Sometimes, a lot of the time, and to be honest, most of the time, there are things that we like at Duck & Cover that we, for whatever reason, never get around to talking about. There are countless bands that we love love love, like Lennie and his mouse, but, instead of loving them lifeless, we do something worse. We fail to mention them; and it's not that we have illusions about having some great influence, but little bands need all of the love and support that they can find, especially the really good ones.
Fortunately for everyone there are many, many other sites on the internet that do take the time to promote music that they love, and give it to the world instead of keeping it in their pocket as if it were some magical talisman. At Duck & Cover, we like to consider ourselves Enthusiasts, and not critics. Musical criticism is mostly all bosh, frankly, and I'd rather talk about something that I really love than deconstruct something that I don't think is all that great. Besides, what if I'm wrong? (It happens often.)
One such site that we have enjoyed for the past year plus is Daytrotter. Daytrotter is the internet home of Futureappletree Studio 1 in Rock Island, Illinois, and they exemplify how the internet can be such an exciting and vital place for music. You see, at Daytrotter, they invite artists into the studio to record a special session, and then they distribute the tracks as free downloads. The novelty of this, to me, is two-fold. First, people like free music, but free music that an artist had to pay to record is not so great for the artist -- it's something of a losing proposition, aside from esoteric "exposure". Secondly, the sets are typically 3-4 songs in length, and are the perfect format to get to know a band's sound. I can't begin to tell how many stunning bands that I've gotten to know via Daytrotter's format, and the most exciting thing is that it's top quality one off live material, so it automatically appeals to the collector/completist in me. (There's also always the excitement of checking back in after a month away from the site, and finding a handful of favorite artists just waiting to be downloaded.)
Artists who have participated in the Daytrotter sessions include, but are certainly not limited to: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Vampire Weekend, My Brightest Diamond, Dappled Cities, Quasi, Death Cab For Cutie, Thao Nguyen, Dirty Projectors, Sunset Rubdown, Six Parts Seven, Shearwater, Okkervil River, Low, Fleet Foxes... so, so many bands all deserving of your adoration! See the complete list here, and happy downloading. Hopefully you'll see some old friends and discover some new favorites in the process!
Oh! And before I forget! The accompanying illustrations by Johnnie Cluney make it all the more better!
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