| The Webcrawler: Hipster Edition |
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Here are the top 5 websites of the moment: 1. Hipster Runoff (http://www.hipsterrunoff.com/) For the Helvetica-loving, America Apparel patrons who dream of living in Williamsburg, this website calls itself: a "Culturally Relevant" "Blog Worth Blogging About". And this is not too far off the mark. Blog posts range from the latest in indie music (featured regularly on Sirius XMU's Blog Radio), the #tween phenomena, politically relevant topics such as pollution in China and the safety of vaccines, to useful tips on how to be internet famous and how to reduce your carbon footprint. 2. Pitchfork (http://pitchfork.com/) If you have never heard of this website and you call yourself an alternative music lover, then maybe you should put the cafe mocha down and start wearing Affliction t-shirts. This site is the ultimate authority on the indie/alternative music. This Chicago-based site provides extensive coverage and criticism of underground acts, new indie music, interviews, music videos, and more. Created in 1995 by high school graduate, Ryan Schriber, it is now one of the most influential publications in the indie music scene. Pitchfork has been said to have played a part in the success of Arcade Fire, Interpol, Junior Boys and No Age. 3. PSFK (http://www.psfk.com/) A website about new ideas and trends in business and consumer culture, PSFK is the source on the newest trends in design, technology, culture, advertising, and more. PSFK stands for the names of the creators: Piers Fawkes and Simon King (Piers Simon Fawkes King---if it still looks confusing) who started posting their observations about emerging trends in New York and London. The company now operates out of a head office in New York with a network in cities that include London, Shanghai, Singapore, Sao Paulo, and Hamburg and has provided consulting services to companies like Apple, Coke, MTV, and Target. 4. PostSecret (http://postsecret.blogspot.com/) In Wong Kar Wai's masterpiece, 2046 (one of my favorite movies of all time), the hero says: "Before...when people had secrets they didn't want to share...they'd climb a mountain...They'd find a tree and carve a hole in it...and whisper the secret into the hole...then cover it with mud. That way, nobody else would ever discover it..." That works quite well in film noir but a very practical alternative would be PostSecret. PostSecret "is an ongoing community art project where people mail in their secrets anonymously on one side of a postcard" (from the website). At times funny, touching, pathetic, insightful, but always heartbreakingly human, PS provides a venue for much-needed catharsis for some people. Here are examples:     If you have a secret of your own, send a postcard to: PostSecret 13345 Copper Ridge Rd, Germantown, MD USA 20874-3454 5. Gorilla vs. Bear (http://gorillavsbear.blogspot.com/) Another Sirius Blog Radio fave, GvB has been called by Rolling Stone "The NYT of Music Blogs". GvB puts the spotlight on unknown and unsigned artists, and have showcased artists like Santogold, Memory Tapes, Dirty Projectors, and White Denim before anyone knew about them. |
