Thursday, October 29, 1998
Web site links buyers, obscure tunes
MUSIC: Fans of London acid, glam rock discover common ground
online
By Michelle Zubiate
Daily Bruin Staff
Many artists in the music world belong to a genre of underground
styles unaccessible in the mainstream world of Hansons and Celine
Dions. You know the music, you love the music, but when you want to
have the music, clueless Blockbuster employees only offer you blank
stares.
But finally, computers can contribute more to your life than
papers and midterm stress. By accessing www.Cductive.com you hold
the means to creating your own CD. You choose the songs, you choose
the order and you finally can find those random numbers you love
without the hassle.
Up and running since January of this year, the creators of
Cductive, Alan Manuel, John Rigos and Thomas Ryan realized the
difficulties involved in accessing cutting-edge music in a
user-friendly environment.
"Going into a chain store, the employees usually know mostly
about mainstream music," Ryan says.
"And going into a speciality shop can be intimidating if you
aren’t an expert on the type of music you are looking for like
Detroit techno or London acid."
Luckily, logging on to Cductive remains far easier. It sidesteps
the scorn of an annoyed underground expert and allows all the time
necessary for loitering.
By clicking on the title of displayed songs, the new music
plays, exposing listeners to previously undiscovered rarities.
The web site features a large section of contemporary dance
music usually accessible to only full-time ravers.
Continuously expanding, the site adds new labels frequently and
offers some picks by well-known bands such as Green Day, Beck, PJ
Harvey and Elliott Smith.
The only hitch involves having the right computer and audio
technology to be able to hear the music before it can be selected.
Other than that, the process is extremely simple.
After reaching the site, one has quite a few categories to
browse through.
Sifting through the genres tends to be overwhelming in itself
unless one has a specific piece in mind. Categories include acid
jazz, leftfield, big beat, glam, alt-country and lo-fi, just to
name a few.
With the new additions of indie-rock, ska and memorable artists
such as The Pixies and Nirvana, the web site becomes a little more
than foreign, with band names that often sound like weird
diseases.
The site also acts as an informational playground. For instance,
a glossary defines many of the genres in a paint-by-numbers sort of
fashion designed for the underground-challenged.
Looking up glam rock, one is likely to find "Glam is a mixture
of bubble gum pop and heavy-metal combined with make-up, glitter
and theatrics." If Marilyn Manson and KISS come to mind, this
description proves adequate.
Those without a clue as to where to begin should visit the
Cductive Top 10. Currently the list includes such names as Hole,
Frank Black and Mary Lou Lord. In January, the web site will add
hip-hop as a new genre to choose from, promising to increase to
site’s popularity and success.
"At first the labels were a little hesitant to sign on," Ryan
says. "The stigma of the Internet and the questions of safety
caused them to think twice, twice. But now we are building the
label roster that’s growing all the time."
Cductive helps the underground-at-heart learn a little more, own
a little more and sound a little cooler.
Comments, feedback, problems?
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