CDC-1: April 2008 - Review
So - CDC-1 has hit the streets by now I trust... I know I received my copy by direct transfer at the International Departure gate at SFO. So here are my thoughts on how we did...
Musical Selection: B+. Perhaps owing to my attendance at Coachella 2008, I didn't find too many of the tracks 'new' to me. That said, without exception, they are very solid and listenable. My personal favorite would have to be Thou Shalt Always Kill by Dan Le Sac. Honorable mention for The Ting Tings and Yoav from my corner. And how can you not have a soft spot for the Flight of the Conchords - poor New Zealanders and all their sheep! ;-)
CD Production: C. I like getting the CD. I've never tried a music podcast, which I'm sure is easier in terms of transfer. But a CD is easier to play in the car, and to share with friends. But when I put it in iTunes... not track information was registered, so I rocked out to Track 01 ... Track 14. You can't win 'em all! But the CD cover and disk label burning were v. cool. Another Sexy Siegler production.
Overall: A. The CDC is a great way to discover new music, and some music has been proposed to date. Hooray us!
Here's my review of your review, George:
ReplyDeleteCriteria: B+
"Musical Selection" is obviously a key metric here and you correctly applied a rating directly to it. "CD Production" is an interesting target. While it is important, I think areas that one critiques should be those where improvement is possible. For example, when I "review" Karen, I tend to omit "height" as there is just nothing she can do about that. As iTunes does not support CD Text (its tagging of regular discs comes from the CD's serial number and an internet database), there is no way to create an iTunes-readable audio disc on my end. I could burn you an mp3 disc with embedded ID3 information instead, but as you point out - this is not playable in most CD players and harder to share with less instant gratification. If anyone would prefer an mp3 disc, though - let me know. You can also install an iTunes CD Text reader script from http://dougscripts.com/itunes/scripts/download.php?sc=cdtexttocdinfo - or failing that, type in the info based on the included liner notes or CDC website.
Thoroughness: C-
While you did show knowlege on a breadth of artists, and list what your favorites were, you failed to register them on the Song of the Month poll embedded right on the page!
Rationale: C
"Perhaps owing to my attendance at Coachella 2008, I didn't find too many of the tracks 'new' to me".
No kidding! You got deep inside the inner circle of the Siegler listening habits. As Coachella coincided with the inaugural disc, some overlap was inevitable. I will likely be posting more Coachella suggestions this month too as it is still fresh in my mind, but you should be free from this a priori tedium soon enough. Also - if I recall correctly - I gave you all that Coachella music! I feel like the CDC is being criticized for its own resources. If there had been no Coachella, you wouldn't have known those songs, but most wouldn't have made the disc. Also, we feel liking the liner notes and CD-etching would sufficiently outweigh the ID3 tag issue (which we just pointed out is unavoidable on our end but fixable on yours), and that the CD Production grade of "C" is thus arguably low.
Mathematics: D
Having a degree in math yourself, I'm surprised in your implicit calculation that ((B+) + (C))/2 = A. By a corollary of the Mean Value Theorem, I think, no matter where you put the letter grades on a curve, if we can agree that A>B>C, then the average value must be between a B+ and a C. This is often referred to as a C-.
Overall: C
So I would say that your reviewing, a a whole, could use some improvement. ;)
Note: ((B+) + (C-) + (C) + (D))/4 = C
A premptive review of my review of George's review:
ReplyDeleteOverall: F
Upon further inspection, George does seem to have voted for track-of-the-month. FAIL. Let me take this opportunity to encourage the rest of you to do the same. The best-of-the-best will make the (just announced this very second) Year-In-Review CD!