bob loblaw's music blog

this is the photo that came up when i googled "douchey music"

I went on a bit of a music blog bender today, doing some research for the studio and for my own selfish music-related interests. Beginning with this master blog list from the nice people over at Pretty Much Amazing, I clicked and scrolled my way through hundreds of sites and many terrible blog platforms to discover some great gems and a whole fat list of new artists to scope out.

I realized a couple of things along my journey I'd like to share here on my own silly little blog:

1) Being a music blogger can be soul-shattering. I've no idea how old PMA's aggregate list is, but a good third of the links I clicked on led to abandoned blogs with depressing missives about how sucky writing about music has become. Worse still was the bloggers who hadn't yet realized the soul-suckage and dedicated multiple pages to How To Not Piss Me Off guidelines. I get it, as the social media gatekeeper to a Hollywood recording studio I am more than aware of terrible marketing tactics of the majority of idiots pushing music in the twenty-teens. But if your love for an art form has turned you into a pretentious scenester with a perma-grimace (see above) you should probably turn to fashion blogging. Its acceptable there.

2) I know some awesome, dedicated, talented people. I already knew this, but turns out it is also true when it comes to music writing. My friend from my days at CMH Records, Seraphina Lotkhamnga, has been steadily fighting the good fight for LA locals and non-natives alike alongside Kevin Bronson over at BuzzBands.LA. Katie Pierce over at Jack in the Pocket has been snagging exclusive interviews with incredible artists over the last few years out of Columbus, Ohio. And while they're a very new web/print start up, the folks at Leveled Mag have consistently curated an eclectic and intelligent mix of music, art, and intersections therein. These are standout destinations amidst a sea of untamed sites. Bookmark 'em, visit them often, and show these guys some love!

3) There is much too much. Forget arguing the ethics of bringing a child into the world - what we need is more discussion of bringing your mp3/blog/band/music/remix into the universe. I'm only half-kidding, and yes, I've had the conversation myself. There will never be enough time to read/see/listen to everything worthy of an audience, so please, writers/musicians/tastemakers/etc, do your best to innovate upon the form/function/perspective or at very least, stir the pot. If a theatre blog can do it, so can you! Burn out is otherwise frighteningly easy (see point number 1).

Ok, enough observing, I gotta get back to surfing. I'd like to thank Pontone, Scissorkast and BBC 6 for providing the soundtrack to today's roaming. If you have a favorite music blog or a writing project on anything Art, please leave links in the comments and I will give it some love!