MySpace may have been a horrible mess in many ways, but it was good for bands – four sample songs, some pictures, tour dates and a basic bio all in one place. In terms of checking out someone you didn’t know and just finding out if they were any good or not it had few peers at the time and, in all honesty, has yet to be bettered since, despite how ugly, slow and generally clunky the overall site itself was.
One of my favourite features was always the ‘top friends’ one. It was consistently one of the best way to find new music: just find out who your favourite bands were most into and explore.
Potential future resurrections notwithstanding, MySpace has been dead for years now, but there are other ways to replicate that particular discovery mechanism. I’ve been maintaining for a little while now that one of the best ways to find new music is to follow bands you like on Twitter. They are the people who know other musicians, who play in weird side projects and who meet tiny unheard of bands playing support slots in toilet venues around the country, and will in all likelihood have heard of the next big thing, as it were, before any blogger or radio producer.
Anyhow, I am not sure which musician it was – possibly the awesome Fantasy Rainbow – but I was tipped off about the fantastic Ides some time ago in much this way. This kind of shimmery, grumbly, lo-fi, downbeat guitar pop is rather popular at the moment, but more commonly in the boisterous, energetic style. This is more minimal and morose, but the aesthetic is otherwise similar.
The solo work of the wonderfully-named Alanna McArdle from London (or so saysher Soundcloud profile anyway), this is sad, introspective and hesitant. The vocals are dreamy and reverby, and often layered, which emphasises both the dreaminess, whilst bringing an added sense of both pretty enigma and sadness to the sound.
It’s nice. An album might need a wee break in pace or feel here and there, but these are lovely songs by a very promising artist.
