TOPIC 1: What was 2011 the Year Of?
Happy New Year and welcome to Rock Critic Roundtable!
The Rock Critic Roundtable is a series of
pie fightsearnest discussions about music. Why “rock”? Well, “rock critic” names the convo community we’re seeking to bring on board better than its alternatives (also it was the first thing that popped into my head). But in this space we’ll talk about rock of the prog, classic, alterna, yacht, dad, and any other varieties, as well as pops club, dance, hip, J-, K-, Afro, Euro, and bosh, not to mention hip-hop, rap, country, R&B, disco, jazz, and elevator music.Mostly it’s a chance for more music writer types to ape the format of the internet roundtable, a venerable tradition carried out at the end of each year by music writers at Slate, the Village Voice, and, uh, Charlie Rose?
Each roundtable will bring together between four and six critics generally in conversation with the Tumblrverse. They will write an opening salvo in this space, and then have the opportunity to follow up twice to quibble, build, throw wrenches, try to deflect wrenches thrown, and otherwise flail about.
Our inaugural question is: What was 2011 the year of?
Joining the party this time out are Jamieson Cox (Tumblr), Kat Stevens (The Vids Are Alright), Kallen Law (strictlyalright), Zach Lyon (ironstring), Michelle Myers (theremixbaby and Frank Kogan (Tumblr and koganbot).
I’m sitting this one out myself, but I’ll at least compile a few notable “year of _____” ideas in this space. At Sound of the City in the Village Voice, Maura brought together Tom Ewing, Eric Harvey, Kat St Asaph, and Nick Murray to talk about trollgaze, protests, protesting trollgaze, trolling protests, and rave. The Slate Roundtable, which added Nitsuh Abebe to its group of regular contributors (with Ann Powers, Carl Wilson, Jonah Weiner, and Jody Rosen), talked about Drake, Drake, trollgaze, protests, Drake, Drake, and Drake. Salon compiled a meta-roundtable about year-end lists, in which prominent rock critics pontificated on too much pontification. So here is some more pontification for your pontification!
I’ll kick things off with a list of other “things of the year”: Sexism, saxism, Louie as the new Radiohead, King Louie as the new Radiohead, black metal, Black mettle, Odd Future, no future, Thrones, clones, iPhone 4, iPad Bjork, Beyonce Babybjorn, Katy B Spotifying, Katy P otherizing, Miley C testifying, country “supergroups,” indie “supergroups,” OK Mick Jagger “supergroups,” shitty Mick Jagger “supergroups,” K-pop Santas, DPRK pop-Satans, LDR, S&M, PBR’n’B, LMFAO, A$AP, Lil B, Big Freedia, Siri, J-Lo, R-Go (hey girl), pretzel-rave, moves like Jagger, death of “swagger”(?), Gens Y & Z on X, X-ING ALL THE Y, fun, fun, fun, fun, I’m-a ruin you, cunt.
What’d I miss? Jamieson gets the next word.
I’m doing this! No idea what’ll happen! Follow it! Blerp!
Via 
