House Is A Feeling

Just noticed I’m on the longlist for “Best Music Blog” at the Irish blog awards. I’m assuming there’s some nepotism at work here!

I have a weird relationship with the Irish blogosphere, or rather don’t have any major relationship really. I first started reading blogs a few years back, and most of the ones I read were from America or Britain up until very recently, but I guess I have a few links to Irish sites in my blogroll, and I have been reading them a little more. This is all part of a more general “see if I can reconcile my cultural tastes with the real world enough to ever make money in the field of cultural journalism again” programme, which is going pretty well really, considering. This blog is fun because I can write about what I like, whatever I like, I’ve rediscovered the joy of writing freely, and for free, and it’s helped me to deal with the fact that writing about techno will probably never pay the bills!

The problem with liking techno is you have pretty much two sets of people, those who are likely to understand what you are talking about, and those who aren’t, ever. I don’t mean that facetiously, it’s just if you take techno on its own terms, ie not the Chemical Brothers (no offence lads) it is a strict subculture.

Personally, if it wasn’t too late to add another blog to the longlist, for what it’s worth, I’d nominate Richard Brophy, of Hot Press and DJ Magazine’s Test blog, if only because I like a lot of music that’s discussed there. Again it’s weird how off the radar the dance blogs can be when it comes to this Irish blogosphere, because I suppose as a dance writer you never define yourself by nationality. On the contrary you’re always reaching out to other countries and you’re just as likely to have readers in Berlin as Baile Átha Cliath.

Like that, a lot of the people who read this blog are not from Ireland, as far as I can tell. I don’t know if they get a vote in these awards, I guess that’s cheating, maybe not, who knows.

In any case if anyone, black white or indifferent, cares to vote for me then by all means go ahead. To do so, go here here. In the meantime I’m going to buy some decaffeinated Earl Grey, afterall it is the weekend.

(For a full list of nominees go here…lots of reading to get through there!)

Technorati Tags: Irish Blog Awards, Blogging, Blogs