Bobo played for nine different teams, never seemed to hang around in one place more than three years:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/newsobo01.shtml
Which is pretty much the Consumer Guide since leaving the Voice. He was also one of two pitchers to face both Ruth and Mantle--there's probably a Christgau parallel there, too.
(You probably remember the original quote, from Christgau's review of Dylan: "if you'll forgive the esoteric reference, it's like watching Ryne Duren pitch without glasses.")
― clemenza, Monday, 15 June 2015 21:30 (nine years ago) link
Not sure why Tom didn't just Google to see where Medium as a company was.
http://fortune.com/2015/05/21/medium-twitter-network-effect/
Key piece of executive claptrap from founder Evan Williams's very garbled post announcing the shift:"That’s why I say Medium is not a publishing tool. It’s a network. A network of ideas that build off each other. And people. And GIFs (yeah, we have those, too — not our specialty, though, to be clear)."
So yeah. It's trying to become more of a "network," which means in the end that it wants content for which it doesn't have to pay.
Cuepoint was sort of doomed from the start for a lot of reasons aside from Medium's lack of business-model clarity; it was way overpaying for a site that wasn't supported by any sort of even indirect revenue stream, and I have heard nightmare stories about its editorial process from reliable sources. (Plus, employment of Christgau aside, it had near zero editorial vision, but what do you expect from a publication led by someone who's been programming Vegas clubs for years and not paying attention to the real strides that have been made in writing — not in terms of pay rates, sure, but in terms of perspectives represented and bucking of stodgy dude-led canons.) Medium's been tightening its belt for a while now, although I figured the brotastic verticals would have a little more wiggle room than they ultimately got.
― maura, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 01:32 (nine years ago) link
And Christgau's contract at MSN Music ended in 2013 for the same reason that mine did: Microsoft got rid of all its freelancers in one fell swoop. The editorial strategy had zero to do with it.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/12/us-microsoft-msn-jobs-idUSBRE98B10Z20130912
I agree with Tom that the presentation of our material was less than ideal (ask my about my record review archives! oh wait they never existed), but with certain (many, probably, at this point) corporations, you could be putting out genius work every week and it wouldn't matter one whit if the bean counters said it was fucking up their side of things.
― maura, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 01:35 (nine years ago) link
do you folks own your reviews after the websites go belly-up? can you post them on your own blogs or sites at least?
― he quipped with heat (amateurist), Tuesday, 16 June 2015 02:42 (nine years ago) link
near zero editorial vision
it was just kind of random and, yeah, canon-centric, but with the occasional pretty good piece. has it definitely been put to sleep? pieces are still dribbling out, but maybe that's just leftover stuff that was lying around?
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 03:39 (nine years ago) link
it's still around although deeply cut down from what I've heard.
― maura, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 03:53 (nine years ago) link
In a more recent post, Hull implies (perhaps after talking to xgau) there's at least a possibility the column will return:
"I don't have any idea how to get the attention of Medium/Cuepoint and apply any pressure to renew the column -- I gather this isn't hopeless at this point, even if the odds aren't great."
http://tomhull.com/blog/archives/2280-Rhapsody-Streamnotes-June-2015.html
― Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 09:24 (nine years ago) link
i mean cuepoint runs stuff like "Keith Richards’ wild life inspired me to trade code snippets like guitar licks" with a straight face, cmon
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdU4Vz39KsY
― maura, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 15:14 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, Cue Point is kinda rough goihg. But they did have that cool article by Lou Reed's sister.
― kornrulez6969, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 15:15 (nine years ago) link
the next iteration of consumer guide will just be christgau reading his reviews aloud at the corner of st marks and lafayette
― he quipped with heat (amateurist), Tuesday, 16 June 2015 15:45 (nine years ago) link
they may have turned off his column but the "expert witness" crew is back via their newly-implemented "responses" section.
― Thus Sang Freud, Tuesday, 16 June 2015 16:01 (nine years ago) link
Every critic needs his expert witnesses.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 16 June 2015 16:03 (nine years ago) link
Bob's site has been updated with the following message:
It took a while, as new business models cough-cough always do, but as of June 25 what had seemed increasingly likely ever since my June 5 submission was put on hold became official: 10 months in, Expert Witness's run at Cuepoint/Medium is over. Editor Jon Shecter compensated me well and always gave me the freedom he'd promised, for which I'm very grateful--it felt so right to be reviewing (and grading) albums after a year's hiatus. But let me emphasize that both the compensation and the institutional home were part of the satisfaction--I like earning money for my work and I like being part of a top-edited periodical.
As with MSN in 2013, I have not been singled out here. Where MSN offed its entire freelance sector, Shecter's bosses have apparently decided that their music "vertical" will now feature what web publishers like to call "reader-provided" copy. Me, I think the term "unpaid" is more to the point. Having made a living as a journalist for more than 50 years now, I don't regard writing as a hobby, or as "self-expression." It's a job, and better for it. Having taken a teaching post in part because it's hard out there for a freelancer, I expended most of what little spare time remained between September and May keeping EW afloat. One sad thing about the timing of the Medium reboot is that with the spring term over I was going back to stuff I'd never fully borne down on and seeking out titles I'd missed. It was interesting--in fact, kind of exciting.
I'm still listening to current music all day and writing occasional reviews, but with less organizational purpose--often as a way to get my head around something I've immersed in deep enough. My basic theory hasn't changed. My working assumption is that popular music is of lasting artistic value, that the album format remains an excellent way to realize that value, that an album's potential often becomes more vivid when it's a physical object, and that my little reviews have proven of some importance in a complex historicizing process. If somebody wants to pay me to continue to publish these reviews, I'll definitely consider it, and it's possible the Witnesses, as I call the amazingly articulate fan base that crystallized when MSN turned the Consumer Guide into Expert Witness in 2010, will persuade me to go it alone in some format yet to be determined, although I have reservations about every one so far proposed. I can't see any way, however, that such a development will come to fruition before Carola and I take a two-week European vacation set to commence three weeks from today--although I do admittedly have a dozen reviews in the kitty and may even turn out a few more before we leave.
It's conceivable I'll see you in September--even August. Just in case, though, I figure I owe the Witnesses at least one small thing--the final listing in a file called EWMDEX in my WP51 files. It goes:
6/5 scaggs/cohen//nelson-haggard/giant sand/springsteen/bishop
― Adam J Duncan, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 12:06 (nine years ago) link
"Vertical," "reader-provided"--how can publishers/editors say such stuff with a straight face (or without being struck down by lightning on the spot)?
― clemenza, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 12:56 (nine years ago) link
although I do admittedly have a dozen reviews in the kitty
he never stops!
― lil dork (Whiney G. Weingarten), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 13:07 (nine years ago) link
Having made a living as a journalist for more than 50 years now, I don't regard writing as a hobby, or as "self-expression." It's a job, and better for it.
O.T.fucking.M.
― kurt kobaïan (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 13:49 (nine years ago) link
Still, I CAN'T WAIT to read all those user-generated record reviews. I'm sure they're going to be fantastic LOL
― kornrulez6969, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 13:54 (nine years ago) link
so pointless might as well go and post about music on a message board
― ♛ LIL UNIT ♛ (thomp), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 14:17 (nine years ago) link
u think?
― I Want My LLTV (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 14:19 (nine years ago) link
My working assumption is that popular music is of lasting artistic value
yes and you had no small hand in establishing that
that the album format remains an excellent way to realize that value
not sure about this anymore myself but willing to play along
that an album's potential often becomes more vivid when it's a physical object
no! this is hindsight/nostalgia in my middle-aged opinion but whatever works for you
that my little reviews have proven of some importance in a complex historicizing process
no argument and thanks!
― got the club going UP on a tuesday (m coleman), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 14:33 (nine years ago) link
Wait, scaggs? Did Boz had an a- coming?
― da croupier, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 15:06 (nine years ago) link
Or maybe ricky
Oh wait Ricky's name is SKaggs
So really dug boz's new one
― da croupier, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 15:08 (nine years ago) link
i don't think the user-generated content coming to cuepoint is going to be reviews per se
― maura, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 18:09 (nine years ago) link
Anybody managed to access the final "gift"?
― dow, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 19:32 (nine years ago) link
I think it's just a list of recs for Witnesses; not a hidden column, sadly.
― Adam J Duncan, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 19:53 (nine years ago) link
i'm sure somewhere the witnesses are debating the meaning of the double backslash. does it separate A records from lesser grades? is "cohen" the new leonard cohen live album, as opposed to the studio one he's already weighed in on? ok i'm a geek.
― Thus Sang Freud, Wednesday, 1 July 2015 20:22 (nine years ago) link
i still find it kind of weird that christgau has such high-minded ideas about the import of his work but (aside from that recent memoir) hasn't decided to write a book about one of his favored artists or genres.
that said, i wish him the best. mostly i hope he's reasonably financially secure for retirement, because i don't wish impoverished old age on anyone.
― wizzz! (amateurist), Wednesday, 1 July 2015 20:42 (nine years ago) link
New home on Vice: http://noisey.vice.com/blog/expert-witness-with-robert-christgau-1
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 August 2015 12:31 (nine years ago) link
!
― ♛ LIL UNIT ♛ (thomp), Friday, 14 August 2015 12:42 (nine years ago) link
Nice!!
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 14 August 2015 13:30 (nine years ago) link
Is he still doing pieces for billboard? He wrote an "I'm old but I like derulo!" intro for them too not long ago
― da croupier, Friday, 14 August 2015 13:44 (nine years ago) link
And he starts it off with three straight A- grades, which he seems to give to 90 percent of the albums he reviews these days.
― Jazzbo, Friday, 14 August 2015 14:09 (nine years ago) link
on one hand, he's promised to do as such for about 25 years now. on the other, it does suggest the irrelevance of "grades" for his "albums i like" blog
― da croupier, Friday, 14 August 2015 14:32 (nine years ago) link
if its really important to distinguish between "good" and "really really good" i'm sure the language in the blurb will do it
― da croupier, Friday, 14 August 2015 14:34 (nine years ago) link
but considering how long the dude's been grading and how hard it's been to keep a steady home, i can't expect him to drop his trademark shtick
― da croupier, Friday, 14 August 2015 14:36 (nine years ago) link
― da croupier, Friday, August 14, 2015 6:44 AM (1 hour ago)
it looked like it was going to be a monthly feature but it stopped after just the third one. (the one where he was like "i bet iggy azalea really has had it hard y'all, let's give her a break")
― dyl, Friday, 14 August 2015 15:14 (nine years ago) link
Liked the Guide better when he was grading down to E Minus (so illuminating---as a muso buddy said, " I didn't know you could make some of those mistakes!"). Maybe he'll bring back the Torkey Shoot if I stop asking him to, but seems unlikely. Gratuitous slap at "good literature," "emotional complexity" unspecified---word limit, y'know--but at least he explains that Miguel don't serve porn cause coffee next morning, ha good 'un, thanks for the news.
― dow, Friday, 14 August 2015 21:13 (nine years ago) link
it's not the most illuminating collection of albums
i fear i will never agree with the idea of 'mellowing'
― ♛ LIL UNIT ♛ (thomp), Friday, 14 August 2015 21:53 (nine years ago) link
https://medium.com/@shallowrewards/you-ain-t-nothin-but-a-hound-dog-b718ef1df1d5
Robert Christgau is the same age as my father. Actually, that’s inaccurate: he is four months older than my father.This morning, Christgau announced the migration of his authorial brand from this site — Medium — to VICE Media’s music arm, Noisey. His inaugural address ticked the usual boxes, reminding everyone that Lou Reed said some incoherent, nasty things about him, during a period in his career when Lou Reed could be counted on to say incoherent, nasty things about potato chips and clouds. We’re also reminded of Sonic Youth’s early vexation at Christgau’s dismissive treatment of their existential art school gambit, which wasn’t clever, authentic, or dangerous enough to escape the Dean’s withering stink-eye (Christgau graduated from Dartmouth, by the way — in 1962).Having flashed his credentials, Christgau’s first commentary for VICE heralds the effectiveness of Jason Derulo’s Everything Is, an LP that’s functionally a survey of production and songwriting techniques from the 1980s. Coincidentally, my exposure to Derulo’s irresistibly upbeat “Want to Want Me” aligns exactly with how one would have experienced pop music in the 1980s: I heard it on the radio (on the beach, even), because my nine year-old daughter likes it too. I am a married father of three. I cannot imagine devoting time out of my day to ponder the cultural significance of a new Billy Ocean, unless my views on the subject could attract a six-figure income.[...]I turn forty next week, and am approaching peak #Dadbod just as it reaches its cultural apex. If you’ve seen my video series or follow me on Twitter, you know I am quite good-looking. This is why I could never be a Rock Writer — I’m more attractive than most musicians — but if Rock Writer were defined by Christgau’s work at my age, I could never be that either. His output from 1975–1985 is literally scripture. It is everything everyone who has ever written about pop music could hope to accomplish, and never will.
This morning, Christgau announced the migration of his authorial brand from this site — Medium — to VICE Media’s music arm, Noisey. His inaugural address ticked the usual boxes, reminding everyone that Lou Reed said some incoherent, nasty things about him, during a period in his career when Lou Reed could be counted on to say incoherent, nasty things about potato chips and clouds. We’re also reminded of Sonic Youth’s early vexation at Christgau’s dismissive treatment of their existential art school gambit, which wasn’t clever, authentic, or dangerous enough to escape the Dean’s withering stink-eye (Christgau graduated from Dartmouth, by the way — in 1962).
Having flashed his credentials, Christgau’s first commentary for VICE heralds the effectiveness of Jason Derulo’s Everything Is, an LP that’s functionally a survey of production and songwriting techniques from the 1980s. Coincidentally, my exposure to Derulo’s irresistibly upbeat “Want to Want Me” aligns exactly with how one would have experienced pop music in the 1980s: I heard it on the radio (on the beach, even), because my nine year-old daughter likes it too. I am a married father of three. I cannot imagine devoting time out of my day to ponder the cultural significance of a new Billy Ocean, unless my views on the subject could attract a six-figure income.
[...]
I turn forty next week, and am approaching peak #Dadbod just as it reaches its cultural apex. If you’ve seen my video series or follow me on Twitter, you know I am quite good-looking. This is why I could never be a Rock Writer — I’m more attractive than most musicians — but if Rock Writer were defined by Christgau’s work at my age, I could never be that either. His output from 1975–1985 is literally scripture. It is everything everyone who has ever written about pop music could hope to accomplish, and never will.
― afriendlypioneer, Monday, 17 August 2015 19:50 (nine years ago) link
"If you’ve seen my video series or follow me on Twitter, you know I am quite good-looking."
who pasted lyttle lytton into medium
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Monday, 17 August 2015 19:56 (nine years ago) link
the sad thing is, there are legitimate points here, he just can't resist the urge to shit all over them and then sculpt his own image out of the shit
― for sale: baby shoes, never worn your ass (katherine), Monday, 17 August 2015 20:16 (nine years ago) link
It's like Close Encounters of the Turd Kind
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 17 August 2015 20:23 (nine years ago) link
yeah he's halfway right in that his vanity, not his looks, is holding him back from being a decent writer (xp)
― some dude, Monday, 17 August 2015 20:27 (nine years ago) link
What are his legit points, serious q
― polyphonic, Monday, 17 August 2015 20:33 (nine years ago) link
i thought he had some salient observations about how 30 years ago a child would kick a ball on the street and we didn't use to lock our front doors
― some dude, Monday, 17 August 2015 20:46 (nine years ago) link
i think xgau must be responsible for like 95% of the positive words ever uttered in the press about jason derulo's music
― dyl, Monday, 17 August 2015 21:25 (nine years ago) link
I cannot imagine devoting time out of my day to ponder the cultural significance of a new Billy Ocean, unless my views on the subject could attract a six-figure income.
anyone who's seen his twitter knows this is total bullshit
― da croupier, Monday, 17 August 2015 21:31 (nine years ago) link
Well at least we know his last couple raises got him from 96K to over 100, though they always raise the price of the bennies & yr lucky to break even
― Ma$e-en-scène (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 18 August 2015 00:11 (nine years ago) link
Most of you are probably smart enough not to have made it to the end of that, but the fact that he manages to drop his twitter handle/video channel/personal "brand" into the final sentence of the piece is pretty amazing.
― grandavis, Tuesday, 18 August 2015 15:50 (nine years ago) link