Essential Music Since 1999

A while back a friend of mine, who's been working overseas for a few years, asked me to put together a list of essential albums from 1999 on. The reason he asked me was because I turned him on to Bedouin Soundclash. So keeping that in mind, here are my recommendations for some albums every person should probably listen to if they have been out of the rock n roll loop for the last decade or so. Like my top ten of 2007, I've included videos to show you samples of what you'll get with each release.



Enjoy....



New Pornographers - Electric Version




Belle & Sebastian - Life Pursuit





Decemberists - The Crane Wife





Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Vs. Pink Robots




The Go! Team - Thunder Lightning Strike




I'm From Barcelona - Let me introduce my Friends




Joel Plaskett Emergency - Truthfully Truthfully




Peter Bjorn and John - Writer's Block





Sloan - A Sides Win




Spoon - GA GA GA GA GA




Vampire Weekend - SThttp://www.blogger.com/img/gl.bold.gif




Yo La Tengo - I'm Not Afraid of You and I'll Beat Your Ass





Guided By Voices - Human Amusements at Hourly Rates




Various Artists - Tropicalia:A Brazilian Revolution in Sound

Top Ten Albums of 2007

I'll always remember the day I officially became old.

I was sitting at a pub with The Wife and my buddy Mark on Thursday December 13 when it happened. With not a trace of irony, it slipped out. I confessed that I would pay $500 to see Led Zeppelin at Skydome.

Yep. I'm old.

So don't expect all this year's picks to be "pitchfork - approved."

In my defense - I've submitted video evidence to back up all my picks. And if you're just going to watch two videos, I highly recommend the New Pornographers and Crowded House tracks.

Enjoy



Bedouin Soundclash
Street Gospels
One of those bands you hear about from time to time, but never actually listen to. I first heard the song "St. Andrew" on the CBC one afternoon and couldn't get it out of my head. The rest of the album is just as good.

Stand out track - St. Andrew


Black Francis
Bluefinger
Frank Black. Black Francis. That guy from the Pixies. However you refer to the child born as Charles Michael Kittridge Thompson IV, it's hard to make a case for consistant greatness. I've found most of his solo stuff to be pretty spotty. Until now. This is the album the Pixies would have made if their long awaited reunion evolved into something other than an extended fundraiser for the godfathers of grunge.

Stand out track - Tight Black Rubber


Bruce Springsteen
Magic
If there's a human being alive who doesn't feel a chill whenever they hear "Born to Run," then I submit that person is not really alive. Despite his early greatness, just about everything he's released since Born in the USA has been pretty bland. That's what happens when the boss becomes just another executive. But Magic casts a spell. It's a great listen from beginning to end and an awful lot more than you'd expect from an old man born in New Jersey.

Stand out track - Girls in their Summer Cloths


Dinosaur Jr.
Beyond
It may be nostagia brought on from my attendence at the Sebadoh reunion show earlier this year, but I had to hear this album. I needed to hear it. I expected it to suck. But it doens't. I've never been a fan of Dinosaur Jr., but I'm a huge fan of this.

Stand out track - Almost Ready



Fratellis
Costello Music
This is a bit of a cheat. I heard this album when it was first released in the UK - in 2006. But it only washed up on these shores in 2007, so I don't mind giving it a plug. If only pop punk bands from the states had balls like this - or at least the hooks - the playlist on my Ipod would be much more current.

Stand out track - Chelsea Dagger


Robert Pollard
Coast to Coast Carpet of Love/Standard Gargoyle Decisions
He's a hero to anyone who's ever dreamt of quitting their day job to become a rock star...because he did it. Guided By Voices WERE the 1990s for me. And while Pollard releases far too many albums for anyone to stay current, these two are a happy edition from a prolific songsmith, who really needs an editor.

Stand out track - Shadow Port


New Pornographers
Challengers
I didn't always love the New Pornographers. I used to find them grating. But over the years I've grown to love them. The hooks are geniune and creative and they are in complete control of my circulatory system whenever I hit play.

Stand out track - Myriad Harbour



Ted Leo & The Pharmacists
Living with the Living
It's very tempting to say "if you like Springsteen, You'll enjoy Ted Leo." In fact let's just say that. It's a rock and roll album with none of the fixins'. But d'you know what? Sometimes I enjoy a Wendy's burger with JUST the fries.

Stand out track - Colleen


Paul McCartney
Memory Almost Full
Probably the uncoolest pick on my list. In the past I've defended some pretty attrocious output from the former Mr. Heather Mills. I still remember writing a positive review for Off the Ground. Thankfully, nobody bought the record and so I never had to print a retraction. Memory Almost Full is not Abbey Road or any Beatles album. But it does fit well with some of McCartney's best mid-seventies output. And that's actually pretty fuckin' good.

Stand out track - Vintage Clothes


Crowded House
Time on Earth
Crowded House's Woodface has been a desert island pick since it came out in 1990. They are a classic pop band following in all the finest traditions. When Neil Finn and the boys split in the mid-90s, I was sad to see them go. Usually reunion albums aren't that good - but as Dino Jr. proved a little further up the list, they don't always suck either.

Stand out track - She Called Up

So you want to publish a book: Publicity and marketing

Publicity and marketing is harder to speak about at this stage. We spent the better part of September looking at different firms to see what each had to offer.

As Jim has said to me many times, a lot of these places like to have release parties that do more for the author's ego than for actual book sales – because attendees are more likely to be friends and family rather than actual media contacts. So in that respect, for an author on a small budget, it's better to direct your funds toward activities that are most likely to land you in the press and generate some sales.

For Moose we decided to go with Meisner Publicity in Toronto. Headed by Susan Meisner, they seem to have no end of connections and come to the table with plenty of good ideas to get press.

This is the one area where I think if you absolutely have to cut expenses you can. But don't delude yourself. You'll need to be a shameless advocate of your book 24/7 if you want to succeed. You'll have to buy some books on writing great news releases and be fearless and creative when it comes to targeting media. If you have any hesitation about going it alone – get a publicist.

For my own part, I built a little site that's still in beta called A Writer's Market. I like to think of it as a farmer's market for authors. Have a quick look and see how it's coming along. If you know an author, then send a link. I really need some folks to help test it.

I hope you found this little series useful. If you have any questions, send them along and I'll be happy to answer them as best I can.

So you want to publish a book: Audiobooks and ebooks

As I've stated in previous posts, the most inexpensive way to sell a book is electronically. There are no shipping costs to consider and no ongoing production costs to factor in once the audio or ebook version is ready to go.

The ebook version is the easiest to sell online. As part of our arrangement with Heidy Lawrence, when the book was ready for the printer we received a PDF of the ebook, ready for our online store. That was included on in the initial estimate.

There are also online distributors that deal exclusively with both audiobooks and e-books – such as audible.com and Overdrive.com

The audiobook is a bit of a challenge. It usually involves hiring a professional voice actor and booking some studio time. It may be tempting to save money and do it yourself at home – but don't waste your time. Your audiobook is likely to turn out like one those reno shows, where the amateur decides to do all the work themselves, blowing timelines, budgets and ending up with a substandard job.

Invest a little here and you'll have it over and done with in a week. For Moose we used Clare Burt Studio in Toronto and hired Barrie Bailey to do the reading. Here is a short clip from the studio of Barrie reading from Chapter one.

So you want to publish a book: Distribution and Website

It's never too early to think about how you're going to reach your audience. Don't think for a second: “If I write it, they will read.”

Getting your book into stores isn't easy. The big guys in the publishing industry have whole teams working the big chains constantly to get their product placed prominently in stores. As a self-publisher you'll have to do a lot of leg work to get your book on the shelf. And even then you'll probably find that your book will be lost in the tide of a an literary ocean as the big box stores have millions of other titles.

Additionally, you may find yourself faced with huge orders only to have those same books returned to you three months later, dog-eared and unsuitable for resale.

As luck would have it, in addition to being a fantastic editor, Don Bastian also runs a small imprint and we were able to negotiate a fair deal for distribution in Canada. Where he takes on the leg work of retail promotion and distribution.

But if you don't have a distributor for your book, you can still send out copies to reviewers, library magazines and direct folks to a web site.

Website
The model for distributing books has been the same for hundreds of years. Authors write a book, sell that book to a publisher, who then gets that book into bookstores.

This really made a lot of publishers and bookstores very rich. But for a small author trying to break into the racket, you may find that you're just not worth the effort for these guys. But the internet has chnaged things. It's easy to get your book into the online booksellers. But the real way for a small author to achieve the maximum return on investment is to build a web site with an ecommerce component and sell the book online.

With Moose, I hired a fellow from Pakistan to do the work. The result is mooseonthetable.com.

If you visit the site, you'll notice we're selling the book through our site as e-book and audiobook. Both these methods are great opportunities to reach an audience online and save money on production at the save time.

The website is a great way to provide information about your book and you can make it as interactive as you want. Websites are also great because you're not just releasing your book to a domestic audience. You have the potential to sell to anywhere in the world. Think about it. A person in Toronto can download an ebook or audiobook as easily as someone in New York, London or Dublin! How's that for a distribution channel?

So you want to publish a book: Profesional Editing and Illustrations

The editor is the most important member of the team you pull together. Don't cheap out. There is nothing more cringeworthy than a poorly edited book. Don Bastian has decades of experience as an editor and was the Managing Editor at Stoddart books at one time.

Beyond looking simply for grammatical and spelling issues, the editor looks at the project from a readers perspective. Because of Don's experience he was able to provide insights that made the narrative structure of the book better. And even then – we were still catching little things in the hours before the book went to the printer!

The illustrations are something that may sound easy. In Moose, illustrations are found at the beginning of each chapter and the cover. Great illustrations can help propel a story and set the tone for the book. Before we went with Bill Kimber, we looked at five other illustrators. Of those five, Bill came the closest to the “whimsy” we were looking for.


But even though he was close – it took some back and fourth before we got to where we were comfortable with what we had. Another thing to consider about the illustrator and the illustrations is how you plan to use them. In moose, the cover illustration is in colour and the chapter illustrations are in black and white. However, we had Bill create colour versions of everything, so we could also use these illustrations on the web site and on the materials Jim uses for his keynotes and workshops.

So you want to publish a book: Self Publishing & Project Management

To self-publish or go with a one of the big guys
One of the first questions I was asked (after how long does a book have to be?) by more than one person was how do you get a book deal? Well, if I've learned anything from the last five months, it's that you don't need a book deal to get a book published. And frankly, there's not much hope for an unknown writer sending in an unsolicited manuscript to a large publisher anyway, so it's really up to you.

For the purposes of this blog series, I'm going to assume that you're going to self-publish your opus. The risks are great, but the potential reward is greater. Why? You front the money- risk. You keep all the profit – reward.

And for the second question, Moose on the Table was about 52000 words or 120 single spaced pages on MS WORD that came out to a 176 page softcover.

Project management
So you know you're going to go forward and get the book out there. How do you arrange typesetting, printing, find editors, illustrators, and distribution? A good project manager should be able to help you with all of this and pull together a budget based on what you need. You may be surprised to learn that typesetting and printing costs – while substantial are actually a very small percentage of your overall budget.

With Moose on the Table – we went with Heidy Lawrence and Associates. You can find out more about her operation at www.wemakebooks.ca.

Heidy sourced out 6 different printers to get the best unit cost. She also took care of the typsetting, cover design, and look and feel of the book, from a font and layout perspective. Most importantly, she was able to provide us with a short ist of highly experienced editors and illustrators.

In the end, we went with Donald Bastian as the editor and William Kimber as our illustrator.