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Words By: Chris Barth
There are typically two types of music blogs around in this here blogosphere – those that tell you what they like and those that tell you what you should like. And then there’s Hipster Runoff (aka hipsterrunoff/HRO/OMGZHRO/Carles). Authored by “Carles”, The Runoff alternates between hating on the things you like and hating on the things you don’t like, leaving an ambiguously nonexistent center – the inability to be authentically ‘alt’.
American Apparel ads litter the sidebar, flanked by animated gifs defining personal brands and bloghouse genres. The writing alternates between insightful prose and coarse post-racism, centering on image, culture, and the blog-house scene. “You†and “u†are interchangeable, “to†and “2†live side-by-side, and seriously is always spelled “srslyâ€. Quotation marks are applied liberally, and capitalization is reckless. Rare is the post that actually talks about music.
So maybe it’s not a music blog, per se. But it’s certainly a musically associated blog, with ties to the image of music, its fans, and its stereotypes. HRO takes people, the music they make, and the tunes they listen to, and treats them as a single entity. Its “lifestyle brand†is lifestyle branding.
I think it’s a safe bet that when Carles wakes up in the morning, he pokes around some music blogs, sees what’s up on hypem, checks thecobrasnake and thingsididlastnight (in case it changed), and then decides what to scribble about in his electronic slambook. Luckily, he does it with a wit and irony that makes it not only palatable, but tasty.
In its relatively short existence, although I hate to say it, HRO has become the perfect foil for the blog generation – a blog that unapologetically assumes prior knowledge. If you don’t know Justice, you shouldn’t be reading. But then again, if you do know Justice, you probably shouldn’t be reading either. No reader, fan or casual visitor, is safe from Carles mockery. Hipster Runoff lives on the line of whatever’s on the other side of meta, a self-aware blog about self-aware blogs.
Usually, it’s dead on. Music blogs “are great for finding new music, and reading the opinions of people who don’t even matter,†Carles writes, whoever he is. Elsewhere, he wonders whether bands get a viral-ish blog bump from “too many content sources caught in a cycle of ‘letting people know about news that they thought they were supposed to know about but didn’t know why.’†It’s a legitimate question in the hypem music economy. And when he does post music, it’s often hilariously tongue-in-cheek (see Bands to Watch: The Postal Service, David Matthews)
He’s wrong too. He overly labels people, bashes good music needlessly, and promotes some pretty despicable language. He makes light of heavy subjects, but in a Rosanne Barr – not Trey Parker/Matt Stone – kind of way. His 8th grade/alt/txt writing style sometimes makes me throw up a little bit in my mouth. But in the end there are more hits than misses, and I’m entertained enough to wander back once and again. If there weren’t the occasional naked picture of some sort, I would even add it to my RSS. But that might be too much to ask.
A self-proclaimed “blog worth blogging about,†Hipster Runoff has a signature style and a rabid fanbase. Carles attacks with unapologetic abandon that leaves the reader either laughing or offended, and often both. He doesn’t just put people in boxes, he builds the boxes and then stuffs them full. Check it out. Or don’t. See if HRO cares (it doesn’t).
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Chris Barth is a guest-blogger here at Pretty Much Amazing, you can read his daily entries at his blog, The Stu Reid Experiment.
Tags: Blogs, Hipster Runoff, Rant, The Hype Machine, The Thinking Man
Looking forward to it, Zilla!
I use to read it occassionally then it got old fast.
is a one trick pony.
@ seriously / whoever else hates my opinion – i only wrote that one little rant [comment #14], i’m not sure who you’ve been replying to, it’s not me though, sorry. and i took another look at the blog after dismissing it quickly, and i still hate it. yes, it is satire, but it’s annoying. i’m sorry if my sense of humor is different than yours…. to me, there’s a difference between being witty and overdoing it. he overdoes it. sorry if i offended you for some reason, unless you’re the writer of the blog and don’t want to write your own name? otherwise i’m not really sure why you’re up in arms over a response to a blog posting.
hi
s1e01hkm9fdee1yt
good luck
I wholeheartedly support Jimmy Joe Roche. I love post-space.
But “Luckily, he does it with a wit and irony that makes it not only palatable, but tasty.” I have never witness a tint of wit or irony in a single one of hipsterrunoff’s posts. I’ve only seen overused stupidities or entirely random nonsense, neither of which are witty or ironic. Instead, these people try entirely too hard to anger Pitchfork hipsters when that’s exactly the people who enjoy it. They’ll continue writhing in their attempts at irony and randomness, but in fact they aren’t anything. It’s nice for you to advertise, but irony should have something funny about it, or something grave, not something entirely missed. “Oh, you’re still mocking people who listen to Taking Back Sunday… disappointing” is often my reaction. Or “Oh you’re still acting like Pitchfork is one author who is entirely based in contexts and scenes… even though it’s a company of several journalists.”
h8 yall
u fggts r so mnstrm u jst dont get it
the arrogant “i’m cooler than you i like things you’ve never even heard of bc i’m so alt you’re so mnstrm fggt” attitude of carles blog completely embodies everything a hipster is and stands for. don’t expect anything else from a blog titled “HIPSTER runoff” yeahhh
@ jordan, actually the word irony means using a word for a different (usually opposing) meaning than that for which it is intended. so no, irony does not have to be funny OR grave.
just in case you don’t get it yet this is me using some irony [via sarcasm]: you sound like a super smart guy with his finger really on the pulse.
learn to internet yall
<3 crls/HRO/the postal servy (i hear they’re going to make it in 2k9) <3