As a music journalist (sounds better than reviewer), I’ve seen quite a few bands drop by and I’m often horrified, if not repulsed by how they present themselves to the world. Therefore, I’d like to just pick out some do’s and don’ts regarding band representation on the web, taken on from the perspective of a music journalist.

The internet has always been accused of being the enemy of the music industry, and I can partially agree with it. Of course, illegal downloading is something which hits bands the hardest out of everyone involved, but in the end, the internet is the easiest way to get a following. What makes it even more interesting that in using the internet, we reduce the amount of labels, distributors and retailers between the band and her fans.

Tumblr really seems to be the new way to find bands. Although it’s mostly filled with porn, posers and goths, with which most of us wouldn’t have a problem, there are some treasures to be found. Like todays Fractals, who play a Deathcore-influenced kind of Technical Death Metal. This three-piece from Britain released their debut album Paradox on Bandcamp in May 2011 and it seems to be very promising.

Paradox consists of eleven songs and is about 35 minutes long. There are some really short songs and some really long songs, which makes it an interesting listen. The music itself has a bit of an electronic feel to it, which is mainly due to the programmed drums and the really tight and sterile way of playing these guys have. Perhaps the best way of describing the music is by the definition of their name. A fractal is “An irregular geometric object that is self-similar to its substructure at any level of refinement.” Don’t ask me what self-similar and substructure mean, but they are most definitely irregular and geometric.

A few months ago, I experienced any music addict’s worst nightmare: my music collection vanished with no hope of retrieval. At the same time my iPod was also wiped, so 5 years of intensively collecting music (around 150GB worth) went down the toilet. All I had left were my CDs. After lamenting the loss on Facebook, several friends contacted me asking me whether I wanted to take music from them to start rebuilding my library, and to my and their surprise, I said “no thanks”. I decided to start from scratch, and switch to a legal-only approach. Now, I will download only officially endorsed albums. Most of my music is now on CD, which has the new generation scratching their heads. “Why”, they ask, “when you can get it for free?”

Recently I watched a documentary on BBC3 called “Singing With The Enemy”, detailing a concept of taking two bands of complete opposite musical styles and throwing them together to record and perform a song. Sex-positive lesbian band vs. Christian Rock, grime rap vs. bohemian cabaret, you get the picture. This episode had my interest in particular for its inclusion of Bristol Grindcore band “Amputated” in their collaboration with all-girl pop act Fallen Angelz, but it ended up provoking a different reaction to the pride of Metal which I was expecting.