I understand that Metacritic has limited resources, but why are some of the best bands, which must have an ample supply of reviews and back catalogs, still getting omitted? More importantly, what can we, as the fan base, do to make it easier to get this info out there?
I'm specifically talking about Mclusky, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Paul Kelly, Marshall Crenshaw, Andrew Bird, etc, etc. I'm sure that everybody out there can come up with at least five more of their own. I have checked many of the critics' websites which Metacritic uses, and many of these and others may be found there. If they're not there, there's a million other "critic"'s websites/publications. I'm not trying to start a revolution, but does anybody else think that some of the more "obscure" bands are getting ignored too much by something as hip as Metacritic. I'm more interested in constructive ways for everybody to help get some of these bands exposure. I'm not talking about some comment I saw somewhere about getting "more mainstream" bands recognition. Metacritic, you have created a monster. Now, are you ready to let it be used for good, or do we have to go around throwing little girls into a lake? All we slackers want is a little love to go with our underachievement.

Probably because either the Music Editor isn't aware of the band having enough recognition to make it something readers would be interested in, or it's going up there but hasn't had time to be entered yet.

The forums will help with this I think. For instance, based on the number of really enthusiastic mentions I have seen McClusky get, assuming it has enough reviews from the publications Metacritic uses, it will probably go up on the site sometime (although I can't speak for the Music Editor ... that's up to him).

But you pointed out the main reason in your very first sentence. Metacritic does have limited resources. The people who are inputting the reviews have regular jobs and maintain Metacritic in the spare time they have around that, so sometimes things take longer to go up than the editors would wish them to, especially with music, since there are just so many artists and albums out there in the world.

I would say the best way to bring attention to a band you would like to see up there is to start a discussion about it on the forums. If several people post about the band then it shows there is interest out there among the readers of Metacritic and the editors will see that and maybe the band will then end up on the site.

quote:

---

Originally posted by KT:
For instance, based on the number of really enthusiastic mentions I have seen McClusky get, assuming it has enough reviews from the publications Metacritic uses, it will probably go up on the site sometime

---

Today, in fact

quote:

---

Originally posted by mark f: I'm specifically talking about Mclusky, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Paul Kelly, Marshall Crenshaw, Andrew Bird, etc, etc.

---

I just had the pleasure of seeing Andrew Bird open for My Morning Jacket here in St Louis. One word...AMAZING.

Alright, I'm not trying to hijack my own website, but please, visitors, list the bands that YOU miss on Metacritic. I can live with listening to "my bands" getting no recognition (after all, I already know how good they are), but get yours out there. This may be our best chance to get a community going. Your humble servant, please don't laugh, mark f.

Machols, I'm pretty sure that all the artists you mentioned are at Metacritic. It's just that up until now, they're mostly over at the main music section. I don't know if you've checked that out. All the albums have collected reviews, and everyone can make their comments about them, so you can find what others think of some of your faves. You just can't have a "running conversation" over there. These forums have only been up a little over a month, so there's an endless supply of topics yet to discuss.

Also, if you want someone to comment on particular songs, go to "Thoughts on Songs" in "General Music Discussion" and comment on the last posting; then put your choices out.

im not quite sure if i should post this in this old thread but...

I think the Acid Mothers Temple releases should recieve metascores. I know its kind of hard to keep track of them...but at least score their biggest releases.

I don't know about all sites, but I know that PopMatters, Splendid and Pitchfork have reviewed David Cross' It's Not Funny. I'm sure not just that, but, of the sites I regularly check, David Cross has been pretty common. Although he is technically not music, it would be cool to see him added to Metacritic's library.

I am now making a heavy push to get jazztronica album "Junk Magic" by Craig Taborn on metacritic. I was thinking about doing this a week or two ago, but wanted to listen to the album more to make sure I like it enough to risk my Metacritic Forum credibility on it. I am now extremely confident in this album's quality.

See my Craig Taborn appreciation thread, where I link to some online reviews.

I know nothing about Craig but, come on now, "Sweetie" is extremely reliable. Without actually listening to this, I'm sure it belongs here; there's not enough truly alternative here. Let's here it for these guys, and let metacritic push the envelope!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mark f,

There is actually a paucity of jazz in general on Metacritic, but as I aluded elsewhere, I think this has a lot more to do with the current state of the genre than oversight on the part of the editors here. The major labels have cut their jazz rosters dramatically in recent years and while independent jazz labels sometimes seem to rival the indie scene in rock, jazz criticism has not kept pace with those labels, nor has it generally embraced the Web, which based on my reading of the Metacritic FAQ would make compiling a Metascore difficult.

A number of the publications that are included in the calculations, however, do review jazz releases consistently, notably All Music, Pop Matters, and The Village Voice. All About Jazz and One Final Note could be two excellent additions that might help generate jazz Metascores.

Now Playing: CNN's "Late Edition" with Wolf Blitzer

quote:

---

Originally posted by Monheim:
Although he is technically not music, it would be cool to see him added to Metacritic's library.

---

Given the amount of credibly good comedy records coming out in the last few years (Cross, Patton Oswald, Lewis Black, Mitch Hedberg) and the cross-pollination of edgier comedy and music (Cross touring with bands and recording for SubPop, Chunklet Magazine putting on music and comedy shows concurrently in Athens, Michael Penn and Aimee Mann bringing Patton Oswald along on their Acoustic Vaudeville tour), I think having a metacritic section of comedy albums would be a good idea.

The Music Editor has been really busy lately, and I don't think has visted the forums, but I'll let him know what you guys are asking for. I'm not sure about the jazz, mostly because of the very difficulties LinnTate was talking about and the fact that to add a jazz section would probably require adding another music editor, it would at least double the work on that section.

But David Cross might be a go, since it has been reviewed a lot, and he seems to be pretty "indie" ... anyway, I'll at least point his attention at these suggestions.

I mentioned this in another thread, but global/world music could have a stronger presence. You'd have to be flexible and allow maybe just three reviews to get an album listed, as there are fewer publications that cover it. The best of the crop seems to be Songlines, and BBC. There's probably a lot of hippie crap out there too, ha ha.

This is one of those posts where I couldn't really find a better thread for it.

For the music editor: "Fear of a Black Tangent" is Busdriver's third solo album. His first album was entitled "Temporary Forever". His second album was "Cosmic Cleavage", which also happened to be the best rap album of 2004. However, last year wanted pretty hard for good rap albums, so "best rap album of 2004" isn't exactly the great honor it should be. Still, it was quite an excellent album.

Also, I wanted to bump this thread back up because I think this is a good thread, and it saves the trouble of starting a new thread for every new band that each user wants to bring others' attention to.