Comments on: Blogs and music critism

Blogs and music critism

hoder — Wed, 02 Jul 2003 22:21:25 -0800

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!

By: quonsar

quonsar — Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:12:28 -0800

well, creed sucks. *leans against his mail box, waits for his $79,000*

By: woil

woil — Wed, 02 Jul 2003 23:53:31 -0800

> music journalists have jumped on the blogwagon Is it really necessary to make up a ton of new words just to be hip?

By: dong_resin

dong_resin — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 00:00:02 -0800

It is if you're deck, woil.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 00:50:33 -0800

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.

By: mopoke

mopoke — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 01:47:11 -0800

Surely all music is just awful though?

By: Jairus

Jairus — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 03:47:03 -0800

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.

By: Sijeka

Sijeka — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 05:32:22 -0800

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.

By: Dark Messiah

Dark Messiah — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 06:08:29 -0800

"Blogosphere"? BLOGWAGON!? And people make fun of Apple for prefixing everything with "i"... Go blog yourself, blogmonger!

By: Marquis

Marquis — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 06:22:41 -0800

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 re vi ews (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).

By: rory

rory — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 07:00:45 -0800

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.

By: Marquis

Marquis — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 07:02:04 -0800

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.

By: ilsa

ilsa — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 07:45:51 -0800

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.

By: Dark Messiah

Dark Messiah — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 08:19:31 -0800

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.

By: Sijeka

Sijeka — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 09:44:29 -0800

Close your eyes is indeed on great blog, Marquis. But CoM is definitely another level. But i shall go and check yours...

By: erebora

erebora — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 10:23:20 -0800

One of my favorites: Simon Reynolds' Blissblog.

By: Marquis

Marquis — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 10:40:44 -0800

Hey erebora - thanks for the tip, but we would have benefited more if you had read the original article.

By: kirkaracha

kirkaracha — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 10:59:34 -0800

The War Against Silence is an excellent weekly column of music reviews.

By: inpHilltr8r

inpHilltr8r — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 12:20:42 -0800

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

By: pzarquon

pzarquon — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 12:48:24 -0800

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.

By: alicesshoe

alicesshoe — Thu, 03 Jul 2003 16:36:35 -0800

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.

By: mdn

mdn — Fri, 04 Jul 2003 11:58:54 -0800

oop - just wanted to mention a friend's new music-ish livejournal she also sometimes writes for sf weekly