FOT Forum
FOT Community => General Discussion => Topic started by: emdasher on August 06, 2008, 08:25:07 PM
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I am not out to defend RollingStone, it's just that every complaint I hear about how terrible it is seems to have more to do with personal opinions of the present state of pop culture than with journalistic aptitude of any sort. It's either the "look who they put on the cover" argument or the "how could they give a Britney Spears album three stars" argument.
As best I can tell, the people whining to me about RollingStone want it to be a magazine that ignores the aspects of pop culture that don't appeal to them.
For my part, I've always appreciated that the magazine has an extremely wide appeal. And--I'll say it--I actually like their reviews section. I consider their music reviews a reliable alternative to inflated, sensationalistic reviews from music websites desperate to break the next big band and eager to shit on whatever it deems this week's pariah. It doesn't bother me that RollingStone gives positive reviews to artists whose albums I would never buy anyway--I find that they're usually on-target with the bands I do care about.
Granted, I usually don't read the feature articles. And I am aware of the general jackass-ery of all those involved. But I'm at a loss to find a resource that casts as big a net over every corner of pop culture as RollingStone does.
(I'm a little young to remember the "glory days" of RollingStone, so it's possible that present-day RS hate has more to do with the magazine's history than I am aware of. Still, every rant I hear against RS seems to incorporate one of the arguments I mentioned above.)
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Been a long time since I thought about it. I certainly don't dislike the magazine. They cover what they cover, college radio is college radio, the underground is underground, all is fine in the world as far as I'm concerned. The niches not filled in by RS are filled in by other publications often enough.
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Too much politics and they absolutely TRASH anyone who is not Obama. They wrote more vile shit about Hillary than any other publications I've read.
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They put Shakira on the "Women of Rock" cover one month.
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When I loved it, in the early 70's, there were just as many teeny-bopper trash bands as there are now, but the magazine didn't feel an obligation to put every one of them on the cover.
I think the problem can be summarized really simply; when it was good, it was about a robust combination of music and politics; now it's about serving as an adjunct to the marketing wing of the Disney channel.
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Or:
Then, it was about Jann Wenner and company sticking it to the man.
Now, it's about Jann Wenner and company sticking it into his portfolio.
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It's still better than Spin.
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I wish there were more shows like Sound Opinions where you can actually hear the music. But with better music. I can't stand music magazines anymore for that reason.
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sound opinions is great, but they make some weird decisions about what to spin. i've found out about the best and worst music via that podcast.
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It's still better than Spin.
That's hardly a great achievement.
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Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.
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With music I basically just "procure" what makes people's top whatever lists nowadays. And I make a note of good tracks I hear on FMU for later procurement.
I was on the mp3 blog kick for a while, but I just ended up with a bunch of decontextualized tracks; to really get to know a band I need the whole album. Peel.app is awesome though.
When something is good I will actually fork out cash money on amazon mp3 or for a cd which I rip.
Which is a long way of saying that magazines like RS serve basically no purpose anymore.
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I agree that it's mostly a problem with the general direction of pop culture, but I'd also say that it's emblematic of problems with the baby boomers generally (I know I'm generalizing here).
I'm not naive, I know that RS was always a moneymaking exercise, and there was no "golden age." But in the 60s and 70s it seemed as if they took their jobs as cultural arbiters seriously and were writing about cool and interesting people (bloated, self-important hippie-ness notwithstanding). Now it just seems like a naked commercial enterprise, but still with all of the pretentiousness intact. I can agree or disagree with whether or not someone likes The Decemberists or something, but there's no reason to put, say, Christina Aguilera on the cover except to sell copies, or to be an organ of the music business.
I actually like the political reporting much better than the music reporting, though. Matt Taibbi is full of shit sometimes (but he's massively entertaining), and the Obama sycophancy is a little embarrassing. But there's usually one really solid piece of investigative journalism per issue.
I would never read the thing except that I got a subscription with some concert tickets and I can't figure out how to make it stop. I don't think I'm even paying for it anymore.
Fun fact: about a decade ago I cater-waitered a party at Jann Wenner's house where everyone was famous. I got drunk in the kitchen with a co-worker and got yelled at by Wenner for misidentifying one of the guests as Bianca Jagger. He's obscenely rich and has a whole bunch of Picassos. Art Garfunkel smoked pot in a guest bedroom and make a funny joke when I walked in on him, Senator Chuck Schumer has a pregnancy belly, and Harrison Ford is just like his character in Regarding Henry. I considered calling in about this during the celebrity sightings show.
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Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.
I don't know. That guy likes EVERYTHING on the college music charts, good or bad. Plus, he's the most awkward interviewer I've ever heard. His interview with Joanna Newsom made me feel like I was on a date with my dad, or something.
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I don't mind the politics (although I'm not a Matt Taibbi fan). My problems are that they focus on teenage pop culture trends instead of rock. I've been disappointed that in the past year, they've done cover stories on The Hills, The Jonas Brothers, and Zach Efron. At least they finally canned Rob Sheffield (the poor man's Chuck Klosterman).
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Fun fact: about a decade ago I cater-waitered a party at Jann Wenner's house where everyone was famous. I got drunk in the kitchen with a co-worker and got yelled at by Wenner for misidentifying one of the guests as Bianca Jagger. He's obscenely rich and has a whole bunch of Picassos. Art Garfunkel smoked pot in a guest bedroom and make a funny joke when I walked in on him, Senator Chuck Schumer has a pregnancy belly, and Harrison Ford is just like his character in Regarding Henry. I considered calling in about this during the celebrity sightings show.
Less considering, more calling! That would have been call of the night, by far. What was Art Garfunkel's joke?
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The thing is, I don't remember. It was a long time ago and I was drunk. I remember he was a good sport about me walking in on him smoking pot, especially because I was just following the pot smell and had no reason to be in there.
I really should have called, I never have one for the topic. Although it's fully possible that I'm misremembering and I didn't think of it during the actual show (I dropped out for an hour to call my wife and caught up later with the podcast). Next time!
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Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.
I don't know. That guy likes EVERYTHING on the college music charts, good or bad. Plus, he's the most awkward interviewer I've ever heard. His interview with Joanna Newsom made me feel like I was on a date with my dad, or something.
have i mentioned i'm 50?
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theres nothing redeeming about the magazine. i enjoyed it when i was younger, then i grew up. it has less to do with the little things that annoy me and more to do with how all those little things make one big pathetic pile of being nuts.
admittedly, i do have a hard time accepting this:
(http://wagazi.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/06/christina-aguilera-rolling-stone-cover-poster-c11793158.jpeg)
(http://mtvthehillsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/20526522-20526523-slarge.jpg)
(http://www.jacknicholson.org/rollinglge.jpg)
not to mention:
(http://www.kink.se/images/posts/rollingstone.jpg)
(http://www.solarnavigator.net/music/musicimages/britney_spears_rolling_stones_magazine_cover.jpg)
(http://clayaikentheidealidol.com/rscover.jpg)
and last but not least:
(http://images.wolfgangsvault.com/images/catalog/detail/RS564-RS.jpg)
(http://www.eaglesband.com/gallery/pics/rollingstone-cover.jpg)
(http://www.shoutmouth.com/index.php/images/der/L3Zhci93d3cvc2l0ZXMvbWVkaWEuc2hvdXRtb3V0aC5jb20vaHRtbC9kZXJpdnMvYTkwNGJmNzhjZGFlZDQ4ZmNmY2Q1Y2ViZDVlY2FmMjktZTk2YzM4NTEzMzNhM2JlZjA5MzczY2M4NTI0MGI3NzcuanBn.jpg)
(http://i.realone.com/assets/rn/img/5/8/2/1/13641285-13641287-large.jpg)
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Um, they seem to be sexually exploiting men as well as women now, which is... progress, I guess. Uh.
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I think the last time I read RollingStone was 1998 or something. It was when the initial Britney Spears blitz was on; when she came out of nowhere and in one month had a cover story in RS. It was some long interview with her family and I realized that this article was more or less pre-written by a Press Agent and there was nothing in it that wasn't serving to spin Britney Spears in the exact way that her PR people wanted her to be spun. It was frustrating and pathetic, and the reason I was reading it was because I was stranded in a Paris train station for nine hours, and it was in English.
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There was no mention of Mikey Dread's passing in March. That's why RS sucks. And Matt Taibbi, you will never be HST, so give it up (not writing, trying to be HST).
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Tell me why RollingStone sucks
I can't think of any reason to read it when the last ten years alone has given us so many better magazines, record reviews and journalists, in print and especially on the web. All the other pop culture stuff RS features is just junk food to me. I don't, even ironically, want to know anything about Zac Efron, The Hills, the Eagles Reunion tour or Fall-Out Boy, unless I'm at the beach and want a magazine to kill the time.
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There was no mention of Mikey Dread's passing in March. That's why RS sucks. And Matt Taibbi, you will never be HST, so give it up (not writing, trying to be HST).
Yeah, exactly. Plus whenever I read his articles, he has to drop the f-bomb to be cool non-stop. I don't mind swearing but it just dumbs everything down.
What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?
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What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?
http://www.thewire.co.uk/
One for the snobs.
Hmm, they have Tricky on the cover, I might need to un-recommend them.
If I were an eccentric billionaire, though, I'd pay someone to obtain all of the stuff they recommend. I like any magazine that will support Sun Ra, Wooden Shjips, Andrew WK, and Autechre all in one issue.
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What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?
http://www.thewire.co.uk/
One for the snobs.
Hmm, they have Tricky on the cover, I might need to un-recommend them.
If I were an eccentric billionaire, though, I'd pay someone to obtain all of the stuff they recommend. I like any magazine that will support Sun Ra, Wooden Shjips, Andrew WK, and Autechre all in one issue.
I second Wire, even if I don't understand half of what I read in it and it's like $10 at the bookstore. Invisible Jukebox and Primer are great features. They also present the great "Adventures in Modern Music" series at the Empty Bottle in Chicago every Sept.
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The Big Takeover
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In addition to the things already mentioned, I'll add the slobbering over the Rolling Stones/Mic Jagger. (Their live album from the "Bridges over Babylon" tour making an "essential albums" list, Mick's "Goddess in the Doorway" album getting five stars, etc.)
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Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.
I don't know. That guy likes EVERYTHING on the college music charts, good or bad. Plus, he's the most awkward interviewer I've ever heard. His interview with Joanna Newsom made me feel like I was on a date with my dad, or something.
have i mentioned i'm 50?
That's no reason for you to feel like you're on a date with your dad, Dave. Me, I'm about the music blogs and FMU. And Itunes radio stations are kind of fun, too. And allmusic. Just look up your favorite bands and then look at their influences and followers. It becomes this fun degrees of separation type thing.
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I'll second the Big Takeover and add Under the Radar.
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What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?
http://www.thewire.co.uk/
One for the snobs.
Hmm, they have Tricky on the cover, I might need to un-recommend them.
If I were an eccentric billionaire, though, I'd pay someone to obtain all of the stuff they recommend. I like any magazine that will support Sun Ra, Wooden Shjips, Andrew WK, and Autechre all in one issue.
I second Wire, even if I don't understand half of what I read in it and it's like $10 at the bookstore. Invisible Jukebox and Primer are great features. They also present the great "Adventures in Modern Music" series at the Empty Bottle in Chicago every Sept.
Unless you are into the avant-garde music scene, I'd have to completely disagree with this one. That magazine is so beyond pretentious its grating. Say they have someone you've heard of on the cover. Its rare but it happens every few months. You think, this is a deep music nerd magazine, they are going to go below the surface with this guy. No. Same profile you'd get anywhere else. Invisible Jukebox is a nice feature, but with it you have people you've heard of even less than the people on cover responding to 6 songs. Maybe you've heard one of them, oh wait, no you haven't because its a live bootleg version of that song. If it was just the obscurity, who cares, but the writing is often worse than major music magazines.
People hate on shovel.com and they are usually right about their gripe. The writing in it is generally not good. Writing about music is very difficult and for some reason they think that every album is worth 10k words. But if you use it as a resource to hear the music and only dip your toe in the reading part, it is a more useful resource than any magazine. As for the charge that Rolling Stone is a place where they give creedence to older bands and established acts as well as new groups, you can get that at The Onion AV Club without all the horribleness that is included in your Rolling Stone.
Other places I like to get music info from are turntablelab.com and aquariusrecords.org.
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What other music magazines do people suggest are worth reading?
http://www.thewire.co.uk/
One for the snobs.
Hmm, they have Tricky on the cover, I might need to un-recommend them.
If I were an eccentric billionaire, though, I'd pay someone to obtain all of the stuff they recommend. I like any magazine that will support Sun Ra, Wooden Shjips, Andrew WK, and Autechre all in one issue.
I second Wire, even if I don't understand half of what I read in it and it's like $10 at the bookstore. Invisible Jukebox and Primer are great features. They also present the great "Adventures in Modern Music" series at the Empty Bottle in Chicago every Sept.
Unless you are into the avant-garde music scene, I'd have to completely disagree with this one. That magazine is so beyond pretentious its grating. Say they have someone you've heard of on the cover. Its rare but it happens every few months.
Other places I like to get music info from are turntablelab.com and aquariusrecords.org.
I don't agree with that. Their cover is currently featuring Tricky. Looking through the stack of 14 older issues that I have lying around my place, I am seeing Lou Reed, Madvillian, Wilco, Sonic Youth, Aphex Twin, Electrelane, Derek Bailey, Joanna Newsom, Current 93, etc. As for the artists I don't know, isn't one of the points of a music magazine to help you discover new music?
I mean, I like avant-garde stuff, but they definitely focus on everything. I especially like how their reviews are divided by genre, so if you're not into the avante-garde stuff, you can skip right to hip hop, dub, jazz, pop, or whatever your thing is.
Plus, the compilation they put out every year is usually great, although I didn't like some of the songs on last years, and I don't always agree with their choices for covers these days. But it's all trial and error when you're looking for interesting new music.
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EL, that's why I said it's one for the snobs. They're clearly trying to hard to be scholarly and designy, like music should be homework.
But, I haven't found a magazine that covers certain kinds of music as deeply as it does, from modern classical to electronic, with some hip hop and rock thrown in. It has nice pictures too. The Wire sampler CDs are always worth a listen. I do like a lot of more experimental stuff, which doesn't get talked about on the board too much.
Just like how some FMU shows can pass by without my having heard of a single artist-- and yet it's an awesome show-- it's sort of frightening and scary how the record reviews section in the Wire might not contain more than one or two artists I've ever heard of. And yet, when I follow their leads, it's always really great stuff.
I look to music magazines for leads as to what interesting stuff to check out. I rarely read all the articles unless I'm on an airplane, so I really can't comment on the quality of the writing. Music criticism is usually atrocious, and the artists that are the most fun to write about don't necessarily make the best music.
The sources for music tips that I've found, that don't just have the same stuff you'll find on Shovel (which I do like, but again just for tips, I almost never actually read the text of a review) or on the Pazz and Jopp type lists are just random FMU shows, the Wire, and maybe the Aquarius Records newsletters.
Now if you want to see some truly bad writing, I've got a big stack of Maximum Rock 'n' Rolls from the early 90s to show you. Oof.
Edit: What Beth said. Sorry to "bottom post" you. I keep doing that to people.
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I also like to lurk around in the forum ihatemusic. I rarely post, but most of the people in that forum do nothing but download and research interesting new stuff, lots of avant-garde stuff is discussed, but good indie pop, new weird america, and retro stuff too.
http://ihatemusic.noquam.com./
(http://ihatemusic.noquam.com./)
The sources for music tips that I've found, that don't just have the same stuff you'll find on Shovel (which I do like, but
again just for tips, I almost never actually read the text of a review)]The sources for music tips that I've found, that don't just have the same stuff you'll find on Shovel (which I do like, but again just for tips, I almost never actually read the text of a review)
I wouldn't trust a Shovel review if my life depended on it. They have their favorite bands, and their bands that they hate. And the bands they refuse to put on there, no matter how good they are. Now that we've entered the era of anyone being able to write a music review and post it, it is to be hoped that their iron-fisted rule over the fate of indie rock bands will waver a bit. I'm not saying they don't have a right to their opinion, but I'm sick of them having so much power over the success of bands.
Edit: What Beth said. Sorry to "bottom post" you. I keep doing that to people.
It's cool. I'm sure I just bottom posted someone else with my Shovel rant.
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Shovel lets me know whats coming out but I don't really pay attention to their reviews. There isn't a better site for letting you know what's new that week in indie in a format that's one click and easy to see.
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I would rank Blender as worst then Rolling Stone then Spin.
Sound Opinions is ok but I like WNYC Souncheck better.
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I don't mind Blender because it doesn't pretend to be anything different than what it is. Plus, they review a lot of music and it isn't pretentious. Not that I subscribe but I'd read Blender before RS and Spin.
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This message board is all the music recommendation I need
since I am so stubborn nobody can tell me anything anyway
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I have to agree Dave, this message board has been a big source for music recommendations as well!
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I really like Fader. Thumbs up for that magazine. Especially good with the hip-hop coverage.
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I wouldn't trust a Shovel review if my life depended on it.
Yeah, what the hell is this nonsense? (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43268-the-art-of-the-slap)
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Thumbs up to your recent reviews! I approve of Hawkwind. I think that Shovel actually has improved as it's gotten bigger.
I personally find reading reviews of music I haven't listened to yet baffling and strange, but once I've made up my mind about something I do like to see what others think.
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I totally agree Yesno. I never read reviews before I listen to something.
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I wouldn't trust a Shovel review if my life depended on it.
Yeah, what the hell is this nonsense? (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43268-the-art-of-the-slap)
That wasn't my point. They give a some of the things I like good reviews. But they put bands on pedestals and keep them there, and if an indie band isn't considered "cool" enough, they won't write about them. Occasionally they will divert from this pattern, but it's rare. But as I said, everyone who writes these reviews is entitled to their opinions, and they're not badly written. I'm just not a fan of Shovel and I'd rather read reviews other places.
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I love the format of Sound Opinions (starting the show with music news, then an interview/main feature, and ending with reviews) but can get very tired of the reviewers, especially the guy who admires Lester Bangs so much.
I'll have to check out WNYC Souncheck.
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Fun fact ... Art Garfunkel smoked pot in a guest bedroom and made a funny joke when I walked in on him ...
It would have been far more shocking if you had walked in on Art Garfunkel NOT smoking pot ...
Sound Opinions is a fun show, I like listening to those guys geek out. I find them to be engaging hosts, even though their taste is often questionable (DeRogatis especially). They recently played host to a Feelies reunion warmup show at a small club (Maxwell's, in NJ), so you gotta give them some credit for that.
Stereogum's got a fun feature called "OldStand":
http://stereogum.com/archives/cat_oldstand.html
They review random back issues of music mags from previous decades and expose a lot of embarassing "next big thing" stories that, in retrospect, miss the dartboard entirely.
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I love the format of Sound Opinions (starting the show with music news, then an interview/main feature, and ending with reviews) but can get very tired of the reviewers, especially the guy who admires Lester Bangs so much.
I'll have to check out WNYC Souncheck.
WNYC is getting cooler, I think. Or maybe I'm just getting older. I was pleased to hear James Blackshaw's newest album on
"Evening Music" last week, while driving back upstate from nj. It was just what I needed on the car ride home.
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It might not cover as wide a range of genres as you're looking for, but ever since the demise of Punk Planet I've shifted my magazine allegiance to Razorcake.
And I don't trust Shovel.com at all. Even when I'm looking for reviews of some indie thing they might know something about, I just never find what they have to say helpful.
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It might not cover as wide a range of genres as you're looking for, but ever since the demise of Punk Planet I've shifted my magazine allegiance to Razorcake.
And I don't trust Shovel.com at all. Even when I'm looking for reviews of some indie thing they might know something about, I just never find what they have to say helpful.
Razorpie is better.
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:D
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Dusted Magazine and Stylus Magazine both give to-the-point reviews about interesting new records.
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Dusted Magazine and Stylus Magazine both give to-the-point reviews about interesting new records.
Stylus shut down at the start of the year. It's too bad — I liked a lot of their reviews, and they consistently had good features.
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Dusted Magazine and Stylus Magazine both give to-the-point reviews about interesting new records.
Stylus shut down at the start of the year. It's too bad — I liked a lot of their reviews, and they consistenly had good features.
Yeah Stylus was great. I really enjoy Dusted's Listed feature, I almost always find something worth checking out.
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Stylus shut down at the start of the year.
That explains why their RSS feed's been dead for awhile :( I'd assumed the problem was on my end.
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I like Stop Smiling. It's not specifically a music mag but every issue has at least a couple of really great interviews with musicians (Snoop Dogg in the latest, it's breezy and conversational--good stuff) and a few really good reviews.
Wire and Fader are good too.
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I like Stop Smiling. It's not specifically a music mag but every issue has at least a couple of really great interviews with musicians (Snoop Dogg in the latest, it's breezy and conversational--good stuff) and a few really good reviews.
Wire and Fader are good too.
Yeah Stop Smiling is always a good read, I just wish they were more than quarterly.
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There was no mention of Mikey Dread's passing in March. That's why RS sucks. And Matt Taibbi, you will never be HST, so give it up (not writing, trying to be HST).
Yeah, Rolling Stone bites. But Matt Taibbi, at least when asked about it publicly, isn't comfortable with the HST comparisons: http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/65277-Where-has-all-the-Gonzo-gone/ (http://thephoenix.com/Boston/News/65277-Where-has-all-the-Gonzo-gone/)
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I like Stop Smiling. It's not specifically a music mag but every issue has at least a couple of really great interviews with musicians (Snoop Dogg in the latest, it's breezy and conversational--good stuff) and a few really good reviews.
Wire and Fader are good too.
Yeah Stop Smiling is always a good read, I just wish they were more than quarterly.
Stop Smiling: Thirded.
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Or:
Then, it was about Jann Wenner and company sticking it to the man.
Now, it's about Jann Wenner and company sticking it into his portfolio.
I thought now it was about Jann Wnner sticking it in a man?
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I just started listening to the Sound Opinions podcast and one of the first reviews I heard was both of them gushing over the new Randy Newman album. Ugh. I was really disappointed. I'm not saying those guys don't have a right to their opinion, but that guy's an interesting litmus test and let's just say I'm a bit wary of people who claim to enjoy listening to that guy.
"Yeah, the music's awful and cheesy but listen to the words! They're so acerbic!"
Blah.
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randy Newman's like the wire, man. He goes after EVERYONE.
That jim derogatis is also no slouch in letting you know that he met kurt cobain a lot.
Still, they sometimes cover some good stuff and at least now when I say the new whatever album stinks, I will not just be guessing. I kind of like knowing about whatever is being talked about, even if it stinks.
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Or:
Then, it was about Jann Wenner and company sticking it to the man.
Now, it's about Jann Wenner and company sticking it into his portfolio.
I thought now it was about Jann Wnner sticking it in a man?
Another Wenner fun fact: he had come out by that time, and his wife was still around and seemed totally happy. It was sorta like middle-aged woman paradise - your incredibly rich husband comes out of the closet and still takes care of you and hangs out with you socially.
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I just started listening to the Sound Opinions podcast and one of the first reviews I heard was both of them gushing over the new Randy Newman album. Ugh. I was really disappointed. I'm not saying those guys don't have a right to their opinion, but that guy's an interesting litmus test and let's just say I'm a bit wary of people who claim to enjoy listening to that guy.
"Yeah, the music's awful and cheesy but listen to the words! They're so acerbic!"
Blah.
Litmus test, huh? Gee, Randy Newman's one of my alltime favorite artists. "I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do" is probably in my top ten songs ever.
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Like every reviewer or review team, you have to be able to decode their prejudices. The fact that they have legitimate music news is great and some good in-studio stuff and you can hear an artist while they are being reviewed is great. But they have tons of prejudices. The guy who worships Lester Bangs takes glee in shooting down any band with any hype and will always give a hyped band that is on their first or second album a bad review with no exceptions. Any toilet talk in a rock group is 'dark' and thus good while toilet talk in a rap record is something that he needs to hide from his daughter. The other guy is the more conservative Siskel to baby Bangs' Ebert (they even look like Siskel & Ebert, but please don't google image them. it will make it disgusting when they talk about how sexual a group is). He is more forgiving of older bands and newer rock bands but likes very little outside of his wheelhouse. I prefer him since he seems to respond more to music and less to the image of band/group.
If both of them like a rap record though, you can generally run the other direction very fast (example would be Tim Fite, who they can't stop talking about).
However, I think they have a very entertaining radio show.
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I just started listening to the Sound Opinions podcast and one of the first reviews I heard was both of them gushing over the new Randy Newman album. Ugh. I was really disappointed. I'm not saying those guys don't have a right to their opinion, but that guy's an interesting litmus test and let's just say I'm a bit wary of people who claim to enjoy listening to that guy.
"Yeah, the music's awful and cheesy but listen to the words! They're so acerbic!"
Blah.
Litmus test, huh? Gee, Randy Newman's one of my alltime favorite artists. "I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do" is probably in my top ten songs ever.
You get a free pass, Dave. Besides, I'm certainly not one to judge - a quick pass through my record collection would no doubt reveal far greater horrors.
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I just started listening to the Sound Opinions podcast and one of the first reviews I heard was both of them gushing over the new Randy Newman album. Ugh. I was really disappointed. I'm not saying those guys don't have a right to their opinion, but that guy's an interesting litmus test and let's just say I'm a bit wary of people who claim to enjoy listening to that guy.
"Yeah, the music's awful and cheesy but listen to the words! They're so acerbic!"
Blah.
Litmus test, huh? Gee, Randy Newman's one of my alltime favorite artists. "I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do" is probably in my top ten songs ever.
You get a free pass, Dave. Besides, I'm certainly not one to judge - a quick pass through my record collection would no doubt reveal far greater horrors.
You want me to burn you a copy of Leo Sayer's Endless Flight?
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I just started listening to the Sound Opinions podcast and one of the first reviews I heard was both of them gushing over the new Randy Newman album. Ugh. I was really disappointed. I'm not saying those guys don't have a right to their opinion, but that guy's an interesting litmus test and let's just say I'm a bit wary of people who claim to enjoy listening to that guy.
"Yeah, the music's awful and cheesy but listen to the words! They're so acerbic!"
Blah.
Litmus test, huh? Gee, Randy Newman's one of my alltime favorite artists. "I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do" is probably in my top ten songs ever.
I'm pro-Randy Newman too, Dave. Earlier Randy Newman, mostly. I never really thought the music was cheesy. Randy Newman is just a good time all around.
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I just started listening to the Sound Opinions podcast and one of the first reviews I heard was both of them gushing over the new Randy Newman album. Ugh. I was really disappointed. I'm not saying those guys don't have a right to their opinion, but that guy's an interesting litmus test and let's just say I'm a bit wary of people who claim to enjoy listening to that guy.
"Yeah, the music's awful and cheesy but listen to the words! They're so acerbic!"
Blah.
Litmus test, huh? Gee, Randy Newman's one of my alltime favorite artists. "I Just Want You To Hurt Like I Do" is probably in my top ten songs ever.
You get a free pass, Dave. Besides, I'm certainly not one to judge - a quick pass through my record collection would no doubt reveal far greater horrors.
You want me to burn you a copy of Leo Sayer's Endless Flight?
Only if I can return the favor with a copy of Cinderella's Night Songs.
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Anybody see this today?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/11/business/media/11mag.html?_r=2&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Downgrading to a normal magazine size!
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it's interesting that they think their sales slump is credited to the size of their magazine rather than maybe you're just a bad magazine.
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I like that post, but it probably just had to do with extra printing and mailing costs. And, sadly, all periodicals are having trouble these days. Who needs, say, the Atlantic Monthly when you've got the FOT boards?
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I like that post, but it probably just had to do with extra printing and mailing costs. And, sadly, all periodicals are having trouble these days. Who needs, say, the Atlantic Monthly when you've got the FOT boards?
I once said to someone that "With the internet, I don't even need magazines anymore."
Guess how they took it.
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The same way Zeph would've?
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Yeah. Let's just say they assumed I meant my s mags.
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I like that post, but it probably just had to do with extra printing and mailing costs. And, sadly, all periodicals are having trouble these days. Who needs, say, the Atlantic Monthly when you've got the FOT boards?
i can appreciate that argument, but they mentioned the size of the magazine being the reason stores place it in the bottom racks, and not eye level. weak.
nonetheless, youre right- print is going out, sadly.
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I notice pretty much every album they review gets 3 stars. It lets you know that you should only read the one or two non-3-star reviews.
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Maybe it's the easy way out, but I think All Songs Considered does a pretty good job, unless you only want to hear angry buzzing music.
Good god, based on your reference in your 70s music blog post I decided for like the sixth time to give that podcast another chance. First thing I hear is raves about how awesome the Kaiser Chiefs and the Streets are, and a guy connected over a tin can trying to participate in a roundtable. No thanks. When NPR tries to be hip it's like me trying to act "street." Ever hear that Bryant Park Project show? Yikes.
DFK, we need to work together to find a better music podcast.
It's a shame that only big public radio organizations can afford the licensing to put out music podcasts.