Good morning! Nothing has pissed me off today! (OK, one thing has: The Washington Post Style section seems to have resumed its coverage of the Salahis. Two articles so far this week! The one from yesterday—argh!—is about how the story won't go away.) So I'll skip the usual morning ramblings and move on to what [...]
After reading my critique of Pitchfork’s P2K: The Decade in Music list in City Paper's Music in Review issue, a friend commented that “sometimes I don't know what's more cliché: reading Pitchfork or complaining about Pitchfork.” Reductionist arguments like that are easy swipes, but they speak to the incessant griping, legitimate or [...]
Music fans paid close attention when the influential review Web site Pitchfork dropped its P2K: The Decade in Music list this August. But readers shouldn't put too much stock in it, writes Matt Siblo in our Music in Review issue. The list, he says, merely reaffirms the site's clout and critical authority:
A glance at the [...]
The only time a piece of music writing is better than the music being written about is when the music being written about sucks.
This is the case with electronica band Owl City, which makes soulless music. Pitchfork, perhaps in an effort to seem current or some shit, reviewed "Fireflies," the title track from Owl City's [...]
Salome, one of the few metal bands that performed at this year's CMJ.
For D.C. bands, the takeaway from CMJ seems to have been this: It will not pluck you from obscurity, but it can't hurt. Also: Don't believe the hype.
"The myth that you can land the perfect agent or manager at a place like that—I don’t think [...]
Yesterday, 13 music journalists convened at Georgetown University for the Future of Music Coalition's Policy Summit panel, "Critical Condition: The Future of Music Journalism."
Our ranks included reps from online-only (Scott Plagenhoef of Pitchfork, Maura Johnston of Idolator), old media vets (Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, Tom Moon of the Philadelphia Inquirer), and some in-betweeners.
While [...]
According to GalleyCat, the Federal Trade Commission will fine independent bloggers up to $11,000 if they fail to disclose that they've received a product for free. This means book reviewers who get books for free, music reviewers who get music for free, stroller reviewers who get strollers for free, have to say as much in [...]
In July, Rohin Guha, a writer for the pop culture site Black Book, noticed that the music tastes of America's top gossip blogger closely mirrored those of a UK music site: Perez Hilton had endorsed six different bands, none of them yet familiar to American listeners, immediately following endorsements by Peter Robinson, editor of PopJustice. [...]
Dylan/Zimmy/Judas wasted no time after last October's release of the sprawling retrospective, Tell Tale Signs: on April 28, Columbia will release his new studio album, Together Through Life, Billboard reports.
If label hype is any indicator—which, in this case, it sort of probably is—the record's packed full of nostalgic, tumbleweed-y vignettes, Chi-town blues, and churning boogie. [...]
Which suggests that Birdseed Shirt is 54% better than Thievery Corporation's last album, but 5% worse than Fugazi's The Argument.
But let's not turn this positive moment into a snark-fest.
Says Pitchfork's Chris Dahlen:
"With Matt Dowling primarily on bass, Chris Scheffey on guitar, and Brian Hospital on drums, the band is a well-worn quartet that takes risks [...]
