Here - The Deli

7eMergINg
NYC MuSIC BLogS
By Nora Walker (irockiroll.blogspot.com) / Illustration by Michelle Kondrich (www.michellekondrich.com)
When the fine folks here at The Deli Magazine approached me about profiling some of my fellow NYC
area music bloggers, my first instinct was that it would be a perfect opportunity to educate myself
on new(ish) blogs on the scene who are doing really great stuff. The reasoning behind this was
three-fold: 1. Most of the music blogs that I read have either been around for ages and have gotten tons of
the attention they deserve—or they no longer exist (RIP). When I started my own site back in 2004, there were
a handful of blogs who were leading the way, and in the two years after that (the “Brooklyn Vegan” era) the
entire music “blogosphere” in NYC basically exploded. Most of my early influencers “retired” and some new
blogs flourished while others faltered. 2. I am totally impressed—given the number of music blogs out there
today—that anyone takes the initiative to start one but thank goodness they do. 3. There are tons of great
blogs out there that deserve more attention than they are getting.
These are the profiles—in their own words—of 7 up-and-comers in the local music blogosphere that you should
keep an eye on. Hopefully one of my new finds will be one of your new daily bookmarks or inspire you to start
up a music blog of your own and share the love.
FeaST oF MuSIC
www.feastofmusic.com
Who Is:
Peter Matthews. “I’m a digital media director at a large advertising firm
here in NYC. At nights and on weekends I go to shows.“
Writes about:
Classical music/new music/rock/jazz/roots/world music etc. etc. “FoM
is all about breaking down borders between musical genres. All of my
posts are about live shows, you will never see an album review on
Feast Of Music. There are better classical blogs out there, and more
knowledgeable rock bloggers, but I don’t know of anyone who covers
the wide range of territory I do.”
Inspired By:
My initial inspiration was Alex Ross’ blog The Rest Is Noise (therestisnoise.com).
Alex is the classical critic for The New Yorker. Also Lucid
For The BeaT
www.forthebeat.com
Who Is:
Kristin Connor and Steph Lund “We’re a blog, we throw parties and produce showcases
with up-and-coming bands about four times per year, and our biggest showcase
is during CMJ. We also manage the band Hooray For Earth.”
Writes about:
Indie Rock, Electro
Inspired By:
Kristen: My friend introduced me to Sleigh Bells back in January of ’09, and I
freaked out when I heard them. I told Steph to check them out, and we were like our
friends need to KNOW about the bands we love. So we decided we were going to
throw parties for our friends featuring up-and-coming bands. Our first party was in
April 2009, featuring one of our favorites: Bad Veins.
The Best & Worst Thing about Being an
NYC Music Blogger:
Steph: The best thing is having access to tons of shows every week. Every band in the
U.S. comes through here at some point. The worst I would say is having too many shows
you want to go to in one night and not being able to see all the bands you want to see.
Their Critical Slant:
Steph: We don’t really care too much about what other blogs are covering and stick
to the stuff we love.
Kristen: Our mission isn’t to review the latest album. We write about our favorite
music and amazing shows we go to. A big part of our blog is how you can listen to
it all day everyday with our player, so we really think about what songs we post to
create an ever-changing playlist that people want to keep coming back to.
Band That everyone Should Be
Listening To right Now:
Steph: I think its important to balance the old with the new; I tend to get caught
up in “the next.” I would say, listen to Joy Division as much as you would listen to
Coma Cinema, who is one of my favorites right now.
Kristen: Hooray For Earth is a given. If you haven’t heard of them, pick up their
album immediately.
Culture (lucidculture.wordpress.com) This guy is ridiculously prolific,
and has amazing taste. For the past 3 years, he’s written a daily post
counting down the top 666 songs of all time: he’s currently at #36
(Dylan’s “Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts”).
The Best & Worst Thing about The
Nyc Music Scene right Now:
“Basically everything seems to be converging in NYC and I just want to
be here to document it all.” The Williamsburg Scene is too twee and risks
SoNIC SCoop
www.sonicscoop.com
Who Is:
David Weiss and Janice Brown
Writes about:
Local music and tech news & reviews
Started a Blog Because:
David: I’ve been covering music—and especially
recording—in NYC for over ten years. I could see
the print publications I wrote for getting smaller,
and I decided that if I didn’t start my own blog
on NYC recording, I might lose my access to this
scene I love so much. I told Jan about my plan, and
she said she’d been thinking the same thing. We
launched in August, and we cover the NYC music
industry in a very comprehensive way.
Inspired By:
David: I definitely always appreciated Peter Kirn’s
CreateDigitalMusic createdigitalmusic.com. He
has excellent taste and a unique perspective on the
music industry.
Janice: JB—I check out soldout.squarespace.com
fairly regularly.
Their Critical Slant:
David: The slant of SonicScoop is to promote the
NYC music industry—to everyone already here and
to the outside world. We are reporting on success
stories and best practices from every corner of NYC
music, so not just bands but also iPad app startups,
publishers, music supervision, labels, licensing,
studios, and all-around smartypants types. We span
genres, space and time.
Fueds With other Bloggers:
David: The worst was when I got in a chainsaw
fight with two classical music bloggers in an
Astoria parking lot. We disagreed vehemently about
Mozart’s true influence on Moby. The result was like
a scene out of Scarface. Fortunately, I was found
not guilty by reason of insanity.
Band That everyone Should Be
Listening To right Now:
David: Antibalas is a great example of what an NYC
band can achieve. They are an amazing Afrobeat
group that wears their influences on their sleeve,
but they still have a reputation for experimentation
and innovation, and they built their fan base up with
patience and great musicianship. Now they’re the
band for a hugely influential Broadway musical, Fela!
That’s a notable career arc, and it’s very NYC.
Janice: The new singles show that Greenpoint’s
School of Seven Bells is totally on the rise. Their
music is advanced and totally organic at the same
time. It touches me in my special place.
extinction from feeding on itself, Bowery is a monopoly, and drink prices
are outrageous. Outside of Todd P joints there aren’t nearly enough all
ages shows here. But hey, nowhere’s perfect. Maybe Austin, TX.
Band That everyone Should Be
Listening To right Now:
For NYC, I’ll say The National, The Dessner’s have compositional aspirations
(i.e. The Long Count) which I like. And, Matt Berninger is probably
the most compelling live singer today.
the deli_18 summer 2010 the deli_19