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Has anyone ventured outside of the forum and onto the content on DiS recently?

badmanreturns [Edit] [Delete] 39 replies 11:09 March 4th, 2013

Just came across this in the 'Singles of the Week' column:

"People say to me*: 'How do you decide which single is empirically best each week? I mean, they are all so different, it must be so hard.' And I say to you, my internet friends, what I do, is to pick the songle that makes Narnia happen in my brain. And this week, it is this one. Mainly because I am sucker for goofy, piano house. Especially ones that have a gutsy, bucket-of-pluck ladyvocal on the top of them; and most especially ones that makes you think that the more you listen, the strongerer you will be."

jfc.

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TBH

If you can't see that paragraph is being written for yuks, your humour chip is malfunctioning, MechaTrollZilla.

Teepee_uk | 4 Mar '13, 11:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Yeah I'm not really sure who's amused by someone talking like a child?
  
  badmanreturns @Teepee_uk | 4 Mar '13, 17:06 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  Oissin_ this'd this
  - cat_race
    
    Cementimental @badmanreturns | 4 Mar '13, 17:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - absolutely not
      
      cat_race @Cementimental | 5 Mar '13, 15:55 | X | ^ This | Reply
have you read anything other than Wendy's penultimate singles column?

She's been doing the singles with that light-hearted tone for 4 years!

sean | 4 Mar '13, 11:25 | X | ^ This | Reply

Antelope, domgourlay, Anthonyc, ma0sm, and colinzealuk this'd this
I like the pieces on noise-pop

noise-pop is one of my favourite kinds of music

guntrip | 4 Mar '13, 11:32 | X | ^ This | Reply
- yeah, I quite like Sonic Youth too
  
  robluvsnic @guntrip | 5 Mar '13, 14:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - The man said noise pop,
    
    not harsh noise.
    
    GayGuevara @robluvsnic | 5 Mar '13, 15:39 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Haha nope
      
      Reload, and try again GG
      
      thecrikster @GayGuevara | 5 Mar '13, 15:43 | X | ^ This | Reply
      - I'm not sure what you're point is?
        
        GayGuevara @thecrikster | 5 Mar '13, 15:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        *your
        
        GayGuevara @GayGuevara | 5 Mar '13, 15:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
I like the Hookworms review

Hyperbole sometimes doesn't grate!

orangejuice | 4 Mar '13, 12:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
- It is very well written
  
  Of course I haven't heard it so it MIGHT be 10/10, but all last year each album of that score didn't merit it in my view so I will dampen my expectations...but it is nice to at least have the score well backed up by a good piece of writing.
  
  wonton @orangejuice | 4 Mar '13, 12:58 | X | ^ This | Reply
Wendy's reviews are great.

I guess if you read a few more of her columns you might get to like the style. Maybe she's divisive - certainly I've seen a lot of love for the way she approaches it, but then she's about to hang up her...erm...keyboard? So there'll be a new style in place soon.

TheoGB | 4 Mar '13, 12:40 | X | ^ This | Reply

whatisthewhat and the_outdoor_typo this'd this
- I used to love it but it's got exhausting
  
  andyvine @TheoGB | 4 Mar '13, 14:35 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  lemonbrickcombo this'd this
- No.
  
  They are ghastly. I'd been thinking of posting a thread about how ghastly they are for ages, but was worried the DiS police would do something horrible to me. But now we have this thread: THEY ARE GHASTLY.
  
  Oissin_ @TheoGB | 4 Mar '13, 17:36 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - I tried to read one of those once
    
    but it was like trying to read the writing on a fucking Innocent smoothie or something
    
    Comaboy @Oissin_ | 4 Mar '13, 18:45 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - Indeed.
      
      Songs are always shite as well.
      
      Oissin_ @Comaboy | 4 Mar '13, 18:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
- she reads like morwenna banks in absolutely
  
  i loved morwenna banks in absolutely
  
  the_outdoor_typo @TheoGB | 4 Mar '13, 18:14 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  ambigyouus this'd this
venture. outside. the. forum.

[shudder]

funkycow | 4 Mar '13, 14:57 | X | ^ This | Reply

Comaboy, ethricdouble, seedler, Oissin_, rainmaker, and Jordan_229_2 this'd this
songle

soapy | 4 Mar '13, 15:07 | X | ^ This | Reply
- Didn't spot that on first read
  
  I'm now having to explain to everyone in my office why I've puked all over my desk.
  
  JohnM @soapy | 4 Mar '13, 16:33 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - and obviously I didn't tell them the real reason overwise they'd be throwing up too
    
    JohnM @JohnM | 4 Mar '13, 16:34 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - surely a typo
      
      nobody could be that evil
      
      ethricdouble @JohnM | 4 Mar '13, 16:44 | X | ^ This | Reply
Yeah

deep-blue | 4 Mar '13, 15:25 | X | ^ This | Reply
The problem is The Quietus covers a lot of the same stuff, if not a much broader range

and the quality of writing is (generally) a lot higher

Comaboy | 4 Mar '13, 16:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
- shot myself in the foot starting that site didn't I?
  
  However, if you have a proper read of DiS, the standard of writing is terrific at the moment. Sure, a few of our writers don't labour over perfect syntax, but what they lack in oxford commas and verbosity, they more than make up for with passion, knowledge and caring about music. I do really like theQuietus a lot of the time too, and very proud to have been part of starting it, but sometimes I prefer the spunk and irreverence of many of DiS' finest writers.
  
  sean @Comaboy | 4 Mar '13, 16:48 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  Jordan_229_2, Antelope, and andyvine this'd this
  - Maybe I should clarify (Here comes the backpedalling)
    
    DiS isn't bad at all, most of the articles/reviews are well-written and yes enthusiasm counts for a lot
    
    The Quietus probably covers more music I'm actually interested in and I'm a snob who likes more verbose writing, but it can and does go too far and disappear up it's own arse sometimes.
    
    Comaboy @sean | 4 Mar '13, 18:50 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - rant alert
    
    I feel like the main flaw of DiS is--and yeah, I know it's been discussed ad nauseum--the design. It's just so old! I mean, look at other media outlets of any genre, from Onion to New Yorker: they all look lovely, and are primed to get their content out to their readership in this fairly fast-moving medium.
    
    But while Pitchfork--using that as a kind of American kindred spirit to DiS--has progressed quite dramatically over the last while, it seems like DiS really hasn't. Now, I know that's not quite true, and I can only imagine the hard work that still goes into DiS, but...it just seems kind of stagnant, which I'm going to blame on being visually unaltered for a long time (since there is lots of good content here).
    
    Granted, P4K has a much larger audience given the size of US population, but nevertheless, they're always on the cusp of things in terms of technology, festivals, multimedia, collaborations, and so on. I sorta feel like DiS could have been/could still be a kind of UK equivalent to that. I know it's also a lot easier to fund things like that in the states than here. Anyway, rant over!
    
    And for the record, I'm in no way saying I could do a better job as sean, or even nearly as good a one. If this was my site you'd be looking at viagra ads just now.
    
    gaborszabo @sean | 5 Mar '13, 10:42 | X | ^ This | Reply
    
    pentargo this'd this
    - I agree with all of your points
      
      I've had a new site very ALMOST ready for about 3 years. Like, 85% done, but have been kept hanging on by developers and cashflow issues (most of the funds we've had set aside have either been eaten into by crap months of advertising or by fixing existing problems to keep this site online). The new site looks MUCH nicer - this current design was something a previous developer put live on his last day, which I hadn't seen and haven't been able to do much to change. We haven't had a full-time developer since the BSKYB money ran out in 2008/9.
      
      I love the design of New York magazine's website and the new look is a little more like that. Crisp but not too bright white and clean. Nicer fonts. Recommendations to the fore. Mobile-friendly. Able to be developed upon.
      
      DiS' biggest problem is its legacy, and the required investment to get beyond code from 2000-2005, which has been a mess that has needed a lot of untangling.
      
      I've given up on a freelancer that has really let me down (he started in November, has done a few days work, but not deployed any of it, yet keeps invoicing...), so I'm now looking for a new company. Emails flying out to people today.
      
      FYI - Pitchfork have about 25 staff (may even be more than that), and has had a fair bit of investment. Plus, yeah, American media and brands 'get' Pitchfork far more than UK publications like DiS. They're also a lot less squeezed by comparable music coverage from newspapers (imagine how much resource someone like The Guardian or Sunday Times has - even just the man power and reach to secure big features and exclusives) and things like the BBC, Channel4, etc. Plus obviously US population is huge, and a lot of the 'content' (album exclusives, big breaking news, rare interview time with Radiohead, etc) which would help build a site like DiS' profile and traffic, ends up going to existing US sites or print publications, despite the fact we had 33million pageviews last year.
      
      Obviously I would love some big company (with developers and designers and all that) to come aboard to give DiS the resource to take things forward. We can survive how we are, but it's very hard to compete and grow without compromise or resource.
      
      sean @gaborszabo | 5 Mar '13, 15:17 | X | ^ This | Reply
      
      pentargo this'd this
      - Main thing is: Pitchfork don't do any sort of forum or community.
        
        In my view that must half any work they have to do on the site. You can't even comment on their articles, except presumably via posting them on social sites.
        
        So there's a whole swathe of code they simply sidestep and a whole swathe of headaches they can file neatly in that 'contact' form.
        
        TheoGB @sean | 5 Mar '13, 15:29 | X | ^ This | Reply
        
        Lililololaure this'd this
- DiS is kind of a training ground, the Quietus is kind of a cool members' club
  
  for established journalists - there's a tonne of overlap within that, but I think there's room for both in this world
  
  lukowski @Comaboy | 4 Mar '13, 17:16 | X | ^ This | Reply
  
  whatisthewhat this'd this
- The Quietus is hard to read
  
  The writing is so complicated that one word comes to my mind: the much hated "pretentious".
  
  deep-blue @Comaboy | 4 Mar '13, 18:22 | X | ^ This | Reply
  - You mean it's long
    
    don't you? I quite like the fact that they're more longform.
    
    lemonbrickcombo @deep-blue | 5 Mar '13, 11:08 | X | ^ This | Reply
    - I just find a lot of it to be quite dull.
      
      oojimaflop @lemonbrickcombo | 5 Mar '13, 11:17 | X | ^ This | Reply
I read the iceage interview - which now seems to have been sensibly taken down.

It wasn't one of DiS's proudest moments, unfortunately.

theguywithnousername | 4 Mar '13, 16:46 | X | ^ This | Reply
- It was the guys first piece for us.
  Vice commissioned it, and then went silent, and now have run it, so we had to take it down.
  
  sean @theguywithnousername | 4 Mar '13, 16:49 | X | ^ This | Reply
absolutely not

i never venture

cat_race | 4 Mar '13, 16:47 | X | ^ This | Reply
I prefer DiS reviews to Pitchfork

and the interview pieces are generally nicely paced and interesting.

yuggy | 5 Mar '13, 15:30 | X | ^ This | Reply

Lililololaure this'd this

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