Brian, that's unfortunate. You can't get better if you don't know that something is wrong.

As Ted said, I would prefer that if we suck people tell us that, but specifically why we suck.

Paul

killbabykill34 wrote:

deepeddy wrote:

kenposurf wrote:

DannySnyder wrote:

kenposurf wrote:

I see your point Robbie...maybe I need to
listen
to
more cd's?! Standards...on our new cd we
mixed
in
several standards with the originals but tried
to
add
our mark on them as well as being true to the
spirt
of
the song.

With all due respect George, 7 out of 13 is more
than
several. What was your thinking in including so
many
standards? I personally think it limits your
sales
potential amongst those who seek out surf
albums.
For
$15 I'd like to hear more originals.

Point taken..we tried to cover a bit of ground on
this
one..the track w/Memphis Charlie is in rotation on
several channels that play a lot of
Americana..also
has
been placed in 2 non surf films. Along w/ Man
From
Malta my hope is to break the cd out to a much
wider
audience who are not as familier with the the
standards. Now getting sg101 members who have a
zillion
versions of Baja to check it out might be tough
though
most of the covers imho rock harder then most
versions
out there I digress That was the thought
train
anyway..we have another 12 or so songs orig and
covers
from these sessions but decided to go with the
mix..thanks again for the input!

I was surprised to see so many covers. North of
Malibu's originals rock pretty hard - lots of edge
and
heavy guitar, even with a clean sound. It's like
they're dragging surf music kicking and screaming
into
the '70s... Their covers are fine, and I'm really
glad
that they went out of their way to rough 'em up a
bit.
They made the cover songs sound like something that
they would have written. In other words, they put
their
own unique stylings into the cover songs. George is
right about reaching a different audience with this
CD.
They likely will.

This is something to note and I am glad you pointed it
out. You and I had discussed the fact that we were
trying to market ourselves outside of the 'surf' crowd.
While these guys CD might contain a disproportionate
amount of cover songs, if they are like us, the crowds
they play to are not ones who are likely to own much if
any surf music. Perhaps they will be able to turn a new
audience onto some classics that they might otherwise
never discover.

That's how the lineup for this band came about. The rhythm section had heard NoM with our Trad lineup and became enchanted with the surf sound..none had played surf music before..all the standards were new to them and everyone got stoked..we spun the cd off in a hardrock surf style for the most part. It will be interesting to see how the reviews come in from the surf music reviewers..the local rock/blues press has been good

www.northofmalibu.com

Last edited: May 25, 2011 12:51:43

ArtS wrote:

The poll's choices of answers really kind of steered
the results in one way. So, I think its validity is
questionable at best.

Edit: It's a yes or no question; the responses were supposed to be "funny".

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

Last edited: May 25, 2011 13:11:44

Kenposurf Wrote;
That's how the lineup for this band came about. The
rhythm section had heard NoM with our Trad lineup and
became enchanted with the surf sound..none had played
surf music before..all the standards were new to them
and everyone got stoked..we spun the cd off in a
hardrock surf style for the most part. It will be
interesting to see how the reviews come in from the
surf music reviewers..the local rock/blues press has
been good
Kill Baby Kill wrote::
Well, I can freely admit that we were more concerned with how the 'surf' community was going to react to us than those outside of the genre. In the end, I am glad we just continued doing what we do, rather than adhering to any strict guidlines laid out. I love all surf music but this band plays it the way we feel it. We also don't stray from covers. Our only rule is that they have to be something that fits our sound and style and that we can tinker with to fully make our own. I was talking to my other members about this a while back. In relation to 'guidlines', I cannot imagine that the early purveyors of the genre had any of these to work with. They did what they felt and created something new and exciting. This, in general, is how rock'n roll and any other form of music has progressed. I am all for it.

I will note one thing though. While covers are a lot of fun to screw with, I have to agree with some of the guys above. The idea of a full length that has over half covers might be a difficult thing to swallow. One or two on an album, in my opinion, are fine. After that, I would personally feel better releasing an EP of the limited originals, rather than trying to pad out a full length.

Kenposurf wrote:
That's pretty much the reaction I expected to get (at least at first) from the hardcore surf music players/fans. The first song of the first session I had with this lineup was Baja..and it was one of those moments for me. These guys are very seasoned players but again the freshness of the surf sound got them way stoked..with nearly 30 songs recorded over the course of several studio sessions it was decided that we would take the songs be they original or covers, that created the end result we were after.
I do hope that some of our takes on surf standards will bring some fresh blood into the surf music audience..good for us all.
The point of the thread being how one deals with honest reviews is a very good one but one actually needs to listen to a recording to be able to truly make a judgment. Again..all good stuff posted..just my 2 cents

—

www.northofmalibu.com

Last edited: May 25, 2011 13:45:29

BigTim wrote:

I agree with Paul & Ted. However, it's tough when you
tell a guitar player that his band would sound so much
better if he replaced the crappy drummer -- only to
find out that the drummer is the guy's brother-in-law!
Ooof, so much for making new friends.

(Again, I'm sorry about that Mr. blank. I hope your
wife is talking to you again after you let him go.)

Funny but also very true....bands often were friends first..that can make changing things "fot the good of the music" tough..unless the guy was a butthead anyway

www.northofmalibu.com

From here on out, all my reviews are just going to consist of this graphic:

Site dude - S3 Agent #202
Need help with the site? SG101 FAQ - Send me a private message - Email me

"It starts... when it begins" -- Ralf Kilauea

ArtS wrote:

I'm of the school of thought that a little
negative/constructive isn't bad, but most people don't
want to be blasted for every little detail of their
recordings. Maybe the old "a positive/then a
negative/then close with a positive"-Management 101.

Not all recordings have enough positives going for them to balance out the negatives. If someone's going to be disingenuous and make up false platitudes to avoid hurting feelings, then their review has no credibility.

That was excessively violent and completely unnecessary. I loved it.

PolloGuitar wrote:

Re: The new Poll about music reviews--
http://surfguitar101.com/polls/3/

The questions are, and this is mostly aimed at artists,
would you like peer reviews of your music, even if they
are negative reviews? Are album write-ups on SG101
"reviews" or are they opinions? Would you hate me
forever if I said things you didn't like? Does your
shit not stink? Can you handle the truth? Does a
negative review here effect sales?
And fans, do you find opinions expressed here on SG101
helpful? Or do you prefer professional reviews- (and
there are precious few writers who pay attention to
surf music.) Do you assume that if there is no chatter
about a new release, then people are just being polite
and not posting negative comments?

Pollo Del Mar sucks. And you can hear them on the next RFB!

Radio Free Bakersfield--60 Minutes of TWANG, CRUNCH, OOMPH.
http://radiofreebakersfield.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Radio-Free-Bakersfield/172410279636
http://www.sandiegojoe.com/rfb.htm

Last edited: May 26, 2011 21:29:45

HIYOOOO!

Danny Snyder

"With great reverb comes great responsibility" - Uncle Leo

Playing keys and guitar with Combo Tezeta

Formerly a guitarist in The TomorrowMen and Meshugga Beach Party

Latest surf project - Now That's What I Call SURF

WhorehayRFB wrote:

Pollo Del Mar sucks. And you can hear them on the next
RFB!

Whorehay may really have a future in the exciting world of Digital Media Marketing & Advertising consulting services!

Mike
http://www.youtube.com/morphballio