BRITTICISMS

Tumblrs I Love: Part Two

Last year, I created a long post featuring some of my favorite tumblrs. Below is part two of that list featuring a mix of personal bloggers, music publications, and my favorite cultural resources. What are some of your favorite tumblrs?

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MUSIC

MTHRFNKR

Previously known as Post Dubstep (included in my original favorite tumblrs list), MTHRFNKR has come out the gate swinging with in-depth interviews, hot mixes, and editorial direction with a clear voice. They’re dedicated to “intelligent contemporary music” and recently coined the term “arthouse,” a perfect catch-all term for the emerging sounds of independent r&b and post-dubstep worldwide.

Arthouse

Born out of the term MTHRFNKR recently created, Arthouse is a frequently updated source for both recent and older music that touches upon aesthetics of independent r&b and post-dubstep. I like that they simply post the music without adding much commentary, letting each song speak for itself.

Lifecrushed

Hot mixes and fantastic commentary. I’m especially enjoying some of the remixes they’ve posted and their latest blog mix, a collaboration with the always impressive Indie R&B tumblr (another tumblr I love).

Sputnikas World

It’s all about the music on this one. Featuring lots of quality dubstep, post-dubstep, and house music, this one quickly became a favorite after learning that it was one of the sites (along with the below site) that first introduced the creator of the Post-Dubstep tumblr to the genre.

hellohargi

A great source for straight-up house music. Hellohargi posts a LOT of music, more than I have time to listen to, but I almost always find something fun, danceable, and unlike anything I was listening to a year and a half ago. For that I am grateful.

Sour Times

Dedicated to the trip-hop genre, Sour Times is a good place to find all that music that you loved when you were younger, but might have left behind for newer sounds. Anyone that actively posts old Massive Attack is good in my book.

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MEMES

Children With Swag

Adorable kids with more style than most people I meet everyday.

Porn Without Porn

Exactly as it reads.

Yo, Is This Racist?

I was a little late to this party, but pretty much every answer Andrew gives makes me nod my head in agreement. It’s like, FINALLY, someone gets it (and can present it in a humorous yet sad way that demonstrates how ubiquitous racism and prejudice still are in 2012.

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PERSONAL

Shana Elmsford

Damn funny, always on point, always gets it. I wish I had a better way to describe how much I love reading this blog. I’m constantly thinking this is how lifeblogging should be done: a touch of the personal, some exposure to one’s tastes, and the ability to not take oneself too seriously.

Cesaire

Beautiful fashion photography and smart taste. I especially love the ongoing list of favorite books with links to the ebooks and pdfs. bell hooks? Frantz Fanon? Gilles Deleuze? Yes, please!

Stephanie LaCava

Personal photographs of the charmed life of a style and culture writer. A total girl crush.

Kara VanderBijl

A fellow This Recording Senior Editor, Kara’s personal reflections and slices of twentysomething life in Chicago are quiet, perfect additions to my daily reading.

My Damn Blog (Solange Knowles)

Basically Solange lives the life we all want to live: well-traveled, well-cultured, well-loved.

Joseph Richards

His music writing really does it for me, and it was his quick post upon the death of the great Whitney Houston that made me a fan. I am a music fan and can’t always write philosophically about my favorite artists, but I appreciate writers like Joseph who can.

Safy Hallan-Farah

A perfect lifeblogger who doesn’t reveal too much of herself, but has immense depth, a sense of humor, and a voracious appetite for specific memes and fandom. She created Anti-Racist Jesse Eisenberg, a small blessing.

Sarah Nicole Pritchett

I sort of idolize this young writer “getting things done.” She’s opinionated, fashionable, and offers links to her latest work along with great commentary on her day-to-day life and the work of a burgeoning young writer. Her quick post on “writing like a girl” became an instant favorite for me.

Kyle Chayka

I love everything Kyle posts. I love that he is a voracious reader not only of art writing (as he’s an accomplished arts writer) and that his love of media and culture introduces one to new favorite artists, writers, photographers, and personalities.

Jill Menor

Jill’s perfect mix of hazy imagery and emotive rap, experimental r&b, and everything in-between makes for a compelling tumblr snapshot.

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ART

Made in Chicago

A tumblr dedicated to established and emerging Chicago artists, galleries, and exhibition spaces. A must for any art fan in the city, as well as outside of the city.

Milwaukee Avenue

Annika’s sometimes grainy photographs captured by her smart phone highlight the beautiful and the worn down parts of Chicago. I always appreciate her ability to capture how huge this city is, how it can feel like it goes on forever with its wide avenues and continues streets from North to South.

Ingenue Cake

Fresh, strange, beautiful aggregated photography.

Todd Diederich

Todd is one currently one of my favorite Chicago photographers and I’ve blogged about his lifestyle photographs numerous times in the past. I’d especially recommend his images from the Humboldt Park neighborhood of the city and his instant classic snapshots of the underground ball scene.

SFMOMA

SFMOMA has always succeeded in social networking, blogging, and generally transporting their physical space to fans online. Their tumblr is no exception as they incorporate info and art from their latest programs and exhibitions with user submissions.

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CULTURE

Emily Books

One of my favorite parts of the Emily Books tumblr is the selection of essays written by some of the sharpest, smartest, and most insightful contemporary writers and based on ideas within each month’s featured book. So fantastic!

The Bindle Sack

If I lived on the West Coast, I would use this site as a resource for weekend trips. It’s difficult to create such plans to beautiful locations in Chicago. Most people travel from post-industrial rust belt city to post-industrial rust belt city. Sometimes it’s nice to imagine a moment away means nature, fresh air, clear skies.

90s Runway

Everything I’ve ever wanted: great fashion, supermodels, and constant exposure to the peak moments of Naomi Campbell’s career. The last moments of widespread progressive aesthetics on the runway.

Unconsumption

How to live better, how to be less wasteful (but also, in the back of my mind I think, how to make me feel guilty about not living better and being less wasteful).

LA Review of Books

Smart, insightful long form writing. Often times stands as the antithesis of dominant Tumblr culture. There is this great desire to just slow down and dissect the writing.

A_a_r_d_v_a_r_k

A tumblr dedicated to the children’s cartoon. I crossed out children because I am an adult and I still love Arthur. Can I just say that there are more non-stereotypical Black characters on Arthur than most individual primetime television shows? Damn.