Does anyone else feel that too many reviewers give albums 4/5 or 8/10 yet 8/10 of those albums dont live up to the reviewers billing? Why is this? Our simple theory is over saturation, too much music can now get itself in to the public domain along with the mechanics that surround music. Everyone can be a DJ, a songwriter, a publicist, a reviewer, a blogger, an artist manager, a promoter, A&R scout, a label manager, why, because we all have access to a laptop, the internet and our opinions. As a result the mechanics that surround music are more readily accessible than ever before and whilst in theory this gives everyone a voice, you have to feel at times when looking for new music that the shear abundance of averageness in all these fields can often kill the desire to keep digging and find that priceless nugget. Now it should be said that BBB are potentially culpable in proliferating the problem described above, like you we had a laptop, the internet and some opinions, apologies, but I guess we are hoping that you still trust our judgement, furthermore we are not saying that all DJ’s, reviewers, publicists, label managers etc should be expunged but more that we wish there was a higher level of quality control across the industry.
Right, pre-amble finished, now for a music recommendation: ‘Smallville Ways – Ten Years‘
Based in Hamburg Smallville Records have been releasing House music for ’10 Years’ and this LP showcases why they are so highly revered amongst their piers. Its not often you come across a label where you can imagine yourself putting together a set purely based on one labels output. For anyone serious about their House music and are yet to discover Smallville Records this is essential listening. [Note: via iTunes the LP has 15 tracks, the CD/Vinyl has just 11]