Blogcritics Author: Gibby Miller

Announcement: Short-content feeds

Phillip Winn — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:00:00 EDT

Sunday, August 26, 2007, marks the switch of all Blogcritics.org article feeds from full-content to short-content. This is the result of several converging factors, and is unfortunately a permanent decision (as permanent as any decision can be on the web, that is). We are aware of all of the reasons that this is a Bad Idea, and we are aware that some of you will be quite upset about having to click on something to read the free content, and we're sorry. Unfortunately, despite great effort, full-content feeds are not currently economically viable. Two other factors are involved: full-content feeds have resulted in an unprecedented level of content theft, with BC content appearing on many websites, usually spam sites, without attribution or permission. This duplicate content causes a cascading set of problems, not the least of which is that search engines generally aren't favorable to duplicate content, and don't always guess correctly. Finally, our RSS advertising partner is strongly in favor of short-content feeds. We hope that you'll continue to subscribe to BC via RSS, and when an article grabs your eye, it's only a click away, still free on the BC website. Thank you for your understanding.

A Daily Video: "I have seen your eyes in purple..."

Gibby Miller — Fri, 29 Dec 2006 13:59:37 EST

During the summer immediately following my graduation from high school, I drove to Cleveland to stay with a girl I had met earlier that year at the Projekt Records festival in Chicago. She and her older sister were the reigning goth ladies in the small goth/darkwave scene of Clevo, referred to as "The Sisters" by all of the local club-goers.During my first night there, we all went out to a club called The Paradise (I believe?), next door to a smaller venue which we would later frequent almost nightly called The Chamber.On this particular night, the girls (and all of their friends) had taken acid. I sat in a chair at the edge of the dance floor watching them, feeling disconnected from everything and still sort of surprised at myself for having driven all this way to see this girl who I barely knew.Then a song came on that struck me like lightning. The lyrics: "Imagination takes the shadows away"... such a bold and simple statement which at the time I suppose I needed to hear, filled as I was with doubt about my future, this relationship (why the hell was I in Cleveland with this group of people?), and my life in general. Those words left an impression on me that I would repeat to myself for weeks to come. I tracked down the artist and the song, which would prove itself to be one of the only uplifting numbers in Xymox's career. From the Netherlands, (Clan of) Xymox's "Imagination" off of the 1989 album Twist of Shadows.

Each day I'll dig up a classic OR obscure music video from history's archives and share it here. Without sticking to any specific genre or period, I will be scanning my brain for classic hits and timeless classics... From throwback hip hop and electro to obscure punk and hardcore, and everything in between... uncovering hidden indierock and pop gems buried beneath the folds of time and television static, bringing you the best of the forgotten and unheard.

A Daily Video: C86

Gibby Miller — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 02:31:50 EST

At the age of 18 or 19, one afternoon in 1996, I was sitting on the floor of my Vinal Avenue apartment in Allston, MA listening to records with a friend of mine. He had brought over a stack of records with which he was making, song by song, a mix tape for me before my very eyes, giving me the rundown of each track and band. My favorite bands at the time were Section 25, The Wake, etc. and while I was well versed in the gloomy post punk of Manchester, the pop of that era had, until that afternoon, escaped my ears entirely.It was during this session that I was exposed to a few bands and labels that would make a huge impact on my life. From New Zealand: The Chills and Flying Nun Records, from the USA: Beat Happening and K Records, from the UK: The Wolfhounds and Midnight Music and Creation, and Subway Org Records and the myriad of jangly pop masters on the Take The Subway to Your Suburb compilation (Groove Farm, The Flatmates, The Razorcuts, and Pop Will Eat Itself).Prior to that afternoon I had of course heard newer pop, and been exposed to twee and the dozens of indie bands that were current and popular, but the bold sound of "C86" (the genre label given to bands of this era, named after a 1986 cassette compilation called C-86, a take off on blank cassettes labeled with "C-30, C-60, C-90 minutes") came smashing down on me as I watched my friend dance in the middle of the living room, smoking a cigarette with hilarious white sunglasses on, lip-synching to a song by the band in this next video... From Essex, UK, mid-'80s pop legends: The Wolfhounds' "Cruelty"