Music Reviewing

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October 29, 2016 by Simon Sweetman

The Good And Bad Reviews Are Equal: It Is All Just Opinion After All

Earlier this year I spoke with a journalism class – the subject: reviews, reviewing… I’ve given talks on this topic before. It usually goes much the same way: potted history of my life and work. How I got into this. A bit of a discussion around what is required of a review, how to do […]

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December 23, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

The Worst Thing To Happen To Music This Year

A couple of weeks ago I left you with a list of the biggest stinkers of 2015 – and I’ve looked back through that list, they are all duds (or were duds to my ears anyway) but there isn’t an album there that stands out as the single worst thing I heard this year. I […]

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September 14, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

Sweetman Podcast: Episode 6 – Phil O’Brien

Welcome to the sixth episode of Sweetman Podcast. This one is a chat with Phil O’Brien, radio personality. You may know Phil from his current stint as host of Saturday Night on Radio NZ National or for his co-hosting of Matinee Idle, a show he created over a decade ago. But Phil O’Brien’s career in […]

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April 13, 2015 by Simon Sweetman

TV Shows That Meant The World To Me: # 11 – Good Morning

I got this message one day at work – someone had called up The Dominion Post looking for me (I have never worked “at” The Dominion Post, I write some reviews for them, so people assume I work there). They said they wanted to talk to me about being a music reviewer for the Good […]

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July 3, 2013 by Simon Sweetman

Are You Our Next Unpaid, Unqualified, Positively Free Ticket-Getting Reporter?

I saw the ad in the Dominion Post the other day – I guess the paper’s going to print any of the ads it is offered but it seemed in direct competition with the newspaper; certainly it is diametrically opposed to the newspaper’s idea of arts reporting. I’m talking about Positively Wellington Venues’ plan to […]