Song, by Toad

I recently did an interview with Billy from The Scotsman’s Under the Radar blog (amongst other venerable organs) which took the form of an interesting chat about the current tension between  bloggers and professional journalists.  He has played off my opinions against those of his friend Mike Diver, who is currently the online editor for (the excellent) Clash magazine.  The whole thing can be found here, along with plenty of comments from Ally and Milo, professional writers from around these parts, and myself and Tart, on the side of the bloggers.  The comments on that thread make for some rather interesting reading in themselves, I have to say.

It’s an interesting debate, frankly, and one which, as a blogger with aspirations, as opposed to someone who is happy to simply chat for the sake of it, I have applied a fair deal of thought to.  Ultimately, though, I think it is something of a false dichotomy: some of the best reporters keep blogs as ways of expressing themselves outwith the constraints of the editorial policy of whatever rag pays their wages and a lot of the best bloggers end up parlaying their writing skills into professional careers in journalism.  And of either side there is a vast amount of detritus, professional and amateur.

So, yes, the Toad once again holds forth passionately on subjects he knows far too little about and may in general be making a fool of himself once more.  The, erm, songs are good though.

Toadcast #76 – The Presscast

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01. Billy Bragg – Which Side Are You On? (03.17)
02. The Decemberists – Cautionary Song (Live) (11.03)
03. Jens Lekman – No Time For Breaking Up (14.09)
04. The Meteors – Out of Time (22.21)
05. Franz Ferdinand – Darts of Pleasure (32.47)
06. The Dead 60s – Horizontal (35.17)
07. Sleepy Horses – Lubbock Love Song (42.27)
08. Eels – I Write the B-sides (52.05)
09. The Replacements – Unsatisfied (62.30)
10. David Cross – My Kids are Amish (68.09)

…through the medium of popular song!

It wasn’t intentional, but as my relationship with an ex-girlfriend was coming to a rather long drawn-out and bitter end there were a couple of songs, all from Uncut compilations, that just kept popping up on the stereo. She took them as a message and, as much as it wasn’t intended to be one, I felt no need to disabuse her of this impression. You know when you’re just done with someone and they irritate you, you irritate yourself for not just getting rid, and then she irritates you more for tolerating you despite the fact you’ve clearly turned into a complete dickhead? Well, you get the picture. You know you’re being a dick when you actually blame someone else for letting you act like an arsehole, but I suppose most of us have done it at some stage.

It was a bit like letting an animal die from exhaustion rather than just putting a bullet through its head and being done with it.

Roddy Frame – I Can’t Start Now
The Replacements – Unsatisfied
The Flatlanders – Going Away