Comments on: “Shhhh-it!”: Idolator’s Super-Secret Music Interview Series Freelances

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:55:33 +0000

@Chris N.: Yes. "You...I never forget a face." Continuity error!

By: Chris N.

Chris N. — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 09:05:55 +0000

“THIS is Ceti Alpha V!”

By: the rich girls are weeping

the rich girls are weeping — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 08:27:12 +0000

Woah, hands up: How many other music writers have day jobs writing about finance? I know of a few others, always thought it was funny, but this trend is more widespread than I realized?

Additionally, I'm sorry, but I feel like the old "anything released from a major is crap" is turning into "anything released from a powerhouse indie is crap".

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:28:20 +0000

Too much coffee this morning has ruined my writing skills.

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 07:27:45 +0000

The Bronx record is good. So is The 88′s album is pretty good too, but I’m not sure if that has gotten critical reception, but it definitely seems to be under the radar. Island Records is probably my favorite major, and they usually seem to have at least a couple good albums a year that most people never hear.

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:52:21 +0000

@MayhemintheHood: i have to listen to the bronx's new record for sure.

i think there is still a lot of "corporate rock"-borne snobbery on the part of writers when it comes to rock releases. maybe it's the last vestigial remnant of the '90s? it's kind of fascinating to me that so much of the rock that has been widely hailed by other critics this year is simultaneously introverted and conservative, because that just seems like a deadly/deadly boring combination to me unless you can do it really, really well.

By: Chris Molanphy

Chris Molanphy — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:48:50 +0000

If you want to write about music, you have to have a job. At least now you do...maybe you didn't before.

No, you always have needed another job. Been doing this since the early '90s. Never made a full living at it.

[Closes Idolator window, goes back to editing financial-services press release.]

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:41:41 +0000

@Maura Johnston: Maura, I like youre "Crap That Means It" line. I know what you're talking about, and I seriously would like to hear about a good album from a major that is mostly ignored(I like The Bronx a lot, so maybe in my opinion their new album could fall under that description) as well. I think a lot of it has to do with the lack of an "underground" feeling to anything anymore, as well as the attitude you talk about.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:19:17 +0000

@Maura Johnston: Yeah, I don't think the crap ratio is that different from majors to indies. There seem to be more good indie records but that's just because there are more of them. I don't think the ratio is that different.

By: Maura Johnston

Maura Johnston — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 06:06:40 +0000

@MayhemintheHood: i actually disagree with that statement though. one of the things i mourn this year is the demise of the critically championed, yet mostly ignored, major-label album. it's not like there aren't examples of it in our countdown, even -- the solange record, the panic at the disco record. but they get overlooked because of blanket 'this all sucks' attitudes like that one (and usually in favor of Crap That Means It Like The Goddamn Fleet Foxes). it's a bummer and i actually think it's made the pop landscape a lot less interesting.

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:58:25 +0000

@Al Shipley: In your face, Consensus!

By: Lucas Jensen

Lucas Jensen — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:51:04 +0000

@MayhemintheHood: Maybe we should have a Meet Your Idolators feature. I'm a mostly retired publicist and grad student in the roller coaster thrill ride field of Instructional Design and Development. I can recite whole swaths of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan from memory.

Kirk, I've done more than kill you. I've hurt you. And I'm going to keep on hurting you. I'm going to leave you as you left me--as you left her. Buried alive in the center of a dead planet. Buried alive.

KKKKKKHHHHHHHAAAAANNNNNN!
KKKKKKHHHHHHHAAAAANNNNNN!

By: MayhemintheHood

MayhemintheHood — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:45:01 +0000

This guy seems like he'd fit right in at Idolator, with comments like "Yeah, but almost ALL of the major label stuff is terrible, so the odds aren't that bad with no name bands" as well as the last line of the interview. Funny stuff.

Interesting read, as always. It kind of makes me curious about what the contributors for Idolator do besides the stuff for this site. I assume Maura's main gig is Idolator, but are the rest of you guys writing stuff elsewhere(Kate Richardson I know of, because you've shown stuff she's done for LA Weekly, but the rest I have no clue).

By: Al Shipley

Al Shipley — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 05:35:21 +0000

"I think some people's job is to capture the consensus. I pity those people. The consensus is usually awful."

haha seriously