- Load up boingboing, one of the more interesting blogs on the internet, to see what they've scared up recently.
- Notice an article on the holographic projection of sea-life on a recent Diesel fashion show. Sounds interesting...
- Follow the link over to youtube, to get a look at the effects
- You're a sucker for distorted vocals and dirty beats (see Vitalic, Battles), so you immediately notice the first song on play in the video, and suddenly you must know the answer to the question: who are these people?
- Search for some of the lyrics. Nope not good enough. Try again. And again.
- Bingo
- You ask yourself, who the heck is this "Walter Meego" guy?
- Look up "his" wikipedia page.
- Oh it's actually a them (who thought up that band name?). And they're from Chicago. Independent until recently, only E.P.s so far. The person who wrote the "style" section is laughably amateur, not at all in wikipedia style. This means the page doesn't get much traffic. Not surprising considering the other facts.
- Hop over to their myspace page, looking for more music to sample. They say they are working on a full-length album, good for them. You're much more impressed with "Romantic," the song from the video, than their other stuff, but that's life. Hopefully the eventual album is more in that style. Not touring much at the moment, unfortunately. You've discovered them just a bit too late to reasonably tip-off your NY-habiting friend about their show there that very night.
- Check if youtube has any videos of theirs, to get more a feel for their style
- First up, a video which appears to have been made in a dorm room, and includes a synchronized dance scene ala the macarena. The whole thing is kind of flippant and uninteresting. Okay okay they're independent, you get it. You just have such high expectations after seeing such great stuff from other bands.
- Second up, for the song which tipped you off, is a video involving ninjas playing in a theme park, playground, rollerskating, and getting rejected by the girls they make advances on. This is, put simply, an abomination. It runs totally counter to the song, trivializing the depth and sorrow of it in again, a flippant way. A commenter captures this in more than one language: I don't like this video. I love the song. I'm just so frustrated I'm gonna say this in swedish because I'm way too frustrated to think right now. Videon gör inte låten någon som helst rättvisa! What were you thinking? You've made light of the song and yourself with this video! C'mon u guys got some serious potential! Silly video and so's the other one.
- Disappointing, yes, but not a deal-breaker, after all, it's just the music you're there for. Still, someone needs to give these guys a talking to. Competition in the music industry is fierce, and videos are one of the best ways to spread the word. If your talent doesn't translate into the visual realm, find someone whose does.
- Head over to Amazon to pick up an E.P. Think twice and go to the band's website. They probably keep more of the money that way.
- Hmm... Romantic was the song you liked, but the Romantic EP is stuck together with "Wanna be a star" which is a bit more straightforward in just about every way... beats, lyrics. Definitely a B-side. But the sample remix isn't terrible. Ah well. If you were playing the iTunes game you may wait and purchase by the track, but you're not, so platters it is.
- Reflect on how awesome it is that you just used a fashion show soundtrack together with a host of internet tools as a music recommendation system to find a promising, yet (deeply?) flawed, relatively unknown band.
- Write a blog post about it.
I went looking for the lyrics to the Midlake song, "Some of them were Superstitious", hoping to make a point to a friend. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I transcribed the whole thing. I later decided it was too abstract for my audience, but rather than delete it, I provide it here, for you, whoever happens to come across it.
Some of them were superstitious sitting with their backs facing the orchard, all of them with mittens on their hands and feet were waiting there for the winter. Thousands on the freeze-rail I could never join them there. But then we dare not bother, but couldn't help but holler "Yeah".
There's no use in hiding the joy from the bright new sun. I could wait for winter, better if it never comes.
Some of them were superstitious watching them parade around the town square, some of them appraising monacled and simply 'cause they don't know better. Someone to protect them someone to keep track of them. Though I don't believe them, I would rather holler "Yeah".
There's no use in hiding the joy from the bright new sun. Now you say you're leaving but leaving will just bring you down.
Can you operate machines like that, miles a day on tough terrain and grass?
I'm not sure if we will meet again. I guess it depends on which company you're in.
And when you're gone, you're gone. So soon, so soon, so long. But life, it works for someone, and you're someone.