By now, y'all know that "General Haberdashery" = "recommended reading". Two weeks ago, I pimped the degenerates at Fire Joe Morgan. Last week, it was Low Resolution, which is run by singular lowlife, Joe Reid. Today, I continue the theme of gently mocking my former co-writers with a look at my brothers in funk.
Machine Gun Funk
Synopsis: "Machine Gun Funk is equal parts irreverent and brash...passionate and unpretentious. The eclectic voices heard on MGF focus on music through skewed and slightly cracked glasses. (Their) opinions are loud and (their) biases are even louder. The absurd is mockingly celebrated, while the status quo has to withstand the scrutiny of MGF's unique point of view. No genre is safe. No artist is immune. And, the music industry is officially on notice." –from the MGF Mission Statement. It's not plagiarism since I wrote the damn thing.
Positives: Featuring affirmatively action-packed writing and a distinct collection of voices unlike any others at Inside Pulse (read: minorities, militant), MGF is where you'll find some of the best music writing around, including three Music Writer of the Year Award Winners amongst those that have passed thru their hallowed halls. You'll have to check the archives to read "That Guy's" work, though. Jeff Fernandez invented a new day to bring the weekly ridiculousness. Mathan Erhardt covers the unreleased, the overlooked and the occasional stream of consciousness column. Meanwhile, Married Mike Eagle lectures like a young curmudgeon…but with a heart of gold.
Negatives: MGF apparently replaced me with "Bambi Weavil", thinking no one would notice as the number of poor-selling West Coast CD reviews on the site shrinks to nothing. Wither the new Dogg Pound album, MGFers? Elsewhere, the unwritten "quality over quantity" approach to posting is frustrating for those of us with real jobs, yet without a real work ethic. C'mon, y'all…give me some midday material to get through my nine hours! Finally, and most frustrating, MGF has proven to be a difficult read for trailer-park harpies who've become inexplicably intoxicated off of their own imagined internet celebrity.
One Sentence Summary: The loquacious spirit of That Bootleg Guy should keep MGF writing at a just-below-(three-time)-award-winning level for at least another 11 months.
Next Week: East Coast Bias (Think of me as Tupac and ECB as Biggie…)
Haven't hit up MGF or IP too much since you left, Cam, but they're still capable of bringing the goodness from time to time. Everyone over there is such a fucking elitist when it comes to music, though, that I feel like they're talking down to me and my preferences.
ReplyDeleteWhen machinegunfunk plays it straight (cd reviews, etc.) they do good work. I probably should direct "what I don't like" directly to them, but "craig n..." pretty much captured my primary beef.
ReplyDelete"trailer-park harpies who've become inexplicably intoxicated off of their own imagined internet celebrity?"
ReplyDeleteKaaaa-zing!
And someday when we're old, someone can explain to me why the whole staff wrote goodbye columns at one point. Until then, I still salute another flag.
Holy cow, Cam. Harpies? You called her a harpie?
ReplyDeleteI love you dude. And, to think, you said I was subversive!
Just in case I need to crawl thru the supplicant doggy door and beg for my IP job back someday, let the record show that I was speaking of Claire Flynn Boyle.
ReplyDeleteDon't EVER speak of CFB that way again!
ReplyDelete