Ben WesthoffThe internet's stomach continues to churn over our Top 20 Worst Hipster Bands post, which — as I noted in our “correction” — inspired widespread anger and funny death threats involving oral sex from sharks. Someone even whined that it made him want to quit writing about music. Boo hoo!
Folks took it a twinge too seriously, and their complaints were full of gibberish — including that we're now doing nothing but snarky lists. Au contraire! In fact, we spend the vast majority of our time writing on worthy local artists, trends, and news relating to music, not to mention show reviews and industry analysis. We modestly believe we've got some of the best music scribes in the country, and here's proof.
Every week we publish a strongly-reported feature story, like Aaron Frank's this week on indie supergroup Divine Fits. It examines the break-ups which drove front-men Dan Boeckner (Wolf Parade) and Britt Daniel (Spoon) to L.A. Also be sure to check Rebecca Haithcoat's recent portrait of Fairfax Avenue, where the skateshop/streetwear scene popularized by Odd Future is drawing international tourists, to the chagrin of the longtime scenesters. (And while you may have heard the rap collective started a palm tree on fire — they didn't.)
Peep also my front-of-the-book story on the ascent of KDAY, the country's first station to play a majority hip-hop format, which is now kicking ass as a trailblazing classic rap outlet. It's worth it if only for the story about why morning show jock Tattoo got the words “I Slept With Shaq” on his forehead.
You should also understand that even though though we're sick of music critics who think indie rock is the only music worthy of consideration — who scoff at EDM, pop, metal, and punk, or at least don't write about it seriously — we still cover that local scene better than anyone. Check out Jeff Weiss' definitive Ariel Pink profile (if you read the story you'll understand why we suspect Pink loved being on the hipster bands list), or Drew Denny's piece on Ashley Huzienga, who blends art and exhibitionism in compelling and discomforting ways.
What we're getting at, here, is that while we love fun, ridiculous, silly blog posts, what really gets us going is good reporting. For examples see Andy Hermann's story on “gloving,” a controversial southern-California update on the rave light show, as well as Kai Flanders' look at Woody Guthrie's influential time in L.A. (Even if he was a bit racist.) Nikki Darling's piece on Helen Wong won kudos, as did Gabrielle Canon's history of the pimp cup, while this piece won a Southern California Journalism Award. Our critic Falling James, meanwhile, won first prize for music reporting/criticism from the Association of Alternative Newsmedia.
And don't forget that we've got motherfucking Henry Rollins every week. Not exactly a lightweight. Equally compelling are Jeff Weiss' weekly Bizarre Ride column, Shea Serrano's “Why This Song Sucks,” and old standby Fuck Guilty Pleasures. (Oh, and a quick plug for our concert calendar, which is L.A.'s best.)
So there you go. We appreciate your support, we appreciate the Los Angeles music scene, and, now and then, we even appreciate the misguided vitriol. You're the best, internets!
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Top 20 Musicians of All Time, in Any Genre
Top 20 Worst Bands of All Time
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