Instead of writing up my own explanation of what Metacritic.com has to offer and why I like it I will let it speak for itself.  Here is the description straight from the site.

“Metacritic compiles reviews from respected critics and publications for film, video/dvd, books, music, television and games.

Our unique Metascores show the critical consensus at a glance by taking a weighted average of critic grades.”

Much like Rottentomatoes.com metacritic has the critics score as well as an average rating from visitors.  Unfortunately the sites back catalog of reviews is a little light, as they only started compiling info on new releases as of 2000.

The well respected Pitchforkmedia.com and now Pitchfork.tv are now dual heads of a burgeoning internet giant and tastemaker.  Established in 1995 by fellow Minnesotan Ryan Schreiber.  The headquarters was moved to Chicago in 1999 and in recent years has expanded to an additional office in New York City.

Pitchfork is a daily visit for the music focused, myself included.  Personally I enjoy the news portion of the site as it is one of the sole places you can get news about serious/indie music on the internet.  The album review portion of the website is also extremely vital although it can be a little labored/pretentious for my taste.  I prefer to just read the short sinopsys and note the albums rating.  One of my largest disagreements with the site is the fact they only do 5 reviews every weekday and they end up missing some very vital releases.  Then again my tastes have always been caught between the obscure and rightfully accessible.  Another notable section on the website are the features that they periodically post.  Including interviews, best of lists, and live show reviews.  Speaking of live shows Pitchfork started hosting live music festivals a few years back featuring 3 days of bands.  I myself have made it for the last two years and would suggest it to anyone that is into independant music.

Pitchfork.tv is a newer edition to this media empire.  It is what it sounds like… an visual media extension of the original website where they host a bunch of original content, music videos and a one week only feature.  My favorites from this site are the sketch comedy show produced by the lead singer of the band Les Savy Fav – Tim Harrington and one week only feature where you can tune into a new music documentary each week.

The end all be all of music reference sites.  This site is my go to for any specifics that I need when it comes to any genre of music.

Using Allmusic.com you have the option to search for information on albums, artists or songs; as well as deep resources on specific genres and styles.  This site is a great resource if you want album recommendations, song recommendations, or even if you want to find similar artists. Within the info they provide on specific artists you will find long lists of similar artists, bands that share members, the bands they were influenced by, and the bands that they influenced.  The artists bios and album reviews can be a little off at times but I think you would be challenged to find a more definitive guide to popular music.

Among some of the newer features to be brought to the site in recent years are the Allmusic blog and the album of the day.

Although I find many positive and useful things about this site, there are a few negative aspects as well.  Among those is that the site is missing quite a bit of info on some of your more obscure artists and I find the site extremely slow at times.  Then again look at what they are working with here… a shit ton of information and probably a fairly small staff.  One thing I do quite enjoy is that you have the option if you find there is some inaccurate or incomplete information you can fill out a quick web form alerting them to it.

Another must read that I stumbled on in the past year.  This book chronicles a choice selection of underground music from 1978 to 1984, deemed Post Punk by the author and the music press of the time.

I always found the term hard to classify as most designations of rock music are.  In recent times it has been an oft used term; thrown around to describe a ton of newer bands influences.  Alway a cool tag word but never really explained, much like Punk itself and Proto-punk.  Simply put Post Punk is the underground music that sprung up after Punk met an early end and imploded in its original true form with the Sex Pistols rise and fall.  Post Punk would carry on that legacy along with all the off shoots of straight ahead punk rock including British Punk, West Coast Punk, Hardcore, and Oi.  This new music would shed all that was overwrought about the music that they grew up on, expand sonically and turn image and politics inside out.

Reynolds splits the book into two parts, sectioning off the early heavily punk influenced stuff in the first part and then tackling the more pop and guitar band driven music in the second part.  He breaks it up into easily digestible chunks that focus on a geographical or ideological scene (or covers whatever bands he feels are strongly related sonically together, which may or may not be in the same area).  Each chapter is full of his own insights into what made the band what it was and why the music sounded as it did.

He fills out the landscape by explaining what was going on in the world in each respective area at that time.  Included in this landscape was of course the bands but also a rich drama including fledgling record labels, record label heads, managers, Svengalis, producers, fans, and groupies.  A huge number of bands are included, some of them might be a little surprising at first because of their status as 80′s pop music, one hit wonders or their seemingly non-relation to Punk Rock or Rock N’ Roll.  Below is the long list of band/labels that are covered in the book (please note some of the bands only get a few paragraphs).

Playlist:  Post Punk Part One

Playlist:  Post Punk Part Two – New Pop & New Rock

www.simonreynolds.net

There is an actual CD compiled by Mr. Reynolds which was only released in the UK and is rather rare. Rip It Up And Start Again companion CD compiled by Simon Reynolds