Blogs and music critism

July 2, 2003 10:21 PM

Music crticism in weblogs: Chat rooms and vanity sites seem so mid-’90s in internet terms, but the future of music criticism is lurking deep in the blogosphere. An article from Toronto-based free magazine, Exclaim!
posted by hoder (21 comments total)

well, creed sucks.
*leans against his mail box, waits for his $79,000*
posted by quonsar at 11:12 PM on July 2, 2003

> music journalists have jumped on the blogwagon

Is it really necessary to make up a ton of new words just to be hip?
posted by woil at 11:53 PM on July 2, 2003

It is if you're deck, woil.
posted by dong_resin at 12:00 AM on July 3, 2003

But...

But...

If anything, I think livejournals are very useful to underground music, as after a show is done, people can post an instant review that their friends will see quickly, and news of good bands spreads.

This can also kill bad albums, in that the speed at which bad news about an album travels is so much quicker now.
posted by drezdn at 12:50 AM on July 3, 2003

Surely all music is just awful though?
posted by mopoke at 1:47 AM on July 3, 2003

I second the LiveJournal comment. As a promoter, LJ has proved invaluable in getting information out, and getting feedback in. After a show, all I have to do is visit my friends list to find out who liked the show, who didn't, what people would like to see next time, etc.

Obviously, not everyone who goes to the show has an LJ account, and as a result the opinions culled from LJ are a bit slanted to the geeks in the crowd, but the scene I work with is pretty computer-savvy (industrial), and it's generally a pretty good indicator of popular opinion.
posted by Jairus at 3:47 AM on July 3, 2003

The journo mentions Carlin's Blog Church of me.

I've been reading it for a little less than a year now, and this is the best music criticism i've ever read in my life (along Jim Walsh from MPLS).

People need to check the guy out.
posted by Sijeka at 5:32 AM on July 3, 2003

"Blogosphere"? BLOGWAGON!?

And people make fun of Apple for prefixing everything with "i"... Go blog yourself, blogmonger!
posted by Dark Messiah at 6:08 AM on July 3, 2003

Church of Me is indeed a treasure, but it pales in pretentious comparison to John Darnielle's weekly posts at Last Plane to Jakarta. LPTJ is not a blog, but it's wonderful - for my part, his Amnesiac pieces changed the way I think of music writing.

My blog ("said the gramophone") is a music blog, and though it's not at the level of my reviews (yet), I'm enjoying the learning curve.

My other favourite musicblogs are Josh Blog (inimitable insights into pop music and advanced philosophy), Fluxblog (free mp3s and boundless enthusiasm), close your eyes (a German who cracks open his chest and lets the music flow in), Badger Minor (though he's been very grumpy since the Bush election), Chromewaves (astute insights straight from Toronto), and New York London Paris Munich (pop taken [not too] seriously, and the blog-face for i love music).
posted by Marquis at 6:22 AM on July 3, 2003

Good recommendations, Marquis. I had a fair amount of music reviewing going on in the ol' blog through 2001/2002 as well, but I've stopped in disgust at record industry copy-protection-itis. If that's the way they're treating their customers, they get no free publicity from this one.
posted by rory at 7:00 AM on July 3, 2003

i've been docking albums 5% for copyprotection nonsense. the new broken social scene, blur and radiohead records won't play on my (legit) walkman. it is angering.
posted by Marquis at 7:02 AM on July 3, 2003

Of course. Most blog-based music criticism is by people who actually had to pay to hear the music. Most professional music critics not only get free copies, they get paid to spout off thier opinion. Are they paid to tell you what to buy? Maybe, I don't know.

In any event I'd rather hear the opinion of someone whose tastes resemble my own when deciding whether to spend money.
posted by ilsa at 7:45 AM on July 3, 2003

Of course. Most blog-based music criticism is by people who actually had to pay to hear the music. Most professional music critics not only get free copies, they get paid to spout off thier opinion. Are they paid to tell you what to buy? Maybe, I don't know.

We don't get paid and neither do I, but we do get free stuff.

Then again, we're not 'professionals'. Although, I'm not complaining.
posted by Dark Messiah at 8:19 AM on July 3, 2003

Close your eyes is indeed on great blog, Marquis. But CoM is definitely another level.
But i shall go and check yours...
posted by Sijeka at 9:44 AM on July 3, 2003

One of my favorites: Simon Reynolds' Blissblog.
posted by erebora at 10:23 AM on July 3, 2003

Hey erebora - thanks for the tip, but we would have benefited more if you had read the original article.
posted by Marquis at 10:40 AM on July 3, 2003

The War Against Silence is an excellent weekly column of music reviews.
posted by kirkaracha at 10:59 AM on July 3, 2003

Reynolds and crew are ok, but needle drops would have to be my fave music-blog (although it's more of a column, than a blog).

PS Sonar
posted by inpHilltr8r at 12:20 PM on July 3, 2003

Austin's Greg Bueno, a friend, runs musicwhore.org to further his passion for J-Pop music, a genre for which there really isn't much critical material in English. I've always been impressed at how industriously he posts reviews, tracks new releases, and puts samples online. Overpaid big-media music reviewers don't work half as hard.
posted by pzarquon at 12:48 PM on July 3, 2003

Thanks hoder, I like fucking Exclaim [hey, all those !%@*#&%] because it isn't Toronto centric.

thanks Marquis for all the URL's, I liked chromwave.
posted by alicesshoe at 4:36 PM on July 3, 2003

oop - just wanted to mention a friend's new music-ish livejournal

she also sometimes writes for sf weekly
posted by mdn at 11:58 AM on July 4, 2003