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Monday, November 30, 2009

Let's Talk About... Criticizing the Critics

Posted by Mark Lore on Mon, Nov 30, 2009 at 1:01 PM

Weingarten.jpg
I just read another interview with Christopher R. Weingarten, the outspoken New York-based music critic who's reviewing 1,000 new albums on Twitter @1000TimesYes. In the interview, which appeared in Toronto's Eye Weekly, Weingarten continued his ongoing rant about milquetoast blogs and the death of real music criticism. And while he sometimes comes off as the whiny and bitter old journalist (as he did at the 140 Characters Conference last June), I can't help but agree with most of what he has to say. I found this excerpt form the Eye Weekly interview especially interesting:

"Music criticism is no longer about who’s shouting the loudest—it’s about who everyone is talking about the most, at the most medium volume. I’ve been doing this for fucking years, and I can’t even type. Pitchfork has the ability to cover almost every fucking thing—and still have tons of holes in their coverage—until their Web site became a database."

I know the whole "Pitchfork bad" argument has been discussed a million times. But, frankly, I think it's depressing that Pitchfork still has the power to make or break a band. And Stereogum? I'd say only about 10 percent of its content is useful or the slightest bit interesting. So. Thoughts on the Big Two? Where do you go to read well-written criticism/features on music?

 

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NEW YORK TIMES!
Posted by workingclassdog on November 30, 2009 at 2:48 PM · Report
2
Yeah, I hate p4k's ability to make/break bands. Also their tone on "music news" is often too over-the-top for me. That being said, I think that 4 times out of 5 they are spot on with their reviews -- and most are at least thoughtful and well written. I also like tinymixtapes for the same reasons (that and their humorous titles kill me every time).

...and stereogum is utter shit. I swear, at least 80% of their content is stolen from other blogs without citing. P4k is bad about that too (especially on forkcast), but DEFINITELY not as bad as the assholes at stereogum.
Posted by brheath on November 30, 2009 at 8:43 PM · Report

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