The sacred cows of indie music – 3: Joy Division
All these bands that copy ‘em … why draw the line at the music?
Song of the day – 447: of Montreal
This music, this song, makes me feel giddy with nausea and nauseous with delight.
The sacred cows of indie music – 2: The Fall
It’s hard to criticise a band that have made an art-form out of being inconsistent
Song of the day – 446: Coasting
We’re talking The Vivian Girls stripped of the 60s West Coast stuff and with layers of mid 80s Dunedin stuff added in its place.
Song of the day – 445: Plan B
This is what I understand rock’n'roll – call it whatever term you like – can be. This is Plan B. This makes me proud to be part-British.
ROCK VS. CANCER. ROCK WINS!!!!!!!!! A tribute to John Grabski III
ROCK vs. CANCER. You may have taken my brother, you selfish son of a *****, but ROCK STILL WINS!!!!!!!
Pussy Riot | This band fucking rules more than any band has ruled in years
Pussy Riot must be “burning Putin’s glamour” pretty fucking hard for the state to threaten them like this.
Eleven records I’m embarrassed about liking
I can only put my liking for this down to some kind of sadomasochistic sexual attraction towards Dolores; her personality and her voice. I really can’t account for it otherwise
Song of the day – 444: Stag (something wonderful from the 10s)
Brisbane. It’s scrappy. It’s hot. Our idea of entertainment is to have our photograph taken with Santa in the local shopping mall. Yet it’s home.
PhD research: Simon Reynolds on how taste is formed in web 2.0 environments
Web culture is driven by the impulse to differentiate oneself, so there is a lot less cultural capital to be generated from agreeing than there is from disagreeing.
a mini-rant about a Stereogum ‘news’ story about Grimes
Some of the most impressively bad writing about Grimes the internet has yet produced.
Another news story predicting the demise of the NME
I admire Krissi’s self-belief and her lack of perspective: it’s what always kept me strong during my U.K. music press years.
Banksy vs advertising vs Everett True vs Facebook
It’s the social networking 2012 equivalent of “You don’t have to be crazy to work here … but it helps”.
PhD research: Neil Kulkarni on the role of the music critic | ESSENTIAL READING
The ability not just to make words stick to a page/screen but give them a sense of life, make them walk and talk with your own spirit – s’tricky and the best music critics have always done it.
Song of the day – 443: Scraps
I can only imagine what this plaintive, personal, playful music would feel like in the company of some drunk people and little ventilation.
PhD research issue #3. You write to make an impact: A tribute to Steven Wells (re-post)
Engage, argue, inform, irritate … but above all entertain.
Song of the day – 442: Clag (something wonderful from the 90s)
With its impromptu gargling and glugging, ‘Goldfish’ is a classic of its kind.
reasons to love web 2.0, part 3
Amour & Discipline is a non-profit DIY organization. We don’t get subsidies, nor are we financed by any corporation.
PhD research issue #2. The role of the music critic
I regard a critic as someone who values curiosity over cultural complacency, and knows how to enable this as a practice in others
PhD research issue #1. Trolling
Trolling is a rhetorical strategy that attempts to discredit the conversation or speaker as absurd/obvious or otherwise shift the topic towards some other element of an argument than the one being addressed.
Whitney Houston sings Robert Wyatt (a.k.a. the greatest Whitney cover never heard)
I just thought a few of you might be interested.
Another great band gone. No one notices. No one cares.
They knew the fuck the importance of editing.
