inspiration information

Aside from the obvious (and essential, TP!), since Pitchfork has been factoring in lately, I wanna know what are your other musical founts of information.

Personally, I honestly tend to avoid most rock journos, but when I'm itching for new flavors, I usually go with Forced Exposure or The WIRE.

The Big Takeover. Jack Rabid really follows his own instincts and doesn't hew to any kind of ebbing or flowing popularity or hipness.

Other than that, I don't read much music criticism anymore. Too much of it is sort of disingenuous or self-gratifying (this here site excepted, of course). I hate to say it--and it's gonna sound bad--but I'd rather pick up the NYT book review these days or read some literary criticism by Andrew Delbanco or somebody like that.



Post Edited (11-14-08 20:58)

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Just about everything I used to refer to has since lost the plot in a big way.

Worst offender is the NME and I'm pretty sick of the same people appearing on the cover of Uncut, although I do have them to thank for pointing me in the direction of Richmond Fontaine.

I miss Select magazine too.

Now it's the occasional The Wire, The Word (although their Leonard Cohen exclusive was a cut-and-paste job) and my free listings mag The Drum Media.

you guys have exposed to be a wealth of great music and i thank you for it.

i preety mch like everything so when i look up say nick lowe or paul westerberg and it says similar artists i give anybody a shot who is listed.
cdnow has some really good record reviews by average folk.
once in a while i go to a show and talk to the artitst afterwrds and they will tell me of a new artist.

The last time I picked up a music mag was years ago. While we're on the subject, I'm proud of the fact that I never bought a Rolling Stone. Well, I may have when I didn't know any better, but I learned my lesson quick. It's meant to be read in a bookstore. I wouldn't plop down my hard-earned money for it's empty-headed pseudo-hip views and Yawn Wenner's college pomposity. It's hard to explain, but I never liked Rolling Stone. To me, it's like realty-show MTV.

I like Under the Radar magazine. Its coverage isn't necessarily deep, but it's broad enough to make up for it. It covers a huge amount of stuff every issue with a lack of attitude that's refreshing these days - it seems like most indie-centric publications are as interested in force-feeding their readers large dollops of snark for every tidbit of useful information they impart.

Speaking of which, what's the deal with Magnet these days? Its publication schedule had been getting increasingly erratic over the past couple of years, and I think it's published a grand total of one issue this year. But I haven't heard anything about an official demise. It's a prime example of a magazine that has lots of good points, but they must be taken in conjunction with a couple of columns which seem to exist for no reason other than to be exercises in insufferable assholishness.

Hunter S. Thompson's stuff in Rolling Stone was usually quite entertaining, particularly if accompanied by the illustrations of Ralph Steadman.

But I never felt compelled to actually purchase a copy of Rolling Stone, and never found it necessary as nearly every college dorm room in the '70s had a copy of RS hidden beneath a pile of weed and a pack of Club papers.

But I date myself.

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