DC – I think it’s okay, but no better. But I’ve not listened to it often enough yet, so I wouldn’t go so far as to insist I was right, for a change.

I think you may have something there Gav. I’d never really associated the hassle I routinely get when writing about really big bands with my fading interest in actually doing so, but it does make sense doesn’t it.

I think the big thing for me is that writing about big bands seems so pointless, because there is just so much guff out there about them already. What possible benefit is it to anyone to hear what I think about the new REM when a million other people have already had their say? I only do it because I genuinely am interested in the album and, more importantly, because it gives context to my other stuff. If you don’t know what this site is about, reading a couple of quick reviews of REM, The Decemberists, Nick Cave and the Arcade Fire should give you a pretty good idea of where our respective music tastes might or might not overlap. It just grounds all the more obscure stuff, in my opinion.

WITHOUT PREJUDICE

Hi Matthew / SBT,

On behalf of ourselves we would kindly ask you not to post music by Bambi Get Over It, Darla Farmer, Hotpipes, or It’s A Buffalo any more because it makes us feel threatened and unsure of our future place in the market and makes us want to cry ourselves to sleep at night and perhaps even consult the services of prostitutes because our wives are so disgusted with us that they can’t even look us in the face any more, much less at our crabbed, chapped organs. Oh, and the shame our children feel!

We do appreciate that you are fans of / are promoting / discussing Bambi Get Over It, Darla Farmer, Hotpipes, and It’s A Buffalo, but we would nonetheless appreciate it if you stopped talking about them so that people do not become aware of the grotesquely inferior product we spew onto the shelves of your local HMV on a daily basis. REM’s Accelerate is particularly embarrassing, but we intend to sell it like soapflakes notwithstanding.

Many thanks for respecting our wishes in this regard.

As you will appreciate, this e-mail is written on a without prejudice basis and, as such, all of our clients’ accumulated, worldwide rights and remedies remain strictly reserved : please excuse this required formality.

Regards,

WEB SHERIFF

And I agree with what you say in your post – as a member of a band who has been reviewed by Mr Toad I feel very grateful to him and it clearly benefits me more than REM! And I also agree, Wave Pictures, The Low Lows (sort of, Bart really introduced me) and a number of other bands – all discovered via this site. I use if every day and it since I started I feel a lot better for it. Matthew also kind of kicked off my obsession with trawling myspace to find new and interesting bands. So all in all I respect everything the man does and stands for. Keep up the good work Matthew.

No, it wasn’t boring, but while it felt rather unsatisfying to write, it felt rather unsatisfying to read. And maybe most of us felt it unsatisfying to listen to!

Maybe we could ask ourselves; Did the author, reader and artist (therefore, everyone involved) in question get more out of, for example, the Bear Country post or the REM post?

It sounds like the author gets more kicks from it and, as a reader, Toad’s recommendations of beautiful bands I am unaware of, fronted by a voice I’ve never heard makes my evenings more enjoyable and interesting. Discovery (even if someone else has mapped the route for you) is great fun.

And, I don’t want to stick my neck out here, but I’m gonna guess Bear Country benefited more than REM did from an appearance on Song, By Toad.

And then after he publishes the above, Mr W. Sheriff drops by for a cuppa. I wouldn’t be surprised if Toad-o received thanks from certain ‘smaller’ bands. From other bands, he gets hassle. Is it any wonder we experience the feelings that Amphibian-Boy writes of above?

I think I’m simply regurgitating what has already been said in the main post. Oh, including Elbow being a big band (come on, Euan!).