I’ve recently undertaken an overhaul of my Bandcamp and SoundCloud accounts, and I’ve decided to take a more “unprofessional” direction in this endeavor.  I found my early attempts at using these platforms, to launch DIY albums, to be rather unsatisfying.  Shortly after posting, I spent my time and energy on other projects, or on life events, than focusing on the hype needed to push these projects to successful levels. I’ve realized for a very long time, that using these platforms, as they may have been intended as launch pads for independent commercial success, was not in line with my own approach.

I am interested once again by Bandcamp and SoundCloud by considering how I can use the platform designs themselves as a basis for a creative project.   I use the tiling layout in Bandcamp as a way to present my work as though it were an advent calendar, a little surprise behind every door.  By clicking on different tiles, the person on the other end of the mouse encounters a new, strange, and contrasting track.  The soundfiles that lie behind each track aren’t intended to be a mastered commercial product, but instead a different experience than the one clicked on before.  By thinking of my Bandcamp page as a way to present my work as a mini web installation, the platform makes more sense to me. You can take a listen at: http://bjmklein.bandcamp.com/

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I have decided to use my Soundcloud as a sonic journal, or a curated collection of small, miscellaneous, sound objects that provides the mouse user with a rich array of items to peruse.  Again, not the mastered commercial nuggets, but snippets (as the terms originally applies if I were working in analog) of my perspective.

I am certainly not the first to present work like this online.  Some examples of others who have caught my attention are:

Chris Mann (the poet)

Costis Drygianakis

Ann Liv Young

Dale Gorfinkel