Over the course of the 1,550 days and nights of Music Arcades, my music collection has grown a hard disk appendage that doesn't register on these pages. That was one of the loose rules I set out at the start, when I had a "few hours' worth" of downloads. I now have 1,973 songs, which would take 6.9 days and nights to listen to, from eMusic alone. (Bear that in mind every time I congratulate myself on cutting down on CD buying.) Those include just about the entire recorded works of Electrelane, for example, which I love — but you won't read about them here.
Another seam that's opened up for me over that period has been the crop of American female folkies. No, not Joanna: I still have a blind spot for her, despite some persuasive advice to try harder. I can't quite remember where and when it started, but it might have been hearing Marissa Nadler on a playlist linked to the 2006 Green Man Festival (in the end Marissa didn't appear there, but the seed was sown). A couple of months later, I saw Larkin Grimm. And I think from starting points like those I came across Alela Diane and Mariee Sioux via Last.fm. I downloaded both their first albums in full, and they're great. Before you write this off as further evidence of my taste for fey frippery, cop a listen to the feral energy of their stuff and Larkin Grimm's. (Meanwhile Marissa is — I grant you — pretty damn fey.)
Last.fm is great for that kind of foraging discovery. You stumble across all these micro-scenes of related artists and 'tune' your radio to them, working out who's right up your woodland path and who's off in the surrounding bushes. Laura Gibson's another one on the fringes of this niche. Rio en Medio and Diane Cluck I've tried, but they haven't really clicked with me yet.
Unrelated to all that exploration (I think it was a Clientele-inspired search), I registered at the Acuarela Records website in summer 2008. This apparently included a licence for them to spam me. My rule is never to buy anything from spam — it only encourages them — but I broke this rule for a second time when Acuarela sent me notice, last summer, of a compilation album with exclusive songs featuring Alela, Mariee, Larkin, Marissa and fellow travellers. Only €12 inc p&p, for a limited time only. Oh, go on then.
And there's some good stuff on it. Not just from the names I was familiar with, but also from acts like Citay and Eric Carbonara, who were new to me, but now they in turn become landmarks for further foraging.
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