Web site links buyers, obscure tunes

Published: Thursday, October 29, 1998

Thursday, October 29, 1998

MUSIC: Fans of London acid, glam rock discover common ground online

By Michelle Zubiate

Daily Bruin Staff

Many artists in the music world belong to a genre of underground styles unaccessible in the mainstream world of Hansons and Celine Dions. You know the music, you love the music, but when you want to have the music, clueless Blockbuster employees only offer you blank stares.

But finally, computers can contribute more to your life than papers and midterm stress. By accessing www.Cductive.com you hold the means to creating your own CD. You choose the songs, you choose the order and you finally can find those random numbers you love without the hassle.

Up and running since January of this year, the creators of Cductive, Alan Manuel, John Rigos and Thomas Ryan realized the difficulties involved in accessing cutting-edge music in a user-friendly environment.

"Going into a chain store, the employees usually know mostly about mainstream music," Ryan says.

"And going into a speciality shop can be intimidating if you aren't an expert on the type of music you are looking for like Detroit techno or London acid."

Luckily, logging on to Cductive remains far easier. It sidesteps the scorn of an annoyed underground expert and allows all the time necessary for loitering.

By clicking on the title of displayed songs, the new music plays, exposing listeners to previously undiscovered rarities.

The web site features a large section of contemporary dance music usually accessible to only full-time ravers.

Continuously expanding, the site adds new labels frequently and offers some picks by well-known bands such as Green Day, Beck, PJ Harvey and Elliott Smith.

The only hitch involves having the right computer and audio technology to be able to hear the music before it can be selected. Other than that, the process is extremely simple.

After reaching the site, one has quite a few categories to browse through.

Sifting through the genres tends to be overwhelming in itself unless one has a specific piece in mind. Categories include acid jazz, leftfield, big beat, glam, alt-country and lo-fi, just to name a few.

With the new additions of indie-rock, ska and memorable artists such as The Pixies and Nirvana, the web site becomes a little more than foreign, with band names that often sound like weird diseases.

The site also acts as an informational playground. For instance, a glossary defines many of the genres in a paint-by-numbers sort of fashion designed for the underground-challenged.

Looking up glam rock, one is likely to find "Glam is a mixture of bubble gum pop and heavy-metal combined with make-up, glitter and theatrics." If Marilyn Manson and KISS come to mind, this description proves adequate.

Those without a clue as to where to begin should visit the Cductive Top 10. Currently the list includes such names as Hole, Frank Black and Mary Lou Lord. In January, the web site will add hip-hop as a new genre to choose from, promising to increase to site's popularity and success.

"At first the labels were a little hesitant to sign on," Ryan says. "The stigma of the Internet and the questions of safety caused them to think twice, twice. But now we are building the label roster that's growing all the time."

Cductive helps the underground-at-heart learn a little more, own a little more and sound a little cooler.

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