What a misleading headline…

In Defense of Tom:

Michael, I think you’re reading far too much into Tom’s article. Everyone is. “In Defence of Skrillex” may not have been the best choice of a title, but I can understand why he chose it. It was almost as if he was saying “hear me out, guys,” knowing full well he’d be received with skepticism. But the article that followed was not meant to be polarizing nor drive away long-time readers of the site. It was also not some huge paradigm shift nor and attempt to make anyone feel stupid.

Here’s what I got from the article: Tom went to a Skrillex show, and his experience exceeded his expectations. I imagine this happens to alot of people. Skrillex is on tour more than most, so it would only make sense that he puts more attention into his live shows. From what I gather, the albums are only an afterthought.

Regardless of YOUR opinion of Skrillex, you shouldn’t fault Tom for writing about his opinion. That’s his job. Is it only okay when his opinion matches yours? If so, what would be the point of even tuning into the site at all? Maybe you don’t agree with him and that is fine. Telling him so in the comments section is also fine. But you crossed the line when you started accusing Tom and Stereogum of writing this article to polarize the readers and/or push an agenda. You’re acting quite childish, frankly.

You say that you are annoyed with the music blogs writing about live music, as if doing so was breaking some cardinal rule, but what do you expect of these guys? They were at music festival for several days enjoying live music. What else are they going to write about? I for one enjoyed hearing about a music festival I wasn’t able to attend and I think many of my fellow music blog readers will agree. I think they will also agree that there is merit in writing reviews of live shows. I’ve been to quite a few live show in my life and I can definitely say that great albums do not always translate into great live shows and vice-versa.

We need a best remix category.

There’s no excuse for excluding ‘Zonoscope’ and I feel that Cults should have been included as well. Fleet Foxes should have been higher as well, in the Top 5 for sure. Otherwise, it’s a decent list.