Brett Howe - No Longer A Want

Hear The Track Here

It never fails to fascinate me why so many people do what we do. Spend hours/days/weeks/months/years making music, then spending endless other hours/days etc uploading it onto the net in various ways and then sitting back to wait for the roar of approval. Which, btw, turns out to be a deafening, nay humiliating, silence and the distant sound of tumbleweed. The really important point I am making here is that this experience is sooooo common, more so today than it was when I first started making music online, even for people who are extremely well known. Fact is, the internet music world is probably a damn sight harder to crack than the RW one and may well be impossible for anyone to TRULY be 'discovered' through this medium. Nope, what this is really about, once you have the music thing happening, is the endless slog to build a reputation. At the end of the day, it's all about networking, and unless or until you do it, your music is going to lie there unheard, unplayed and unloved.

(Ed: Where is this going? I have a bad feeling)

I come across endless musicians who say I just put music online because I make it and I want other people to hear it. I say bollocks. You put music online because you are PROUD of what you do, and you want some recognition from your peers. Which brings me to Brett Howe (Ed: how??). This is the third Brett Howe track I have reviewed and yet we've probably swapped about four words about it. Nowt wrong with that, let the music speak for itself, and - thankfully - Brett's music does. But it doesn't help me, or any potential audience, to identify with what he's doing and his Soundclick page is a masterclass in minimalism. Musically, Brett is a folkie of the old school, in fact I have compared him to Bob Dylan but only as a way of describing the style of song and accompaniment. Worthy of note is that both previous tracks - Each Passing Day (January 2010) and My Way Out (March 2010) - received good ratings from me. There again, when folk is done properly, it is worthwhile.

Now remember, whatever you do, that this is just one guy and, to be honest, a fairly ropey way of recording sound resulting in an absolute basic sound. Get past that lo-fi and pay attention to what is actually going on and it is evident that Brett knows how to turn a good lick, and to slur out a good vocal. I think its probably too basic for most peoples taste, but it would be of interest to folkies because of that very quality. If I were to dig out some old sandals, a baggy, shapeless sweater and not wash my hair for 20 weeks at a time, I would probably think that going down to my local folk club would be the height, the very pinnacle of society. If I'd heard a musician as good as Brett Howe, live and in person, I would probably be even smugger. So Brett, come by, say hi :)

Recommended Acoustic folk.