writing for the man

"und gestern, als ich mir zufällig die rezension des nme zum neuen black rebel motorcycle club-album durchlas, da hatte ich genau so ein déja vu-erlebnis. bloß wollte es auch nach dem zweiten absatz nicht enden. schließlich wurde mir klar, dass der autor james oldham da offenbar die umgeschriebene variante eines von ihm selbst geschriebenen promo-texts als plattenkritik abgegeben hatte (siehe vergleich unten). und das ist selbst im kontext der korrupten britischen musikpresse noch ein ziemlicher skandal.

[ "rotifer" berichtet von der insel ]

für die, die soloalbum gelesen, almost famous gesehen oder in irgendeinem teil der musikindustrie gejobbt haben, dürfte all das nichts neues sein, eher schon "nur eine weitere anekdote" sein, die morgen wieder vergessen ist.

darum, deswegen, trotzdem, obwohl:

"there is no checklist of criteria really for a great piece of music writing. the formula for real magic is nebulous at best. bad writing (and for that matter, bad music) is easier to breakdown and grapple with and i suppose the first thing that i play with in my head when i'm trying to assess a piece of writing is whether or not the writer is attempting to appeal to some perceived and possibly imaginary law of music journalist credibility. occasionally i get stuff from people trying to get into ctcl to use it as their nme audition piece and it astounds me how much these people are (on so many levels) just missing the point. 

of course, most of our readers are intelligent, cool, sexy, hip etc people and the majority of the submissions we receive are from earnest boys and girls who find something or other inspiring about the magazine or they have ideas about how their input could make a difference to ctcl or theories on where to take the magazine next (either by suggesting improvements or isolating possible flaws) and we're always happy to talk to them.

what also annoys me is people who repeatedly send you unsolicited material from their blog and pleading emails begging for a commision whilst miseraby attempting to impress their 'proper' journalist acquaintances with petty dissing and bitching under pseudonyms on certain internet messageboards. but these people rarely get very far and the sweetest revenge is to simply leave them to be consumed whole by their own bitterness and floor-scraping sense of self-worth.

how do you make good writing/music/art? being yourself is always a good starting point. people who spend their lives attempting to imitate others are hollow inside and their handshake is cold and clammy to the couch."

[ "david" im ctcl-forum ]

und bei dieser gelegenheit: careless talks costs live. eine offensichtlich und hoffentlich eine kleine lücke schließende musikzeitschrift. das alert-magazin der musikbranche. mit web-only-pdf-beiträgen.