Hey, thought I'd share a site that I haven't seen mentioned around here, The Silent Ballet (www.thesilentballet.com). I frequent this site daily and enjoy their coverage. Generally they cover instrumental music, covering stuff like post-rock, instrumental rock, ambient, electronica, experimental, post-metal, and some jazz and classical. They review a lot of material which isn't commonly featured elsewhere, pulling from many nontraditional countries and a lot of independently/self-released material.
Like all sites they have their biases/agenda working (in general they don't seem to be that impressed with the bigger names in the field), but I think they safely avoid the 'fanzine' tag and provide fairly subjective, accurate reviews. Some of the writers are really talented and fun to read as well (Jon Brooks, Alex Bradshaw, Jordan Volz).
I bring the website up because I've noticed a few posts around here about people looking for 'non-indie non-hipster' critics, and they certainly fit that bill. Roughly 15 new reviews a week.
Looks like they've maintained the site well over the past year. Keep working at it.
________________________________________________________ "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson tinymixtapes.com / The Skinny / PopMatters
I like how they are just now covering the Best of 2002. Instead of trying to give instant analysis, they let the music age and sink in before giving an opinion. I would like to see more of that.
Posts: 624 | Location: kentucky | Registered: 02 October 2007
Yeah, that's actually a really good idea. "Best Of" year-end lists really just scan the first ten months of the year. Releases from later on don't get the same opportunity to spread the word their quality, especially so with independents.
________________________________________________________ "The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There's also a negative side." - Hunter S. Thompson tinymixtapes.com / The Skinny / PopMatters
