The Wire <3 Splinters
posted by on January 12 at 16:27 PM
Splinters: masterly minimalism on a shoestring budget.
One of the hardest working men in micro-indie-label land, Seattle electronic musician Ben Torrence (AKA Splinters), has received a positive review of his new album in The Wire’s January 2007 issue. This is remarkable for two reasons: 1) Torrence, who releases music on his own Woodson Lateral label, has a minuscule budget with which to promote his work; and 2) The Wire is a notoriously difficult publication in which to get your music covered. I’ve heard more than one person say that unless you or your label advertises with it, The Wire won’t even consider coverage. I’m sure there are exceptions to that rule, but no matter if that’s just speculation, it is very hard to secure ink in that magazine.
In the review, Wire critic Ken Hollings calls the tracks on The Watchmaker “minimalist miracles that you won’t mind taking up your day.” (Here’s my take on The Watchmaker.)
Congrats, Ben, and good luck. I’m sure you’ll be swamped with orders from all over the globe after The Wire’s glittering critique.
Gotta take issue with this, Dave. The Wire is notoriously out of touch with any kind of American made music that the magazine covers -- electronic, experimental, improv, black metal, etc for sure. Some friends had to get interviewd by and Australian freelancer for thier three page feature in the mag because he was the closest geographically to the Bay Area the Wire had at the time (with one excpetion, I think).
I know Good For Cows, Bonus, and all the Jyrk releases that have been reviewed were either sent out to Wire contributors or the mag from the band or the label to the Wire's address. Just like most magazines. Hell, Yann Novak, Na, and us were reviewed by 3 seperate folks in the same issue.
I think you're right to point out that its hard to get press in that rag, but not so much so than anywhere else. Congrats to Ben, though.
Scott: As I said, I heard from a few people about that ads-for-editorial policy; I have no first-hand experience to verify it. Maybe that's a thing of the past, but the folks who told me about it are trustworthy and have no reason to lie.
Kudos to Bonus and any other small-label artists from this area for getting into The Wire.
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