funboring.com - Best Music Writing

Call for submissions: Best Music Writing 2009

dc — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:19:58 -0700

Hello music writing lover,

I'm the editor of the Best Music Writing series, an anthology now in its tenth year of publishing the year’s best writing on topics music-related. I’m honored to be working with Greil Marcus for the upcoming 2009 book, and hope you can help me make this the best book in the series.

My job is tough. I am responsible for reading all the music publications in the English language and selecting 100 pieces from these publications for possible reprint in the volume. It helps a lot to get suggestions from writers, editors, and music writing fans who read every day.

No Depression is back!

dc — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:08:20 -0600

Here's a press release about No Depression, a site that will bring great roots music writing back into the picture. I've never heard the term bookazine before, but according to Dennis Publishing it's:

Essentially a Bookazine is a perfect-bound, magazine-sized soft back book focusing on a particular subject matter. These bookazines are sold on the magazine racks and are priced between £6.95 and £9.99 with production values to reflect this price.

The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing is coming!

dc — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 08:27:29 -0600

Oxford American's editor Marc mentioned some time ago that this was happening, and I'm excited to see that The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing is now soon to be available from University of Arkansas Press. The book collects 10 years of the magazine's great music issues (from which come BMW stories almost every year) and there's a forward by Van Dyck Parks. Awesome.

Oliver Wang and Nelson George on WNYC's Soundcheck

dc — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 12:39:23 -0600

Check out these two Soundcheck segments, first with guest editor Nelson George then with Oliver Wang on his piece Boogaloo Nights, from The Nation.

Matos on dilettantism as the new mode of listening

dc — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:36:09 -0600

Here's a good musing by Matos on the deluge of music in our "celestial jukebox" lives, and how critics might deal with it. He's taling about getting into Duke Ellington, and the great big learning curve every critic must face when tackling a new genre or mode of listening.

October 10th BMW Reading in Los Angeles

dc — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 10:02:37 -0600

Time: Friday, October 10, 2008 7:30 p.m.
Location: Skylight Books

To celebrate the newest volume of this highly anticipated annual "Best", Ann Powers hosts a panel of other noted music writers (and contributors to this year's book) that will include Solvej Schou, Oliver Wang, Jeff Weiss, Brandon Perkins, J. Bennett and more.

Best Music Writing Reading NYC - October 6th at the Half King, 7pm

dc — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:10:30 -0600

Best Music Writing 2008 Reading
October 6, 2008, 7pm, free
The Half King
505 West 23rd Street (10th Ave)
http://www.thehalfking.com/directions/

Guest editor Nelson George hosts a night of the Best Music Writing with 2008 authors including:

Gary Giddins
Jody Rosen
Jeff Sharlet
Sam Kashner
Larry Blumenfeld
Bill Wasik
Alan Light
Alex Ross
David Kamp
Andy Tennille

See you there!

Alex Ross wins a MacArthur

dc — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 08:42:00 -0600

Yesterday it was announced that two time BMW contributor Alex Ross won a MacArthur Fellowship. Widely called the "genius award," the fellowship is awarded as a surprise to folks across the arts and sciences for their impact on contemporary thought. Many congrats to Alex for breaking beyond music criticism to the larger world of great thinkers and writers!

LA panel on music criticism - TONIGHT!

dc — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 07:19:49 -0600

Join the Popular Music Project as we discuss the perils and possibilities of music and arts criticism in the digital age.

When: Wednesday, 9/24 @ 7:30p

Where: USC Annenberg Building, Room 207

Participants include:

Moderator Ann Powers (LA Times pop music critic; 2008 Resident of the Popular Music Project)

Oliver Wang (Souldsides.com; CSULB)

Rosen addresses thieves...

dc — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:06:53 -0600

Jody Rosen has a great piece out today called "Dude, you stole my article" about a small-town weekly paper that plagerized content from a number of on-line sources for basically their entire editorial body. He avoids meta-commentary on the nature of online pastiche and instead goes for online justice, as the editor refused to engage him in conversation about the problem. The title is some bit of irony then, since the "you" in question uncertain and the article is seeking him or her out. The publication took down its website - so someone, maybe even you, got the message.