I never thought that I’d be blogging. Not ever. Although I’ve worked at two Internet start-ups, I have no technical experience with websites other than an HTML intro course I slept through in college. In May, I packed up and moved my fiance (now wife) and dog from Chicago to the Silicon Valley in sunny California. Leaving behind our social life in the Windy City (along with an amazing live music scene), it seems that I have more free time than anticipated.
I still wasn’t ready to start a blog. I did think about the ways I’ve found really great bands. I’ve scoured services like iTunes, Rhapsody and Pandora in search of quality music. I’d preview a few tracks and then dig deeper into band bios and album reviews by visiting sites like All Music Guide and Pitchfork. It was Pitchfork and an ex-mouseketeer that inspired me to start this blog.
I hadn’t been on Pitchfork’s site for a few weeks, so I visited to see what new indie albums were being raved about. To my shock and dismay, the featured album on the home page was Justin Timberlake’s new album FutureSex / LoveSounds. More shocking was the 8.1 rating and a review that calls his sequal to Justified a “hubristic monstrosity.” Although I had to open a dictionary to see what hubristic meant, I found that Pitchfork, my trusted source for music, LOVES this new Timberlake/Timbaland collaberation. Timbaland is great and all, but just because he hypnotized all of us in the 90′s with shifting beats, sound effects, and robotic rapping interwoven splendidly into well crafted songs like Ginuwine’s Pony and nearly all of Missy Elliot’s tracks, doesn’t mean we should let it happen again. I certainly don’t want my trusted source for music content discussing the brilliance of Justin Timberlake and the fearlessness in his sophomore effort.
So I’ve decided to speak out and get back to my roots. I’m relying on good, old fashioned band recommendations from friends and like-minded music enthusiasts to cut through the clutter. This blog is intended to encourage the evangalism of great music; past and present. Through amateur reviews, word-of-mouth recommendations and an open forum, we can all find our music. I encourage friends and friends of friends to contribute opinions, comments, and experiences.
By the way, did you happen to see the new Jane’s Addiction review in Pitchfork? It scored even higher than Justin! Maybe there’s still some hope…
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m all about the light blub which just appeared above your head. Hopefully visitors will read your first entry in its entirety, given at first glance it may appear you’re a Justin Timberlake fan. And that, my friend, would be tragic. I’ve been trolling some back-issues of Rolling Stone looking for some leads. I’ll let you know if I find anything off-the-beaten-path and worthy for discussion.
If you’re willing to play some more with Pandora, check out this thingy I put together…
http://pandoralicious.googlepages.com
Thanks,
Tim
{ 1 trackback }