Review – Jacquie Major
‘Eclectic Demo’
Independent CD ROM
Jacquie Major has been a player in the music industry for a relatively short time – only six years. Yet more effort has been put into her “Eclectic Demo” CD ROM that I have come across in a very long time for any demo or full release, independently or otherwise! Gone are the days when a band can just hand-scribble something on both the cover and the media with the hope that someone will overlook that for the sake of the content.
Technically, the ROM factor runs like a website should. Flowing fairly smoothly from screen to screen thanks to Quick Time™, it features all the information you would normally expect from a paper press kit: bio, songs, personal info, interviews, testimonials… This might also be a drawback for the technophobes who still insist on something they can hold in their hand and listen to on the tape player.
That Girl heads up the music clip section and is also the backing track to the main menu. The clip is a pop-art styled comic-strip with thought and speech bubbles and a twist at the end which inspired a laugh. Everglade is the other stand-out clip, utilising the same technology or effects used by Regugitator in their clip for Black Bugs (“Unit Re-booted” EastWest/Warner 1997); but then there’s the aforementioned info, bio, lyrics, interviews – highlights of Jacquie’s career in the music scene and that same amazing production.
But after all this gloss and impressive presentation, the key letdown to this otherwise-inspirational project is the music. Everglade and The Mowing Song are different ends of Jacquie’s repertoire and the personal highlights hereof, but the keyboard base is a little dated for mine: this sound was coming out of Perth WA in the period 1993-95. While the sound is technically perfect, being digitised across the board (except the guitars, I imagine) it lacks the warmth and sincerity that real players could have provided.
Jacquie Major “The Eclectic Demo” is the forefront of music marketing today, from an independent artist, and has set the benchmark for future outings by other bands, if not herself! With input and effort such as this, major music success (pun discovered later and retained on purpose!) is only a step away. I feel a change in recording technique (“Manned, not canned”) will aid in the progress and longevity of that career.