Who do you trust?

ntlbell

When it comes to music reviews or recommendations.

I used to get/find a lot of my new music listening to John Peel (RIP) as he very rarely steered me wrong most mags like NME seem to be pretty pants for finding a new band or trusting one of their reviews.

A lot of my music now is coming from going back through old threads on the alt/indie/music forums on boards or prancing around on last fm

So is there anyone out there like john peel for introducing top quality music?

any trustworthy sites that aren't trying to push some trollop?

JaneyMc

NME are rubbish, I bought a copy in London last September for the plane home, I read it and decided to look up a few of the bands when I got home. One band, out of I'd say 20, I liked, and they tunred out to be The Ting Tings.

To be honest, I don't really trust anyone. Mtv2 late at night is where I find a lot of new music. That's where I found The Go! Team and Regina Spektor.

John

John Kelly's show on Lyric FM is a good source of music but it is a bit left of centre and/or world/contemporary classical focussed. I only read one print magazine (The Wire) and a couple of online magazines (brainwashed.com, who I write for, stylus magazine and boomkat). Not a fan of Pitchfork, they're a bit too interested in being hip rather than listening to the music.

BurnsCarpenter

John wrote: »

John Kelly's show on Lyric FM is a good source of music but it is a bit left of centre and/or world/contemporary classical focussed. I only read one print magazine (The Wire) and a couple of online magazines (brainwashed.com, who I write for, stylus magazine and boomkat). Not a fan of Pitchfork, they're a bit too interested in being hip rather than listening to the music.

Used to like pitchfork but got burned on a couple of purchases.
'This got over 9.0 - it must be good!' :rolleyes:

I read a couple of U.S. mags that are pretty decent for tips - Magnet and The Big Takeover.

lordgoat

I like Wire when the issue suits me. I'd avoid NME, Hotpress, Q, Mojo etc unless they had a feature or interview (6+ pages).

Foggy Notions is decent and State looks ok, better than the rest but i'd generally myspace someone after hearing them or the radio on last.fm can be ok.

JK's show on lyric and Donal Dineen on today fm(i think) are the two best. Although i don't hear much of DD due to work at the moment.

eoinf

i trust these little things called my ears.

ntlbell

eoinf wrote: »

i trust these little things called my ears.

do they play music? can I have a listen to them?

Creamy Goodness

i go to bands myspaces and check their top friends they usually have similar artists - or artists they've toured with - in there. i then listen to them, if i like, i like, if i don't, i move on.

120 minutes is also good.

The Everlasting

Melody Maker was always class for recommending new bands to me when I was 15/16.............. that's gotta be my most missed music publication along with SELECT

eoinf

ntlbell wrote: »

do they play music? can I have a listen to them?

no but neither do music mags last time i checked

BurnsCarpenter

The Everlasting wrote: »

Melody Maker was always class for recommending new bands to me when I was 15/16.............. that's gotta be my most missed music publication along with SELECT

+1
Used to love MM when I was that age. Was great up to '95 or so, when britpop took over.

suckslikeafox

Total guitar magazine isnt bad but its usually hard rock and metal that they cover. Found Billy Talent and a few other more alternative bands through it though

ntlbell

eoinf wrote: »

no but neither do music mags last time i checked

ching.

bit of a drop. you got there.

Kold

Word of mouth/forums. If a band is talked highly of, I'll type it into lastfm and see if I like it.

ZakAttak

Its so easy to hear a new band's material these days I don't think critics are relevant anymore.

You don't have to wait up late at night to catch obscure music programmes on the radio and/or television.

Plus, back in the day people had less money to buy music and so wanted to be sure that what they were buying was good, so they sought assurances and paid attention to what critics had to say. Not the case these days- its practically free, so it doesn't matter anymore.

suckslikeafox

ZakAttak wrote: »

Its so easy to hear a new band's material these days I don't think critics are relevant anymore.

True that its easy to hear material from any band you want but theres so many obscure bands out there that you couldnt listen to them all or any decent amount of them, it'd take forever. The point of critics now is really to filter out most of the sh**e and give you names to look up and make your own opinion on

jill_valentine

I'll give a band a listen if it gets the right kind of buzz on forums. As mentioned though, I've gotten quite fond of MTV2. Plenty of crap, but there's gems in there too.

Creature

Well I don't trust Clark anyway. He spent a lot of time with those dogs, he could have easily been taken over.


Anyway yeah I don't read magazines. Like kold I go mostly on word of mouth and music forums. Also radio (ie Phantom) has introduced me to some good music. I'll usually go check out the bands myspace or official site if I hear a song I like.

The Everlasting

I don't trust HotPress, that's for sure

Wouldn't wipe my arse in in it

jill_valentine

Agreed. Hot Press is utterly dismal.

Ekels

I don't rely too heavily on any publication, web, print or otherwise. I read Pitchfork out of interest, but they rarely cause me to buy or not buy a release.

While we're on the topic of reviews and reviewers, I'd just like to say how awful a journalist I find Una Mullally. Every time I get the Tribune, I can pin point exactly which reviews she's penned. So formulaic, dull and lacking in articulate writing.

flyswatter

Can't go wrong with Metacritic.

smackbunnybaby

friends mainly!

aliqueenb

www.last.fm

JC 2K3

Might be slightly out of place in this forum, but for electronic music I've found loads I've liked on Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music.

Apart from that I don't really know. Wikipedia would be one source.

I never really read too much about bands before listening to them. I usually just grab a popular album or their discography from the net and judge for myself.

Ekels

flyswatter wrote: »

Can't go wrong with Metacritic.

Not sure there. I don't the whole averages system works, mainly because all it takes is one barmy journalist (and there are plenty among Pitchfork & co.) to throw the whole thing off. I'd much rather read a review, then get the rating too. A well-written review should be able to give the reader a good idea about the record, without having heard it. Metacritic doesn't describe the record. Then again, you can source the review, I guess it depends how you go about it.

PrivateEye

aliqueenb wrote: »

www.last.fm

spot on. Got into some of my favourite bands through last.fm reccomendations, you can't go wrong by using that site.

John Peel was mentioned in the first post. Amazing to think everyone from The Smiths to Christie Hennessy laid down strong sets on that show. Truly good music, not the rubbish NME spits out.

Doozie

'Might be slightly out of place in this forum, but for electronic music I've found loads I've liked on Ishkur's Guide to Electronic Music.'




I trust with all my heart and soul the Radio na Gaelteachta djs on after 10pm weekdays. Not sure of his name but with such a soft voice and good taste for tuneness I would trust him with my unborn brats.

Chong

I generally read Q magazine and read the NME website.

oldscoil

Not a 100% proven guideline, but a good rule of thumb for me is not to trust anyone that is looking for credibilty or financial reward.

People will say anything if they think it will make them look cool.
And people will say anything for money.
People in this case being music journo's. ****.

Last year, the Guardian slated the Klaxons' album on release.
Later in the year its in the best of 2007 album list.

Nichololas

Kold wrote: »

Word of mouth/forums. If a band is talked highly of, I'll type it into lastfm and see if I like it.

Last.fm is great for finding other bands. That said, I only trust my circle of friends for music because we've all got similar tastes and these things filter down I guess.

John

oldscoil wrote: »

Not a 100% proven guideline, but a good rule of thumb for me is not to trust anyone that is looking for credibilty or financial reward.

People will say anything if they think it will make them look cool.
And people will say anything for money.
People in this case being music journo's. ****.

Some music journalists actually like music you know. I do (and I don't get paid either) and I try to be honest about what I'm hearing. I don't round off a review with a numerical mark, just say what I like and don't like about an album and how it makes me feel.

Last year, the Guardian slated the Klaxons' album on release.
Later in the year its in the best of 2007 album list.

Most reviews are written by one person (with their own opinion) whereas most end of year lists are voted for by the staff as a whole (or at the very least all the reviewers) so it's not surprising that something can get a bad review and still make it into a best of the year list.

JLemmon

Mojo, Wire, Jk ensemble, Donal Dineen.
reading books and researching etc..
Great shows on bbc radio 6 like freakzone sundays 5-8
also BBc radio 2 weeknights for Mark Radcliffe and Stuart Maconie
Later with Jools, BBC programs.
also Lauren Laverne is pretty credible, she knows her music,
unlike Jo Whiley, Edith "l love ricky from the kaiser cheifs" Bowman
and any other Pop presenters

As stated avoid the attention seekers or those that mention the
words cool band, like 2fm, alot of today fm, Radio 1 uk, Mtv2 Zane lowe shows, Nme, C4\e4, Some BBc shows and most satellite music tv channels

The more you get into music you can see who the genuine acts are and who are just the fame seekers.

JC 2K3

Will they feed us the womb?