so, i got my 'demo' (a crudely put together cd-r of three of the songs on my myspace page) reviewed by sandman magazine, which is a free music magazine that you get in record shops in the north.
here's what it says!
"Casting aside poor production and the labelling of track two as being track three this lyrically abstract work from one man and his guitar act Jam on Bread is a fulcrum between intellectuality and pretentious kitsch. Sadly at every play demo #9 leans further toward the later rather than the former. He strums and plucks in a fairly non-exceptional way through ditties about obscure Scandinavian record labels, life as a blubbery underwater herbivore, and allowing 80s icons that should have remained in that decade to write doting letters. This artist may go down well at the back of a shop toting rare second hand books but would struggle like a bluebottle drowning in the washing up on any other platform. Perhaps we will see more from Demo #10 than from this misplaced effort"
ouch! admittedly, it isn't far wrong on most points, but still, it would have been nice to get ONE positive comment!
anyway, it doesn't really bother me, i just found it amusing. how do YOU deal with bad reviews? do you bother reading them?
you should weigh the press not read it
I think thats what people say anway. I hadn't heard ya beand until just now and a quick google the reviewer aint far off really hehe.
one of our first reviews
said we sounded like the police
that hurt
then other reviews said we sound like joy division, which we dont
the moral of the story?
keep the good ones and use them, ignore the bad ones :)
ooh, i'm pleased i wasn't compared to anyone
if he'd said something like 'like james blunt but shitter' i'd probably have spent the evening crying.
see
you're finding positives in it already! ;)
my dad once told me
never to accept praise from anyone from whom I'd not also accept criticism. Wise words.
Was he talking about sex?
this quote
"This artist may go down well at the back of a shop toting rare second hand books" is lovely. i don't know what you're complaining about.
haha
yeah, i quite liked that, although i'm pretty sure it wasn't intended as a compliment! :D
"Toting" would imply
that you're repeatedly shooting rare second hand books from an amazing book-firing gun.
sandman?
why would you take notice of what the sandman says? its written by volunteers isnt it?
What's that got to do with anything?
Just cos they're not trained journalists doesn't mean they don't have a valid opinion on music does it?
hear hear
I've written for sandman in the past and it's not attempting to compete with the big glossies. It's a free mag written mainly by student writers and it covers local and unsigned acts that would otherwise goet no press coverage at all. The editor of Q is not going to review your band, but an enthusiastic amateur writer who loves music without any mortgage repayments relying on his writing can give his honest opinion of how you sound. Take it or leave it.
But what do I know? No-one paying me for my opinion so it clearly means nothing...
and another thing
you must've sent sandman the cd-r in the first place. spend more time working on your songs and less time whining and your next review might be better.
Hmph.
*dismounts high horse quietly*
oh yeah, obvs
i'm not whining, this is just the first bad bad review i've seen and it's quite funny. i went and got a real life copy today so i can cut it out and put on my wall.
I think I left you
a bad comment on your last.fm some time back. Literally the most nauseating music I've ever listened to.
yeah, i saw that!
thanks.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
was rejected by 200 publishers. (I'd have rejected too as pretenious crap...but that's not my point!) Keep the faith.
I just had a quick listen
and actually quite like it. So there.
Sandman on CRAINE!
'Powerful rock music from a confident band'
I wouldn't pay much attention to them.
Oh, enjoyed your Saves The Day cover btw.
it'd be nice
to have *any* reviews.
Seriously, how the fuck do bands get reviewed these days?
I'm a total noob, aren't I? *sobs*
I will review you
Would I accept
praise or criticism off you though? I'm not sure.
Hell, I don't even know you.
Ah well, I offered
Ahhh i don't mean it like that.
Go on - review me:
www.myspace.com/manisslapped
Cheers :) x
bf
You hacks don’t know where it’s at
You can’t appreciate the master of the Strat
Not that I’m concerned (’course you’re not)
Your paper’s full of crap (’course it is)
I only read the gig guide anyway
well he did say he got it.....
so at least that positive. Imagine if he didn't get it.
A band whose website I run
were on the cover of Sandman magazine a couple of months back.
Good advice of yours to take it on the chin though. Listen to "Bad Review" by Half Man Half Biscuit. "My girlfriend's fuming..."
I am finding that I'm increasingly citing "listen to Half Man Half Biscuit" as the answer to everything.
I've just noticed Adie's comment
after posting what I posted. Heh heh.
pretty much!
I wouldn't take it too badly
I sometimes write for sandman (pretty much only to get guestlist for gigs) and don't bother reading it, even to see my name in print.
You get the odd good, well written article and a lot of it is pretty poor.
Bad reviews are alwaysa bit disappointing
as you want people to like things but I guess it's a case of where people are coming from.
I mean evidently in this case your music wasn't the reviewer's kind of thing so his or her opinion isn't something you need to worry about.
I think a bad review'd only bother me if it was someone who I imagined would like the kind of thing I did if I did well. Which fortunately I can't recall having happened to me so far (although I'm sure it will eventually)
I must need therapy...
...as I always agree with bad (although they're always constructive) reviews far more than the worryingly enthusiastic ones... I've never been good with compliments.
My favourites are "these lot just about escape immolation by garden tools" and "...it is excrutiatingly painful to listen while at the same exhilaratingly brilliant."
well for a start it was in sandman
which means all of about 14 people will see it, and second of all, no matter how hard you try you will never beet our worst review, which was simply: "worse than AIDS"
I think it's quite a good review.
"the labelling of track two as being track three"
Confusing the reviewer is a bad start.
Martina Topley Bird's last CD had lush packaging combined with an incorrect track listing. It just makes it harder for the reviewer and eventual PR.
My old band got an awful review in Sandman
I don't the guy even listened to the music more than once, and it probably wasn't his thing anyway.
I was annoyed at first, then laughed it off, you're always going to get a bad review here and there, so no worries.