It’s been probably over a year or two so since I’ve had the time to sit down and really soak up an album. Since my unemployment I’ve been mentally all over the place. Fear, anxiety, excitement, the blahs, and some bliss. Throughout this time I’ve been listening to music a lot and found a few that just get played way too much to not be shared with others.

Number one on my list is anything by my newly discovered favorite artist, Antony and The Johnsons. He/she’s the most eccentric artists I’ve ever listened to. If you’ve been around me, you know I like weird shit. While the singer is really the most eccentric part of the band, it’s the lyrics belted out with amazing vocals and accompanying lyrics that are just hauntingly beautiful. Antony’s voice is very unique, it has the characteristics of a female voice but there are a few tones that I’ve only heard guys hit. Possibly my favorite song from the new album is Aeon.

A second favorite from an older album of Antony’s is Fist Full of Love

Next one up is Florence and The Machines. I think she’s been popular over in the UK for a while but until Matt pointed her out to me I was clueless. Her voice reminds me of Natalie Merchant mixed with a little bit of Stevie Nicks. Most of the songs are just fun and not serious. I could see her getting big here if she had more press.

Florence and The Machines – Dog Days
Florence And The Machine – Dog Days

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Quickly becoming a favorite of mine is Bat For Lashes, (another one Matt told me about). She’s had one album out that wasn’t extremely successful, but still has some really good songs on it. I do remember seeing the video for What’s A Girl To Do forever ago. Her new album Two Suns is good from beginning to end. The entire album is about duality, I think almost every song has a mention of two of something. She apparently has an alter personality that she’s in conflict with throughout the album (snore). I could honestly care less about the alternate personality thing because it’s been done before over and over again. But if having a split personality helps you create a good album then by all means, write away. So tossing the cheesiness aside, Bat For Lashes aka Natasha Khan created a pretty and engaging album. Check out my favorite song Pearl’s Dream video below:

Some other recommendations include, The Gossip – Music for Men

Gossip – Long Love Distance (Live 2009) from yonki on Vimeo.

and

Grouper – Dragging a Dead Deer Up A Hill.

Like I said, my moods and my music selections are all over the map lately. I’m curious to hear what y’all have been putting on repeat lately? I love discovering new stuff so let me know in the comments.

The way it works is first you must get yourself registered in their database (see sites below). At some point you will get an email or phone call to let you know of a study happening, they will ask a few questions to see if you qualify. If you do qualify for the study/focus group they will give you the date, time and location. The calls are usually a week before so it’s good to be flexible. Expect to spend anywhere from 30 minutes to 2 hours in the discussion. On payment, 95% of the time you get paid immediately afterward, some pay cash, most pay in check form.

The timing of the phone calls or emails are completely sporadic. It’s important that you answer the call because they don’t generally call back. I’ve even caught myself putting a conference call on mute at work to answer the call on my cell! As far as emails are concerned, I’ve setup filters in Gmail to have them forwarded right to my phone via text message so I get them right when they come in. I only do this for one company because they tend to send an email asking you to call them to see if you qualify.  If you want me to explain how to do the forwarding thing let me know in the comments.

So what does a focus group entail? Sometimes you will be just sitting in a small group talking and giving opinions about a particular thing like socks, cell phones, or some other product. They are often guided by a discussion facilitator who usually has some paperwork for you to read or fill out. While you are discussing the product you can expect to be recorded via audio/video. Sometimes you may also have some people observing you from behind a 2 way mirror. Yes, it is odd, but you get accustomed to it. I have personally done taste tests, talked about cell phones for 2 hrs ($75), looked at student loan lenders and even played a juror in a mock trial!

This is not going to replace your normal income, it will only complement it. I find it makes for unexpected money that often helps pay for the little things you tend to forget to budget for, minor car repairs, gifts, or like myself, concerts!

Here are the websites to register at:

fieldwork

Delve

Plaza Research

Focus Pointe Global

Peryam & Kroll Research

newstudy.info

Schlesinger Associates

Opinion Outpost

SurveySavvy

Clinical Connection (if you’re into getting poked & prodded)

If you have any questions…. reply to me on twitter @got80s or in the comments.