available for download, I’ve strung them together and posted them in the sidebar music player. Hopefully, you’ll hear what I hear: a fantastic and refined sound. They don’t seem unfinished really, do they? The four tracks (in order) are: “Daydreaming”, “Lightspeed”, “Sign of Love” and “The Calling”. [You can find these snippets under listen > pop projects at gadmusic.com.]
I can’t tell you have many times during the course of this year I’ve listen to this 2:20 compilation pretending it was one whole track. I really, really like what I hear on all four songs. It’s maddening to think that they’re just languishing somewhere on a disc in his studio. So here’s where we see if we, the people, have any true power: Let’s deluge Jens with email requests to release these tracks either digitally or on CD. Use the contact form at gadmusic.com to tell him you like what you hear and ask him when can we hear the rest of these tracks!
October 20th, 2005
Lesson number 2: Not all free music featured on Molly O’s Guide has to be downloadable.
Emporio Armani is giving away a FREE Armani Caffé 3 CD now through October 9th and only by visiting stores in the following cities: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco or Miami. All you have to do is print out the linked page and bring with you to the store. Although I haven’t listened to it yet, I see some familiar names on the tracklisting; like Waldeck and Unkle to name two.
Sorry for the late notice on this one, folks! Hopefully, those of you in the appropriate cities can manage to swing by in the next five days. I popped in just for the CD but came out with a very nice blouse — a belated birthday gift to myself!
UPDATE:
I was going to post a track from this in the sidebar music player but I’m not now for the following reasons: The entire CD is mixed and, although I’m not opposed to that as a rule, I prefer to have songs with clean starts and stops. Secondly, every three to four songs on the CD has an voice-over proclaiming, “act two” or “act three” (all the way up to act four) and naturally, my selection was going to be a track that has this vocal intrusion. Annoying! If there is supposed to be an obvious emotional arc to this compilation, I’m sure I can glean it on my own without being told when there is a shift. That’s what my ears are for!
October 4th, 2005
Cartel from recently launched Musica360.com was kind enough to send me a note, thanking me for inclusion in the sidebar.
“I wanted to let you know that we now offer FREE downloads as well. And unlike iTunes which offers about 2 free downloads a week, ours will be an ongoing section in which they will always be available and new ones will be added weekly.”
So, when you have a craving for music en español, now you know where to go.
October 2nd, 2005
Hey, kids! Good News/Bad News time: I went over my bandwidth limit so I’m having to upgrade – hence no post yet this week. The ubiquitous “They” promise I’ll be back up to speed tomorrow. I’ve got loads to post about and am anxious to start churning through the backlog of music I’ve handpicked just for you.
In the meantime, do yourself a favor and head back over to the Labrador Records’ Sounds page and download “Stand By Your Story” by Mondial, a tremendous slice of electro-disco by way of Saint Etienne.
September 20th, 2005
I’ve re-ordered the playlist so now newest songs are at the top. Not a biggie, but now you don’t have to scroll all the way to the bottom in order to hear a track that matches the current post.
September 14th, 2005
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