dumbest music journalist term

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(thats the problem with real time. someone thinks yer done talking and butts in.)

― Lord Custos Epsilon (Lord Custos Epsilon), Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:39 (nineteen years ago) link

"Dropped" as a synonym for "released". Maybe it's more of a music business term, but Pitchfork uses it a lot. AND I HATE IT.

― frankE (frankE), Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:41 (nineteen years ago) link

Regarding the use of "drops" as a synonym for "will be released", my instinct is to hate the term, but instead am merely ambivalent. After all, there's a distinct need for an ACTIVE verb to replace the passive "be released" or "was released" etc., and "drop" is the best we have at present, though it certainly is kinda dumb. It'll take a coupla years to know whether regular folks (non-bizzers) will take to the term, the way regular folks eventually started using the word "dis".

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:42 (nineteen years ago) link

I like "drop" because it likens albums to babies, turds and balls.

― Huck, Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link

and obviously it's primarily associated with hip-hop, maybe Pfork coopted it for indie-rock, but you're still much more likely to hear that the new Young Buck dropped than the new Yo La Tengo dropped.

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:44 (nineteen years ago) link

[Incidentally, frankE, I started composing my post before reading yours, so the timing is kinda coincidental, that's all. Essentially, I agree with you.]

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:46 (nineteen years ago) link

"Her new album is about to drop on...."

― Monetizing Eyeballs (diamond), Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:51 (nineteen years ago) link

The story of "new album will drop" is homologous to why slang is needed in the first place.

― Huck, Sunday, 29 August 2004 20:58 (nineteen years ago) link

"sun drenched"

... as in the sun-drenched harmonies of.......
thppppt

― Angus Von Santana, Sunday, 29 August 2004 22:32 (nineteen years ago) link

"drums like Animal from the Muppets" (guilty as charged)

― Brian Turner (btwfmu), Sunday, 29 August 2004 22:35 (nineteen years ago) link

Haha guys "dropped" is definitely in the mainstream if nerdy rock crit on Pfork is using it. It didn't originate in music journalism folks.

Old school: "the album drops on ..."
New School: "His album was pushed up cuz the streets couldn't wait!"

I like the new school version.

― djdee2005, Sunday, 29 August 2004 22:36 (nineteen years ago) link

Using "cuz the streets couldn't wait!" in new contexts is fun too, i.e. your reasoning for why you deserve a raise, your excuse for being caught shoplifting, etc.

― djdee2005, Sunday, 29 August 2004 22:37 (nineteen years ago) link

IDM

― joseph pot (STINKOR™), Sunday, 29 August 2004 22:37 (nineteen years ago) link

'electronica'

― djdee2005, Sunday, 29 August 2004 22:38 (nineteen years ago) link

organic

― grapeshine (grapeshine), Monday, 30 August 2004 00:26 (nineteen years ago) link

I've heard IDM used a couple of times round here. What does it mean?

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 30 August 2004 00:29 (nineteen years ago) link

Incomprehensible Danish Muck

― Huck, Monday, 30 August 2004 00:52 (nineteen years ago) link

What, like a Lars Ulrich interview?

― Wooden (Wooden), Monday, 30 August 2004 00:54 (nineteen years ago) link

IDM

― PETER $., Monday, 30 August 2004 04:27 (nineteen years ago) link

anything that "tells it like it is"

felching is where one drives a hollow cylinder up one's anus and allows (forces?) a small creature (usually a hamster or such) to crawl up said cylinder.

or so i gather.

according to the 'lemmywinks' episode of south park anyway.

― Daz, Monday, 30 August 2004 04:53 (nineteen years ago) link

"sophmore"
"brian wilson"

― reo, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:06 (nineteen years ago) link

ack "sophomore"

― reo, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:07 (nineteen years ago) link

"Sophomoric", however, is sorely underused.

― Huck, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:12 (nineteen years ago) link

"dance music"

― Ian c=====8 (orion), Monday, 30 August 2004 05:15 (nineteen years ago) link

anything that refers disparagingly to "bling bling" rap.

― djdee2005, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:21 (nineteen years ago) link

reading them is so 2002 but i needed some material to work with: pitchfork calling "get on dis motorcycle" a "dirty-ass Southern bounce track"

felching is connected to the following things
felching is connected to because
felching is to ingest your semen from the ass you just deposited it into
felching is brought up
felching is?" "felching
felching is unhealthy no

― [eter $$, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:37 (nineteen years ago) link

[...] if he sounded any grimier he'd be asking you for change. [...] Swoosh! [Tom Breihan; August 27th, 2004] (in ref to p. pablo)

― asfd@adf.oxom, Monday, 30 August 2004 05:41 (nineteen years ago) link

A reviewer of a Half Man Half Biscuit gig I organised 2 weeks ago commented that the band had been around since the early eighties. He then went on to review the support band, all 18 year olds. Finally, commenting on Half Man Half Biscuit, he expressed his surprise that the band were considerably older than the support act.

Tosser!

― chris trew, Monday, 30 August 2004 06:27 (nineteen years ago) link

"country-ass" bubba sparxx

lol

I guess we can safely put "-ass" on this thread, then

― Monetizing Eyeballs (diamond), Monday, 30 August 2004 06:33 (nineteen years ago) link

"funky vibe"
"up-and-coming"
"undeservedly overlooked"

― Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZT!! BZZZZZT!! (Queen Electric Butt Prober BZZ), Monday, 30 August 2004 08:45 (nineteen years ago) link

My two favorite editors would periodically ban the use of certain dumbass descriptive terms in reviews. Two "classics" haven't been mentioned yet: "affair" for album and the infamous "eponymous" for self-titled. Of course I'm guilty too, but at least I never called a guitar solo "muscular."
When I was (briefly) a reviews editor I tried to ban mentions of competing reviews: "Everybody else says Smashing Pumpkins are X, but I say Y..." Don't know if this self-serving idiocy still appears as often as it did in the mid-90s.
"Trout-sniffingly bad" is horrible writing, but it made me laugh.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Monday, 30 August 2004 10:09 (nineteen years ago) link

An editor of mine recently banned quoting lyrics from reviews.

― Huck, Monday, 30 August 2004 13:49 (nineteen years ago) link

When I was (briefly) a reviews editor I tried to ban mentions of competing reviews: "Everybody else says Smashing Pumpkins are X, but I say Y..." Don't know if this self-serving idiocy still appears as often as it did in the mid-90s

that rule would put the NY Press out of business. not only would it kill whatever semblance of a music section it still has, it would also kill its movies section, its politics section, and possibly even its letters-to-the-editor section.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 30 August 2004 14:03 (nineteen years ago) link

Gumbo!

Socially conscious!

― Rick Massimo (Rick Massimo), Monday, 30 August 2004 14:05 (nineteen years ago) link

"like being ass-raped by X" appears quite often in metal reviews, and usually it carries a positive connotation. Head bangers like it up the butt, I guess.

― Huck, Monday, 30 August 2004 14:10 (nineteen years ago) link

"An editor of mine recently banned quoting lyrics from reviews."
A man (woman) after my own heart (sigh). I wanted to do this too but couldn't get away w/it.

― lovebug starski (lovebug starski), Monday, 30 August 2004 23:24 (nineteen years ago) link

"accessible"

― pinder (pinder), Monday, 30 August 2004 23:42 (nineteen years ago) link

criminally underrated

― mentalist (mentalist), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 05:45 (nineteen years ago) link

Uncutesque

― Not David Peschek, Tuesday, 31 August 2004 05:54 (nineteen years ago) link

"Unutterable sadness"

― Huck, Tuesday, 31 August 2004 13:47 (nineteen years ago) link

haha that's it, there are no more words! all music critique from now on will consist of clicks, whistles and the sound of someone pressing play on the CD player containing the record being reviewed. Can we go home now?

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 15:46 (nineteen years ago) link

though surely debated to death in the past, I can't believe iI got all the way down this thread without someone mentioning "intelligent jungle." a classic dumb journalism expression...

― martin (martin), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 17:23 (nineteen years ago) link

"Shimmering" always bugged me, as it seems overused.

― Thea (Thea), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 17:33 (nineteen years ago) link

Ah yes. I hate "shimmering"; I understand its use when it means "trebly and reverbed/delayed" but then people talk about "shimmering vocal harmonies", which is insane.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 17:37 (nineteen years ago) link

But what if the vocal harmonies glisten and shimmer like the reflection of early morning light on the surface of a placid body of water like a lake or a pond or a lagoon? What then?

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 18:17 (nineteen years ago) link

they can't really be perfectly harmonious if they do that, though - that's just your basic polyphony.

― Monetizing Eyeballs (diamond), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 18:51 (nineteen years ago) link

On a previous thread like this, Frank Kogan issued fatwa vs."we" (as in "when we hear them do this, we know it's as good as it gets"), and I agree with him on that, but when he also tried to ban "angular," he went too far! Some things *are* angular dammit (some things are also we, but not so's the reviewer can hide behind with his stupid claims.) Speaking of the latter, Christgau and Marcus are not bad writers, except when they trash something in passing, without presenting evidence, cos oops time to go on to next item (Real Life Top Ten can be especially irritating, in fact, that's mainly what I'm thinking of, more than Christgau's passing poo).What about "feels": it;s meant to be x, but it feels like y"; why not "seems," are you so snesitive, are your feelinggs so sacrosanct I won't dare challenge your judgement if you get invoke the sensitive sincerity of your sensibilty?Sanctuary! Also, "think": "He was a protege, but now he's an ungrateful lil bastard.(Think Chingy." No, I think I got it, I think I don't need to be told when and what to think, thank you. Mostly (?) in his 70s Guide, Christgau used "Skewed" and "sprung' to mean what(I think) Peter M. means by "off-kilter dynamics." Felching, as expalined to me back in the 70s, does indeed consist of Mr. 22's third line of credit (above). I never thought of applying it to music, h'mmm

― Don, Wednesday, 1 September 2004 01:57 (nineteen years ago) link

Forward looking.

(= has sythesizers)

― Curt (cgould), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 02:07 (nineteen years ago) link

i just found randomly found this pitchfork article. similar approach as were taking but i dont think the resulting piece is very successful. its kind of annoying actually.
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/s/shipping-news/very-soon-and-in-pleasant-company.shtml

― tom cleveland (tom cleveland), Thursday, 2 September 2004 03:26 (nineteen years ago) link

(Typos are bad too, sorry). Arguably."They are arguably the best band of the moment." Aguably not, too. Also, the bigger the hype, the more noticable the "discreet" qualifier: "They may be the best fucking band in the universe." However, for some reason,"they just may be" is for some reason more acceptible! Like the writer is truly eyeing a fixation, but trying to maintain sense of balance (one shiny little "just" and I'm distracted from the kill)

― Don, Thursday, 2 September 2004 04:18 (nineteen years ago) link

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