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Music Blogger Symposium

9. What blogs, music or otherwise, do you most highly recommend?


Rich Juzwiak

  • Crunk & Disorderly - Fresh's sense of humor is so simultaneously relatable and bizarre, it feels like a feat unto itself. Technically, C&D is a gossip blog, but the intelligence behind it alone elevates it to virtually unclassifiable heights. I seriously could not love this girl more on a fundamental level. I can't decide if I want to mate or just merge with her.
  • Anthony Is Right - I'm biased because Anthony is a personal friend of mine, but that's ultimately what allows my objective reading of his blog: I know how virtually unfathomable his intelligence is, and so I'm aware of just how great an accomplishment it is that he makes it so tangible. What he's writing about matters less than the fact that he's writing, period. I can think of no higher praise to offer a critic.
  • '90s R&B Junkie - As blog that sets out to critique and contextualize every song to hit No. 1 on Billboard's R&B singles chart in the '90s, this could only be more up my alley if Mariah Carey sung it to me.
  • 24:Hours - If there's a blog that does a better job of keeping up with today's disco, please, send me a link!
  • Pajiba - They generally don't touch music, but they do provide lengthy, intelligently written film and TV criticism. What's most amazing is the devotion of their readers: people responding not to flashy images or quick, thoughtless sound bites, but actual text. With our attention spans getting progressively shorter, Pajiba's devotees are truly hope for the future.
  • Television Without Pity - I wouldn't be here without it.

    Simon Reynolds
    Some of my favorites have bitten the dust or gone into hibernation, but the two blogs that have given me the most consistent pleasure and stimulation over the last five years are still going strong: Woebot and K-Punk. I'm also rather keen on new-ish blog The Impostume by Carl Neville. My interests don't overlap very often with Momus' but when they do I find his Click Opera live journal thought-provoking and witty. Going beyond just music there's Sit Down Man You're a Bloody Tragedy, Acheron LV-426, and Jahsonic. BUT there are loads more--I'll stop there though 'cos otherwise I'll be here all night.

    David Moore
    My first stop in the blog circuit is the Poptimists LiveJournal community and the writing of its various members in whatever form that takes (everything from published books to blog posts about a shitty weekend). A very diverse group of people, all very friendly and welcoming, lots of fun. And the analysis in the past two or three months has been first rate--I think a lot of my own energy has gone toward Poptimists lately and away from my blog. Regular reads include Mike Barthel's Clap Clap, Frank Kogan's LiveJournal page, Jessica Popper's Dirrrty Pop, Susan Broyles's Fairytale in the Supermarket, and Marc Hogan's Offnotes. All of them are very eager to use their posts as a jumping off point for a great conversation. Non-musically, the best find in the past year or so has been Radosh.net, a politics and pop culture blog by journalist Daniel Radosh.

    Maura Johnston
    I have about 800 blogs in my RSS reader, so it's hard to narrow down to just a few. If you dare: mauradotcom's blogs.

    (But I should probably say that lately I've been mostly reading blogs about the housing bubble in my off-hours. The Housing Bubble in particular. Yes, I relax with news of imminent economic collapse. Fun times!)

    Carl Wilson
    See my links page. Although that page needs a serious update, there's lots there.

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