funboring.com - Best Music Writing

Noah Berlatsky interview me for MadeLoud

dc — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:11:28 -0700

A few weeks ago I got a long list of email questions from Noah Berlatsky. All the of the questions were great, but I fear that I was a bit longwinded about it. Here's the interview, in two parts:

Part 1

Part 2

Thanks to MadeLoud for the interview!

BMW2010: Now taking submissions

dc — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 22:16:37 -0700

Now is the time to submit work for the 2010 edition of Best Music Writing, an anthology of the world's best English-language writing. This year's guest editor is the fabulous author, critic, and feminist music scholar Ann Powers.

I am now taking submissions of published music writing between the dates of January 1 and December 31, 2009 for possible inclusion in the book. For quarterly publications the Winter 2009/2010 issue is okay.

-a polite number of your own music writing

-a fair number of music pieces from a publication you edit, contribute to, or otherwise are affiliated with

- a selection of music pieces you consider the best because you are a fan of music, music writing, writing, or listmaking

I'm looking for features, essays, profiles, news articles, interviews, creative non-fiction, fiction, book reviews, long-format reviews, charticles and other creative blends of language and image, blog posts, (yes, I said it and I mean it) Tweets, and other thoughful and well-written work on music and music culture. I mean the term "music" broadly to include all genres and time periods, and am more than willing to consider writing on sound, sound technologies, and listening (the emergent "sound studies" field) as well.

I will take any format for submissions but prefer writing in this order:

1) web links

2) Word docs

3) PDFs

4) Hard copies (603 West 115th Street #120 NY, NY 10025 - title "BMW2010 sub")

5) Email with the name of the author/title of piece/publication date

Email all work to musicwriting@gmail.com

Unfortunately I cannot accept liner notes, transcripts of radio/tv, book chapters, or unpublished work.That includes conference papers.

Please drop me a line if you have a question, concern, comment, praise or complaint. Forgive me if I am slow on the response. I WILL respond, if just to say "Thanks, I got it."

I will contact all authors and publications by the end of Feburary 2010 if they were accepted for the book. Until then, I'm going into the one woman deluge of writing and may be hard to reach. Wish me luck!

Guardian review and online writing

dc — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:23:42 -0700

The 10th edition of Best Music Writing got a great write up by Gareth Grundy in the Guardian UK recently. I especially liked the end:

For several years, the series has included work first published online. Generally, the zippier, funnier articles, such as Carrie Brownstein from the band Sleater-Kinney's spoof record reviews, survive the transition to old media the best. That said, Tom Ewing's thoughtful posting on the legacy of the late John Peel and his annual compilation, the Festive 50, should convince the last remaining digital refuseniks that the music journalism of the future won't be entirely made up of links and YouTube clips. At least, not just yet.

This has been a major goal of mine since taking the book's editorial helm, and I thank Grundy for pointing it out. The industry of music writing has changed drastically in that time, and the way in which writing functions has changed dramatically as well. We all now have so much or access to reference sounds, images, videos, and writing. But two things never change 1) music is a site for debate, critical engagement, and story telling 2) good writing articulates the most important, controversial, poignant, or overlooked parts of these conversations.

The one thing I have noticed throughout this whole process is that the best music writing is that which is either edited by someone else or written by someone who has honed the craft of editing. It is the single most important skill a writer can have.

Blogs, webzines, and online forums are just another place where a good writer can show off her craft, and I welcome the changing formats, styles, and approaches that online writing has taken. Actually, I crave even more challenging work than what gets routinely submitted to me (I suspect people send me their more conservative, "traditional" work). So, if you're reading this and want to submit some online writing that you did last year (or this year) but think it's too wacky - JUST SEND IT. The least it could do is brighten my day as I slog through 300 MJ tributes.

Send wacky/innovative/online writing (hopefully that is well edited) from 2009 to: musicwriting@gmail.com

Thanks for coming out to the BMW 2009 reading

dc — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:01:44 -0700

I just wanted to formally thank Greil, all the readers, and the audience for making Monday's Best Music Writing reading an outstanding success. Here's a short photo blog from New York Noise's Shirley Braha about the event.

Nov 2nd NYC Best Music Writing reading

dc — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:39:21 -0600

NYC Reading November 2nd

Monday, November 2, 2009, 7pm
Housing Works Cafe
126 Crosby Street, NY
Free (books to donate highly encouraged)

Featuring:
Greil Marcus, Guest Editor

and 2009 Contributors:
Josh Eells
Charles Talyors
Jace Clayton
Nick Sylvester
Carrie Brownstein
Jody Rosen
Paul Ford
William Hogeland
Jesse Serwer

BMW 2009 Out!

dc — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:38:27 -0600

Best Music Writing 2009

10tn Anniversary Edition

Guest Edited by Greil Marcus

Out NOW!

French anti-pop consort

dc — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:29:21 -0600

A few years ago a war raged between two grous, poptimists and the "rockists." They never managed to have a proper faceoff but generally argued pleasure of reception in the mass object v. the distinction of understanding a autonomously produced work of single authorship. Or something. Anyway this is the kind of thing the French have been arguing about basically forever.

Shantegate

dc — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 14:43:04 -0600

The story of young rapper Roxanne Shante getting a "college clause" in her major label record deal has been circulating for decades, but in the last few weeks it has come under fire after Slate ran a piece by Ben Sheffner that reports many of Shante's assertions about her education and career are false. Read the wise Jeff Change and Wayne Marshall on the controversy here.

First BMW09 review in

dc — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 01:22:13 -0600

Thanks to PopMatters for our first review of Best Music Writing 2009. The book is not out until October, but galleys have gone out into the world. If you'd like to review it for your blog, magazine, newspaper or on the radio, drop me a line (musicwriting at gmail dot com) and I'll put you in touch with our PR person. Thanks!

Vibe to relaunch

dc — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 08:37:58 -0600

After Johan Weiner's apprasial of why music mags are dying, it's nice to hear that one of them is coming back. Vibe is to relaunch as web-only magazine with a circulation of 300k. No mention here about the editorial staffing but I'll keep my ears open for it.