Pinboard (matthewmcvickar) https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/public/ recent bookmarks from matthewmcvickar Kate Wagner: Don’t Let People Enjoy Things (The Baffler) 2021-07-26T04:22:49+00:00 https://thebaffler.com/kate-takes/dont-let-people-enjoy-things-wagner matthewmcvickarAn issue common to all of our LPET posters is that they think criticism means forbidding people from enjoying media in general. First of all, people are just as allowed to *dislike* things as they are permitted to enjoy them—you can’t trick them into changing their minds with your authoritarian meme posting. Second, I introduce this radical idea: you can still enjoy things while being critical of them—it can even lead to a greater appreciation of societal and historical context, and it can make you usefully wary of the role the shit forces of the world play in the media we consume. It can also help us maintain our political and social integrity while watching or reading or listening to whatever is offered to us. For example, my peacenik, anticapitalist proclivities may make me critical of many mainstream blockbusters, but they also afford me a greater appreciation of movies like ‘Office Space’ and Dolly Parton’s classic ‘9 to 5.’ Finally, though our LPET posters think otherwise, it is indeed possible to *like some things about a piece of media and dislike things about that same piece of media all at once*.]]> criticism culture internet film politics https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:ab7cdd79999e/ Jonathan Church: Dear White People: Please Do Not Read Robin DiAngelo’s “White Fragility” 2020-08-09T18:56:11+00:00 https://arcdigital.media/dear-white-people-please-do-not-read-robin-diangelos-white-fragility-7e735712ee1b matthewmcvickarRobin DiAngelo's "White Fragility" is a destructive book full of bad reasoning and bad advice. Don't fall for it. --- In other words, the theory is designed as a Kafka trap whereby any denial is interpreted as evidence of guilt. If you object to any insinuation that you are racist because you are white, or that what you have said has racist connotations, you are failing to come to terms with your racism and exhibiting white fragility. […] One reason “social justice” activists like DiAngelo easily fall into this trap is that they see “Whiteness” everywhere, and when you see “Whiteness” everywhere, it loses its meaning. (Foucault would call this a “totalizing discourse.”) We are left with the fallacy of ambiguity, which happens “when an unclear phrase with multiple definitions is used within the argument.” In this case, Whiteness is the unclear phrase used in the premise of every argument that says racial disparity is the result of Whiteness.]]> book activism blm criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:bb964bf68b79/ Anupa Mistry: Grimes — Miss Anthropocene (Pitchfork) 2020-02-21T19:36:23+00:00 https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/grimes-miss-anthropocene/ matthewmcvickarGrimes’ first project as a bona fide pop star is more morose than her previous work, but no less camp. Her genuineness shines through the album’s convoluted narrative, and the songs are among her finest. --- So much about the actual music of Miss Anthropocene succeeds that the choice to bury it below a warped—and yes, misanthropic—concept about “The Environment” makes it hard to connect with who Grimes is as an artist today. Standing in the way of humans reckoning with climate emergency are multiple delusions: that wealth brings freedom, that boundless acquisition and unchecked growth remain tenable, and that political and economic institutions are inherently trustworthy actors. Grimes sounds like the pop star she’s worked very hard to become, but her imagination seems diminished—or, like many of her celebrity ilk, is cordoned off in a bubble floating above the rest of humanity. In 2020, revolutionary pop stardom might try to clarify, rather than obscure, the havoc that systems wreak when it comes to, say, gender roles and social compliance, technology and surveillance capitalism, nationalism and land exploitation, or whiteness and pathological denial.]]> music criticism climatecrisis https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:1646eddb4d6d/ Emily Sandalwood: How The Matrix universalized a trans experience — and helped me accept my own (Vox) 2019-04-01T23:58:52+00:00 https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/30/18286436/the-matrix-wachowskis-trans-experience-redpill matthewmcvickarThe film, now 20 years old, is probably the most famous art ever made by trans people. But its cultural legacy doesn’t end there.]]> movies film criticism trans https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:eda926c162a1/ Emily Heller: GOTY 2018: #5 Celeste (Polygon) 2018-12-22T06:19:14+00:00 https://www.polygon.com/best-games-2018/2018/12/17/18126327/best-games-2018-celeste-games-of-the-year matthewmcvickarThen, one day, I calmly quit. I realized that I had learned all the wrong lessons. Celeste Mountain isn’t literal — it’s a metaphor for overcoming the lies your brain tells you. I didn’t need the cliché triumphant moment, I just needed to sit down with the scary parts of myself and tell them to stop being so hard on my friend Emily. Me.]]> videogames criticism mentalhealth https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:50dcd1b32218/ Jeremy Gordon: How Anthony Fantano, aka The Needle Drop, Became Today’s Most Successful Music Critic (SPIN) 2016-12-03T05:19:56+00:00 http://www.spin.com/featured/anthony-fantano-the-needle-drop-profile-interview/ matthewmcvickarFantano is not unaware of his detractors, who range from viewers who think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about to fellow critics who think he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. The things that make him a successful vlogger—his speed, his unpretentious humor, his willingness to review everything regardless of his genre fluency, his refusal to assume a deep understanding of an artist’s politics or feelings—are at odds with traditional print and online criticism. He brought up an interaction with a Pitchfork writer who eagerly introduced himself at South by Southwest. The writer told Fantano he was only joking when he previously wrote on Twitter, “Anthony Fantano makes me want to quit my job.” Every music writer we spoke to is at least aware of Fantano’s work—some of them find it dumb, and at any rate, don’t want to talk about it on the record. It doesn’t bother Fantano too much, but it does bother him. “It obviously took time and took a lot of effort,” he says of his work. “I would at least like to be treated with the same amount of legitimacy. That’s all.”]]> music criticism internet https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:fdf081ac03d5/ Vajra Chandrasekera: ‘Binti’ by Nnedi Okorafor (Strange Horizons) 2016-12-03T05:13:44+00:00 http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/reviews/binti-by-nnedi-okorafor/ matthewmcvickarAs a metaphor for acculturation into empire, this works almost too well. You can walk in the halls of empire, yes, as long as you're willing to accept invasive alien tentacles into your mind, to put alien needs above your own, to allow yourself to be instrumentalized.]]> literature criticism writing culture race scifi https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:7eaa2fa19aa7/ Michael Lutz: 20 paragraphs on Undertale: a critique 2015-12-20T01:09:19+00:00 http://correlatedcontents.com/?p=1974 matthewmcvickarin all other arenas, Undertale insists that conflict arises from unwarranted fear and misunderstanding. it rewards you for pacifism and forging friendships. everyone, it wants to suggest, can get along only if we’re determined enough. and yet, the no-mercy run offers the exact obverse suggestion: radical evil exists, and it cannot be expunged. if we take Undertale at its word, however, and believe its conceit of multiple timelines manipulable by the game’s save and load functions, we find that the latter possibility is necessarily latent in the former. that is to say, chara happened; they are constant through all possible narratives, and they are still there, somewhere. the game’s sentimentality runs aground on the lack of mercy it allows the player to exercise, and the subsequent lack of mercy it extends to that player.]]> videogames criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:f03ea5eae409/ Michael Lutz: Is There a Community Outside This Text? 2015-12-20T01:00:54+00:00 http://correlatedcontents.com/?p=1989 matthewmcvickarKilduff-Taylor’s tired handwashing here is not so much an indictment of the problem of two interpretive communities — whose existence and cross-reference is facilitated by the internet as a mode of critical reception — as it is an attempt to escape the problem entirely. At some undesignated time before now, people just would have read the game correctly, no problem! Meaning would have been obvious, and interpretation would have been a pleasant exercise in riffing upon its verities from that point on. We’ve thus already lost, and all we can do is take solace in our own knowledge and interpretation as things fall apart. This is disingenuous because the fact that anyone is even taking issue with the implication that Wreden should not be paid for his work is a sign that, indeed, people are not willing to let the patently worse interpretation of the game stand.]]> videogames literature criticism truth https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:0be91b51a544/ Greg Knauss: The Empathy Vacuum 2014-02-22T02:10:26+00:00 http://www.eod.com/blog/2014/02/empathy-vacuum/ matthewmcvickarWhat I’m talking about here is how addictive the righteousness that comes from that condemnation is, and how we will apparently turn to any source we can find for it — even when that source is not evil or harmful or part of any world we exist in or understand.]]> criticism internet https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:e36c58243997/ Tom Scocca: On Smarm (Gawker) 2013-12-11T23:50:25+00:00 http://gawker.com/on-smarm-1476594977 matthewmcvickarcriticism culture politics https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:f1ae3c1afaa2/ Rawiya Kameir: M.I.A.’s ‘Matangi’ Is a Defiantly Personal Reclamation of the Brown Girl Narrative (The Daily Beast) 2013-11-27T21:22:18+00:00 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/11/08/m-i-a-s-matangi-is-a-defiantly-personal-reclamation-of-the-brown-girl-narrative.html matthewmcvickarIt’s fairly easy, and indeed tempting, to write M.I.A. off as a faux-radical who relies on the borrowed aesthetics of revolution to sell records. But that superficial reading belies her truest political work: her commitment to self and the exploration of identity in a world and industry that is more comfortable with easily digestible predetermined narratives, particularly when it comes to racialized people.]]> culture music identity race criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:3b386d5e4dcc/ Isaac Butler: The Realism Canard, Or: Why Fact-Checking Fiction Is Poisoning Criticism 2013-10-14T04:58:48+00:00 http://parabasis.typepad.com/blog/2013/10/the-realism-canard.html matthewmcvickarIn real life, people don't talk the way they do in movies or television or (especially) books. Real locations aren't styled, lit, or shot the way they are on screen. The basic conceits of point of view in literature actually make no sense and are in no way "realistic." Realism isn't verisimilitude. It's a set of stylistic conventions that evolve over time, are socially agreed upon, and are hotly contested. The presence of these conventions is not a sign of quality. Departure from them is not a sign of quality's absence.]]> literature criticism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:75cbb3d0d745/ Ayesha A. Siddiqi: Why Kanye is Right, and Kimmel Emblematic (Storify) 2013-10-10T19:11:36+00:00 http://storify.com/pushinghoops/why-kanye-is-right-and-kimmel-emblematic matthewmcvickarthis isnt just about Kimmel and Kanye it's about who gets to be a creative genius in America and who we'd rather see as a clown]]> america criticism culture music racism race class https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:b0a1f54240d7/ Jana Hunter: Last week I wrote a review of the new King Krule record… 2013-09-09T06:47:39+00:00 http://lowerdens.tumblr.com/post/59565099322/last-week-i-wrote-a-review-of-the-new-king-krule matthewmcvickarI’m saying the current model for sharing and more importantly for publicizing music is detrimental. Here’s what happens: young musicians make okay records that show they’ve got something but haven’t yet figured out what. The music industry then sells the shit out of it while the music press hypes it equally to death. ]]> music writing criticism musicbusiness https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a3f9717ca8b8/ Linda Holmes: Hey, Kid: Thoughts For The Young Oddballs We Need So Badly (NPR) 2013-09-07T22:44:40+00:00 http://www.npr.org/blogs/monkeysee/2013/07/19/203565597/hey-kid-thoughts-for-the-young-oddballs-we-need-so-badly matthewmcvickarLearn the difference between feedback and criticism. Feedback is primarily for you; criticism (in the sense of "a movie critic" or "an arts critic") is primarily not. Criticism is part of an ongoing cultural conversation that's designed to make everybody smarter and better and more thoughtful and to advance the art form itself; it's done even when the creator of a piece is long dead. It's not really for you. Feedback, on the other hand, is aimed at you to make you better, and that's the only kind of feedback worth paying attention to. If you can't listen to it and take it in without your hackles rising, you will never become good. Period, boom, g'bye.]]> advice art creativity criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a163829a8cf1/ Eric Harvey: Writing the Record (Pitchfork) 2013-07-15T01:11:40+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/features/paper-trail/9104-devon-powers/ matthewmcvickarAuthor Devon Powers on how Village Voice writers Richard Goldstein and Robert Christgau helped create rock journalism, and the evolving role of music critics.]]> music writing literature criticism culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:9ca66976b990/ Sheezus Talks: A Critical Roundtable (SPIN) 2013-07-02T19:59:04+00:00 http://www.spin.com/articles/yeezus-female-roundtable-kanye-west-sheezus-talks-a-critical-roundtable/ matthewmcvickarOn the occasion of Kanye West's sixth album, released the day before Juneteenth, 2013, Anno Domini, we are gathered here due to the dearth of Yeezus pieces written by women, which is a significant oversight since a) much of this album, and West's catalog, is about us; and b) it's 2013, call the freaking doctor. So we've amassed an all-star panel that includes frequent SPIN contributors Puja Patel, Jessica Hopper, and Maura Johnston, Stereogum's Claire Lobenfeld, Toronto-based uber-freelancer Anupa Mistry, and SiriusXM's Sway in the Morning on-air personality and pop-culture writer Tracy Garraud.]]> music criticism pop https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:f4f41adb02f4/ Brandon Soderberg: Is 'Yeezus' the Tipping Point for Rap Misogyny? (SPIN) 2013-07-01T19:07:10+00:00 http://www.spin.com/articles/yeezus-kanye-west-sexism-misogyny-rick-ross/ matthewmcvickarRap music clearly has a serious misogyny problem. Admitting that won't lead to the elimination of the music altogether and it doesn't mean that all other social issues have to take a backseat. But once the problem has been acknowledged, let's don't just leave the self-evident truth sitting there. Actually continue to think about this stuff. Too often, rap's misogyny has been treated as a given. And that's just as dangerous.]]> feminism misogyny hiphop music writing criticism culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:141a0832cacc/ Kat Stoeffel: It’s Okay to Hate the Kickstarter ‘Rape Manual’ (NY Mag) 2013-06-28T23:42:14+00:00 http://nymag.com/thecut/2013/06/okay-to-hate-the-kickstarter-rape-manual.html matthewmcvickarBustillos hopes that a nonjudgmental dialogue with Hoinsky will help us discover an ethical form of seduction. I doubt it. If a woman must be seduced, either (a) the desire is not mutual and she is in fact being coerced (he is waiting until she is weary enough, drunk enough, or feels guilty enough for leading him on), or (b) the desire is mutual but she can’t express it, for any number of sexist social reasons.]]> sexism misogyny criticism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:d8a35b5c7c88/ Luke Winkle: We Should Be More Cynical About Albums Claiming to Change the World (Village Voice) 2013-06-28T23:38:26+00:00 http://blogs.villagevoice.com/music/2013/04/shaking_the_hab.php?print=true matthewmcvickarThe entirety of our conversation has been extracted from what essentially was Shaking the Habitual's PR campaign. The Knife talked about how thoroughly political the new album was, and a bunch of smart people patiently waited to see how those ideas were manifested. This is understandable, because The Knife seem like earnest people with important and indisputably unique perspectives. But it seems we've let Karin and Olof's rhetoric blend over into what we're hearing. There's nothing wrong with context, but we can't let the creative forces frame an album for our consumption.]]> music politics criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:ad39511fa5b4/ The Singles Jukebox: Kanye West — Black Skinhead 2013-06-24T18:18:08+00:00 http://www.thesinglesjukebox.com/?p=7382 matthewmcvickar music kanyewest criticism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:992cb7ca1717/ Carl Wilson: Kanye West’s Yeezus, reviewed. (Slate Magazine) 2013-06-19T17:58:22+00:00 http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/music_box/2013/06/kanye_west_s_yeezus_reviewed.single.html matthewmcvickarmusic criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a72ac9559343/ Mark Richardson: A Stray Thought About Music Writing That Probably Shouldn't Be Taken Too Seriously 2013-05-23T19:49:15+00:00 http://www.markrichardson.org/post/50228551615/a-stray-thought-about-music-writing-that-probably matthewmcvickarA lot of people writing seem to think that trainspotting, being able to identify sample sources and lyrical allusions, is the essence of criticism, and to me that kind of identification in and of itself is not very interesting unless it goes into these other realms, of thinking more deeply how the music works and (especially) articulating how it feels from the perspective of the listener.]]> music writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:d3ef053d7688/ Charlie Detar: Hackathons don't solve problems | (MIT Center for Civic Media) 2013-05-22T19:31:25+00:00 http://civic.mit.edu/blog/cfd/hackathons-dont-solve-problems matthewmcvickarHackathons can spur creativity, can inspire a concerted amount of development effort on a focused project for a short period of time, and can increase attention to a critical issue. For people who feel disaffected and hopeless, a hackathon can rekindle a sense of creativity and possibility.  But the tangible products of a hackathon (hardware, software) are rarely of adequate quality for real-world use.]]> technology criticism internet hardware software https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c9f4301f9ed6/ Vijay Iyer: Flying Lotus — Until the Quiet Comes (The Talkhouse) 2013-04-13T21:50:53+00:00 http://thetalkhouse.com/reviews/view/vijay-iyer-flying-lotus matthewmcvickarTo listen to this LP on headphones is to be air-dropped into a teeming megacity in 2017: industrial runoff, overgrown wild vegetation, human multitudes, handheld devices, improvised survival technologies, strange weather; bodies and machines in a necessary, dignified symbiosis.]]> music writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:1a3e80922e38/ Steven Hyden: Afterword: Roger Ebert (Pitchfork) 2013-04-10T02:49:49+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/features/afterword/9101-roger-ebert/ matthewmcvickarBut as much as he was teaching me about movies, Roger Ebert was also showing me how to write-- I became a student of clean and concise sentences that emphasized clarity and the right balance of humor, thoughtfulness, and accessibility, as well as how to shape my raw impressions into well-rounded opinions that cohered on the page into narratives. The idea that the most interesting part of a movie happens after you see it-- during the post-mortems you have with others and with yourself in your own head-- was something that carried over easily to the songs and albums I was discovering at the time.]]> film criticism music writing culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:7951e840724a/ Jason Zinomas: Just Like Candy: Following the Trail of Good Ideas (Howlround) 2013-04-08T17:36:37+00:00 http://www.howlround.com/just-like-candy-following-the-trail-of-good-ideas matthewmcvickarWhat endures more, for me at least, is the pleasure of thinking about a work of art, arguing with myself over it, getting frustrated while going nowhere and then coming out of that mess with a slightly clearer sense of what I believe. Or maybe it’s a better context to put the work in. Or it could be as minor as solving the problem of striking the right tone to end a review in a way that captures exactly what I think with a bit of flair. The privilege of calling that your job is, to steal a phrase from Hamlet, devoutly to be wished.]]> criticism film writing culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:f6d3d5ce18ad/ Jeremy Larson: Album Review: Tyler, the Creator — Wolf (Consequence of Sound) 2013-04-04T09:29:45+00:00 http://consequenceofsound.net/2013/04/album-review-tyler-the-creator-wolf/ matthewmcvickarAt his worst, he’s an immature egomaniac whose insufferableness comes from being too aware of his own faults. For a guy who was tempered in internet culture, whose personality was always reflected in some digital form or another, it’s an understandable tack to take. Thankfully he’s done a fine job of making the journey to the center of his id a curious and engaging one.]]> music criticism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:b5cfbbf7253c/ Cord Jefferson: When People Write for Free, Who Pays? (Gawker) 2013-03-10T17:02:45+00:00 http://gawker.com/5989280/when-people-write-for-free-who-pays matthewmcvickarAll in all, the creative landscape is starting to look more toxic than it's been in our lifetimes: Artists with million-dollar checks in their pockets are telling other artists that they shouldn't expect to get paid; publications are telling writers that they shouldn't expect to get paid, either; and meanwhile everyone wonders why we can't get more diversity in the creative ranks. One obvious way to reverse media's glut of wealthy white people would be to stop making it so few others but wealthy white people can afford to get into media. But in the age of dramatic newsroom layoffs and folding publications, nobody wants to hear that. So we trudge on, forgetting what a luxury it is to do what you want to do for a living rather than what you have to do to survive.]]> blogging criticism journalism industry labor https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:bdd9bde96904/ Ira Robbins: Record Reviews: Who Needs ‘Em? (Rock's Backpages Writers' Blogs) 2013-02-19T08:58:54+00:00 http://www.rocksbackpagesblogs.com/2012/12/record-reviews-who-needs-em/ matthewmcvickarRecord reviews are now brief, upbeat and simple: download these songs, they’re good. Beyond that service, writers don’t provide much real value. They are unlikely to establish a strong connection with their readers, as no sense of prejudices and predilections can emerge from four sentences (at least one of which is going to be strictly informational).
And you can’t even blame space. They are simply kowtowing to the preferences of those readers who care the least.
]]> music writing criticism musicwriting publishing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:348ea6867b3f/ Matthew Gasda: Interview: Music Critic Mark Richardson (The Vitalist) 2013-02-12T19:38:56+00:00 http://thevitalist.tumblr.com/post/34796345729/interview-music-critic-mark-richardson matthewmcvickarinterview writing music internet criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:e08a1fa12e2e/ Maura Johnston: What Happened to Music Writing This Year? (NPR) 2013-02-03T02:28:16+00:00 http://www.npr.org/blogs/bestmusic2012/2012/12/26/168097407/what-happened-to-music-writing-this-year?sc=tw&cc=twmp matthewmcvickarIn 2012, attempts to stay ahead of readers' innate desires resulted in a collective throwing up of hands. Think pieces and reviews still existed, but they were accompanied by other attempts to lure readers: Trifles like album titles and track listings treated as news items worthy of their own "stories" (to maximize the possibility of people tripping over their fingers and into a unique view); artists out of the public spotlight for more than six months unearthed as if they were creatures from another dimension; Tweets and other public statements by artists taken out of context and drained of their tone so as to stoke "WTF" headlines; superlative-laden lists not even aimed at expressing an opinion in count-downable form; posts with factual errors seen as hits to institutional credibility and opportunities to wring double the traffic out of one story.]]> music writing 2012 journalism criticism internet https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a5b4ca78375c/ Chris Ott: The Sheep Take a Buffalo Stance (New York Times) 2013-01-15T20:10:37+00:00 http://www.villagevoice.com/2007-01-30/pazzandjop/the-sheep-take-a-buffalo-stance/full/ matthewmcvickarEveryone's relationship to music has changed because of the Internet, and in a way that invalidates year-in-review summaries: We rank and file music all year long on our blogs and web magazines, in the list-drenched advertorial press, and even on our iPods. If everyone's a critic, do we still need a critics' poll?]]> music criticism writing culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a4ade94f45f9/ Mark Richardson: Nuno Canavarro: Plux Quba 2012-12-31T06:21:31+00:00 http://www.markrichardson.org/post/392693049/plux-quba matthewmcvickarStill, it would be dishonest to deny that the mystery of Plux Quba adds to its appeal. The fact is I’m particularly curious about Nuno Canavarro because this record seems so personal; I listen and feel like I know him. Plux Quba is a disjointed, unpredictable work that sounds like the aural representation one sensitive and intelligent individual’s subconscious thoughts. Like a mind, Plux Quba veers from one fragment to the next, leapfrogs over an idea and lands on another, recalls a forgotten memory for an instant only to have it vanish before it can be examined in detail. ]]> music writing review criticism anonymity https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:967eacd447d8/ Maria Bustillos: How Lester Bangs Taught Me to Read (The New Yorker) 2012-11-02T09:20:56+00:00 http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/08/how-lester-bangs-taught-me-to-read.html matthewmcvickarliterature music writing culture criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:6664318839a9/ Daniel Mendelsohn: A Critic's Manifesto: The Intersection of Expertise and Taste (The New Yorker) 2012-11-02T09:20:21+00:00 http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2012/08/a-critics-manifesto.html matthewmcvickarwhat has made us all anxious about truth and accuracy in personal narrative is not so much the published memoirs that turn out to be false or exaggerated, which has often been the case, historically, but rather the unprecedented explosion of personal writing (and inaccuracy and falsehood) online, in Web sites and blogs and anonymous commentary—forums where there are no editors and fact-checkers and publishers to point an accusing finger at.]]> writing criticism music film culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:14888a7538ba/ Armond White: The Sandler Memo (City Arts) 2012-06-22T22:38:57+00:00 http://cityarts.info/2012/06/20/the-sandler-memo/ matthewmcvickarIt’s scary how the Memo makes Sandler and Murphy whipping boys, simply to sustain true Hollywood vulgarity. It perpetuates the collapse of critical thinking. When Sandler-bashing (and I don’t just mean the ludicrous Razzies, ratified only by tabloid media) turns into excoriation, it is necessary to examine the media’s cowardice and prejudices. The Sandler Memo has reduced criticism to a profession of chain letters.]]> film movies adamsandler culture class hollywood writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:653e70de6a49/ Rachael Maddux: Singles Girls: The Rise of Female Rock Writing (Oxford American) 2012-06-10T07:59:39+00:00 http://www.oxfordamerican.org/articles/2011/dec/16/singles-girls-rise-female-rock-writing/ matthewmcvickar women girls feminism music writing rock criticism culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:17e3f1d57068/ Stuart Berman: The Flaming Lips — The Flaming Lips and Heady Fwends (Pitchfork) 2012-05-24T22:43:53+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16522-the-flaming-lips/ matthewmcvickarThis piecemeal patchwork of tracks hangs together amazingly well as a front-to-back album.]]> music criticism review writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c7f2503f86d5/ Ian Cohen: Bright Eyes — Fevers and Mirrors/There Is No Beginning to the Story EP (Pitchfork) 2012-05-24T22:42:28+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16532-bright-eyes-fevers-mirrors-there-is-no-beginning-to-the-story-ep/ matthewmcvickarmusic writing criticism review https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c820ea3016c7/ Brandon Soderberg: Nicki Minaj and 2 Chainz’ ‘Beez in the Trap’ (SPIN) 2012-03-29T04:54:02+00:00 http://www.spin.com/blogs/listen-nicki-minaj-and-2-chainzs-beez-trap matthewmcvickarNicki employs street hardness as a signifier of how great she is at rapping, not as an attempt to actually convince anybody that she's "hood" or any of that authenticity nonsense. She's successfully occupying the trap, ground zero for hardness, and calling its inhabitants "bitches," all to prove that she is the consummate rhyming bad-ass.]]> music pop hiphop rap criticism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a75993e317da/ Matthew Perpetua: Madonna — MDNA (Pitchfork) 2012-03-29T03:01:48+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16426-mdna/ matthewmcvickarIt's almost impossible to approach MDNA without some degree of cynicism, but it's equally difficult to imagine anyone being more cynical about this music than Madonna herself. Unlike previous late-period records in which she had the luxury to indulge in creative tangents and not get too hung up on scoring several hits, MDNA is a record that comes with major commercial expectations. The "this has to work" factor is high, and it's hard to shake the impression that she has some measure of contempt for the contemporary pop audience.]]> music review criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:6cbb315bac8e/ Brent DiCrescenzo: Madonna — MDNA (Time Out Chicago) 2012-03-29T02:47:59+00:00 http://timeoutchicago.com/music-nightlife/15199701/madonna-mdna-album-review matthewmcvickarIt didn’t have to be this bad. She didn’t even need to dig that deep on the iTunes “Electronic” page to find a producer to craft intriguing electro. Instead of Solveig, she could have emailed SBTRKT. Or Anthonly Gonzalez. Or Scuba. Anyone else. She’s clearly learning about dance music from television ads, not nights out.]]> music review criticism dance pop https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:e317087e1cfc/ Jenn Pelly: Mirrorring: Foreign Body (Pitchfork) 2012-03-23T03:52:58+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16420-foreign-body/ matthewmcvickarThere is a tendency among music critics to create sub-stories with records and impose narratives. We might identify with a hardcore punk group this year because we are a restless generation, or with a work of hyperactive pop because the internet has made us incapable of concentrating, and so on. But sometimes we take a record for what it is: a resistant piece of art, existing as a singular entity. In a world that is newly full of "content" at every turn, it can be refreshing to find an uncompromising record that exists so honestly on its own.]]> music writing criticism review grouper tinyvipers https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:6e1c3cedb49d/ Tom Breihan: In Defense of Skrillex (Stereogum) 2012-03-20T23:39:48+00:00 http://stereogum.com/979892/in-defense-of-skrillex/top-stories/lead-story/ matthewmcvickarI’ve spent the morning listening to Skrillex’s three EPs, and they’re fun, but they’re not really any indication of what this guy does. Maybe he’ll make a great record some day, and his tracks certainly bring the hooks, and sometimes they sound the way people wish that last Justice album sounded. But at this point, listening to Skrillex at home is almost like listening to Gwar at home. The live experience is the thing.]]> music writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:a5f682a7633a/ Steven Hyden: The Shins: Port of Morrow (The A.V. Club) 2012-03-20T23:38:49+00:00 http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-shins-port-of-morrow,71032/ matthewmcvickarThat’s the realm that Mercer is working in now, and when he has the confidence on Morrow to follow through on his glossy pop ambitions, his music manages to be as likeable as it always has been. It’s when Mercer tries to update the old Shins playbook with big-budget production that Morrow sounds awkward and dangerously sleepy.]]> music review criticism writing https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:6216faad77c3/ Sasha Frere-Jones: Lana Del Rey (The New Yorker) 2012-03-07T09:48:28+00:00 http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2012/02/06/120206crmu_music_frerejones?printable=true matthewmcvickar ldr music writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:e3bbabc81f16/ Eric Harvey: Grimes, 'Visions' (SPIN.com) 2012-02-23T12:55:40+00:00 http://www.spin.com/reviews/grimes-visions-4ad matthewmcvickar music writing review criticism https://instapaper.com/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:4436c7b510b0/ Rob Harvilla: Lana Del Rey: 'Born to Die' (SPIN.com) 2012-02-19T01:28:32+00:00 http://www.spin.com/reviews/lana-del-rey-born-die-interscope matthewmcvickar ldr music writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:db0a9e359f73/ Lindsay Zoladz: Lana Del Rey: Born to Die (Pitchfork) 2012-02-19T00:43:23+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16223-lana-del-rey/ matthewmcvickar ldr music review criticism writing culture america sex gender https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:635e3dbabdc8/ Eric Harvey: Mark Richardson’s ‘A Proposed New Year's Resolution for Music Critics’ (marathonpacks) 2012-01-09T10:15:25+00:00 http://marathonpacks.tumblr.com/post/15085420479/mark-richardson-a-proposed-new-years-resolution-for matthewmcvickar history music modernism retro criticism culture https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:df2042a73d33/ Vulture: Bon Iver’s Indie Soft-Rock: Transcendent or Torpid? 2011-06-27T05:33:03+00:00 http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2011/06/bon_ivers_indie_soft_rock_tran.html matthewmcvickar boniver music criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:7903ec9caed7/ Teenage Art: Henry Rollins Wants to Do Comedy on 'The Paul Reiser Show' 2011-04-30T06:30:03+00:00 http://teenageart.tumblr.com/post/4903581354/henry-rollins-wants-to-do-comedy-on-the-paul-reiser matthewmcvickar criticism art writing internet culture celebrity https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:3c6b2c2bf12a/ The A.V. Club: An open letter to LCD Soundsystem’s James Murphy, from one critic to another 2011-04-08T03:05:59+00:00 http://www.avclub.com/articles/an-open-letter-to-lcd-soundsystems-james-murphy-fr,53960/ matthewmcvickar lcdsoundsystem music writing history criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:914dc6f09d94/ a grammar: Odd Future, energy, inclusion, and exclusion 2011-04-01T21:12:40+00:00 http://agrammar.tumblr.com/post/4166624859/odd-future-energy-inclusion-and-exclusion matthewmcvickar 2011 music oddfuture hiphop criticism writing feminism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:1c3a321a148c/ Clem Bastow: Katy Perry — Teenage Dream 2011-02-08T10:16:45+00:00 http://clembastow.tumblr.com/post/1134124574/katy-perry-teenage-dream-via matthewmcvickar katyperry popmusic writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:0542eef4f7ea/ Village Voice: Leave Chillwave Alone 2011-01-23T00:00:15+00:00 http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-01-19/music/leave-chillwave-alone/ matthewmcvickar pitchforkmedia music writing criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:4ef8af504b3e/ waycooljnr: How to Get Your Music Reviewed on Pitchfork: An Interview with Scott Plagenhoef, Pitchfork’s Editor-in-Chief 2011-01-08T05:28:37+00:00 http://www.waycooljnr.com.au/2009/03/13/how-do-i-get-my-music-reviewed-on-pitchfork-an-interview-with-scott-plagenhoef-pitchforks-editor-in-chief/ matthewmcvickar pitchfork musicbusiness internet criticism interview https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:b74e47a46cde/ NYTimes.com: Kanye West, Still Unfiltered, on Eve of Fifth Album 2010-12-30T12:49:24+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/arts/music/21kanye.html?_r=3&pagewanted=all matthewmcvickar kanyewest music criticism https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:dd396be37a34/ a grammer: internet paradox 2010-12-30T09:14:41+00:00 http://agrammar.tumblr.com/post/353041639/internet-paradox matthewmcvickar nitsuhabebe writing internet society culture criticism niche via:paulford https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:5fdc417f8978/ Marc Weidenbaum — Lowlands: A Sigh Collective 2010-12-27T08:41:09+00:00 http://www.archive.org/details/LowlandsASighCollective matthewmcvickar music criticism free art https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:92e9245b59a7/ Fuse.tv: Listen Closely by B Michael Payne: Love the Music, Ignore the Message: How Critics Are Failing Odd Future 2010-11-16T21:24:48+00:00 http://fuse.tv/music/columns/listen-closely/111610-3.html matthewmcvickar music writing criticism misogyny culture america hiphop rap lyrics https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:722672e7690b/ Shallow Rewards: Be real, it doesn't matter anyway 2010-11-14T10:24:53+00:00 http://shallowrewards.blogspot.com/2010/11/be-real-it-doesnt-matter-anyway.html matthewmcvickar music writing criticism culture https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:401de1bdfb32/ Squashed: Truth and Patriotism 2010-11-09T20:12:19+00:00 http://squashed.tumblr.com/post/1525250467/truth-and-patriotism matthewmcvickar patriotism america culture history war writing criticism https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c7229e4b6fd5/ eMusic Q&A: Rob Sheffield 2010-08-10T22:51:34+00:00 http://17dots.com/2010/08/05/emusic-qa-rob-sheffield/ matthewmcvickar music musicbusiness criticism writing 80s 90s rock indie punk duranduran https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:fffa31307abe/ Pitchfork Reviews Reviews: what it might mean when you are hearing music as BAD and a defense of Rebirth 2010-06-07T23:19:21+00:00 http://www.pitchforkreviewsreviews.com/post/673925866/what-it-might-mean-when-you-are-hearing-music-as-bad matthewmcvickar lilwayne music writing criticism pitchfork culture https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:c7a98370d429/ Pitchfork: Why We Fight: The Trouble with Maya 2010-06-07T00:17:40+00:00 http://pitchfork.com/features/why-we-fight/7813-why-we-fight-4/ matthewmcvickar music writing pitchfork politics mia criticism https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:ec08d6069c98/ NYTimes.com: Gen X Has a Midlife Crisis 2010-05-31T04:52:28+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/09/weekinreview/09aoscott.html?pagewanted=all matthewmcvickar bookreview criticism culture psychology youth genx film https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:96e916d3b150/ a grammar: The Rules of the Game: A Fuller Thought on J. Hopper and Vampire Weekend 2010-03-11T14:21:04+00:00 http://agrammar.tumblr.com/post/359990238/the-rules-of-the-game-a-fuller-thought-on-j-hopper matthewmcvickar criticism vampireweekend race music class https://pinboard.in/u:matthewmcvickar/b:2ad55b8fd7c8/