The new 'NITES, part 2

On Friday, I launched a redesign of this blog and made a post about the change in appearance. But that's not all that's changing. I'm officially changing the content format around. Don't worry; it's nothing drastic. This blog will still focus on local music. I've always wanted this blog to be about the unsigned and unsung independent bands that make up the Austin music scene. That won't ever change on this blog. You can read about your favorite touring band elsewhere. What will change is the features... the way I choose to write about local bands.

Read about the planned changes after the jump.

For a few months, I tried to do album reviews, accepting submissions from any band. I wrote a few, but others I never got to. Frankly, I'm much too busy to review every album that's sent to me. Also, I don't want to review an album if I don't like it, or even if I think it's just kinda average sounding. Here's the deal: If a magazine is paying me to write a review of whatever album comes in the mail, that's one thing. But my own personal music blog is my hobby (and my free time), and I don't want to spend my free time writing about music that doesn't inspire me.

I've had this discussion before a bunch of times, and I had it again at a show last night with the lead singer of a band I like. Is it better to be positive or negative in music journalism? In my opinion, neither. It's better to be honest. And honestly, I don't have time to write about music that doesn't move me.

I'll still write about albums I like, but they won't be called reviews. It will be a feature called Check out this album. This way I can write about albums I enjoy without being obligated to write about albums I don't. Bands: You can keep sending me your albums or linking me to downloads, but if I don't like it then I'm not writing about it. Nothing personal. It's a time issue. That said, two bands (Crooks and Oak is Keeping) gave me their albums months ago. I really really liked both and I STILL haven't reviewed them! I'll try to get to those at some point. Again, busy.

If you want to read my negative reviews of albums, you might not have to wait too long. Let's just say I might have another more encompassing music writing outlet coming soon. I can't get specific, but 2010 should be a very exciting year for music journalism in Austin. Stay tuned.

As for my videos, I won't be doing the episodes anymore. 'NITES started as a videoblog. I used to edit these 15-minute videos (click here) featuring a band playing three or four songs. I called them episodes. I did 33 of them between September 2008 and April 2009. I just don't have time to do those anymore. They were fun, but super time-consuming. I will instead focus on one-song videos for my YouTube channel (which has about 180 videos on it right now).

What you can expect from 'NITES from now on: show previews with my videos, Austin music news, and opinion columns about the scene. Thanks for reading!