Chicagoist: The Chicago Tribune (Almost) Rocks

tankboy

Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:26:33 -0600

As for The Reader, my guess is either J.R. or Miles is taking over ... or S. F. Jones. Wouldn't that be wild?

RICH

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:43:33 -0600

That bullshit faux-trash hipster "column" of hers is enough. Please don't let it be Liz.

E

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 19:00:24 -0600

Maybe Liz Armstrong will be doing a music column too.

Bill D.

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:05:57 -0600

p.s. I'm assuming Margasak is not who Jessica is "psyched" about

Bill D.

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 17:02:03 -0600

I'd heard somehting about Mehr leaving to work for Mojo magazine - I know he writes for them. But I guy I work with who is friends with him says he's going to Memphis to be a critic for the daily paper there. Don't know who's taking over. Hopefully not Margasak.

Jhopz

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 16:44:57 -0600

My bit about the Silver Jews was not to claim Berman as messiah, I was comparing their style. And I am not replacing Bob Mehr, FYI--though I am really psyched about who is.

tankboy

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 15:00:48 -0600

Ms. Hopper is freelancing, so her work will still appear elsewhere. Actually, I believe she has a new album review in this week's Reader. I haven't heard anything about Mehr, though.

Richard Soo

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 14:53:48 -0600

Does Hopper writing for the Trib mean she's done doing stuff for the Reader? And speaking of the Reader, I saw on another board that Bob Mehr - the guy who writes the page 3 music column - is leaving. Anyone know who is replacing him?

Joel

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:09:35 -0600

I still can't believe Liz Armstrong is on anyone's payroll.

tankboy

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:02:20 -0600

notabbot, read The Trib piece Ms. Hopper wrote and I think you'll see she can write just a lucidly as the rest when addressing a "mainstream" audience. (Which, byt the way, is not the audience The Reader is trying to reach. If it was, Liz Armstrong wouldn't be on their payroll.) Most music crits I know tend to try and adjust their "voice" for the venue.

Bill V

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 12:01:16 -0600

I dislike DeRo as well, and am happy with what I am seeing in the Trib. I almost fell out of my chair when I saw the Stones review. Keep up the nice writing TB, maybe you'll get the call soon!

notabbott

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:58:39 -0600

I feel like I have to point out here that Jessica Hopper, in the Reader's Guide to the Pitchfork Festival, had one of the most overblown and pretentious capsules of Silver Jews that I think I've ever seen in my life. It started off with "David Berman...reminds me of Jesus" and went downhill from there, which makes me want to revive DeRo's e-mail subject line to former Reader critic Bill Wyman from way back in the day..."kill the thesaurus!" Then again, writing for a mainstream publication might force her to tone it down a bit.

Mr. Smith

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:56:25 -0600

Fern, that's an unfair criticism of DeRo. He went on at length about how much he enjoyed the Justin Timberlake show at HOB recently and has been similarly effusive of Ashlee Simpson of all people. So to say he hates "new music" (he's in love with Art Brut and has a positive review of Lily Allen up today) or even disposable pop is untrue. I don't agree with everything he has to say (I disagreed with some of his Lolla criticisms) but I like the way he says it. And he's still at the S-T. Tankboy was just joshin'.

tankboy

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:33:23 -0600

Joel: To each their own, right? mike: Yes. FernLaPlante: DeRo also likes The Flaming Lips and Pink Floyd. Seriously, though, if you keep in mind DeRo's hero is Lester bangs it really helps put his criticism into perspective, and allows one to enjoy what he has to say. If you know where a critic is coming from (their "manifesto" per se) it's always a better read. At least in my opinion. However, I'm sure there are just as many folks that enjoy the thirty word shorts that pass as reviews in Spin / RS / EW / etc. lately.

FernLaPlante

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:25:16 -0600

Jim DeRogatis is one of those music "critics" that should retire. He is so jaded and hateful of anything new. He will go to concerts like Beyonce, Timberlake, Jem etc. and proclaim how awful and terrible they are and how they are ruining "his" music industry. If he hates them outright then don't go to the concerts - send someone else. DeRo only likes Frank Black. That is it. I have seen him at concerts numerous times just staring at the stage in disgust then leaving early. U2, Liz Phair, Madonna, etc. Any band he deems "a sellout" he trashes in his column for no reason. That is why people stopped reading him at the Sun-Times and he had to "defect" to the Trib. Good riddance, let him ruin that paper too.

mike

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:20:04 -0600

Andrew Bird is from Chicago?

Joel

Fri, 13 Oct 2006 11:18:44 -0600

I'm a Trib reader, but they don't have anything as good as Quick Takes. I'll take Zay Smith over "DeRo" any day.