We seem to be living in the age of the blog, one in which everybody and their grandmother seems to have (or at least reads) one. A blog (short for weblog), is a tricky thing to define, but is essentially a personal website that includes a set of typically standard features (frequent posts of the author’s thoughts, opinions, and commentaries, often accompanied with images and a space for readers to comment). Over the past few years, blogs have become the most widespread and ubiquitous (and still growing) phenomena on the internet, and their scope and influence continues to increase.
What is especially unique about blogs is that anyone can have one, and that they can choose to blog about…well, pretty much anything. Because of this singular capacity, blogs encompass all domains of public interest, and have resulted in a huge expansion of sites devoted to the arts, politics, and sports, among other subjects.
Cultural and arts-based blogs, in particular, have become substantially popular in the blogosphere, as they provide a direct, interactive, and readily available alternative to the relatively lacking coverage of the arts in traditional media. As it happens, our home and native land has become a hub of quality arts blogging, thanks to our vibrant arts scene and some creative writers interested in spreading the word about it. Here are a couple of notable Canadian music and art blogs to check out.
Chromewaves
(chromewaves.net)
“Music blogging is a way for people to express their enthusiasm for the music that inspires them, so I think it’s safe to say there’s a correlation between the amount of people blogging about their local scene and the vitality of that scene. This is as close to a golden age for Canadian music as I can remember,” Toronto blogger Frank Yang explains.
His increasingly popular Chromewaves site is “a daily filter of anything that might interest me. News, reviews, gossip, commentary focused mainly on indie rock, movies, television, comic books, and things of little cosmic importance,” he explains.
Yang updates his blog religiously, offering music news (with much linkage to articles and other websites), plenty of mp3s (including many hard-to-find tunes), album and concert reviews (complete with excellent live photographs he snaps at most shows), and profiles of many under-the-radar artists. Yang has even blogged from trips abroad, including the South by Southwest festival in Austin and a recent jaunt to Amsterdam (where he took in some live music, of course).
Chromewaves is a great site to be introduced to new music, where readers can also expect to find out what’s going on in the local and national indie scenes, as well as in the world of indie rock.
Pop (all love)
(popwherry.blogspot.com)
Former National Post pop critic Aaron Wherry’s (he’s now a sportswriter at the daily) blog began as an extension of his old column in the Post, and takes a humourous and unique look at music and pop culture. It dissects music news, and offers insightful and entertaining commentaries on not just the music industry, but our crazy world in general.
Recent highlights include an eight-point plan to resurrect Michael Jackson’s career, an analysis of the political implications of Joe Simpson’s (Ashlee and Jessica’s father-cum-manager) Machiavellian genius, and suggested playlists for Paul Martin’s iPod.
Known for his clever posts about the burgeoning Canadian music scene, Wherry points out that blogs helped with the word-of-mouth that led to its rise.
“Well, Canada’s just better than everywhere else, isn’t it? We’re like Sweden with more hockey fights,” he quips. “I imagine there are some who would argue the Toronto scene wouldn’t be thriving beyond the city if not for the healthy online community. And I imagine there’s something to that. It does make blogging about Feist or Broken Social Scene feel a little more important.”
Wherry takes a witty and playful look at the often ridiculous world of pop music, and his site includes frequent updates concerning music journalism and criticism, news, lots of links, and the occasional concert or album review. Visitors to the site won’t be surprised to find intelligent and thoughtful takes on pop culture, independent music, and whatever else happens to be on his mind, while at the same time still being able to laugh out loud while reading his posts.
Zoilus (zoilus.com)
“Zoilus is a music and culture blog, oriented less to ‘hot picks’ and music news than to reflection and argument. It puts special emphasis on the Toronto music scene, but also covers recordings, cultural politics, global events, theoretical issues, and whatever else happens to catch my attention,” blogger (and Globe and Mail columnist) Carl Wilson says of his site, which he started as a vehicle to expand on his Globe writings and criticism.
An intelligent, comprehensive, slightly offbeat (in a good way) site that provides a welcome alternative to the standard mp3 or music blog by discussing artists you’d likely not hear about elsewhere, Zoilus’ focus leans towards a more eclectic variety of music while championing the local scene (with one of the Web’s most thorough gig guides to upcoming local shows). Check out a recent post about his take on the local indie scene (which he’s dubbed “Torontopia” for its burgeoning cultural potential), which has spawned a lengthy, thoughtful discussion in the comments section.
Summing up what visitors to the site can expect, Wilson says, “Zoilus offers a thoughtful and critical take on what music listening, and especially music discussion, are all about, but it also has its share of fluff, quick hits, and light moments.”
Sally McKay
(digitalmediatree.com/sallymckay)
Local art aficionado Sally McKay’s blog initially began as a personal outlet to discuss Toronto’s art scene after her local art ‘zine, Lola, was shut down two years ago. Since then, the blog has grown and, concentrating largely on Toronto’s thriving visual art scene, has come to include art criticism, reviews of local shows, pictures and animations, her own personal work, and information about upcoming local exhibits.
McKay’s blog presents a less formal (and more accessible) outlet for criticism and reviews of local works and shows that’s high on analysis and information and low on the pretension often found in discussion of ‘high art’ elsewhere. It’s also a means for her to not only discuss what’s going on in the local art scene, but also to offer a medium to inspire some interaction and dialogue about art among her readership.
“Art is so much more fun when people are sharing it and talking about it and arguing about it and sending images back and forth,” McKay says.
Booklust
(storms.typepad.com/booklust)
The subheading for Toronto literature blog Booklust reads: “A bibliophile’s musings on books, cartoons, art and stuff…” Booklust takes a uniquely accessible approach to covering literature, addressing current issues and trends in the publishing world (lit gossip!), and the culture of reading in general.
“I take a light-hearted, down-to-earth approach to books and literature. I want people to feel very welcome and comfortable while reading my blog. I also want them to laugh,” says Booklust creator Patricia Storms.
Indeed, what’s distinctive about the site is Storms’ sense of humour and her (good) decision not to take her subjects (or herself) too seriously-especially in her ongoing satirical comic series “Art Imitating Lit” which cleverly pokes fun at the writing and publishing world.
The approachable, laid-back style of the site also creates a more enjoyable and dynamic element often lacking in the standard literary blog, resulting in a highly interactive atmosphere for its readers. For instance, the site offers another ongoing series (“BiblioQueria”) in which readers have the opportunity to address various book-related questions and topics ranging from the light to the serious, and engage in a discussion about them (e.g. “Have you ever stolen a book?” or “Should we concern ourselves with classifications like ‘male’ and ‘female’ readers?”).
