The biggest paradox of /mu/ is that no artist or album can be celebrated without backlash, and likewise no music can be perpetually hated without a few defenders. Save for perhaps “Loveless” and “In the Court of the Crimson King,” the most universally praised albums are often subject to the most debate. But as an observer, finding the few declarations that echo your own thoughts can be as emotionally fulfilling as it is aggravating when a favorite of yours has been dragged through the dirt. The stream of content weaving from jests to discernments end up being the funniest and most informative threads - when one has reached upward of 150 comments, you’re almost certainly in for something good.Ī thread in which two sides of a topic are debated is something like living art. They are the outright contrarians, clueless proletarians and the hyper-pretentious. Sure, users can be antagonistic toward one another in disagreement, but usually the users getting flack for their comments are the ones who, according to internet decorum, deserve it.
The most “right” opinion is usually the one most agreed upon. With no way to bury the unpopular thoughts or propagate any one view, the cumulative opinions on /mu/ are very much democratic. Most threads, even the popular ones, only exist on the main catalog for 24 hours - once a thread ceases to have replies, it is closed and slowly moves down the catalogue until it is finally archived.Īs the truly committed users are stuck up on their high horse, each anonymous voice declares itself to be true and each person can call out other users by tagging posts in their own. Unlike Reddit - a site that, like Pitchfork, is often at the butt of jokes - in which users can upvote or downvote posts, threads exist chronologically and only for seven days in the archive. Users can also recommend albums and receive recommendations in return in related threads - usually these involve charts that outline a person’s favorite albums. There are threads for more general genres, but even the ones with small Wikipedia pages get their time in the sun on /mu/. Because the average user is a self-declared music aficionado, this leads to the discovery of great music you would never have found otherwise.īizarre subgenres like witch house and vaporwave contain their own newly established traditions and notable albums, despite having only been around for a few years. Though the appeal of /mu/ to the fun-seeking internet user is in the insults and jokes, a vast majority of users are there to share their interests with similar minds. Meanwhile, the many moments of insightful candor can affirm or challenge your own musical tastes. But once you are able to separate the “bait,” or purposefully outlandish statements, from useful and often brutally honest exchanges between persnickety strangers, /mu/ becomes an endlessly engaging format for a dialogue about music.īetween the complicated, meme-fueled jests and users calling each other out on disagreeable opinions - whether they’re genuine or not - the Wild West of the web is reliably amusing. The board’s creative insults and invented internet vernacular practically deserve their own article. The overall attitude of the average user, given the loose posting rules and anonymity, is occasionally riddled with irony, sarcasm, condescension and general political incorrectness. The latter examples, for instance, are on the whole seen as the pinnacles of their respective genres - shoegaze, progressive rock and hip-hop.ĭiscussion ranges from K-pop to metal to classical, and finding niche genres and fan bases is one of the keener pleasures of visiting /mu/. This means the community frequently discusses these albums, largely due to their widespread approval by users. These two albums - along with My Bloody Valentine’s “Loveless,” King Crimson’s “In the Court of the Crimson King” and Madvillain’s “Madvillainy,” among others - are considered /mu/core, though it is often debated.