Due to my job but mostly my unexplainable love for anthropomorphic animals/robots and out of context photos of people from other countries, I read quite a few blogs. Hundreds in fact. I read blogs like normal go to the beach, which is something I can’t relate to because I’m usually indoors reading about meaningless shit on the internet and thinking “fuck it’s hot in here but at least I know which Hogwarts house the sorting hat would have assigned me to” (Gryffindor). And I don’t even like Harry Potter! All in all this represents over 1000 hours of blog reading a year (according to Malcolm Galdwell’s 10,000-Hour Rule, at this rate, I’ll be an expert at reading blogs in nine more years) which means I spend slightly more time reading blogs than I do with my girlfriend. Of course, this would be cause for concern if blogs weren’t so entertaining, illuminating or stimulating in a cerebral and totally non-sexual way. Not to suggest that Tumblr is a suitable substitute for human interaction but my girlfriend can’t sing in autotune, caption herself or explain in excruciating detail why Inception’s ending is kinda flawed. Also, she’s not a venn diagram.
In short, weblogs, as they were once referred to internet millennia ago, are the lifeblood of the internet and though our favourite blogs won’t represent the most popular contributions to the world wide web, to us, they’re the most vital. Believe us, we spent a long time looking. Enjoy.
Ashley’s Top Five (Editor)
Really Really Really Trying – With the modicum of good taste that we all clearly possess you’d think it impossible for topical celebrity fiction to be a thing we’d crave to read ever. That is, until you read Really Really Really Trying, the LOL coliseum of 24 year old Sydney dude Max Lavergne and the internet’s number one source for Australian celebrity fiction. Between canny cultural observations about flavoured coffee, pigeons or scroll lock and an infrequent but still delightful Q&A section, Lavergne’s fiction is, as they say in Cribs, where the magic happens – hilarious enough to elicit audible laughter (an internet rarity) and intelligent enough to cherish for the writing alone. From Carrie Bickmore giving birth in a McCafe to Satan sodomizing Kyle Sandilands, the scenarios are delightfully outlandish but grounded in enough reality to stand as pitch perfect satire of low Australian culture. Of all the blogs I read this year (and they were legion) RRRT stands as the one I most looked forward to reading and Lavergne, who also writes for tastemaking MP3 blog Rose Quartz, the blogger I most wanted to reinterpret the day’s big stories. Say hello to one of Australia’s best new voices.
Pitchfork Reviews Reviews – In the age of anonymous commenting, feigned “knowingness” and flat out cynicism, Pitchfork Reviews Reviews wields this year’s most underused weapon – earnestness. From earnest beginnings as a single service blog which, as the name might suggest, reviewed Pitchfork’s infamously rambling reviews, PRR has grown into a platform for a punctuation adverse blogger who crashes fancy art parties, talks to celebrities and posts heart on your sleeve ruminations on everything from once being fat to how to DJ a warehouse party. He’s since outgrown the blog’s title but that meta awareness which first catapulted PRR into the internet’s collective consciousness still colours everything he writes. That, plus the vulnerability of being able to admit when you don’t know what’s up at every moment of the day, is what separates PRR from the online ramblings of so many others. Who knew a Brooklyn music blog could be so god damned sincere?
Fuck Yeah Menswear – Like Pitchfork Review Reviews, Fuck Yeah Menswear acts as both an homage to and loving critique of a zeitgeist-y subculture which we’re all pretty familiar with. Except instead of the machinations of indie music and the online MP3 hype machine, the anonymous blogger behind FYMW lampoons the well-coiffed men of the burgeoning “prep” movement (think chinos, desert boots and crisp, button down oxfords) with a vitriolic mix of hip hop swagger and esoteric literary references. Sample line: Tryna step to Prep Imhotep. Damn son. Nowhere but the internet could someone who speaks like an Egyptian-archeologist-slash-rapper-slash-Sartorialist-enthusiast get the recognition he, or she, deserves. And nowhere on the internet has swagger like FYMW. The best Fuck Yeah anything I’ve read this year.
Thought Catalog – Thought Catalog is the collective brain dump for lovely writerly folk such as Molly Young, Tao Lin, Leslie Arfin, Ryan O’Connell and Kevin Nguyen. I assume it’s where they publish stories that won’t really fit anywhere else and I love that its subject matter reflects the diversity of the voices employed. How diverse you ask? Recent posts include hedonistic drug stories, essays on homosexuality, thoughts on nihilism, close calls with child abuse, letters to your 20-something self and articles with curious titles like “The Most Popular Places NYU Students Can Be Observed Partying” and “The Last Story I Filed Before Losing My Job At A Music Magazine”. The only commonality is that engaging voice of a friend you used to smoke weed with but haven’t seen in a while, the very best kind of wit (not the pompous self-satisfied variety) and the belief that low culture can always he discussed in a higher forum. Read Thought Catalog long enough and it’ll change the way you address your own ennui. For real.
Nowness – As the blogging arms of luxury group LVMH (that’s Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy) Nowness deals exclusively in original content with ridiculously high production values and coveted big name talent. Contributors span all aspects of popular culture and include Bret Easton Ellis, No Age, Roadarte, Ryan McGinley and Aussie graphic designer Craig Redman who band together to create content that’s innovative, fresh, highly rebloggable and flat out pretty. Basically, Nowness is what happens when copious amounts of cash meets unbridled creativity.
Suz’s Top Five (Assistant Editor)
Broken Secrets – Have you ever wondered why babies seem to be catatonic or where the concept of Daylight Savings came from? Broken Secrets is your guide to unlocking the everyday mysteries of life that you don’t even question. Like straight up random shit you’ve never even thought about: The Meaning Of The Playstation Button Symbols for example, or genuinely interesting and helpful information such as How To Taste Defective Wine and How to Increase Mobile Phone Battery Life. Every day a new revelation is uncovered and the casual matter-a-fact writing tone and the ‘I’ve always wondered about that!’ moments make you feel like you aren’t alone in the world. And that’s what the internet is all about after all.
I Love Charts – A blog made by people who love charts for people who love charts. I Love Charts is a simple collection of infographics that represent trends or phenomenons for every topic under the sun – from Wikipedia Vandalism, Appropriate times to use Comic Sans, David Bowie’s food intake at the height of his cocaine use and oh so much more. It’s all about fractions, maths, user contributing and entertainment – the thinking man’s ‘LOLZ Cats’. Nerd heaven.
The Only Magic Left Is Art – While there are a lot of blogs out there that use the same basic concept, this is one of the most well curated of new additions from 2010. And with every visit it really does remind you of the magic of art. The aim is simple: The most talented people in the world are not in Hollywood. Good art can come from anyone, anywhere. Any class, race, age or sex. So we’re going to show you. One artist at a time. Inspiring, beautiful, challenging and diverse eye porn for aesthetes and visual enthusiasts alike.
Life: Aquatic – Ash already mentioned my favourite music blog sites to sprout up in the last 12 months (Pitchfork Reviews Reviews), but Sydney-based blogger Jarred Beeler and Life: Aquatic also deserves a mention. Beeler has a gift for digging up undiscovered gems from the vast indie/electronic music landscape and has done so for just over a year so I’m cheating a bit here. The layout is beautifully streamlined. The visuals for each post are made up of photographs he curates himself from random flickr accounts to match the tunes, which is a lovely point of difference. He averages about one post a day so it’s never an overwhelming read, plus Jarred has a knack for putting the (largely unknown) music into words that anyone can understand. He’s an authentic music blogger’s blogger – check out the blog rolls on any respected music sites and chances are there’ll be a link to Life: Aquatic. That says something.
Some Came Running – Fascinating, entertaining, insightful and often amusing observations by an authentic cinephile. Unlike a lot of movie blogs out there, Some Came Running and its scribe Glenn Kenny don’t stick primarily to musing on the latest releases, but combines those with classic and art house fare. Like Kenny warns at the top of the blog, Some Came Running is “one of those foo-foo film sites”, but if you love film and cinematic history, his articulate, conversational blogging voice will soon become like a knowledgeable pal.
