Good friend and multi-talented music man, Scott Andrew, just announced an album release by one of his bands, Explone. I remember hearing Scott talking years ago about how much he enjoyed Explone’s sound. And now he’s their bassist.

Scott is always ahead of the game in field-testing new ways of DIY marketing. Whenever the subject of ‘how to market an independently released album’ comes up, the first thing I think is WWSAD. Anyway, Explone has a new record called Dreamers/Lovers. In promoting the release, they are offering a free download of the first single, Michigan, in exchange for a tweet. For those of us without Twitter accounts, this is pretty meaningless. But, alas, you can also just listen to the song on the Explone home page.

As for the single… I was born and raised in Michigan. One of the most stand-out musical experiences from my childhood remains being at the public beaches near the sleeping bear dunes. From all directions people had their boom boxes tuned to the same station, creating the effect that that radio station was just as much an ambient certainty as the waves and seagulls. In my day Asia, Toto, post-Garfunkel Simon, and The Cars ruled the pop airwaves. Patrick Porter, in Explone’s Michigan, recreates that vibe with the chorusey/double-vocals, ultra-clean production, and heavy choruses. Later this summer I’ll be back in northern Michigan and I’ll get to do my own field-testing to see if that tune can transport me back to the days before the national parks took over.

0 Comments | Posted by Michael Spaly in Random Info