Open Warfare: One (OR: Start slow, be gentle)
It is well-accepted that with standing and influence comes responsibility. Power is not a one-way street. As mentioned previously, UBERWENSCH.com is widely understood to be the most popular website on the internet, and I, at its helm, the most popular blogger. Inherent to this is my role as protector. Of the internet, of its wayward darlings: Of you, dear reader. Of you.
My soul – pure, untainted by the stench of sin, untouched by the lesser emotions – cries out for you, the brazen, the unwashed, the plebeian bastards of existence. The People.
I lead a life of integrity, of good nature. And I wish to encourage others to do the same. Through force.
So it is that we find ourselves standing valiantly against “BrizBands“. The charlatans behind this blog were afforded a great opportunity.
“Here,” the Courier Mail said, “Take this salary and write a blog that explores Brisbane’s vibrant music scene thereon.”*
And what did they do? They failed you.
Not on my watch.
You’re on notice, BrizBands. Step up your game or take it somewhere else.
A quick analysis of the BrizBand index page, to begin with.
Words (content): 3698, according to Google documents (who are you going to believe). You can say a lot in 3698 words. Evidently you can also say nothing at all.
Words pertaining to Brisbane bands: 162.
Here they are:
The first band, Hits, wasn’t very good so I wasn’t sure if it was the bad band, or the sound guy, but I felt like it needed more bass; it was a bit tinny sounding. (Clearly I have a lot of technical sound experience if I use words like ‘tinny’ but you know what I mean. I hope!)
Brissy band The Grates, but the ticket sales staff have just informed me that their show is already sold out. So it looks like Kate Miller-Heidke‘s show is the next available night if you want to go check out the venue.
The night was a lot of fun, but unfortunately it was the Brisbane band Stature: Statue that disappointed me
The Driving Conditions have been on BrizBands before, after I went to check them out at the filming of Friday Night Live. They’ve also opened for rockers Rose Tattoo and are about to release their debut album, ‘Full Throttle’.
Which is to say, the Brisbane content is disparaging, hateful and malicious. Or it is irrelevant; a barren and haphazard copy-paste job straight out of a gig guide, and occasionally pertaining to Mike Goldman.
The rest of it is, by and large, promotional in nature, and centers around bands from overseas who happen to be playing in Brisbane. I won’t say much about this just yet.
Except. Well. Heads up, BrizBands. There’s already a blog about that shit. It’s called the Internet.
More on this later. It’s 4AM and I’ve been at a gay bar. Now is not the time.
*Not actual quote.
| Print article | This entry was posted by Meg White on May 10, 2009 at 4:14 am, and is filed under Blogging, Featured, World War IVI. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site. |

about 1 year ago
Oh, this is fantastic. Let me type that again. THIS IS FANTASTIC.
I eagerly await the next installment. Godspeed, Uberwensch!
about 1 year ago
I’ve just had a look at the blog under fire. Man, it’s shit. I mean, really fucking shit. Please don’t tell me that these idiots get paid for rehashing press releases (really badly). This is the sort of blogging that wouldn’t even merit a ‘Pass’ in my QUT music blogs class. Maybe a “Fail Plus” (for consistency of updates), if I was feeling generous.
Seriously. It’s overladen with cliche, transparently not referenced (and, as I say, clearly rewrites press releases), clumsily written with no apparent editing, and of no obvious relevance to anyone, anywhere.
The fact it’s ‘local’ isn’t an excuse, not in the slightest. There are plenty of talented media commentators and critics and writers in Brisbane. Why don’t the Courier-Mail use some of them?
about 1 year ago
GO WHITE GO
about 1 year ago
Yes, the content on that blog sure is attrocious, but it IS The Courier-Mail we are talking about here.
Just imagine what a couple of dozen creative, inspired people could do if The Courier-Mail’s budget was handed to them…
about 1 year ago
Has anyone thought to point out that the ‘Brisbane music scene’ doesn’t actually include international bands that tour here? Even if they have local supports? It does, however, include those support bands.
Surely the ‘Brisbane music scene’ is made up of a community of people who hang around here, not some blokes who blow in, sell some tickets, play a show and then piss off.
Perhaps this is just semantics (but shit, we’re communicating with the typed word. So say what you mean or GTFO). Their attempts to defend their shitty writing (see comments portion of Drones/HiFi ‘review’) make me want to break their fingers and then use the bony stumps to gouge their eyes out.
Ugh, now I’m angried up…
about 1 year ago
meg, what do we do? i just saw it again and i want to kill myself. she won’t publish my hilarious comments either.
I can’t take this any longer.
about 1 year ago
I agree with all of you. It’s a steaming turd.
Tal – Your first point is one I was vaguely implying. Thank you for making it explicit.
I enjoyed the laughable attempts to defend their “work” too. When you’re leaning on “her ignorance enables our ignorance” to justify why it is okay to suck in public, it’s time to have a terse little chat with yourself.
Mum, we get in direct contact with Candi to begin with. We go from there. We remain, as always, vigilant. And yeah, my comment has not yet been published either.
about 1 year ago
It’s like the Courier Mail had to downsize their ‘shopping’ section and so they started a music blog just so two of the lesser ‘journalists’ could stay on the pay-roll and go to the GPO with other fake-tanned 20-somethings after submitting their ‘cultural interrogations’ to the QConfidential section.
I love BrizBands. It tells me everything I need to know about Brisbane music. And by everything, I mean nothing.
(And Stature::Statue shit? I don’t believe it).
about 1 year ago
It’s a bit shit if they’re not publishing comments as that would be the logical starting point; comment everytime they blog a press release about an out of town band playing in Brisbane, comment everytime they review an out of town band but neglect to mention any Brisbane support acts, etc. Do we know if they approve their own comments or whether there’s a group at the CM who moderates comments? Maybe comment on stories in the general music section. They seem to include more stuff about Brisbane acts than the so called Briz Bands section does, so congratulate them on doing so and point out that they do a better job than the bit of their website that’s supposed to do it.
Do we know how Candi + Khan actually got the job in the first place. There’s a Khan blog from March for the Tzu gig at the Zoo where he starts off by saying that he hadn’t been the Zoo in ages but nothing had changed and it was like an long lost friend (or words to that effect). Sorry, but if you’re paid to write about the Brisbane music scene in any shape or form, and especially the bit that’s supposed to be about Brisbane bands, and you haven’t been to the Zoo in that long, you’re just not up to the job.
Plus the Briz Bands twitter account is asking for new/emerging bands to contact them so they can cover them. HOW LAZY CAN YOU GET? READ STREET PRESS, EVERY BAND IN THE WORLD HAS A MYSPACE ACCOUNT, CHECK OUT THE ONES THAT STREET PRESS HAS WRITTEN ABOUT/WHO ARE PLAYING A GIG, FIND SOMETHING YOU MIGHT LIKE, GO TO RIC’S, IT HAS FREE MUSIC 7 DAYS A WEEK, GO TO SOME/ANY GIGS, GET THERE IN TIME TO SEE THE BRISBANE BANDS ON THE BILL, DON’T SPEND ALL YOUR TIME AT FESTIVALS LIGGING BACKSTAGE WITH YOUR VIP PASS (AND THEN BLOGGING ABOUT IT), ONLY EMERGING WHEN THE BIGGER/INTERNATIONAL ACTS ARE ON. /rant
about 1 year ago
If nothing else, I will forever be pleased by this campaign of righteousness because it inspired Justin Edwards to type mostly in caps for a paragraph or so.
Also, Matt, I believe the appropriate response is: “LOL”.
Hang on, guys. I’m going to hit her up on Twitter. And Facebook.
about 1 year ago
Done.
about 1 year ago
UPDATES PLZ- FIELD QUESTIONS IN THE SECRET GARDEN