Pitchfork Reviews Reviews

Not even Momus

man

"Friends only"....what are you fifteen years old? I think you have the right to do that but when a site that has many good photo blogs and other artistic stuff, having to navigate through a bunch of teenagey "friends only" stuff is depressing.

I don't let random people walk into my house, why would I let them read my angsty accounts of moving into college?

[via 2005]

xp - the early adopters did!

"Friends only"....what are you fifteen years old? I think you have the right to do that but when a site that has many good photo blogs and other artistic stuff, having to navigate through a bunch of teenagey "friends only" stuff is depressing.

― My Big Fat Jewish Wedding (u s steel), Monday, September 27, 2010 3:48 PM (8 minutes ago) Bookmark

the guy navigating random livejournal pages is asking you if you're fifteen

you don't spend your entire day surfing LiveJournal? *incredulous*

hm: not a guy, read yr xls

let's give him so much attention that he takes all our work, A+ you guys

this is possibly the most OTM thing Whiney has ever said

Hipster Puppies Review Pitchfork

A rising tide of swill raises all gorges.

can't believe PRR killed music criticism

http://s3.amazonaws.com/files.posterous.com/suzannechambers/g8KJVDTXBa1JQc7ruEpIJUZRMg4kv7ukVa9Jn5cpa9vMsJoDFLHvUlkwQIpQ/photo.jpg.scaled.500.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=1C9REJR1EMRZ83Q7QRG2&Expires=1285602286&Signature=XKOe7So1LNBNi5bkHH8iFcr2Cds%3D

...and my friend leans over and blows some high school kids' candles out because i think that is the punkest way to handle this. an asian teenager who is standing in front of me and dressed in drag asks me if the plastic birthday cake that is strapped to the top of his head is blocking my view and i say "no you're good" and connect my thumb and pointer finger to make an O and outstretch my other fingers and hold my hand up and smile

worst slash fic ever

im interested in why nabisco thinks this is great writing

― just sayin, Monday, 27 September 2010 14:15 (1 hour ago)

well I'm not here to argue about it, because I understand it doesn't work for everyone and, umm, I don't care a ton about it. but basically I think the Awl piece is good at using concrete details to describe the show's context, its objective, and its dynamics. most music writers would express this stuff in a non-narrative sense and largely from the perspective of the band's decisions, rather than fan experience. but he lays out a bunch of reported details (the stuff about the venue's staff being eye-rolly about the show, the way that's condensed into the caricature of the door guy fixing his hair, the note about kyp malone being outside the dynamics of "cool" so he can sing along louder than anyone, etc.), and does stuff like that quick reading of karen o spitting water into the air (and the usual issue of, like, professional spontaneity in rock shows) to paint that all pretty effectively just via narrative.

given his age and location the guy is hyper-focused on dynamics of "cool" and access and how things are done, which can be tiring and is probably annoying if you don't care about that stuff, but this piece in particular strikes me as good at tracing and painting those dynamics, so yeah, I think it's well-done, as music writing and especially your average show review go!

heh, from the Awl piece

brent_cox [#40]

Am I crazy for wondering when it was going to get to the ducks in the Central Park duck pond?
Posted on 09/23/10 at 1:41 pm Log in to Reply

i can't help but feel that this is only the beginning:

http://millennialsmag.com

so now i will be writing about pitchfork reviews when i am inspired to write about them, which might be pretty often or not that much, who knows? also i will have more time to do the stuff i like to do so that stuff will be better. okay i am going to finish a post about spending a night with himanshu from das racist and interviewing avey tare from animal collective, you will like it i hope!

http://www.pitchforkreviewsreviews.com/post/1199627944/morning-roundup-announcement

good move!

this guy is a media savant, you'll all be working for him someday

Amazing writing? Come on, it's basically livejournal-level 2003 Weezer reunion show memories where every cliche about being in a hipster music scene is imbued with tremendous meaning and affected high school school drop-out grammar rules to give an air of youthful, exhilirating breathlessness. If I were to think this was amazing writing it would also mean livejournal circa 2001 was dominated by literary geniuses the likes of which only appear once a generation. Which, yeah, may be the case...

― Telephoneface (Adam Bruneau), Monday, September 27, 2010 7:06 AM (7 hours ago) Bookmark

too generic. all you've done is to negatively describe a large category of things in which his writing might be included. he is young, and writes like a young person, yes. and he's writing in a loose, diaristic, stream-of-consciousness style that you could compare to many other online writers. but that's just a bracket. within that bracket there are likely a few good and lots of mediocre-to-terrible writers. and i think he writes very well within this style. what he observes is interesting and revealing (of him, often, more than of his subjects), and the way he ties the details of his observations, memory and emotion in sequence has the appeal and suspense of good reporting, or good fiction. that awl review is a wonderful snapshot of both a specific cultural moment and also of a period in the young writer's life. in that sense, the literary "deficiencies" noted here (such as starting off paragraphs in a similar way) are actually strengths, creating not only a voice, but a sense of repetition and motion in the language.

that awl review is a wonderful snapshot of both a specific cultural moment and also of a period in the young writer's life.

wonderful? get tae fuck.

in that sense, the literary "deficiencies" noted here (such as starting off paragraphs in a similar way) are actually strengths, creating not only a voice, but a sense of repetition and motion in the language.

this is wank. no other word for it.

http://www.psdgraphics.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/bulls-eye.jpg

xp

that awl review is a wonderful snapshot of both a specific cultural moment and also of a period in the young writer's life.

this is quite condescending, but it's less than he deserves.

seriously, y'all, there is this great phrase that gets trotted out a lot in things like writing workshops: "it failed for you." there's a whole bunch of clever stuff embedded in those words but the basic thrust is that writing often has a certain intent, and uses different techniques and skills to get there, and the fact that it inevitably doesn't accomplish its goals for everyone (no writing does!) can be really different from looking at the intent/technique part of things.

I mention this just to say that this thread could argue forever about whether it "works," and the answer will always be that it works for some and not for others, big whoop. but in terms of like, "is this just livejournal writing" ... it uses that as a facade for sure, but I always figured part of why that facade gets annoying is because it's really clear that there's pretty careful technique/detail stuff sitting behind it. I have no idea whether he slaves over that stuff or it's just natural to him, but the idea that it's not there is confusing to me; I sorta think anyone who reads this as just an unformed blurt of opinions is getting a little suckered by the superficial level. a lot of the detail work, structural scaffolding, etc. is very ... put-together.

I feel ridiculous posting this because there is nothing I'd LESS like to argue with anyone about than this dude or his writing, but I am interested in different prose styles and how people think about them, so I can't resist.

but in terms of like, "is this just livejournal writing" ... it uses that as a facade for sure, but I always figured part of why that facade gets annoying is because it's really clear that there's pretty careful technique/detail stuff sitting behind it. I have no idea whether he slaves over that stuff or it's just natural to him, but the idea that it's not there is confusing to me; I sorta think anyone who reads this as just an unformed blurt of opinions is getting a little suckered by the superficial level. a lot of the detail work, structural scaffolding, etc. is very ... put-together.

this. OTM. in PRR's best pieces, i don't get the sense that i'm reading unformed diary dribble (though that's the style affected). beneath that superficial artlessness, it seems very well and carefully constructed, i.e., well written. and it works for me, at least some of the time. can see as how others might feel differently, but the skill, craft and uniqueness of voice seem self-evident to me.

i think there's definitely some contention here about "uniqueness of voice"

It wouldn't surprise me if he did meticulously revise his drafts; he's just a third-rate writer who has shown no judgment. It's really hard for me to take someone seriously who loses his marbles so often.

find it harder to take seriously anyone who rates him tbqf

what if they "rate" him "third-rate" like Alfred?

i think there's definitely some contention here about "uniqueness of voice"

yeah, fair enough. you could call it wide-eyed indie boy standard, and i guess i wouldn't object. he's definitely working within that genre, but i think it's well done and distinctive nonetheless. not genius shit or anything, but better and more interesting than most music reviews i read.

what if they "rate" him "third-rate" like Alfred?

^^^^ 7.9

the tone of the comments he leaves seem to differ, at least in some cases, from the tone he employs in the posts

I dont really read his stuff but from what I've read I get a sense of contradiction in that here he is pretending to be this ~naif~ just ~blogging about pitchfork~ from ~my company bathroom~ but its obv. that he's built this into something bigger and larger than that, part of the system if you will, but he still sort of affects this doe-eyed outsider-looking-in perspective that clashes w/ his actual experiences (maybe that's just his default approach to life, I dunno)

yes, he's clearly a rupert murdoch-level magnate at this point

I kind of find it impossible to read through one of his blog entries tbh...like I really wanted to read about his Weezy F. tattoo but I just couldn't force myself past a couple of paragraphs.

Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

even if we grant that his stuff is carefully constructed, he has nothing interesting to say!

I mean, dude keeps in contact with pitchfork writers, hangs out w/ the head of mtv india, has a NYT piece about him, etc. maybe he is just that sort of guy.

catching up on the thread, realize that my criticisms have already been elucidated upon w/ much more clarity upthread. guess in the end I think he's a good example of 'pitchfork alt', it's nice to have someone writing against the Institution. but in the end, maybe it's just kind of lol and mostly sad that there is someone out there who reads pitchfork cover to cover every single day w/ no larger pretense than just being 'interested' in pitchfork. (assuming that his whole naif shtick is genuine)

does he even like music?

even if we grant that his stuff is carefully constructed, he has nothing interesting to say!

Ding ding ding ding ding ding.

He sure does structure his bullshit well, tho.

wow he really rubs u guys the wrong way!

Pitchfork Reviews Reviews Massage Reviews

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLHc-yIAPbg

okay, so i'm waiting around for my friend to finish doing his laundry at his roommate's girlfriend's place, because it's free, even though it is taking forever, and so i actually read the awl piece and one other one.

I think I can understand why people like it, but to me, besides the long-windedness, and all the nothing words and phrases, the pointless repetition - there's next to no insight. Plus, he doesn't really create interesting characters in a narrative sense. Maybe I'm supposed to already have bought into these details or these types being significant, but all i'm seeing/reading is a bunch of empty signifiers that don't communicate much.

okay, so i'm waiting around for my friend to finish doing his laundry at his roommate's girlfriend's place, because it's free, even though it is taking forever, and so i actually read the awl piece and one other one.

lol a+

okay, so i reread the awl piece just to make sure, and yeah, i still like it. i love the headlong rush of details, almost psychedelic in its tight first-person focus, a blur of events and interactions only briefly glimpsed and half understood. especially love the suspense & unanswered questions generated by conversations he can't quite hear, the way favors and opportunities somehow materialize as product of secret chains of interaction. kid just has a good eye/ear for social micropolitics, not for how they work when you understand them, but how they feel when you don't. and he's got a good reporter's instinct for telling details, for the sequence of narrative links within the overall wash of details. he may not have much to say in terms of direct commentary - as sarah notes - but he spins a good yarn, and in the sense that his tales are documentary, i think he does a good job of pulling out telling, evocative details that paint a meaning-dense larger picture.

it's really just 70s-style "new journalism" applied to music writing, and kind of old-fashioned in that. worse, i think he sometimes goes for rather obvious "big resolves" in his pieces, like the wrap-up in the awl piece about wealth vs. hipness, which falls flat. still, i love his style and his eye for details, both psychological and physical: the weirdness of waiting on other people's whispers, nick zinner's veins, kyp malone's ecstasy, the kid taking a picture of himself after the show.

won't deny the underlying slightness, the at least occasional sense i get that there isn't much real substance beneath the well-marshaled details and pleasant narrative flow. i suspect the wide-eyed stance of introspective but not terribly intellectual observation gives the writing a certain universality, or at least a relatability. but perhaps this comes at the cost of an ability to develop/deliver more complex insights...

yeah, or i dunno, maybe he's just getting started, finding his voice, figuring out what's what.

contenderizet otm w new journalism
comparisons, except they used the same techniques to mine deeper truths. this guys spinning his wheels in the mud