Maybe it is because of the near-constant stream of promo emails I get from PR companies or maybe it is the stack of unopened CD’s I have sitting on my desk and the 320+ albums worth of MP3’s in my “stuff to review” queue, but I’m feeling totally overwhelmed by new music these days and (frankly) I don’t care about 90% of it. That’s right, I don’t give a shit about almost everything. Even so, I’ve been trying to give you (the readers) some consistency with posting reviews and such, but it is so damn hard to come close to that. With a 3-1/2 year old daughter to keep up with, a job that keeps me blog-free throughout the workday, and the notion that I should actually try to get some regular exercise in, I’ve got very little time to “make the magic happen” here at canyouseethesunset.com. It’s not tragic or anything like that, but really, it has made me numb to so many new releases that I would otherwise probably be super excited to listen to. (Did I actually type the words “super excited?” That’s pretty lame.)
When I started this blog almost four years ago, there was never any intent to turn it into a site that did almost exclusively music reviews, but that’s just sorta what it has become. I mean, my reviews are totally awesome and all, but hey… That is going to change (at least a little bit) moving forward. I’d like to get back to a little bit more of the eclectic and narrative posting style the blog had when I started it. So without any disrespect to any artists/bands/PR people that have sent me stuff that I haven’t gotten to, I’m going to purge my queue over the next few days/weeks and give brief mention of stuff that’s good and pass on everything that’s not. It’s really that simple. There are still going to be reviews so don’t worry. It’s just impossible for one person to keep up with the same amount of submissions that sites with multiple writers can. Especially for a guy like me with minimal time to begin with.
It all brings me to the following question, “Would any of you out there (yes, you) be interested in writing album reviews/show reviews or contributing other content for CYSTSFTS?” Just asking that question is hard enough as this site has been a labor of love for me since its inception. But seeing Sean from Buzzginder and Matt from You Ain’t No Picasso write about getting interns (via Twitter) got me thinking about it. Relinquishing any sort of creative control is a scary proposition for me so this might not happen at all, plus (I’ll be perfectly honest here) this site doesn’t exactly have me swimming in cash so if you wanna write, it would be unpaid. Maybe I just need to change the format (as I mentioned earlier) and give it a go, but (really) if you are interested in contributing, send me an email or DM me on Twitter and we can chat about it. But seriously…
I love music. I just need to get excited by new music again. Quality over quantity bitches.
Hey man,
I hear you on the whole overwhelmed thing. It’s tough to keep up with new releases, especially when your inbox gets cluttered with 400 emails about some “remix” and there may be one good album in there…
It’s easy for you to skip the album. Just keep blogging for the love of doing it, even if it’s not new releases, or all that frequent. But don’t feel like you need to listen to every single album or mix the PR companies send… If I did that, I would have quit blogging last year haha. Good luck!
…you forgot to mention keeping up with the pregnant, moody wifey. there. i mentioned it for you.
xo
Thanks for sharing. I have many of the same feelings, including not being knocked out by so much of the new music. I’ve definitely tried to just post what moves me, trendy BS be damned.
In any event, keep up the good work. Looking forward to the new (old) format.
Kevin
Don’t you find that writing about new music and especially new bands/artists is extremely difficult without giving a record quite a few spins? I don’t like to judge a record till I’ve had quite a few listens and who has time for that. Think back to how many records didn’t even click with you until you were able to give it an honest amount of time. Anyway, keep up the good work, thank you for your effort, and thanks for listening!
man, i know the feeling. i just keep up the best i can.
and i hope that when i put on my PR hat i’m not TOO annoying.