All of a sudden, all I write are "local" CD reviews. Nationally, it's all about features and preview blurbs, cuz there's no room for a Jay-Z or RHCP CD review or whatever.
Has this happened to you, writers?
― I'M IN MIAMI, TRICK-OR-TREAT (Beatrix Kiddo), Friday, 14 August 2009 15:44 (3 years ago) Permalink
also, talk about shrinking review sections in magazines.
no, wait, there's one or two outlets of mine that still run national cd reviews, but those are handled by staffers, not freelancers.
― I'M IN MIAMI, TRICK-OR-TREAT (Beatrix Kiddo), Friday, 14 August 2009 15:46 (3 years ago) Permalink
the reviews that do still exist are like 75 words anyway
― max, Friday, 14 August 2009 15:49 (3 years ago) Permalink
whiney g weingartens twitter is the future
I fear you are right.
MIGHT Magazine's "35 record review quips" feature was waaaay ahead of its time
― I'M IN MIAMI, TRICK-OR-TREAT (Beatrix Kiddo), Friday, 14 August 2009 15:50 (3 years ago) Permalink
The Slow, Agonizing Death of National Alt-Weeklies
― Hoot Smalley, Friday, 14 August 2009 16:40 (3 years ago) Permalink
honestly it's always seemed kind of weird to me to read reviews of "big" bands in alt weeklies. i get enough of that online, i'd rather read about local/regional stuff.
― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Friday, 14 August 2009 16:44 (3 years ago) Permalink
Yeah, I write for five different alt-weeklies, and I can't remember the last time I wrote a CD review. It's all features and show previews. If someone's got a new album, I get to "review" it in the context of a feature.
― unperson, Friday, 14 August 2009 16:57 (3 years ago) Permalink
I'm still doing some CD reviews -- in fact I was specifically asked to do so! So I guess there's a bit of room depending. Mungolian Jet Set will run next week, new David Sylvian next month.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 August 2009 17:08 (3 years ago) Permalink
ned, i will send you a t-shirt that reads "I AM THE EXCEPTION"
― I'M IN MIAMI, TRICK-OR-TREAT (Beatrix Kiddo), Friday, 14 August 2009 20:00 (3 years ago) Permalink
It's a vision.
― Ned Raggett, Friday, 14 August 2009 20:55 (3 years ago) Permalink
i still write occasional reviews for my old alt-weekly, maybe every 3 or 4 months. they let me write about almost anything i want to, but i also haven't sent them an invoice in like 2 years. (i'd bill for anything more significant than a 250-word review, but it's nice to have an outlet and i don't mind donating copy to a place i still care about.)
but to answer the question directly, they run national/international cd reviews pretty much every week i think.
― flying squid attack (tipsy mothra), Friday, 14 August 2009 21:40 (3 years ago) Permalink
Looking at the Chicago Reader's archives, it looks like the extent of non-local CD reviews they've published this year amounts to three columns of "short takes" (two by Peter Margasak, one by Jessica Hopper) and one long reviews (Noah Berlatsky on Antony & the Johnsons).
But then I can't remember them ever having regular album reviews. At least as long as I've been reading the paper (10 years or so), it seems like CD reviews get published only if one of their contributors pitches the idea. The headline on Hopper's column, for instance, is "Last Week on the Internet: A bucket dipped into the torrent brings up Bat for Lashes, Micachu, Moderat, and more," as though she just downloaded a bunch of stuff and asked the paper if she could review it for them.
I guess I feel like show previews end up reading a lot like album reviews most of the time, anyway, with maybe an additional sentence at the end if the band is especially known for their live performance.
― jaymc, Friday, 14 August 2009 22:12 (3 years ago) Permalink
The Slow, Agonizing Death of National Alt-Weekly CD Reviews
― (*ﾟーﾟ)θ L(。･＿･) °~ヾ(･ε･ *) (Steve Shasta), Friday, 14 August 2009 22:14 (3 years ago) Permalink
― heavin' flho (s1ocki), Friday, 14 August 2009 22:54 (3 years ago) Permalink
― max, Friday, 14 August 2009 23:39 (3 years ago) Permalink
-
― ❊❁❄❆❇❃✴❈plaxico❈✴❃❇❆❄❁❊ (I know, right?), Friday, 14 August 2009 23:44 (3 years ago) Permalink
LMFAO @ sl0cki
― Whiney G. Weingarten, Friday, 14 August 2009 23:49 (3 years ago) Permalink
max OTM
― free jazz and mumia (sarahel), Friday, 14 August 2009 23:52 (3 years ago) Permalink
new thread idea: how long until all CD reviews are just acronym-heavy twitters
― I'M IN MIAMI, TRICK-OR-TREAT (Beatrix Kiddo), Monday, 17 August 2009 14:50 (3 years ago) Permalink
Soulja Boy "Souljaboytellum.com": LOL,IMO WTF
Heh, from a column that just got linked to on ILE Twitter thread: http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/janet-street-porter/editoratlarge-twitter-ye-not-for-it-will-not-change-the-world-1772833.html
If I want to know whether a show is worth going to at the Edinburgh Festival, or if Bonnie Prince Billy's latest album is worth buying, I certainly don't want a 140-character Twitter; I want an intelligent review written in real sentences, not some bastard lingo that's the ugly love-child of texting and abbreviations.
― Women Respond To Bassong (DJ Mencap), Monday, 17 August 2009 15:20 (3 years ago) Permalink
damn whiney got aired out by jane austen
― max, Monday, 17 August 2009 15:21 (3 years ago) Permalink
But then I can't remember them ever having regular album reviews. At least as long as I've been reading the paper (10 years or so), it seems like CD reviews get published only if one of their contributors pitches the idea. The headline on Hopper's column, for instance, is "Last Week on the Internet:A bucket dipped into the torrent brings up Bat for Lashes, Micachu, Moderat, and more," as though she just downloaded a bunch of stuff and asked the paper if she could review it for them.
― jaymc, Friday, August 14, 2009 5:12 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink
this might be true but there have been weeks in a row where like 95% of the show alerts/previews/blurbs have been for out-of-town bands. i have thought of tallying up this info over a month or two and then sending them a letter about it but don't want to come off as bitter (since i'm in a local band). but i just feel like jordan, it doesn't seem necessary, i can read about these national bands from like a million other sources, the info i need from them is about the awesome local bands that aren't getting any other press ... i feel like the reader used to be a lot better about this.
― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 17 August 2009 15:24 (3 years ago) Permalink
Creative Loafing Inc, New Times, and other pubs--budget cuts, freelancing or blogging for free
Chicago Reader possibly getting new owner
― curmudgeon, Monday, 14 May 2012 13:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
is that like google reader for ppl who live in chicago?
― markers, Monday, 14 May 2012 13:49 (1 year ago) Permalink
wow david shapiro, you should get a job writing monologues for jimmy fallon
― contendo entertainment system (some dude), Monday, 14 May 2012 13:54 (1 year ago) Permalink