Stylus Magazine, RIP

wow this is terrible. stylus really brought actual intelligent, insightful, thought-provoking music discussion. they did a great job. any word on where dom palladino will be trashing pop songs in the most amusing ways possible?

stylus magazine dies while tinymixtapes lives?? something is very very wrong here. stylus magazine actually had creative columns and articles, their reviews and recommendations were original and thoughtful. their writers should usurp the pitchforkers as far as im concerned. please give it a second chance. PLEASEEEEE

tinymixtapes are forever

I'm not sad to see Stylus go. The site had ambition, but in execution their work was far too sloppy to be effective and far too insular to be at all influential. Their colorless, limp design and "voice from on high" writing style did them no favors, especially in the hands of some of their less-skilled writers. Witness their Sicko review, in which the reviewer flunks Michael Moore based on his own arbitrary definition of what a documentary "should be".

Their special features never paid off, either. The Diamond (uber-serious takes on best-selling albums) and The Bluffer's Guide to... (what it sounds like) almost seemed like pranks, bringing the Stylus critical eye to places it didn't belong. Even further out was "Vs.", where they pitted bands against each other according to arbitrary rules. Fametracker (also RIP) did this first and better.

I hope that whatever new home the Stylus survivors end up in will encourage the crew to give themselves a sharper focus (maybe stick to music only?) and a more engaged editorial style. Oh, and hire some women.

And please keep the old site up! The best thing on Stylus is their Rilo Kiley Under The Blacklight review. I don't agree with most of it, but it's the only muscular writing on that entire site. Stylus 2.0 will need that.

this is terrible. i love stylus.

stylus rules. pitchfork has money. dusted has integrity. but tmt is probably the only site on the internet with personality. that said, i'll miss the shit out of stylus.

promise us that you'll never leave, bv

"tmt is probably the only site on the internet with personality."

don't get out much, do you?

anyway, this is very sad news. here's to hoping that all of the Stylus people find good homes elsewhere.

i think that person was saying compared to other zines, tmt has personality. and yes they do, but stylus had some too i think. i'll miss them.

saaaaaad!!!

:(

M, your comment reads more like a "voice from on high" than most things i read on stylus, which has always felt more personal to me than your average pitchfork review. I loved all those features you mentioned! stylus, youll be missed! TMT has personality alright, a bit too much, in my opinion... sometimes i wish theyd just give the facts instead of trying to turn every single news item into some overwrought and unfunny joke.

whatever else Stylus was, it was almost always FUNNY. that's why it was almost always GOOD. It's been a hugely valuable voice in music writing over the past few years, esp the "playing God" and "First listen" and year-end specials... This is really bad news (weren't the online music mags to be putting the paper ones out of business? Guess not.) That said, the Best Drummers list was crazy. Bill Berry ahead of Ziggy Modeliste?

poor stylus, that's what happens when pitchfork rules all indie publications. just can't carry on anymore...

stylus! wtf. hit or miss reviews, but a great voice in journalism i thought.

tmt has the absurdist level on high. i prefer it that way.

Gee, M, thanks for telling us where our critical eye "doesn't belong." IF ONLY WE HAD KNOWN.

I think tinymixtapes will save the world someday ... that said, Stylus was supposed to help ... lame

supposedly there will be some new incarnation of it soon...supposedly

"muscular writing"? WTF?

I always enjoyed the writing on stylus... rarely pretentious or snarky in excess, frequently witty, maybe not as entertaining as some of the absurd literary wanks on pitchfork and co. websites. Check out the first article for the 'Soulseeking' column (http://preview.tinyurl.com/355cyv)... the sort of candid writing that won't pop up in most magazines.

Guess this leaves Dusted/Fakejazz/Brainwashed for the good stuff.