<3 you tumblr
This is my last column for the Guardian’s Film & Music section (the section itself is ending next week, folding back into the paper - a sad day IMO) - blogging got me the gig so if this does turn out to be the last regular thing I write there I wanted something hopeful but faintly valedictory, and a feature on Tumblr’s positive influence on music writing felt like just the thing. Apologies to the many blogs I couldn’t fit in.
Two points: obviously the contributory content model is nothing at all new, it was being done 15 years ago, but Tumblr makes it simpler than ever to try out these ideas and see which catch people’s imagination. And secondly the other piece of this is that the very best music content on Tumblr tends to be on individuals’ personal blogs rather than necessarily Tumblrs self-identifying as ‘about music’.
<3 you Tom
When I realized that “Hendrik Jasnoch’s mighty One Week One Band” is an actual string of words in The Guardian in my mind it was like somebody’s knocking at my bedroom door and I was like “Who’s this?” and a voice said “It’s R. Kelly and a forty-piece gospel choir and we wanna sing a song for you” and they’d be doing this and I’d join ‘em for the chorus and then I’d be like “Whoa, thanks R. Kelly, this is exactly how I feel right now” and he’d be all “Yeah, I know. Saw that Guardian link earlier. Pretty cool, huh? Gotta dash now though” and I’d go “Take care, R. Kelly. And good luck with the new chapters to Trapped in the Closet!” but I’m not sure he heard that last bit because he was gone in an instant and then I’d just sit in my room smiling.
Not that I’m easily swayed or anything. It’s the little things!
