Hey, No Offense, But All Your Blogs Bite It

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My current allegiance to Cam and nearly everyone associated with Dip Set (Jha Jha, fall back) is frightening. I may be close to losing my job because I insist on constantly asking my superiors "What’s really good?" to their general befuddlement. I just snatched-up a first-run 40 Cal bobble-head on eBay (only $350!). I made my mom cry by adding a chicken-scratch "t" to my college "diploma." Taking all that into account, this video is such a disappointment it’s almost terrible. Almost.

Ryan Dombal, Purpology
http://www.themack.org/2005/05/camron-down-and-out-jamiroquai-feels.html

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:47 (twenty-four years ago)

The Dips are not just about music, they're about a movement, and Jim Jones is the heart and soul of it. Sure, Cam may be the movement's comely avatar (no homo), and Juelz its hot-headed future, but Jimmy passionately channels the spirit of Everyman USA, providing a requisite contrast to the crew's disaffected crack-era cartoon steez. Whether it's via the tortured sincurrity of his verse
on "I'm Ready," or the sneeringly simpleton rock co.kane flow of "Certified Gangstas," the self-proclaimed kufi-slapper typically offers some context for the rancor behind the rape-raps.

Will Dukes, Troublecrunk
http://troublecrunk.blogspot.com/2005/05/oh-really-thats-nicei-dont-read-your.html

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:48 (twenty-four years ago)

With Cam'ron, hating is secondary to self-aggrandizement, which can be economical and understated, or hilariously grandiose. (You're a chump. Have you seen my new purple mink?) He can't seem to help it; even his freestyles are excessively stylized: "Screw all the haters/ Blue as the Gators/ Do me a favor, dog/ Don't do me no favors." (Misogyny, it seems, also comes naturally to Cam: "I'll send you a tape of your sister and your mom kissing/ My dick, that is"; "I'm about finding bitches that's about licking cock.") Okay, so he cheats with a few overdubs, but, shit, at four-and-a-half minutes wouldn't you steal a few glances at your hand? For an album track this would still be a monster.

Sam Ubl, Pitchforkmedia
http://pitchforkmedia.com/tracks/05-06-13.shtml#song2

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:49 (twenty-four years ago)

And Cam's flow is a thing of beauty. His bored, arrogant voice rolls syllables around until he's hit just about every possible permutation, transforming hard consonants into thrown rocks and idly toying with drug metaphors like they're Rubik's Cubes. In Cam's world, he's the king of Harlem, moving kilos, dispatching foes, and throwing around money with Machiavellian cool. Cam has the
warped eloquence of an MF Doom even when he's bragging about violence ("Observe, cock, and spray/ We hit you from a block away/ Drinking saki on a Suzuki in Osaka Bay") or conspicuous consumption ("I park in the towaway zone, chrome/ I don't care; that car a throwaway, homes").

Tom Breihan, Pitchforkmedia
http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/c/camron/purple-haze.shtml

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:50 (twenty-four years ago)

Forget Cabaret Voltaire: this is the real future primitive music. The Diplomats have often cultivated an image of pre-modern savagery as a means of emphasizing extreme machismo—in 2003 Juelz Santana went so far as to describe the crew as "animals, orangutangs". On what could be termed 2004’s “Dipset Anthem”, Jim Jones ratchets up the unpredictability. Tablas, removed of any of the playfulness of Timbaland, churn; sci-fi synths, removed of any of the sexiness of the Neptunes, blare menacingly. All of this while Jones lays out impressionistic, slang-ridden dealer rap in flows that might jump the rails at any time. If "Dipset Anthem" hailed a conquering nation, "Crunk Muzik" is the soundtrack to the bloodthirsty jungle militias that took it in the first place.

Gavin Mueller, Stylus
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=1384

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:51 (twenty-four years ago)

Cam likes to play with language. His wordplay isn’t on some underground ‘complexity’ tip, or working Kanye’s tongue-in-cheek style. Cam’s wordplay is simply absurd, even more so because it is delivered poker-faced. Cam is deadly serious. “Wrex-n-Effect, zoom zoom in poom poom, since the movie Cocoon had my uzi platoon, KILLA”. Cam keeps it fresh and then he’ll “let the fish eat ya flesh”. The “realest since Kumbaya” will “soufflé your toupee” and you know he’s in the building mister, “with the Olsen twins and the Hilton Sisters”. Cam is so real yet surreal— Lookin’ back on chool / Arts and crafts / Fucked half the staff / Beat up half the class / I was like Dr. Dre though / I have to laugh/ Nigga with an attitude meet me after-math.” He’s got money, and he knows it: “Whips on my fist, houses on my wrists, ya budget on my neck, your spouse on my dick.” What more can you say about a gangsta rap superstar who spits, deadpan: “Hokey pokey dopey lokey okey dokey”? This is one of the few hip-hop LPs where the skits are more predictably straightforward than the songs themselves.

David Drake, Stylus
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2584

― 33Q, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:53 (twenty-four years ago)

why is it June 27 2001?

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:53 (twenty-four years ago)

we've got to warn them!!

― W i l l (common_person), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:54 (twenty-four years ago)

It's kind of a shame JR Writer sounds so typically Dipset (flow like Cam, voice like a cross between Juelz and Cam but higher), otherwise he might actually get props from people. On Diplomats Vol. 5 he had that ridiculous "What Up Gangsta" freestyle where he went 6 minutes with no stops, just unloading his inventory of rhymes seamlessly, Cam in the background talking and keeping time ("this might be 400 bars right here!").

Al Shipley, Government Names
http://governmentnames.blogspot.com/2004/12/jr-writer-and-juelz-santana-get-use-to.html

― 33Q, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:54 (twenty-four years ago)

http://images.usatoday.com/money/_photos/2003/2003-06-04-maney.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:55 (twenty-four years ago)

When Dr. Dre decided to title his debut The Chronic, he was making a statement. It was a direct reference to the album’s amazing potency, which reflected the California weed that inspired the name. Harlem’s own Cam’ron now follows suit with the release of his long delayed Purple Haze (Roc-a-Fella/Def Jam). As an MC, there has never been a question about Cam’s skill on the microphone. The flow has evolved from a speedy short worded bar cadence to a laid-back delivery with more focus on clever wordplay. The lyrical progression along with his unique sense of style has that kept his name buzzing in the rap game. With Killa at his creative best and beats to match, this fourth solo album is his most complete work to date.

Martin A. Berrios, Allhiphop.com
http://www.allhiphop.com/reviews/?ID=490

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:56 (twenty-four years ago)

haha i put one of my own in there in case i wanted to post it to throw people off the scent

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:57 (twenty-four years ago)

must...stop....Bartman!

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:57 (twenty-four years ago)

http://www.mgkelly.com/pix/ANIMATED-MG-IN-TIME-MACHINE.gif

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:58 (twenty-four years ago)

ETHAN'S CAM-INSPIRED RAGE HAS CAUSED A RIFT IN THE SPACE TIME CONTINUUM!

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:59 (twenty-four years ago)

http://www.chicagoist.com/images/2004_09_sports_steve_bartman.jpg

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:59 (twenty-four years ago)

youre a double agent!!

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 02:59 (twenty-four years ago)

Jim Jones is not the world's greatest rapper. In fact, he's probably the fifth best MC in his crew. This is no matter of concern. It's easy to explain why: Jim Jones wins. He does not offer Cam'ron's dexterous, libidinous wordplay. He does not offer Juelz Santana's child-like enthusiasm and manic charisma. He does not offer J.R. Writer's epic breath control.
What he does offer is fire. Deep-seated, blustery, Taft House-raised fire. There is nary a Jones-ian moment wherein he lacks intense anger in his flow. Getting smacked in the mouth is visible both in his past and in our ears' future. Never has a performer elicited such red-eyed danger in every verse. Never has a man staked his claim built entirely on iron-fisted bravado. There shall be no fronting, his words are not his sword. Nor his liquor. Nor his slang trade. This is a man of conviction. Now those convictions may lead to jail time, but this is of little consequence to bi-racial monsters of 101st.

Sean Fennessey
http://hardlyart.blogspot.com/2005/01/ode-to-jimmy.html

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:00 (twenty-four years ago)

if you had one chance...do it all again...

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:00 (twenty-four years ago)

And oh, can he ever rap. Intricacy and economy rarely cohabitate in a rapper's flow, but Cam is a model of both, packing an obscene number of rhyming syllables into each line, and sustaining the effect for lengthy runs. Sometimes he rhymes two-syllable phrases ad nauseam (the NWA rip "Dopeman"), sometimes he flirts with three separate rhyme schemes in just a few bars ("Down & Out"). Sometimes, he seems to be issuing a dare—you rhyme a sentence as long as "You know I'm in the building, mister/with the Olsen twins or the Hilton sisters."
These tone poems—the surety of the cadence, the knowledge that no rhyme will ever sound incomplete—are hypnotic and exhilarating. And though gibberish is part of his stylistic arsenal—especially on the phalanx of non sequiturs that is "Get 'Em Girls," one of last year's most arresting, triumphant songs—Cam's still interested in narrative. To wit, from "Bubble Music": "Cops come blocking the ave./I put the glock in the stash/ Slabs and tops in the trash/Still stop and I laugh/Ma, get them rocks in ya ass/The rest, twat and your bag/Dag, hop in a cab."
Jon Caramanica, Village Voice
http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0503,caramanica,60086,22.html

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:00 (twenty-four years ago)

What he does offer is fire.

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:01 (twenty-four years ago)

dont burn too many bridges al!!

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:01 (twenty-four years ago)

What he DOES offer...is fire.

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:01 (twenty-four years ago)

youll never write for hardlyart.blogspot.com again!

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:02 (twenty-four years ago)

What does he offer? Fire.

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:02 (twenty-four years ago)

And lots of it.

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:02 (twenty-four years ago)

FIYAH!

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:03 (twenty-four years ago)

"Jim Jones has so much charisma and more attitude than most rappers put together. 'Crunk Muzik' (from 'Diplomatic Immunity 2' on Koch Records), with Cam'ron and Juelz Santana, is the best song to come out of the Diplomats crew. Such a powerful beat - and you can't tell what the chorus is, it's like 32 bars long. Rappers are like Rod Stewart now; they're like a bunch of Liberaces with their gold rims. The Diplomats are just a little bit off key from what others are doing. They seem to be experimenting the most, and they have a real fight mentality. It's the guerilla side of hip-hop."

Maya Arulpragasam, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/30/arts/music/30play.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5070&en=8893243bba60ea62&ex=1120968000

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:03 (twenty-four years ago)

"Purple Haze" is due out on Tuesday, and it's a left-field masterpiece, showing off all the things he does so well and so weirdly. On his last album, Cam'ron spent most of his time explaining his favorite pastimes (putting drugs on the street, putting women on their backs, putting enemies in their place), but he occasionally switched directions for a startling love song or an even more startling avowal: near the end, he declared, "Now I realize, Christ the king." The new album is more abstract, with spikier beats and more fractured narratives; there's less room for regret but more for experimentation.
Kelefa Sanneh, New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/04/arts/music/04note.html?pagewanted=2&ei=5070&en=4380ba80250831f3&ex=1120968000&8br

― Al (sitcom), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:03 (twenty-four years ago)

No, what HE offers instead...is fire.

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:04 (twenty-four years ago)

JULY 27TH, 2001! THE DAY NO APOLOGETIC CAMRON FAN WILL EVER FORGET!

http://www.mtv.com/shared/media/news/images/c/Camron/sq-camron-intv04-mtv.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:05 (twenty-four years ago)

haha June rather

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:06 (twenty-four years ago)

haha its funny cuz none of these cats except maybe caramanica actually fucked w/ cam back in 2001

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:09 (twenty-four years ago)

when did "Hey Ma" come out? that's the only time I've ever fucked with him. I didn't like "Horse & Carriage" when it came out. I thought it was rather goofy.

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:10 (twenty-four years ago)

i still like "what means the world to you"

― strng hlkngtn, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:14 (twenty-four years ago)

confessions of fire is a decent album really! so is come home w/ me

― 33, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:17 (twenty-four years ago)

dude were you fucking with cam back in '01?

I was fucking with him on that big l album! That was a ways back indeed. Of course I didnt think very much about his, what, eight bar verse?

― deej.., Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:19 (twenty-four years ago)

Come Home With Me was the first time I paid any attention. "Welcome to New York City" is pretty hot.

― deej.., Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:20 (twenty-four years ago)

pd, whats at the root of yr dipset dislike, other than lots of corny dudes liking him? Or is that all it takes.

― deej.., Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:21 (twenty-four years ago)

man i loved ma$e in h.s. so confessions of fire was a must, im not tryna get some kinda braggin rights with that cuz that was a huge cd and everybody i knew had it, im just talkin bout these new jacks who think cam is the first thug in history or whatever

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:23 (twenty-four years ago)

miccio, you had a problem with a song being goofy?!?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:23 (twenty-four years ago)

yeah its partly the dickriders, cam is the face of dying new york so i gotta hear about his ass all the time from new york cats and publications, plus none of him and his crew can rap worth a shit, all their beats alternate between depressing garbage and 80s pop/rock garbage, they always try to eat off trends in rap like the west and south by fuckin with classics like dope man and bout it bout it, none of em can rap

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:25 (twenty-four years ago)

You gotta remember that song came out back in the late 90s, Jaymc. I was on a different page then. I still find Ma$e pretty annoying, if amusingly panda-esque. A friend burnt me Come Home With Me. Sounded alright but I found it hard to care aside from "Hey Ma." You'd think he'd be my hero with pictures like this but for some reason he's not. Maybe its a hook thing, I dunno. I definitely don't see the charisma.

http://epk.radioandrecords.com/camron/downnout_011205/cover1.gif

― miccio (miccio), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:27 (twenty-four years ago)

they cant flow, theyre studio gangstas except maybe jones, did that whole bullshit pink/purple thing, just alot of gimmicks and bullshit and east coast desperation and hipster avant garde nonsense pushin up some wack ass rappers who aint actually sold more than any other random koch release

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:28 (twenty-four years ago)

anyway its funny that its considered some kinda reactionary blasphemy to hate cam on the internet cuz in the real world you will get clowned faster as a bitch if you ever admit youre fuckin w/ dipset

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:30 (twenty-four years ago)

and cam himself used to come with some nice raps and lyrics before he put his whole garbage crew on

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:31 (twenty-four years ago)

Hahahaha. Yeah, um, that Jim Jones post, that uh, was a joke. 'What he does offer is fire!' You guys are great. Keep throwing stones.

― Sean F (Sean F), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:32 (twenty-four years ago)

Yeah see all that shit would bother me but I think they're entertaining. You and Exo were on the same page about this actually.

― deej.., Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:32 (twenty-four years ago)

i saw purple haze on LP for two bucks at a store the other day, bought it, listened to it, sold it for four. I bought myself a sixer of tecate with the cash

― Gear! (Gear!), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:34 (twenty-four years ago)

nah theres alotta dudes who i excuse cuz theyre just trippin out, i was just sayin how much i love d12 on that other thread! but dipset is some dead-eyed trash to me, i cant even hear 5 seconds of these clowns rappin before i gotta be like turn it off man turn it off

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:40 (twenty-four years ago)

tho i dont judge anybody who fucks w/ them as long as they stay off the crack and dont go all into best-rapper-i-ever-downloaded!! mode

― 3, Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:41 (twenty-four years ago)

this thread title is really amusing.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:42 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm surprised you don't like it Gear! I think its pretty great. Certainly not my favorite rappers - purple haze didnt make my top ten or anything last year, even though i kinda gushed about it in that review they quoted - but I really really like "Killa Cam" and "Get Em Girls" etc.

― deej.., Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:43 (twenty-four years ago)

Although next time you get a six of tecate i'm down.

― deej.., Wednesday, 27 June 2001 03:44 (twenty-four years ago)

three years pass...

Ok. I'll admit that I've never been the most religious blog-readers. Oh, sure, I read a couple, certainly a few political ones and usually those done by journalists in their free time -- a la "Talking Points Memo" and "Altercation". The same goes for music blogs. I've periodically perused Marcello's and Simon Reynolds', in addition to reading/contributing to Stylus's from time to time, but for whatever reason, I've been wary of diving headlong into the blogosphere.

But last night, I decided the time had come -- I was going to do download a
bunch to my Palm Pilot for subway reading during my commute. I thought it
might prove a good place to do a little research and keep abreast of the latest goings-on.

And seriously? What I found was a lot of lists, in-jokes, pictures,
and inpenetrable references -- as well as links to other blogs, of course. Aside from the fact that almost none seemed to have much to say about actual music, almost across the board, they reinforced the worst cliches about music writers: that they're this uber-insular, elitist sect that's more interested in impressing one another than trying to think anew, even if it means saying something stupid.

Did I kind of expect that? Sure, I suppose. But the thing is: that's what ILM, for all intents and purposes, should probably be, but isn't. There's a lot of fresh, honest--dare I say--brave assessments on this board -- by, I might add, many of the same people playing this silly game I just described. You would think the blogosphere could be public diaries -- musings about this passion of ours, the great testing ground for the Big Ideas that end up in print somewhere, or maybe just write-ups of records our respective publications wouldn't let us review for whatever reason.

But from virtually all that I've seen, they aren't that at all. And that's just very, very disappointing. There are some great writers here.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 11 February 2005 03:49 (twenty years ago)

I was going to do download a bunch to my Palm Pilot for subway reading during my commute.

you admit that and then have the nerve to criticize? heh, that's some cojones.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 11 February 2005 03:54 (twenty years ago)

I don't like reading blogs much at all either.

― Mr. Snrub (Mr. Snrub), Friday, 11 February 2005 03:55 (twenty years ago)

What I found was a lot of lists, in-jokes, pictures,
and inpenetrable references

great!

try harder, btw.

― f--gg (gcannon), Friday, 11 February 2005 03:56 (twenty years ago)

i like them.

― jones (actual), Friday, 11 February 2005 03:58 (twenty years ago)

I think my blog writing style is, for the most part, identical to my message board writing style. That's almost certainly because I started my blog long before I started writing on message boards (and even before I started reading other blogs).

IMO, once you start consciously blogging for other bloggers, and not for yourself or for a real or imagined audience, the quality suffers badly. When that happens, it leads to online feuds and writers trying to outdo one another first and foremost. Also, people start becoming self-conscious about their niche in the blogosphere. They start thinking "I have to write about stuff that others aren't writing about, I've got to be more unique" instead of just writing about whatever interests them.

I'm not just referring to music blogs here, I'm referring to any internet communities I've come across -- music, sports, politics, you name it.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Friday, 11 February 2005 04:06 (twenty years ago)

I have to say I'm amazed at the amount of personal information blog people share with strangers.

― shookout (shookout), Friday, 11 February 2005 04:13 (twenty years ago)

ooh! read mine! joshlanghoff.blogspot.com! it still looks like the unfinished death star, so I was going to hold off plugging it, but you've given me an opportunity for some preliminary plugging. and I don't really know anybody here, so I only reference the big guns.

― dr. phil (josh langhoff), Friday, 11 February 2005 04:21 (twenty years ago)

I'm a bit of a blog philistine perhaps, but I only like them for the mp3s. The only non-mp3 blog which I look at is Blissblog. Naturally, I have the upmost respect for the bloggers taste in mp3s, but I can't use the insight, thanks. I like the largeheartedboy format where he just posts a list of links and downloads each day - take it or leave it.

― everything, Friday, 11 February 2005 09:46 (twenty years ago)

Quelle surprise. You start off with a preconceived idea that blogs will suck and then you pat yourself on the back for discovering it's true. Hmmm.

Personally I don't like the MP3 blogs, aside from the odd blog that features mixes.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Friday, 11 February 2005 10:02 (twenty years ago)

Gutterbreakz is cool though. It's like going to school again, but a cool school. With a nice teacher (that hopefully doesn't test you..."yes class, please write an essay on...mmm...the use of the 303 on early 808 State records as compared to Universal Indicator Blue.")

― Omar (Omar), Friday, 11 February 2005 10:12 (twenty years ago)

** they reinforced the worst cliches about music writers: that they're this uber-insular, elitist sect that's more interested in impressing one another than trying to think**

And this was a surprise? You've read the Pazz & Jop poll comments section before, right? Anyway, most of the political blogs I've scrolled through seem to fit the same pattern as the music ones.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Friday, 11 February 2005 11:25 (twenty years ago)

Very few blogs pull you right in on the first visit; it's like stumbling in on a conversation that is already in progress. It can take time to get to know the blogger, and his/her crowd/references/in-jokes etc. Almost by definition, a large number will look petty and parochial from the outside.

I used to take great pains in always thinking of the first-time reader when writing each post, always trying to explain references etc. Then I decided that I actually liked in-jokes and self-referentialism and being part of a blog-gang, so I eased up on all of that. I fully expect 95% of casual readers to walk away scratching their heads and thinking WTF is he blathering on about. It's a blog, not a magazine. Horses for courses...

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 11 February 2005 12:05 (twenty years ago)

Indeed, it's a community (just like ilx is).

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Friday, 11 February 2005 12:09 (twenty years ago)

Personally I find it healthier to keep a careful distance from that particular community. Acknowledge it but don't allow yourself to be drawn in too closely to it.

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 11 February 2005 12:52 (twenty years ago)

Indeed, it's a community (just like ilx is).

i disagree. ILX is designed for two-way communication, for rapid response. blogs are online journals; the text is offered up to be read as an entity in itself, rather than as part of a discussion. that crappy little "comments: 0" at the bottom of thousands of blogspot posts says it all.

there are some excellent, awe-inspiring, life-affirming blogs out there. there are many, many more that are frankly knuckle-bitingly embarrassing; a good proportion of these are obviously written entirely for other members of the - cough - "blogosphere" to read. a good blog exists because it has something worthwhile to say and says it beautifully. a bad blog exists purely to affirm the writer's existence, which is ultimately rather pathetic.

it's like forming a band: for the sake of the rest of us, only do it if you actually have a driving need to do so.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 11 February 2005 13:26 (twenty years ago)

of course, you could just not read blogs if they bother you so much rather than instruct people not to write them. i'm not really a fan of the format, but at the same time i don't think they're bringing down my (or anyone else's) quality of life.

― lauren (laurenp), Friday, 11 February 2005 13:31 (twenty years ago)

the whole thing bores me a bit, to be honest - apart from nathalie's blog, obviously, coz she's all fabulous and nice to me and stuff.

― stelfox, Friday, 11 February 2005 13:34 (twenty years ago)

this post is fucking great.

― um, Friday, 11 February 2005 13:35 (twenty years ago)

xx-post: but, er, like i said: there are some great ones out there, and i'd like to discover more gems. unfortunately, i have to wade through mountains of crap in order to do so.

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 11 February 2005 13:36 (twenty years ago)

I don't read any other blogs, particularly, and never have. I barely even keep mine going now. I'm not sure why.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 11 February 2005 13:57 (twenty years ago)

My blog is great! I'm gonna post something on it TODAY! It will be fun.

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 11 February 2005 14:00 (twenty years ago)

There are some that are very good, there are some that are mediocre or horrible. Blanket generalizations are never a good or smart thing to make.

― Leon the Fatboy (Ex Leon), Friday, 11 February 2005 14:08 (twenty years ago)

Mine hans't really been about music for ages though.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 11 February 2005 14:09 (twenty years ago)

the whole thing bores me a bit, to be honest - apart from nathalie's blog, obviously, coz she's all fabulous and nice to me and stuff.

Didn't you know, I keep it going just to promote yours. ;-)

that crappy little "comments: 0" at the bottom of thousands of blogspot posts says it all.

I have a lot of fans. I especially like the VEeAgra one.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Friday, 11 February 2005 14:18 (twenty years ago)

There are a bunch of music blogs which, while ocassionally too insular, offer me lots of provocative and fascinating takes on music:

I found Jess Harvell's year-end take on music on his blog very interesting even if I don't always agree with him. Jessica Hopper writes wonderfully. Dj Rupture/Jace Clayton's take on grime, life in Spain, and various others...There a Canadien guy who lives in Senegal and post about African music who's been mention elsewhere by me and others on ILM who's great. How about Julianne Shepherd, and Phil Sherburne,Christopher Porter and numerous others(I just learned from Sasha Frere-Jones blog about the jazz covers of pavement cd)...

― steve-k, Friday, 11 February 2005 14:51 (twenty years ago)

The only blogs I find I read are by journalists or professional writers. The quality difference between those and the others is generally huge - not in terms of having interesting things to say, but in sheer readability. It's the experience of having to shape your writing to an audience, of editing your work and having your work edited, and all the other stylistic constraints involved in writing for the media. Eventually, professional writers develop their inner editor. This is the main problem with blogs. There's no editing. It's all just a loghorreic stream. Even if there's something interesting going on I can't be bothered to wade through all the crap to get there.

― genevieve rt, Friday, 11 February 2005 15:04 (twenty years ago)

That's funny, cos a lot of the music blogs written by pro journalists usually seem really sloppy, obscure, and super-insular to me (probably because they can't get away with that stuff in print and like having an outlet for that sort of writing.)

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:11 (twenty years ago)

When I saw them say "Blogosphere" on CNN I was embarassed for the entire country.

― David Allen (David Allen), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:11 (twenty years ago)

Why? It's a silly word, but it refers to a very real thing. People need to get over this bullshit irrational embarassment about blogs. Enough with the selfloathing nerd shtick, okay?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:15 (twenty years ago)

Eventually, professional writers develop their inner editor

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha ... urgh [chokes with laughter]

― grimly fiendish (grimlord), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:19 (twenty years ago)

"I have a lot of fans. I especially like the VEeAgra one. "

whats your blog?

― um, Friday, 11 February 2005 15:27 (twenty years ago)

i like the blogosphere term

― Alienus Quam Reproba (blueski), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:30 (twenty years ago)

I'm still waiting for "bloggo" to catch on.

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

looks like naive teen idol hasn't checked out this sweet blog interview with the ying yang twins-- http://riffcentral.blogspot.com

― Nick Sylvester, Friday, 11 February 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

Bloggiverse.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

People need to get over this bullshit irrational embarassment about blogs.

Is there such a thing? I must live in an insular world.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:43 (twenty years ago)

Why? It's a silly word, but it refers to a very real thing. People need to get over this bullshit irrational embarassment about blogs. Enough with the selfloathing nerd shtick, okay?
-- Matthew C Perpetua (perpetu...), February 11th, 2005.

No, it was just the word.

― David Allen (David Allen), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

People need to get over this bullshit irrational embarassment about blogs.

No they don't, it IS embarrassing. There is a reason diaries used to have locks.

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:45 (twenty years ago)

The most successful blogs are very rarely diaries.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

Can a mod modify every post to this thread so there's a recursive link to Leon's post re: the dangers of generalizing and/or shooting yr mouth off?

"OMG look at what those people are doing in my periphery! I don't want to see that! Get out of my field of vision as I am rooted to the ground and am unable to turn my fucking neck!"

― David R. (popshots75`), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

Can a mod modify every post to this thread so there's a recursive link to Leon's post re: the dangers of generalizing and/or shooting yr mouth off?

WHY YOU TAR EVERY POST TO THREAD WITH SAME BRUSH?!?

*hides*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 11 February 2005 15:50 (twenty years ago)

The most successful blogs are very rarely diaries.

All the ones I read are. And I think they're successful.

Well, "online diaries"/blogs have a different motivation now since there seems to be this collective need to make yourself seen and heard, whether you have something interesting to say or not, with several important exceptions of course. I pretty much agree with the sentiment that grimly fiendish promotes upthread re: starting a band.

― mcd (mcd), Friday, 11 February 2005 16:00 (twenty years ago)

Which ones are you reading, mcd?

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 16:02 (twenty years ago)

Shit, I'll read anything as along as it's updated frequently.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:05 (twenty years ago)

There are a bunch of music blogs which, while ocassionally too insular, offer me lots of provocative and fascinating takes on music:
I found Jess Harvell's year-end take on music on his blog very interesting even if I don't always agree with him. Jessica Hopper writes wonderfully. Dj Rupture/Jace Clayton's take on grime, life in Spain, and various others...There a Canadien guy who lives in Senegal and post about African music who's been mention elsewhere by me and others on ILM who's great. How about Julianne Shepherd, and Phil Sherburne,Christopher Porter and numerous others(I just learned from Sasha Frere-Jones blog about the jazz covers of pavement cd)...

Links, please!

― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 11 February 2005 22:06 (twenty years ago)

People need to get over this bullshit irrational embarassment about blogs.

For instance, if you refer to your own blog in a post, please link it. I get frustrated by this at ILM...

― Pete Scholtes, Friday, 11 February 2005 22:07 (twenty years ago)

I think ppl are afraid of seeming too self-aggrandizing.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:14 (twenty years ago)

I have a blog which is over 100 pages long, is updated about once a week, has taken about 3 years to write, and which has been visited once, in all that time, for a total of zero seconds. And yet, I continue to write. WHY? Because the pointless vanity of it appeals to my sense of humour.

― thee music mole, Friday, 11 February 2005 22:18 (twenty years ago)

Link!

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:45 (twenty years ago)

mole, yoo r my main man!

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:50 (twenty years ago)

mole, here iz yer nu favorite band:

http://www.archive.org/audio/audio-details-db.php?collectionid=lf038mp3&collection=lostfrog

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 11 February 2005 22:52 (twenty years ago)

There are a bunch of music blogs which, while ocassionally too insular, offer me lots of provocative and fascinating takes on music:
I found Jess Harvell's year-end take on music on his blog very interesting even if I don't always agree with him. Jessica Hopper writes wonderfully. Dj Rupture/Jace Clayton's take on grime, life in Spain, and various others...There a Canadian guy who lives in Senegal and post about African music who's been mention elsewhere by me and others on ILM who's great. How about Julianne Shepherd, and Phil Sherburne, Christopher Porter and numerous others (I just learned from Sasha Frere-Jones blog about the jazz covers of pavement cd)...

Better now?

(My blog is called Fluxblog.)

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:01 (twenty years ago)

matt, seriously, everybody knows what your blog is.

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:04 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, yeah, I know, that's why I rarely link to it here unless I'm letting people know about a specific track. I was just responding to that guy who was complaining about people never linking to their sites.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:05 (twenty years ago)

dude, matt, you plug it at every opportunity! which is your right, i guess, but don't say you "rarely" link it!

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:07 (twenty years ago)

music blogs updated 24/7
http://blo.gs/3600/favorites.html

― DJ Martian (djmartian), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:14 (twenty years ago)

I guess it's a matter of perspective - to me, I really do my best not to go around "plugging" it because I do think that's a bit tacky. I only link to it on message boards if it's relevant to the thread in some way. But yeah, I see what you mean.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:14 (twenty years ago)

Find threads from I Love Music, containing matthew perpetua fluxblog.

35 results found:

― hstencil (hstencil), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:19 (twenty years ago)

jesus h what the fuck do you care

― miccio (miccio), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:20 (twenty years ago)

i read the grime blogs

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:21 (twenty years ago)

You would think the blogosphere could be public diaries -- musings about this passion of ours, the great testing ground for the Big Ideas that end up in print somewhere, or maybe just write-ups of records our respective publications wouldn't let us review for whatever reason.

in other words, "They weren't what I expected them to be and that made me VEWY ANGWY!"

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:22 (twenty years ago)

and yes, I can see why Matthew doesn't like various blogs (mine included, if mine was one of the ones he looked at). What he's failing to see (and I'm talking about him in absentia because he hasn't bothered replying to his own thread yet) is that blogs go through cycles, writing-wise. Plenty of the time they're info-dumps, list-holders, and the like; other times, there will be a meme or a topic or a controversy that various folks comment on, adding to the conversation, until it exhausts itself. right now, I'd say they're on a down cycle--even Pazz & Jop hasn't particularly excited anyone this year, one way or the other. but really they're notes-on-the-run more than anything, and I'm not sure where anyone gets the idea that they're (usually) more than that.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:34 (twenty years ago)

in fact, I'd say that music blogs (at least the ones I know) have largely split, from places to write for people who weren't writing to either abetting/aiding printed work, or writing-about-the-MP3s-they-post. and that the excitement over music blogging is essentially about the ones that emerged a few years back, mostly, and were heavier on writing-as-writing.

― Matos-Webster Dictionary (M Matos), Friday, 11 February 2005 23:36 (twenty years ago)

Hstencil, you're being misleading now - most of those threads don't include me linking to my own site, which is what I was talking about! Most of the links that I've made to my site here have been about songs, not necessarily a "hey read my blog thing" but more "if you want the song, it is here."

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Saturday, 12 February 2005 00:40 (twenty years ago)

either abetting/aiding printed work

Hmmm...it might be me, but I don't see Freaky Trigger that way, given the regular participants in it -- certainly a number of us are published writers but I feel it has its own ethos. That said I wasn't assuming you were referring to every last music blog out there.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 12 February 2005 00:45 (twenty years ago)

http://us.ent4.yimg.com/movies.yahoo.com/images/hv/photo/movie_pix/warner_brothers/the_matrix__reloaded/fred_durst/matrixpre.jpg

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:03 (twenty years ago)

sorry I finally broke down and got a soda today. sugar rush.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:04 (twenty years ago)

you think he looks more like a troll, a goblin or an elf?

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:05 (twenty years ago)

Goblin.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:09 (twenty years ago)

Given the color of the cap, I would say he looks like a shithead.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:11 (twenty years ago)

when the little man stepped in shortly afterward and asked: "Now, my lady Queen, what's my name?" she asked first: "Is your name Conrad?"
"No."
"Is your name Harry?"
"No."
"Is your name perhaps, Rumpelstiltzkin?"

"Some demon has told you that! some demon has told you that!" screamed the little man, and in his rage he ran home and wrote "Nookie."

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

btw I just checked the Limp bizkit site and evidently Fred is recording vocals for the album in Prague.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:16 (twenty years ago)

the world has so many wonders to it. the czech people are a very interesting society. i do enjoy it. this album is dark musically already, but when mixed with the tone in the air of prague it becomes somewhat horrifying.

wes, ross, and myself have set up protools and a beta 57 microphone in an old apartment right near the charles bridge. this is where i am connecting with the darkness. some days are explosive others just plain heavy from the gothic aesthetic of this city in general. we have gone to the other side a few times with absinthe to discover the unknown. as it seems the unknown is quite demanding these days.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:19 (twenty years ago)

STOP!!!!!!

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:20 (twenty years ago)

i have moved the fred news back to the fred thread. i apologize. continue defending bloggery.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:25 (twenty years ago)

hahahaha!!! Fred's blog suxx!!

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:25 (twenty years ago)

Rum, Bloggery, & The Lash!

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:26 (twenty years ago)

spoken like a true bloggerer.

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 01:27 (twenty years ago)

I actually felt like I'd kind of said my piece (albeit w/ typos) in the initial post, and was more interested in hearing what other people had to say than anything -- thus, I hadn't yet replied.

But Matos, et al, you make good points. I had, in fact, looked at yours, partly b/c I enjoy your ILM comments. I mean, obviously, I've looked at blogs from time to time prior to this, but there's no question that I went in this time still hoping to find something a bit more, I dunno, substantive. Readable, even.

And I'm not trying to be a snob about it, but aside from the perpetually-pitched Fluxblog, which has a simple but effective mission, that wasn't what I found, really. Maybe there IS a ton to be gleaned from them, but right now, they feel very 'needle in a haystack', by and large, and kind useless to me.

All that said, Web Nymph is a pretty good place to survey what's happening on the mp3 blogs.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 12 February 2005 15:34 (twenty years ago)

http://www.alienjesus.com/ed/images/fred.gif

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

Dear CBS,

today's episode of Without A Trace was disappointing for several reasons...

― miccio (miccio), Saturday, 12 February 2005 15:40 (twenty years ago)

It's no Cold Case, that's for sure...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Saturday, 12 February 2005 15:41 (twenty years ago)

matthew, you forgot to link the blogs in your post. pete will be ferry ferry angwee.

― stevie nixed (stevie nixed), Saturday, 12 February 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

http://thefreelancementalists.blogspot.com/ is ferry cwoss the mersey nice

― don, Saturday, 12 February 2005 17:40 (twenty years ago)

Thanks, Matthew. I'd never heard of the Senegalese one. I've linked to you for a long time at (the lately slow-going) http://complicatedfun.com

I'm surprised that my polite request would irk anybody...

― Pete Scholtes, Saturday, 12 February 2005 22:45 (twenty years ago)

http://thefreelancementalists.blogspot.com/ is ferry cwoss the mersey nice
-- don

I named that blog yunno

― thee music mole, Saturday, 12 February 2005 22:54 (twenty years ago)

he did! hey colin email me

― The Obligatory Sourpuss (Begs2Differ), Saturday, 12 February 2005 23:34 (twenty years ago)

B-L-O-G
Everyone's perusing me!

― Ken L (Ken L), Saturday, 12 February 2005 23:45 (twenty years ago)

It's been really confusing being one of two Matthews addressed in this thread.

Anyway, yeah, Benn Loxo Du Taccu has been gaining popularity over the past several months - the word of mouth is getting around. It was nominated for best African blog in the Bloggies, which I imagined raised its profile quite a bit. I'm very glad that it exists - I would love for more mp3 blogs focusing on specific non-Western countries to pop up because it's such a great resource and use of the format.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 13 February 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

If you like Benn Loxo, you should also check out Red Lotus Radio and Fruits of Chaos.

More essay-centric music blogs worth checking out:

Ye Wei Blog
Architectural Dance Society
Clap Clap Blog
Poptext

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Sunday, 13 February 2005 01:21 (twenty years ago)

dear god i wish i'd started the following blog:

http://indierock4eva.blogspot.com/Â¥

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Sunday, 13 February 2005 02:53 (twenty years ago)

Take the "l" out of "Blogger"
And it's "Bogger"...

― thee music mole, Sunday, 13 February 2005 06:29 (twenty years ago)

my mouth bleeds alot because i like to bite the skin off the inside of my mouth.

heres my blog... www.everythingsgonegreen.blogspot.com

― Nic de Teardrop (Nicholas), Sunday, 13 February 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

five months pass...

dear god i wish i'd started the following blog:

http://indierock4eva.blogspot.com/

i figured it out

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 18 July 2005 03:01 (twenty years ago)

blogs sort of freak me out, i must admit. i don't follow the blogs of any ilxors. although i check tim finney's on occasion.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 18 July 2005 06:16 (twenty years ago)

how do they freak you out more than ilx itself?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 18 July 2005 11:54 (twenty years ago)

I don't get it. Are those all examples of bad music writing? Good music writing? Are they all "rockist"?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 18 July 2005 12:01 (twenty years ago)

They're examples of critics wetting themselves over indie rock, obv.

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 13:39 (twenty years ago)

And is that supposed to show that there's some kind of music-crit establishment conspiracy to promote indie rock? Maybe the blogger ought to stop looking in publications that tend to specialize in indie rock.

It's a bit like posting examples of critics "jizzing themselves over hip-hop" that are all from Source, XXL, and King.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 18 July 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

Rap reviewers don't spend lots of time speaking in preposterous superlatives about mostly-average music. Although rap reviewers are hardly examples of great crit either.

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 13:52 (twenty years ago)

It isn't - it's purely to make fun of people who think indie rock matters. If you ever saw the "this Shins song will change your life" scene in Garden State, the blog makes more sense.

― save the robot (save the robot), Monday, 18 July 2005 13:53 (twenty years ago)

"I'm completely overwhelmed by this record. I Am a Bird Now is beyond any semi-confectionary aesthetic distance that you might bring to discussing your average album. This music grabs a hold of you and doesn't let go. It feels timeless and gorgeous and bigger than life. It may not be "soul" in the strict, music appreciation 101 sense, but it could make even the most jaded atheist approach a metaphysical regard. It is assured, seering and majestic SOUL to the utmost. I'd put on my critic's cap and dive into scrutiny, but I am too enraptured by this artist's music."

yeah youre right man change the artist name and thats exactly what the source said about slim thug

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 13:54 (twenty years ago)

haha xpost djdee beat me to it

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 13:54 (twenty years ago)

tho when i see some of these rap blogs go off about dipset or swishahouse or some bullshit its the same thing really & i would read a rap version of that site every damn day

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

hhahaha, thats what i said about slim thug.

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

"'Purple Haze' is a deep and at times uplifting album that continues to direct Cam'ron's never-ending journey through that part of the subconscious most in tune with the sights and colours of nature, with the emotions that are born in the day and the night."

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 13:56 (twenty years ago)

"Thus far in their short career, DSR have found themselves tenuously lumped in with the spiky and contrived screwed music scene most prominently lead by the likes of UGK and the increasingly shambolic Michael Watts. DSR have turntables and a fondness for Screw tapes but, apart from the guitarist’s asymmetrical indie hair, there the similarity ends.

Screw context, screw biography—DSR have been around too short a time for either to matter. What is important is that they have a sense of adventure, romance, belief and intelligence, of art, a desire to explode preconceptions and exceed expectations that marks them out way above and beyond any of their perceived peers."

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

"We're almost exactly half way through 2005, and we may just have come across the album of the year. With Diplomatic Immunity, Dipset has set a landmark in modern rap music and therefore must be heard by everyone. This undoubtedly marks the first chapter in a long and illustrious career. Welcome them into your world."

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 14:03 (twenty years ago)

The album's producers weave a grand, sweeping tapestry to give Sigel's lament the heft and majesty it deserves. Like Ghostface's The Pretty Toney Album, The B.Coming swims in the sad signifiers of 70s soul: glistening strings, weeping guitars, swollen horns. On "Feel It in the Air", producer Heavy D has nothing but mournful noir saxophones for ya, baby. Ty Fyffe slathers "Change" in swooning, melodramatic violins. On "Wanted (On the Run)", da Neckbones give the chipmunk-soul treatment to Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive", mining that track's theatrical sweep with stunningly funky results. Even "Gotta Have It", the album's only remotely club-ready track, drowns in an ugly, metallic synth wash. The tracks build on each other, swirling into a symphony of pain, a fitting soundtrack to one man's dark days.

That's an actual Pitchfork review, so maybe it's partly just their style, not a statement on whether or not indie rock "matters" (whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean).

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:11 (twenty years ago)

"Wanted (On the Run)" is the worst song on that album!

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

yeah dude i mean that indierock4eva site has got madvillain and edan reviews up too, its just corny writing i think

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 14:15 (twenty years ago)

Admittedly, I do get annoyed when I see one of these sites gushing over something nearly indistinguishable from two dozen other records (i.e. Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah). But first of all, maybe that reviewer hears something I don't, and second, I think it's just a general tendency of young inexperienced (or just bad) music writers to equate florid praise and purple prose with good writing. It almost seems like their primary experience reading criticism came from reading book-jackets and seeing movie commercials ("A magnificent tour-de-force!" etc.), I know a guy who writes regularly for cokemachineglow, and if they'll publish his stuff, they'll probably publish anyone.

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 18 July 2005 14:20 (twenty years ago)

did nobody hear me?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:37 (twenty years ago)

(although i'm probably going to look foolish when someone tells me everyone already knew who it was 6 months ago)

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

Oh, ok. Who is it?

― Hurting (Hurting), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:39 (twenty years ago)

I don't get it, sorry.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:41 (twenty years ago)

i'm going to give the author a headstart by saying that it's REALLY REALLY easy to figure it out

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:41 (twenty years ago)

I totally don't know who it is! Do tell.

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)

Brent D

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

Ott

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:44 (twenty years ago)

edan

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 15:46 (twenty years ago)

The general premise of the site seems like something Ott would appreciate, but I guess I assumed he liked indie rock too much to want to ruthlessly take on its champions.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:47 (twenty years ago)

you guys can figure it out with logic!! you CAN!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:48 (twenty years ago)

slocki you hush!! i mean it!

― strng hlkngtn, Monday, 18 July 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

I stayed up watching The Wire until late. I don't feel logical.

xp-hmmmmmm

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:49 (twenty years ago)

raggett

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 15:58 (twenty years ago)

blount

― W i l l (common_person), Monday, 18 July 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

now THAT is a very interesting speculation.

― jaymc (jaymc), Monday, 18 July 2005 16:47 (twenty years ago)

My next review for the Seattle Weekly is so so so totally gonna excerpted to be on the indierock4eva blog. I know it. I KNOW IT.

― Michael Daddino (epicharmus), Monday, 18 July 2005 16:53 (twenty years ago)

dammit, 3! you knew i was gonna do a dipset4eva blog and now you gave away the idea! fuck it.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 18 July 2005 16:55 (twenty years ago)

haha i actually started one of those months ago but gave up after two posts

― strng hlkngtn, Monday, 18 July 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

the policeman who stopped you

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 18 July 2005 18:45 (twenty years ago)

id take a six of tecate over any rocafella release since 2001 besides sigel and maybe that bleek with 'round here' on it

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 19:55 (twenty years ago)

speakin of 2001 there it goes

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

I did some investment banking while we were back there, I'm a millionaire now.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 18 July 2005 19:58 (twenty years ago)

haha look what i found-

Subject: camron interview
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 07:55:18 -0400
From: ethan
To: ryan@pitchforkmedia.com

youll have this by next week

----

Subject: Re: camron interview
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 18:25:06 -0500
From: "Pitchforkmedia.com"
To:
References: 1

Give it to NLYPM, I can't use it.

Ryan

----

Subject: Re: camron interview
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 23:33:03 -0400
From: ethan
To: "Pitchforkmedia.com"
References: 1 , 2

why the fuck not

----

Subject: Re: camron interview
Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2002 22:27:49 -0500
From: "Pitchforkmedia.com"
To:
References: 1 , 2 , 3

You know why, we don't cover mainstream rap. A Cam'ron review would be totally out of place and weird.

Ryan

-- simon trife (simo...), August 26th, 2002.

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 20:00 (twenty years ago)

MEEEEEEMMMMMMREEEEEEEZZ

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

robble

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:01 (twenty years ago)

hahaha whoa bizzaro world!

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

so what's happened since June '01? did Sosa pass Hank Aaron yet?

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0345,clover,48359,22.html

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

Times sure change. Predicted this in 2001?

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 20:03 (twenty years ago)

freaky zeaky testifed to congress bout his steroid use

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 20:04 (twenty years ago)

Jay-Z vs Nas.

― deej.., Monday, 18 July 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

I wanted to like the Cam album, really, but man I sure didn't and I also didn't have any beer in the fridge. that Tecate hit the spot, too.

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

sterl are you submitting that for consideration on dipset4eva.blogspot.com

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 20:06 (twenty years ago)

haha gear right now my entire life revolves around turnin wack rap cds into hard liquor

― 3, Monday, 18 July 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

I received two bucks one time for a CD by this chap named Hard Todd

― Gear! (Gear!), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

He runs Stylus now.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 18 July 2005 20:25 (twenty years ago)

i just wanna agree what means the world to u is amazing, um like you meet a old friend and they look better than imagination. has there been a ts dipset vs pootie tang?

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 04:01 (twenty years ago)

only if you'll take it, 3.

i think i just wanted to brag about how i was up on dipset before the blogosphere.

also remember when everyone loved cam'ron because of "boys" back when the whole kanye/justblaze thing was breaking? haha yeah those were the days.

(dipset qua dipset -- i.e. not the individual dudes -- also gets plenty of b.e.t. play, so its not just the blogosphere that digs em. tho maybe the blogosphere is fairly alone in rilly digging the mixtapes. speculation: dipset mixtapes are real easy to get ahold of & becuz of low album sales & lack of source covereage are therefore hipper than say 50 vs. LL Cool Jay AND Tigra pt. 48 & therefore are custom-made for indie-ethos consumption? "whoa -- he rhymed apple with snapple with dapple with lapel with crabapple with paffle with grapple with clappel!")

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 04:21 (twenty years ago)

yeah i mean my listening is v determined by what i cn find at actual well stocked best buy but idk if dipset is in fact easier to get ahold of than any other mixtapes on the internet, that is, is this just some most bloggers are connected to nyc thing? or has dipset allowed for this in a unique way, i havent seen their website. but theres absolutely some lack of coverage meets accesibility shit goin on

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 04:37 (twenty years ago)

but cmon you gotta love lapel in a hypothetical rhyme!

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 04:39 (twenty years ago)

i fucking hated Purple Haze at first, but i do like Juelz - "What's It Gonna Be", a lot.

(thanks SFJ! best track i ever downloaded! ...oops)

― yuengling participle (rotten03), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 04:42 (twenty years ago)

you want to talk about bloggers running up on somebody they never would have given the time of day to four years ago, having since lost his damn mind -- R fucking Kelly anybody?!!?!?!?

― yuengling participle (rotten03), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 04:44 (twenty years ago)

yeah but it isnt like cam ws on some batman wagon like r, but still all this arguin and knashing whats basically late 90s dbl discs from my hs pep rallys is bizarre but im not abt to get in the way of some 2nd coming shit cuz i think on principle, better or worse its worth it to take that 2nd look

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:05 (twenty years ago)

I'm totally shocked anyone EVER thought dipset was only popular with bloggers. Wasn't "Hey Ma" a huge fucking pop single?

― deej.., Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:15 (twenty years ago)

it ws huge and on mtv and the only comparable things i cn think of are big pimpin and maybe its that 50 thread but in da club, too, but those songs arent similar really, theres no cam on a treadmill, hey ma maybe cld rolled into some jlo duets school?

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:23 (twenty years ago)

but like i remember and as sterling put it this dipset qua dipset thing is a whole nother animal from hey ma whats up?

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:24 (twenty years ago)

Was the first incongruous-blogger-into-Dipset Robin Carmody?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:25 (twenty years ago)

i just googled robin now but maybe he she introduced them to adjectives

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:29 (twenty years ago)

I think the first time I heard about dipset having an "internet fanbase" may have actually been on ILM. But I might be totally off on that.

― deej.., Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:30 (twenty years ago)

i remember that caramanica like it ws yesterday

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:32 (twenty years ago)

I'm pretty sure Kelefa was fucking with Cam back then. He wrote that great piece on Jay-Z right before the first Blueprint came out, he seemed pretty aware of what was going on.

― deej.., Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:38 (twenty years ago)

Robin Carmody:

"Cam'ron's Harlem-raised protege Juelz Santana is most intriguing of all because he doesn't even try to deny his sympathies (I wonder how many similar facades will fall before too long). Santana (and what a historically provocative name *that* is) actually boasts about identifying with those who would censor and destroy his own music; the much-vaunted "courage when he was driving the plane / reminds me of when I was dealing the 'cane" line, alluding to the perpetrators of September 11th, is actually a piece of headline-seeking self-importance which doesn't really shock at all; what does make me almost fall out of my chair in shock, especially in context of everything Bush has stirred up, is the casual, presumably approving shout of "Taliban!" at the intro of the Diplomats' "I'm Ready", and again towards the end (I almost described the song as a "posse cut", but to call this a posse cut would be like calling "Anarchy In The UK" skiffle). The word is not presented as some universal evil, just as something casual to say, JUST ANOTHER WORD, JUST ANOTHER ANALOGY. The song itself sounds fascistic in its sheer bludgeoning of the point; Mark E. Smith would have approved of this when he sang "Repetition in our music / And we're never going to lose it" (inspired by Neu!, of course, as were the Sex Pistols' fundamentally defunkified rhythms - indeed you could say this 2003 wave of fascist-hop is doing to hip-hop what the Pistols did to rock music, fundamentally removing it from its inherently black rhythmic roots) a quarter of a century ago. Same sped-up vocal sample for the best part of 5 minutes, no flux or sonic evolution at all, no trace of the flexibility of black pop past and much of the present."

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:42 (twenty years ago)

Not that talking about Juelz Santana in August 2003 makes Robin some visionary seer or anything, but it was the first time i remember being surprised to read someone talking about Dipset.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:45 (twenty years ago)

actually what i remember that sterling also predicted ws a late 04, what is all this slapping in w our powdered sugar? that ws later pasted w some kind of militancy onto the twins, wait, like in springtime the dips were strained pure digitized rgb primaries and safe for us all

i remember some new yorker shit abt jayz from then! and radiohead! the ties that bind! but yeah i think the recent kelefa on cam, maybe alot of explication, hilighting whats tender, ws def influential

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:45 (twenty years ago)

I think this may be my favorite thread of the year so far. Starting with the "all your blogs bite it," the indierock4eva discussion, ethan taking on dipset bloggers, the time warp, miccio's posts, tecate, the return of normal time, the revelation that ryan rejected ethan's cam interview back in 2002, skip to 2003 where robin carmody calls juelz santana a fascist! juelz=/neil young.

― deej.., Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:48 (twenty years ago)

tim i guess the provacative thing to write here is, is screaming abt the like designification of taliban, not that its what robins doing, just in general the underlining of abstraction in rap, a genre that is definitely fucking w more loaded language than um most, that i cn think of, thinking of nigga, well i guess this post stopped being provocative, im not making accusations

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 05:52 (twenty years ago)

To be fair to Robin he does (or did) say in the rest of the piece I'm quoting from that he likes Dipset/Juelz a lot!

Generally speaking Robin is obsessed with mapping politics (specifically British politics) onto music so linking Juelz Santana with fascism isn't as provocative from his perspective as it would be if most other critics did it.

I think Ronan equated twee electronica with fascism too at one stage. Or hyper-racist British conservatism at any rate. It was that time that he and Dave Stelfox went to war with each other and ended up being besties and both hating ILM...

Golden Years...

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 06:13 (twenty years ago)

oh god ive equated tons of shit w fascism, its like a racism callout but posh!

― 007 (thoia), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 06:23 (twenty years ago)

Obv I meant that Robin equated twee electronica with fascism.

Although I wouldn't be surprised if Ronan did too!

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 19 July 2005 07:00 (twenty years ago)

six months pass...

why is it June 27 2001?
-- Gear! (speed.to.roa...), June 26th, 2001

we've got to warn them!!
-- W i l l (lolomgwt...), June 26th, 2001

^^^^ lol

― ,,, Tuesday, 31 January 2006 18:54 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

http://www.daviddarling.info/images/Time_Tunnel.jpg

― and what, Wednesday, 30 April 2008 14:54 (seventeen years ago)

nine months pass...

lol this thread

― jordy (J0rdan S.), Friday, 30 January 2009 00:26 (sixteen years ago)

Rappers are like Rod Stewart now; they're like a bunch of Liberaces with their gold rims. The Diplomats are just a little bit off key from what others are doing. They seem to be experimenting the most, and they have a real fight mentality. It's the guerilla side of hip-hop."

Maya Arulpragasam, New York Times

huh

― jordy (J0rdan S.), Friday, 30 January 2009 00:27 (sixteen years ago)

lawl

― Mare Street tour guide (Dom Passantino), Friday, 30 January 2009 00:32 (sixteen years ago)

hahahaha what the shit

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Friday, 30 January 2009 00:43 (sixteen years ago)

What he DOES offer...is fire.
― Gear! (Gear!), Tuesday, June 26, 2001 11:01 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol i was thinking about this literally yesterday

― some dude, Friday, 30 January 2009 00:50 (sixteen years ago)

btw i need to call bullshit on gear finding purple haze on lp for $2

― jordy (J0rdan S.), Friday, 30 January 2009 00:53 (sixteen years ago)

wtf happened to the time stamps in this thread...

― jordy (J0rdan S.), Friday, 30 January 2009 00:53 (sixteen years ago)

miccio, you had a problem with a song being goofy?!?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, June 27, 2001 3:23 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol

― crackers is biters (M@tt He1ges0n), Friday, 30 January 2009 01:02 (sixteen years ago)

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