I have always been surprised by Hotpipes. When Future Bolt came out I constantly overheard nothing but praise for it – surely it couldn’t stand up against that hype? Turns out, it absolutely does. When I saw them live I was taken aback by how they were able to put out a frantic energy that managed to stay contained but always teetered on the edge of bursting forth and bringing the whole thing crashing down. I’ve since learned not to doubt the Hotpipes and just expect the great things they are obviously capable of. That being said, I couldn’t be more intrigued by the unveiling of their Lake Fever Session. “Future Bolt”, “Accidentals” and their take on XTC’s “Respectable Street” are exactly what I would hope for from the band; entirely enjoyable.

In the last edition of Internet Promotion 101 I griped about the fact that bands don’t take the simplest of steps to inform their potential audience that their latest album even exists, much less provide a way to obtain it. Enter Bandcamp; a free service for bands to distribute / sell their music digitally and with no hassle. Granted, if you are the kind of band that can’t even take the time out of your day to post the tracklisting of your latest album / EP you probably aren’t going to be uploading uncompressed audio files to a progressive thinking digital distribution service but you should be.

Assuming that the band in question isn’t completely Internet ignorant there is little case to be made for not using Bandcamp as one option for distribution. They provide an easy to use system with tons of options for allowing free download, fixed paid download, variable payment download or email address for music exchange. Add to that the fact that you get actual metrics on the number of plays, embeds and downloads of every track you offer – a fact that MySpace, iTunes, Amazon MP3 or any other digital distributor do not offer – and it’s a no brainer.

If you haven’t noticed, a number of local artists are starting to use it, you may want to consider doing so as well.

It should be noted that Amie Street is probably the closest and best competitor for BandCamp but does not offer an embeddable streaming previewer, a tiny aspect of Bandcamp that makes proliferating the music just that much easier.

Looks like Ocelots have joined the rank and file of bands that understand that getting your music heard is often more important than selling 3 copies at a show. They have put all three of their albums up on Bandcamp, entirely for free. So, go hit up their archives and let the downloading begin. I suggest starting with the latest, The Cellar & the Ghost Have Let Us Down, as that will give you access to “This Elephants Not Thirsty, It’s on Fire” in the quickest way possible.

Heads up via The Cream.