14 April 2008

Reviewers' corner

It's hard to find really good homepages that provide reviews of and discussions about the kind of music one happens to be interested in. As I have a knack for slow and minimal, at times experimental, rock, electronica and jazz, I recommend these sites:

  • Pitchfork: I am sometimes annoyed by the somewhat pretentious style of writing that is flourishing there (but good for one's English vocabulary), but it offers a wide assortment of reviews almost every day. Normally, I have little to say about lay-out, but the lay-out of Pitchfork is the most hideous thing I've ever seen.
  • Dusted magazine: Focuses on the more experimental side of rock, and through their page, I've stumbled upon many interesting cross-over bands (esp. rock&jazz).
  • Textura: If you're interested in electronica and ambient, this is the place. It's fun to browse the archives for obscure acts one has never heard of before. For example, it was here that I read about gorgeous Swedish folk artist Richard Jäverling for the first time (I think). Lay-out flairs are kept to a minimum, which I like.
  • Musikkguiden groove.no is a good starting point if one is interested in a specific genre. In Norwegian.
  • Opus is a blog that features reviews of many bands I like - slow, sad rock.
  • In the male-centred world of music reviews, it's good to find Wears the trousers - a zine for female artists. Great mix of good music. They used to have an archive, but it seems to be down - momentarily, I hope.
  • Boomkat is a on-line record shop, but the site is also good for finding new music.
  • http://www.psychedelicfolk.homestead.com/ is the place for all things folk, psych-folk, acid-folk, etc. A bit messy, but good.
  • A few years ago, I was adicted to the discussion board I love music - sanctuary for witty music snobs who love to hate each other - and everything 'rockism' and what not. But maybe it's different now.

If anyone has recommendations, feel free to submit.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi, thanks for shouting out about Wears The Trousers. we've been having trouble with our domain so there's a brand new site with all the archived stuff on over at wordpress...

http://wearsthetrousers.wordpress.com

thanks!

M. Lindman said...

Hey!
Thanks for letting me know!
I'll check it out, definitively. Always happy to learn about new artists.