Idolater and Morons

I like the new music blog, Idolator. It's been criticized because it's part of the Gawker "empire," and therefore a "corporate" blog. I find that laughable. Pitchfork, the Alpha and Omega of indie music blogs is certainly a for-profit enterprise. Stereogum, the next-in-line, sold out the moment anyone started reading. Now, just how exactly are these paragons of music bloggery better than Idolator? As someone said once in Office Space, "Yeah...."

But the fact is, they have actual writers at Idolator. It seems to this reader there's actually someone over there older than 15. Someone who might have bought a Smiths record when it debuted, rather than looking at it as nostalgia. And that's worth something. The main problem with the big music blogs out there (and reason I quit reading regularly) is they have no sense of perspective. This is, of course, because they're all young and convinced of A) the superiority of their generation's music; and B) have only a few years' of music listening to draw on. And it doesn't help that none of them are actual "writers."

But Idolator gets it right, as their masthead claims (paraphrasing) "music blogs were supposed to liberate listeners from the corporate machinery, but the blogs themselves bought into the machine." Now, I'm sure Idolator wants to make a buck, but the fact that they outright acknowledge this is important, as Stereogum demeans itself with hackneyed, bought-and-paid-for Zune placement, and Pitchfork rolls around in a pile of ad dollars as they spew out non-sensical, self-referential vomit they dare to call "reviews."

Kudos to Idolator also for taking the piss out of Rolling Stone (it's about time someone did), and their excellent "Coulda-Shoulda-Woulda" series.

I only wish they hadn't run all those pointless stories of picking over Tower Records' corpse. Yeah, we all have fond memories of Tower, but it's been a decade since they were relevant. I feel nothing but hatred for them. Good riddance. (Hey - that's a Green Day song!)

And since I'm griping about music blogs (this was supposed to be a pat on the back to Idolator, but it's just so much more fun to complain about lousiness), let me just say how much I hate "The 15-minute hipster." Worst. Music. Blog. Ever.

Here's someone who reads about a band on Pitchfork, buys the record, then a few days later craps out some poorly-written ode to how great that band is. Or even more frequently, she just slips the band in her "I'm listening to" line that accompanies each post. I have never seen someone so swayed by trends and the urge to be...um..."hip." Sickening.

To sum up: Idolator good. Pitchfork bad. Stereogum hypocrites. 15-M-H awful.

Oh, and for what it's worth, Jefito Blog is still the best music blog around. Not always the best music, but it's always fun over there, the blogmaster and commenters are top-notch, and one can actually find some independent thought not swayed by trends and/or the need to be cutting-edge. (If you're reading, hi Jeff. I'm doing my best to steer my reader your way. You know my PayPal address.)