Music Criticism in Video Form

We've talked about this guy in other threads, but he and those who follow a similar path of doing music crit video-style deserve their own thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OElyc_yZU54

Dude's awesome.

this is the worst idea ever

^^^^^

tim's tv show was really good, but that had 3 people incl tim

the problem w/ this is that it takes me like... 6 mins to read two or three reviews on my own -- i don't really want to watch a 6 min video of a dude in front of a camera talking about something

i barely can find time to listen to the albums themselves

Unless his name is Scott Seward or Ned Raggett, I have no desire to watch a critic read his reviews.

You all will remember this day when this dude takes over the world.

Tbh I shut it off when he referred to Xasthur as "eight albums tall".

Why do you hate poetry?

No, I hate unfortunate references to Smurfs.

John D did an amazing flash animation review on Last Plane years ago (was just text but it sorta counts as video), was it for Radiohead?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4HW7jmRXeE

There's a pretty good Brokencyde reference in his Sleigh Bells review (1:30 or so):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aJXrwCX20U

would be so bummed to come across this kinda shit irl anymore (bar? house show?). cannot imagine why anyone would seek it out online.

which, i mean, i'll read a record review from time to time, but i don't need the dude or lady gesturing at me and getting all nasal with it

I did this once. I intended to approximate Jay Smooth but I couldn't edit it down from 11 minutes. So.

I thought it was okay at the time but I am certain it's not worth watching now. Unless you like to see someone describing '70s Beach Boys records and all the while trying to talk through his bad haircut.

This guy's changing lives and none of you even appreciate it:

"However, if you were to take relentless breathy female vocals and put them over a Sunn 0))) track, it would ruin that too."

ppl at the twitter conf kept telling me to do a daily album review vlog like g4ry v4ynerchuck and his dumb wine because it will eventually = $$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Do Pitchfork writers still review stuff for ABC News?

Can't find anything re: Pfork/ABC lately, but I did come across Renee Fleming's take on pop and indie rock (I honestly don't dare watch this myself, just wanted to share the link... view at yr own risk!):

http://abcnews.go.com/Video/video?catId=2898870&autostart=false

The Best of Beavis & Butthead

I actually really liked the Woebot.tv thing. This guy on the other hand just seems annoying.

Some of prindle's ones have been really great...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdNhxSDBV9Y

and

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQITSJuNIyA

but then also, recently, very depressing if you've been reading him for a while.

prindle's are at least kind of fascinating/horrifying for fans of his writing, but this other dude...why the hell would anyone watch this?

unless they themselves have considered talking about an album for five minutes into a camera in front of a black backdrop

Because The Needle Drop dude rules.

is this who you want to be when you grow up or something?

i mean unless you can't find a guy in glasses to talk to you about albums in person, i can't see what purpose this guy serves.

he's got people to pay attention to music criticism -- that's something. also, dude's entertaining

dude has less than than 10,000 views on any video. Not bad for a vlog of a dude talking about albums for five minutes with no sound samples (wtf is up with that, btw?) but dunno if he "got people to pay attention to music criticism."

insofar as (1) he has some viewers and (2) you consider what he's doing music criticism -- and i do -- then "he's got people to pay attention to music criticism," at least momentarily

i mean, his is a small fuckin operation, but i'm all for some dude who obviously loves music doing a half-decent job turning other music fans onto good stuff

judging from the comments these people were already paying attention to music criticism when they got to him

sure, you're probably right -- all or even most of the ppl watching his videos probably already have some sort of interest in consuming music criticism, but at the same time he's at least furthering their engagement with it, which is neat. and i think he succeeds pretty well in doing pretty good reviews in this format. i'm all for people trying out projects like this. i also just like his stuff

*most or even all

the title of this thread made me think of something else entirely!

besides the derogatis show, are there any people doing criticism in audio form (which would seem like a more natural fit)?

there's a fantastic deconstruction of "hyper enough" on the laughter guns EP by some college DJs that I wish people would do more of, even if they're not joking.

one day someone will do this well

who wants to look at a music critic?

i was hoping da croupier was planning on launching a competing vlog

xpost

I was thinking this would be about critics tearing music videos apart beavis & butthead/MST3K style, where all you would see is a silhouette maybe.

video is a more forgiving and flexible medium than prose, i.e. allows a lot of more divisive stylistic chops to be sidestepped completely and a lot of observations are simpler to express in realtime. it's quicker&less effort also. reading a tool fan trying to spot instances of the fibonacci sequence in lateralus wld be awful, but youtube is like an anaesthetic. vlogs are shit. all you guys are fools for even imagining them imo.

irl lol, but

youtube is like an anaesthetic. vlogs are shit. all you guys are fools for even imagining them imo.

Huh?

minutes with no sound samples (wtf is up with that, btw?)

I think he used to have sound samples in some of his older review. Whatever happened?

yeah, i thought he did too -- copyright issues, maybe?

I'm trying to think where video offers an advantage over an audio review. Would you pull up spectrum analyses of records?
I think it could be a useful to show where someone maybe ripped off someone else, but it isn't immediately obvious by listening to it.

you could slowly pan over album artwork and pictures of the band while actors read quotes from the musicians, reading rainbow style.

interpretive dance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdmSFXKM_QU

xp to ksh

video is less abstract and more sensory, & that dazzle sweetens the transmission of all sorts of shit. ppl will watch lots of shit they wldn't read, changing the ratio of yr senses can have a numbing effect, youtube is like an audiac, the headphone anaesthetic where you wld increase the volume till you couldn't feel any pain, or presumably, hear afterwards

the laurie anderson curlers line gets me every time!

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMRsgcdER/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jUr57dIMq4

I only know him as a meme but this popped up - I assume it's not his best work or anything but... he doesn't say really anything? Point to their influences and "they've got some good hooks here."

Ha ha

Drake somehow loses in feud with Fantano

a low point for dignity

it's like two complete morons trying to outsmart each other. i feel like we're the real losers for giving them our attention. oh well.

fuck this guy

Well yeah but what happened now

idk but afaict he still hasn't apologised at all for the video where he told "SJWs" to drink bleach.

I've basically only heard of this guy on here... but Activision is suing him for declaratory judgment, b/c he apparently (a) made a pizza-themed TikTok video where he says "It's enough slices!"; (b) made that audio available for use as a sort of meme on TikTok (where is has since been used in "hundreds of thousands" of other videos); and (c) is now threatening to sue Activision for using it in a Crash Bandicoot–themed video, if they don't pay him $$$. Activision says they relied on TikTok's representation that the audio was freely available for commercial use, and that they also agreed to remove the video when he complained.

Was going to express an opinion on Fantano but cannot be bothered.

instead, let's share some non-shitty music "reaction" channels.

JustJP - https://youtube.com/@JustJP
Into The Music - https://youtube.com/@intothemusic908
The Charismatic Voice - https://youtube.com/@TheCharismaticVoice

Obviously 99% of music reaction channels are completely irredeemable, but these three pick interesting music and have interesting things to say about it, that's the standard I'm looking for, you would think that's not a high bar, but

This is a very strange story: Fantano talking about Finn McKenty, aka "the Punk Rock MBA," who has apparently quit YouTube after admitting in an interview that he doesn't actually give a shit about music and made all his videos strictly for the money based on internet research...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYkrv2xWrnI

I couldn't imagine clicking and then watching a video by someone who calls themselves "the Punk Rock MBA"

Punk Rock criticism is where the $$$ is

There are more folks out there like that…

I've watched several of the Punk Rock MBA's videos over the years. The first was his What Killed Slam? video, which exposed me to an interesting subgenre I'd never heard of.

He has atrocious taste (see above video on slam), and I'm sure a lot of his videos were phoned in, but at least some of them are clearly rooted in sincere appreciation for music (see above video on slam).

I guess it is a bit punk rock to quit your gig and claim it was a sham all along

HEY WHAT THE FUCKERS AND WHAT THE FUCKETTES EVER GOT THE FEELING YOUVE BEEN CHEATED

All these podcasts are going video now too, yeah? There’s some podcast out there that looks back at classic emo/metalcore albums, their video feed somehow showed up on my instagram feed and it’s like who really wants to look at hairy millennial dudes talk about some Underoath album like it’s a legendary football game or something?

I've noticed other podcasts becoming mostly Youtube shows. The audience and/or ad revenue must be bigger there.

well you made me watch a fantano video so first of all fuck but I did laugh at what a mark he is, I consume a lot of d-tier music commentary ""content"" on youtube and it is immediately obvious which people (it's a majority) are doing it for entirely cynical reasons and have no real interest, they get away with it because the viewers don't really care, except poor old Needledrop who failed to notice that his buddy was just reading out wikipedia articles.

Not a critic , Kai Cenat is a Twitch and Youtube music influencer on the cover of Billboard

Kai Cenat — the eternally upbeat streamer whose profile has exploded in recent years to make him the most popular personality on the Amazon-owned Twitch platform — is taking a moment to think.

In the five years or so since he’s become a full-time content creator, Cenat has had some of the most famous hip-hop artists, athletes and actors come to his house to drop in and join the “chat,” the affectionate word he uses for any of the 700,000-plus people who subscribe to his channel. He’s thinking over whether he can recall a favorite moment among so many, but it’s tough. It wasn’t when SZA and Lizzo stopped by together in the fall, nor when NBA All-Star Kyrie Irving taught Cenat’s friends and family how to play basketball. It would be reasonable to think it might be one of the many times Kevin Hart, one of his idols, swung by to kick it during the holidays....All of that has made him, for all intents and purposes, the closest thing Gen Z has to 106th & Park or TRL, the erstwhile midday live-music shows that used to air on BET and MTV and were appointment viewing for any fans wanting updates on their favorite artists. Cenat’s stream is now the main place to tune in to see artists having fun and feeling comfortable enough to let loose and relax.

https://www.billboard.com/music/features/kai-cenat-music-billboard-cover-1235881838/?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Article notes that Cenat's a Drake fan but acknowledges Kendrick won the rap battle

I ain't reading all that but the photos are really good

Taking accountability: pic.twitter.com/EaKFDHdfOL

— Anthony Fantano from TheNeedleDrop (@theneedledrop) August 1, 2025

sure looks like the most cursed embed possible, not clicking to find out

I was going to say.

I clicked. This fucking guy. I don't need him to apologise and give context for his actions, I just need him to fuck off.

if this isn't about him recognizing the pimp c 'so many shrimp' quote I don't want to hear it

oh damn this is about slurs?? nm

Some real 2015-style tea, not expecting this to stick.

Sorry, Camaraderie, your guy will live to give more light 7s

Assuming this is coming out because Fantano is doing anti-Zionist podcasts.

somehow this is making sydney sweeney’s jeans commercial seem fascinating by comparison

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPZaEWuE9HM
@ 12:34

just wanna point out it wasn’t me that's linked the last 2 todd in the shadows videos.

(but that's only because ya'll're beating me to it. another great episode! ♡todd)

I feel sorry for Fantano. Before LLM's came along, summarizing forums while presenting as a friendly professor was his niche

it's wild how many people there are on Tik Tok or Instagram doing his schtick. I'm sure it's mostly the algorithm pushing it on to me, but I see tons of well-meaning and earnest young men and women basically writing bad record reviews and then reading them out loud while pretending they're just articulating their spontaneous, conversational thoughts.

Fantano is a big no

I couldn’t imagine watching something called “Todd in the Shadows” and I listen to something called “Cum Town”

As I said upthread five years back, I only properly started paying attention to Todd when I learned he specifically named me -- more than once! -- as an early influence/reference point for him when he started getting into music beyond the basic mainstream via the AMG in the early 2000s. I think he balances out looks-back and state-of-things in his particular style pretty well, and I appreciate that he's definitely got his own particular perspective on things in general.

I like Todd, he thinks about music the same way I do

I only linked that because he mentions New York London Paris Munich blog at the time I indicated, not suggesting people watch the whole thing

i want to like adam neely but the fake little laughs hensprinkles into every other sentence to sound relatable drive me fucking crazy like bro just talk

*he sprinkles

hensprinkles

Anniesprinkles

We want hen sprinkles

"Jimmies"

bizarre that there are two movies currently in theaters with an Anthony Fantano cameo (I know because I just saw them on consecutive nights): The Moment and Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie.

I wonder if he's mentioned in the Christgau movie

https://www.thelastcriticfilm.com/

hope these movies have trigger warnings