The All-New STYLUS.

I still don't get why somebody else couldn't take it over. It seems weird that one guy deciding one afternoon that he just couldn't be bothered with this would just fold the whole thing up.

I'd like to hear about it too- not necessarily because it's wrong, there are several good reasons why this might happen. But I'm intrigued.

btw I didn't read Stylus (hardly read or even do any music writing these days) but am sorry to see it go from what I gather here. The Ashley piece is sweet.

With a million blogs talking endlessly about every new release these days, it was really nice for a change to have someone looking critically at older albums that everyone either takes for granted or has forgotten about

Yeah, ulitmately those essays are the ones I'll most miss writing.

I still don't get why somebody else couldn't take it over. It seems weird that one guy deciding one afternoon that he just couldn't be bothered with this would just fold the whole thing up.

^echoed

I've been far too flippant so far so to speak seriously -- I'd contributed pieces here and there almost on a whim to Stylus but it was here on ILM where the whole concept of Scraping the Barrel (initially called Shoveling the Shit, but you can't have everything) came up in an exchange between Todd, a couple of other Stylus bods and myself when lots of bad promo crud was talked about and I said if they wanted to send it to me to write about I'd happily rant. Simple as that and it was a great result on a variety of levels -- I got to step out of the far more restrained pose I necessarily have on the AMG, I did discover some stuff I actually quite enjoyed and heard enough of other idiocy not merely to give grist to the writing mill but to help further clarify whatever my random aesthetic is. What you dislike is as important as what you like, after all.

Also, it prompted some of the only hate mail for my reviewing I've ever received (all of it incredibly defensive and amusing), while, of all people, Momus was once irritated by my use of hyperbole when I was trashing something. Can't go wrong there.

So to conclude -- thanks to Todd for taking that random chance. It worked very well!

(My own two favorite pieces in general were on Bark Psychosis's Hex and rockism.)

I have no idea what Todd's decision-making process was, but I don't really like this criticism about deciding to shut it down instead of, say, handing the whole thing over to somebody else. If you create and slave over something for years and then decide to stop, maybe you have a successor in mind and want it to live on as an institution beyond your involvement, maybe not, but I think either position is fair for someone in his position to make. Maybe Stylus is shutting down because the business model was untenable, or because it was hard to keep unpaid writers motivated and efficient (I for one loved writing reviews for Stylus and think I did some of my best work there, and stopped doing it not because I had a problem with not getting paid, but because I couldn't keep up with them on top of the writing I do get paid for). If someone else wants to carry the torch, maybe they should start their own band, so to speak, and come up with a new system that won't be as prone to the problems that (I'm guessing) helped lead to the end of Stylus.

Oh, I wasn't criticizing, just not understanding.

Maybe I'm jumping the gun in revealing this (and as such, I'll reveal as little as possible), but an ILX regular is working on putting together a website that could perhaps fill this new void.

I'd hardly say that NedsNudes.com is going to fill the same niche as Stylus.

the problems that (I'm guessing) helped lead to the end of Stylus.

It makes me even more sad to read this. I assumed that Stylus wasn't folding because of any problems it experienced, but rather because its founder and editor-in-chief decided to move on.

Naw, not that one, I meant danperrysDPzone.com

Now you've spilled the beans on both sites, ya shameless punk!

wow this is terrible. stylus really brought actual intelligent, insightful, thought-provoking music discussion. they did a great job. any word on where dom palladino will be trashing pop songs in the most amusing ways possible?

*yet another link to the DiS Scouting For Girls review*

as someone who has to try to keep a website afloat with unpaid writers and not a ton of advertising, i can totally understand why todd would get tired of running in place, in a business sense. i can't possibly imagine he would make enough $ to keep doing it as anything less than a labor of love. any stylus writer into electronic music is definitely invited to write for groovesmag.com if pitchfork hasn't already stolen their hearts and time.

that Lovely Music piece is superb.

I'm a newcomer to this entire world. I've barely posted here much and I only wrote for Stylus from May until the end. But I have Todd's back forever for taking a chance on this no-name university grad with no experience and kicking off my crit career. Between May and now, Alfred can vouch, my skills have improved threefold in that environment (I'm not saying they're very good, but they did improve. When I got the fateful email, I was really angry and felt betrayed at first, that I finally snag a moment and it folds up on me, but yeah, there's no point in pretending a successive manager of Stylus wouldn't be just unfairly compared to the old regime constantly, that it could ever be the same experience. It just wouldn't be fair. I'm just glad to have slipped in to be a part of it at all, and I met dozens of talented, frustratingly intelligent people in the process.

)

You can't say enough good things about Todd Burns and the job he does
leading Stylus. The amount of work he puts into the site is tremendous, and I don't think Stylus would ever be the same without his vision.

For anyone interested: the Beatz by the Pound wing of Stylus that I run will be continuing on (even if it has been mostly dormant the past month).

That's great news Michael. I'm a big fan.

godspeed, mf

Like KOTJ, I just started writing for Stylus this summer...I'm extremely grateful to Todd for giving me the opportunity to work for such an amazing publication, even though my writing wasn't (and still isn't) anywhere near as good as other Stylus contibutors'. I'm not sure if I'm any better, but regardless, Todd's advice was always OTM. I owe him.

I'm just glad to have slipped in to be a part of it at all

^Yes

Maybe if this new site run by some ILM dude doesn't want the same fate as Stylus, he should get the music journalist juggernaut known as Esteban Buttez on board.

(Hint: drop me an e-mail and I'll get him some Jack Daniels to wake him up from his coma)

I will miss Stylus but not clicking on a feature to find out it's Nick Southall crapping on about studio technique/headphones/that sound in Spirit of Eden he heard which kinda sounds like Mark Hollis calling the local pizza joint for a large Hawaiian.

Ban you. There was no need for that kind of infantile trolling.

This is why they invented the phrase, "nigga plz".

Oh! Apologies.

I'm going to miss the Soulseeking column. I think it's really important to have people writing critically about more than just "the music." Sometimes it's really refreshing to read people writing about subjects like music overconsumption and other stuff that doesn't directly relate to any one artist or album but is of interest to any serious music fan. There's not enough of that kind of writing out there, it seems.

I've said this elsewhere, but yeah, what i'll miss most about Stylus is its commitment to doubt, that every canonized treasure or forgotten misunderstood cult item deserves a rebuttal or an appeal. Up can be down, and the skepticism actually makes to it print. The site wasn't a collection of staff-wide endorsements. I'm gonna miss it.

Switched 'it' and 'to' there for some reason. Damnz interweb.

Maybe we all could post some of our favorite Stylus pieces to celebrate all the great writing the magazine has added to the world? There's so much great great stuff in the archives there that deserves revisiting.

Soulseeking by Nick Southall
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/soulseeking.htm

Consummation of consumption by Marcello Carlin
http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/soulseeking/consummation-of-consumption.htm

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviewcomment.php?ID=2759

'great' example of the fallout of the crappest writer they ever hired. Hits generating provocation disguised as reviewing.

^^^this

i think he's talking about dabug?

dabug-chaser

i just want to thank todd for taking a chance on a naive kid chasing a crazy dream. i don't know who that kid was, and all of his writing was shite, but kudos to you, my hero.

Little-known fact: I once wrote a review of an obscure album for Stylus, six months after it came out, and sent it to Nick. The very next day, a review of that album appeared on the site, written by a regular. I maintain mine was better. Nick's main problem seemed to be my use of the word 'ejaculated' in the first sentence.

littlest known fact.

Now all my reviews are directed towards unsuspecting distribution companies. H4rt Media? Hurt Media more like...

Pitchfork is still around. What's the big deal?

As I said in the C/D: Tiny Mix Tapes thread:

In my opinion: Pitchfork is excellent for its reviews, interviews, and occasionally its features. AMG is a great reference tool. And ILM is the best place I've found on the internet for discussion. But none of these places really have the breadth of critical pieces that Stylus has/had. Here, you can get a lot of different opinions, which is essential, but there aren't pieces here from one person's point of view that explore a particular angle on something in depth as often as not. I think all of these sites are useful for different reasons, and Stylus's closing will leave a hole in online music discourse.

Basically, less long form music writing; sadness abounds.

Pitchfork is still around. What's the big deal?

lol

I'm going to miss Stylus' unabashed love of pop. I still remember Pitchfork reviewed Kylie's Fever because it was April Fool's, whereas I would eagerly look forward to reading stylus every week for swygwart's roundup of the UK top 40. I think most people on the teenpop thread have at one time or another written for stylus. The Reverend mentioned that they've got latin music reviews - a recent development, but generally Stylus is unmatched for its cross-atlantic perspective.

Pitchfork reviewed Kylie's Fever because it was April Fool's

Are you serious? Ugh.

that dominique leon is such an elitist bitch:

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/19918-fever

pop more leik pap amirite guyz

I've said this elsewhere, but yeah, what i'll miss most about Stylus is its commitment to doubt, that every canonized treasure or forgotten misunderstood cult item deserves a rebuttal or an appeal. Up can be down, and the skepticism actually makes to it print. The site wasn't a collection of staff-wide endorsements. I'm gonna miss it.

-- kiss out the jams, Sunday, 28 October 2007 16:37 (4 hours ago) Link

BIG HOOS