Neon Screams!

[CrowleyHead]

Unrelated to anything really but the Muggs stuff indicates a bigger issue which is that so many writers have realized within the last two or three years that they're increasingly becoming powerless when they work in this industry in a way that treats it like an occupation rather than a arena to offer and communicate ideas. Ideas aren't what's valuable to the profession, it's efficiency, effectiveness, content churning.

K-Bart unintentionally undoes this because he doesn't have any interest in covering a beat. He's not going to be pitching to The Wire for assignments, he's instead able to happily generate enough relative interest by pushing this out himself with the guidance of someone more connected like blissblogger.

It threatens someone like a Muggs who more and more, the last... 4-5 years of his profession he's spent so much time hissing and seething at the fact that he's threatened to be disposed of because he can no longer keep being on the pulse. Now suddenly he quotes Adorno and bemoans capital (which hey he's not wrong) but it's because he feels a definite envy at both Simon and barty. I can't blame him, I do too and I'm far younger and far less untalented.

 

[william_kent]

I failed in my attempt to buy @CrowleyHead a kindle copy of Neon Screams, Bezos is a dick and delivery is confined to the UK, and I don't have any kindle device to hack, etc., , anyone know of a way of getting him a PDF in fully legal way? I'll pay any costs because I'm a bit drunk at the moment and feeling generous, and anyway he deserves it

 

[craner]

Unrelated to anything really but the Muggs stuff indicates a bigger issue which is that so many writers have realized within the last two or three years that they're increasingly becoming powerless when they work in this industry in a way that treats it like an occupation rather than a arena to offer and communicate ideas. Ideas aren't what's valuable to the profession, it's efficiency, effectiveness, content churning.

K-Bart unintentionally undoes this because he doesn't have any interest in covering a beat. He's not going to be pitching to The Wire for assignments, he's instead able to happily generate enough relative interest by pushing this out himself with the guidance of someone more connected like blissblogger.

It threatens someone like a Muggs who more and more, the last... 4-5 years of his profession he's spent so much time hissing and seething at the fact that he's threatened to be disposed of because he can no longer keep being on the pulse. Now suddenly he quotes Adorno and bemoans capital (which hey he's not wrong) but it's because he feels a definite envy at both Simon and barty. I can't blame him, I do too and I'm far younger and far less untalented.

People smarter than Muggs, like Finney, saw this trap coming a mile off.

 

[luka]

finney was already highly paid lawyer in his early twenties in any case

 

[luka]

but the territorial aspect is obviously the key one, feeling you have to claim and defend territory in a shrinking market

 

[craner]

What is Muggs territory anyway? I've never really read his stuff. Obviously I follow the career of Jude Rogers very closely because she was in my English Lit A-Level class and she now moves in that critical swamp.

 

[luka]

his main thing is stuff like 4-tet, broken beat etc the polite, gilles peterson adjacent end of dance music but he tries to scoop up
everything he can, becasue he needs to put food on the table like everyone else

 

[craner]

I see, I only asked because a cursory glance at Twitter makes him seem quite omnivorous.

 

[craner]

It actually astounds me that people my age can still make enough money doing this to put food on the table.

 

[luka]

it doesnt make sense does it

 

[craner]

I can only imagine it as a life of constant anxiety and paranoia, which would of course explain all the emotion and spite that Muggs channelled into the review

 

[craner]

I guess it's also punctured by the sense of joy and power you get seeing your name in print writing about Four Tet

 

[Poet for Hire]

It actually astounds me that people my age can still make enough money doing this to put food on the table.

Yes, but you have to bare in mind that dissensus has a particularly high concentration of white middle aged male losers, so go figure. . .

 

[craner]

That depends how you define a loser. Not being a music journalist is not a very valid criteria.

 

[Poet for Hire]

That depends how you define a loser. Not being a music journalist is not a very valid criteria.

Not a fail safe definition of course, but let's start with not being able to envisage someone being able to make enough money to put food on their table doing their chosen career?

 

[craner]

Not a fail safe definition of course, but let's start with not being able to envisage someone being able to make enough money to put food on their table doing their chosen career?

I was talking about the conditions of earning enough money as a freelance critic in this country at this time.

 

[craner]

I probably did sound more snarky than I really meant to.

 

[woops]

I will post my copy to anyone who wants it

 

[luka]

I will post my copy to anyone who wants it

this is the infamous joe muggs review copy which turned up in a stoke newington charity shop 4 days before the actual release date

 

[woops]

this is the infamous joe muggs review copy which turned up in a stoke newington charity shop 4 days before the actual release date

Hence my wish to banish it from my bookshelf