November 2011
Personal note
Who knows how long it will last, but as of right now, for the first time in my career, I’m writing about music full-time and it feels pretty great.
(Coming soon: #menswear.)
The 10 types of men's style bloggers →
Having interviewed most of these people in the last month, this is pretty damn spot-on.
It is missing the “What I Wore Today Blogger,” though.
Death of Altered Zones II
Really grossed out by the snobby “rock” “writers” tweeting about how glad they are a harmless music site that they hate so much and is ruining music (that they would totally never read ever, God, hey don’t click on that “favorites” folder, what are you doing) is folding. Get a life.
(Joking about it: a different story!)
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Ad Hoc, the sequel to Altered Zones →
Judging by the “100% independent” plug, can we assume the Alt Zones kids are bailing on Pitchfork for more of that sweet witch house ad money? Post yr conspiracy theories!
"Pink Friday is better than Dark Twisted Fantasy... →
Don’t mind me, just choking on my sandwich
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The end of Altered Zones →
I’m not sure why this feels really funny to me. Alt-Zones: Killed by dubstep?
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If you were between the ages of 13 and 24 in 1998... →
Barely made the cut-off. Wish I’d played this song at my Bar Mitzvah. Can’t remember what I had the DJ add to the usual “Electric Slide” pap, though I’m pretty sure I banned Matchbox 20?
Someday, maybe in 2018, I’m going to write an article about how 1998 was the best year for radio rock since Fleetwood Mac.
bmichael replied to your post: Why these lists all seem so weird and bad, or how we drowned in the buzz ocean at last
i asked a notable music writer back in, oh, june if he’d heard the new panda bear and he was like ‘no’. i said it had been out ‘for a while’, and he scoffed. (i like ‘surfers hymn’ quite a bit, still)
Never going to listen to it ever after those awful singles. I’ve heard...
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A new song from the Pipettes' RiotBecki, who now... →
lafontusa replied to your post: Why these lists all seem so weird and bad, or how we drowned in the buzz ocean at last
hm. are these phenomena (indie bands upstreaming and scoring radio hits and expanding their fanbases; cult favorites being revived by music writers on a nostalgia trip) new? or just new to you?
I don’t think it’s so much the newness that’s the issue as it is the...
Why these lists all seem so weird and bad, or how...
Underground scenes used to be characterized more by great but short-lived bands, right? (Minor Threat, the Smiths, etc.) Groups like R.E.M. were these huge exceptions. Now, thanks to more fans and licensing money and whatever else, bands are much more able to eke out these longer middle-class careers, leading to former buzz bands going on to release album three, four, five, etc. and doing the...
Uncut's Top 50 Albums Of 2011 →
vicemag:
THE ONLY ACCEPTABLE LIST: 10) KAPUTT 9) KAPUTT 8) KAPUTT 7) KAPUTT 6) KAPUTT 5) KAPUTT 4) KAPUTT 3) KAPUTT 2)KAPUTT 1) KAPUTT
Waiting for a magazine to put out just a top 5...
And be like, “We were going to do 50, but we listened to the James Blake album again and were like, you know what, I have to sleep at night.”
(I have no idea how long my list will be yet. There were maybe seven albums I thought were really good this year, probably another 10-15 likable-enough ones.)
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I wrote about the new Jason Derulo video for MTV's... →
I am now writing for MTV’s Buzzworthy blog. There are jokes!
Mercury Music, my digital record club, is now in... →
If you’d like to hear this week’s best rap album and a semi-lost bossa nova classic, do yr ears a favor and sign up.
Chris Ott on the PRR zine and New York →
Why Chris isn’t writing 500-page, New York Times-topping bestsellers is beyond me. Prose for days.
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TIME magazine article or Thought Catalog post? →
Has Josh Tyrangiel tweeted about this yet?
Wait, it turns out "Dance Yrself Clean" has been a...
You guys!
Grimes x Yours Truly →
Trying to understand the fuss. I think I’d like this if she sounded more like Boat Club. Beautiful video either way.
armsongs replied to your photo: 15-year-old me is really crushed that Anne’s…
i went to college with that bro, not even kidding, and he always weirded me out a little. you think YOU’RE crushed?
Dude!
I wonder if Kat Dennings is out there, somewhere, wondering if she should crash my wedding.
ARMSongs: Summer Skills: the Lyrics →
armsongs:
For all interested parties, here are all of the lyrics to the songs on Summer Skills…
EMILY SUE, CONT’D
White pine, the moon is so high
You see where you’re going with your eyes closed
Wild-eyed, growl and smoke
Return every question in the same tone
There’s a state line, out in…
Nice to read along with while Todd croons in your ears. You bought this record already, yeah?
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Jack Black in "The Muppets"
It feels very strange that in less than a decade, Jack Black has become an empty signifier of “Jack Black,” right? Wish Ryan Gosling had played his role, that would’ve been next-level.
postmodernism replied to your post: Per iTunes
get a last.fm account and track your listening tendencies, it’s free
I have one but having to constantly run the app irritated me. I know, I know.
Stephen Stills vs. Punk Rock →
singinginthewire:
roseofcimarron:
nigeyb:
What did Stephen Stills do that made some punk bands hate him so much?
It was all down to a series in Rolling Stone magazine called Rock Star Rate-A-Record. Simple concept: sit a musician down with a handful of current releases and let them give mini-reviews. Nothing illustrated the chasm between punk and the older rock establishment better than the...
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The New Yorker on Tolkien and the new Eragon book →
Wrote about A$AP Rocky on Rawkblog →
I like him.
Per iTunes
I’ve listened to over 5,600 songs this year (not counting the additional thousands I listened to on Soundcloud and clicked “x” on!), which really surprised me — I feel like I’ve drastically reduced my listening time. If iTunes had proper stats I’d love to know how many I cruised through in 2006.
Most played track of 2011: Seeker Lover Keeper’s...
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Ned Collette's cover of "Come On Let's Go" →
Christ.
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Project for someone who likes music blogging and...
We need a multimedia album release calendar. Everything reasonably interesting that’s been released in a given year and prospective future release dates, promo MP3s and streams if they’re out there. Please no New Music Tipsheet 50-album lists for every Tuesday. Or set it up via Google Calendar so bands can add their own. I don’t understand why Pitchfork hasn’t already done...
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backleftlitz:
On the terrace of the same suburban bar I blogged about a couple of days ago a girl who I once loved unrequitedly and who also follows me on Tumblr hey what’s up if you’re reading this later said that at her prestigious liberal arts college there is graffiti that says “the revolution will not be Tweeted, it will be Tumblr’d,” and while she talked about the appropriation of Gil...
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Into this mush walked Usher (looking lumpy, it... →
The Jon Caramanica menswear odyssey continues
nomdegreen asked: What music do you have prepared for your wedding (DJ, band, particular songs, etc.)? Also, congratulations!
“In hip-hop, the music leads first. So usually, you have a hit record and then...”
– Jay-Z explains crotch-grabbing in rap music to Fresh Air’s Terry Gross (via nprmusic)
This explanation can also be applied to why so many new indie bands are really bad live
Black Friday and Consumerism as Hegemony
marathonpacks:
Another quick note, this one on the calendrical co-existence of Black Friday, the psychotic celebration of irresponsible capitalism on the day after Thanksgiving, and Occupy Wall Street, the two-month old social movement in which those tired of the vast imbalances of capitalism toward corporations and banks are appropriating public spaces as a way to draw attention to their cause,...
Watchmatthewedwards:
motherjones:
shortformblog:
Forget the pepper spray over Xboxes. This is a near-riot over $2 waffle-makers.
We can’t. Even. It looks like a frigging live-action Bruegel painting. This is okay, but sitting in a park protesting Wall Street is a threat to civilization, right?
ALL OF THE LOLZ.
Keep an eye out for the butt crack.
"Parks and Recreation" S4E04 →
Adam Scott in a Batman costume. Crying. You need this in your life.
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Thankful for so much this year
Mostly my incredible fiancee and the generosity of readers and colleagues who have supported me and given me the opportunity to do what I love every day. Thank you.
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Honored to be part of this Rose Melberg career... →
Alongside Calvin Johnson (!) and Rob Sheffield (!!), who I had no idea was a Winter Pageant fan.
Road trippers: where would you stop between Vegas...
(Mostly: Where would you eat/thrift?)
New Lil B →
Base For Your Face
