No More Dilly-dally, PW Goes Daily

Beginning this week, we'll shift things into a higher gear - while we'll continue to post new reviews each Monday, we'll also start posting them on Tuesday, Wednesday, etc,...as they are written. Those on the mailing list will only get a Update email on Monday's, but it will also include the week's scheduled reviews. That may mean fewer each Monday, but more overall for the week.

Why this shift in gears? Two reasons. One, there is so much music out there, and so much that is coming into our "offices" - both courtesy copies to review, and stuff we've purchased, that this might increase the number we're sharing each week.

The second reason is that we've only one full time reviewer (me), who also handles the design, research and other updates. In order to spend more time developing the other parts of the site, I need to shift a little focus away from the reviews. Now, it may not seem that anytime will be saved - whether I finish the review and post it the same day or wait until Monday, the review takes the same amount of time. In theory, that is true. And I may find in practice it is true, too. But,...well, here's the behind the scenes truth of how I work:

I pick a disk a day and listen at work (not the ideal location), making notes and observations (...okay, sometimes writing out the whole review; just don't tell my boss). That same disk is then listened to at home, while other areas of the site are worked on (I'm still going through the artist links pages, finding email addresses, verifying content, etc.), but the review itself isn't actually typed until Saturday or Sunday, when I can devote a whole day to it. (No, this isn't the 'poor me' story. I enjoy all of this).

The process can change by translating my notes into typed text, scanning the cover, finding the contact info (if not in the booklet) and posting the review in the slim slice of time between my day job and my night job (alright, I'll tell ya: by day I work at the local Girl Scout Council as reservations coordinator and webmaster; by night I run my web design business).

Perhaps a long explanation for a seemingly minor detail, but I believe in honesty at all costs. With the other hats I'm wearing these days - web designer and application programmer - I need to shift some things about.

I am fortunate that Larry Daglieri has allowed us to reprint his reviews posted initially to the Perpetual Motion board, and we do have some other writers in the wings (Ken? Richard?) that I hope will be contributing soon, which will make this site fuller.

There actually is a third reason. I want to enrich the existing reviews by linking to existing sound files, preferably on the artist's website (their label's). That will be a great undertaking as we've already published more than 300 reviews (by mostly Larry and myself).

Well, we've added a few more to that count this week, as I review Anekdoten's Nucleus among a few others.

Here's what I hope (this week, it's hope) to post over the course of the week [and the links proved I did...]: Al DiMeola's The Infinite Desire, Tangerine Dream's Mars Polaris, plus others. There are about 30 disks or so on tap for the coming weeks, both new releases and some we'll look at in retrospect. Of course, there are more new releases coming our way as well, including Dream Theater's latest, Scenes From A Memory, and (another!) Tangerine Dream release.

We've finally kicked the Live Chat link into action, featuring something that Dream Theater fans will want to check out (though we're not at the chat hosting stage yet). [DT event has passed -ed.] And, I've started work on linking to music sample sites ... one link there for now. [and now a few more]

And so, I've reached the point where I want to remind you that you can always submit your reviews, either by emailing them to us or using the Submit a Review message board.

Until next time...

The title wasn't initially part of this in '99, but I'm in a mood today (... ooh, a Yes reference...) ... Sep 14, 1999 so... there it is. (BTW, I ordered Yes' "Fly From Here" the other day, it arrived today... but the Yes ref was purely coincidence... -SS Sep 2011

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Published on: 1999-10-18 (2151 reads)