Disgruntled Star Editor Takes Constructive Revenge
Drop Fees, End Poverty! And Also Do All These Other Things!
Kensington Market's Business, Soon to be Improved
Live Green Toronto's Bright Idea
Stacks of Tracks (in the Stacks)
Strangely, Perlich's Picks still appears on the music sidebar of NOW's website.
Here’s a short-term memory game for you. Gloss over the music section in last week’s issue of NOW. Ok, now take a look at this week’s issue. What’s missing? That’s right! Perlich’s Picks! It seems like Tim Perlich’s legion of anonymous flamers have been granted their wish. The veteran music critic (or “arrogant gasbag,” as his naysayers call him) appears to have been 86’ed from NOW’s offices. There’s been no official statement made on this yet, but shooting an email over to his NOW address prompts this telling bounce back message:
Tim Perlich is no longer with NOW Magazine.Toronto’s indie booker extraordinaire Dan Burke claims to have heard firsthand from Perlich that he’s been “canned.”Please send music inquiries to NOW's music coordinator Benjamin Boles at benjaminb@nowotoronto.com and to music@nowtoronto.com.
“Tim has been a vital thread in the fabric of popular music culture in Toronto for over a decade,” Burke sadly reminisces. “As a writer, he knows the past, present, and future of his field better than just about anyone. You wanna know who's fallen or who's rising internationally, ask Tim. Pop, roots, punk, jazz: you name it, Tim is tapped into it. What a weave of music knowledge! He knit Toronto into the world and the world into Toronto.”
For Toronto’s music scene, today marks a tragic loss (or glorious victory, depending on who you ask).
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I never read his column but if this means more letter space for other complaints, I guess that's fine.
I for one specifically remember a column cynically slagging a legitimate, significant artist as being a 'has-been' who's work also happened to be sitting on the top of UK charts at the time the review appeared.
Art/Music and Film critics, (curators and administrators too!), should all be cycled out of their jobs every 5 years unless they prove to be indispensable.
I'm not convinced critics provide a useful service to the public at all.
It's not hard to piss of GNR fans.
Perlich was a raging cock. Also: Burke is a raging cock. And a shyster too.
As a minimal/techno fan, I've noticed this type of music is slowly losing coverage in NOW. At first I was a bit annoyed, but then realized it's probably best that this fucktard publication leaves it alone... go on with your bad indie-rock self!
Didn't they just do a big house/techno/etc issue?
Yeah, but it was terrible! They missed all the producers here and focused on the glittery crap that brings in the kids from the 'burbs and beyond. After that issue, there was a hilarious 'letter to the editor' the following week that began, "Dear morons,.."
People actually listen to minimal techno? I thought they just bought it for the album covers.
ha! Maybe, especially if it's Musique Risquée release (Montreal) or Thoughtless (Toronto) - great artwork, great tunes!
I think its a great victory that Perlich finally got what was coming to him. I am definitely one of those full on Perlich haters.
Does he know a lot about music? Sure. But when you have capsule reviews and a small column, its not about what you show, its what you can deliver.
Look at any Exclaim capsule review, or most Eye capsule reviews. You will have some idea of what the band sounds like by reading them. Even if they hate the record they treat it and the reader with dignity.
With Tim, if he didn't like something, you can bet half of the review would be cheapshots that were either obvious filler information (like that GNR review), or some other bullshit, like how in his review for the Rapture's second album he just made fun of Duran Duran and a sticker that was on the disc saying "3 1/2 stars - Rolling Stone" (Even though RS gave the album 4 stars - who knows whose mistake that was). There's that White Stripes review where he spent a third of it complaining about the media for covering the White Stripes tour across Canada (wtf?)
I certainly wasn't the only person sending in anti-Perlich letters, this has been a constant complaint, one he could have remedied.
It's not enough to just have people who will testify that you know what you're talking about. Requesting a reviewer actually review music is not an unreasonable demand.
As for "Perlich's Picks" - the value of that column is much more debatable. Maybe some people find it useful, but again, the ignorant way he handles anything remotely mainstream reflects back on it. If someone tells you everything you like is shit and then pushes something else, most people are at least taken a bit aback and are hesitant. When the person telling you its shit isn't even doing their job telling you WHY, well no wonder you just skip it and start looking at the tranny ads.
In summary, Tim had his chance and he gobbled its balls.
*not what you KNOW, its what you can deliver.
I am in agreement with that Pierce said. Capsule reviews are dubious affairs that require reviewers to deliver a lot while saying very little. It's something that most NOW writers are able to do well, however Perlich always missed the mark. His taste in music, much like his rancorous attitude towards any band with even a small amount of success, is pretentious and smug. He thinks he knows more than the average fan and he never missed an opportunity to shit-can an artist as opposed to reviewing the music itself.
Personally, I am glad to see him go. With any luck, he'll be relegated to some no-name magazine, pushing his music taste onto a subscriber roster of five people. It's definitely what his talent deserves.