Critic Profile: Rob Sheffield
Written on September 22, 2010 – 5:16 pm | by Courtney Arzu
Rob Sheffield and the cover of "Love is a Mix Tape"
Rob Sheffield a current contributing editor and music and pop culture blogger for “Rolling Stone” magazine. His blog can be found at http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/rob-sheffield/blog/79703/16. Sheffield has a wealth of experience in the music journalism field. Prior to working for “Rolling Stone” he was a contributing editor at “Blender” (RIP) and “Spin” magazines. Sheffield can also often be found as pop culture “talking head” on various VH1 specials.
Sheffield’s blog “Pop Life” consists of humorous looks at musical pop culture events, like the MTV Video Music awards and the American Music Awards. “Pop Life” also features pop music reviews from artists like Pavement, Katy Perry, M.I.A., and Lady Gaga. In addition to “Rolling Stone” Sheffield has also written two books, 2007’s “Love is a Mix Tape” and 2010’s “Talking to Girls About Duran Duran.”
One of the most clever examples of his writing is his entry on Adam Lambert’s 2009 AMA performance. As he describes the performance he crafts clever gems. In one instance he refers to Lambert fans as “glamskanks” and describes the performance as a “full frontal Glambgasm,” both plays on Lambert’s nickname of Glambert.
Fellow music journalist, and personal favorite of mine, Chuck Klosterman speaks highly of Sheffield’s body of work. Klosterman states, “No rock critic, living or dead or otherwise, has ever written about pop music with the evocative, hyperpoetic, perfectitude of Rob Sheffield.”
And I couldn’t agree more.
Tags: critic profile, Music, Pop Music
2 Responses to “Critic Profile: Rob Sheffield”
Some sloppy writing and some AP style problems. (Magazine titles do not get quotation marks.) Good post. Have you read the books? 9/10
“Glamskanks?”
“Glambgasms?”
Sheffield definitely has a eccentric play of words that I am starting to like.
I had never heard of him before and as Professor Kois mentioned in class, his “Love is a Mix Tape” memoir is a sweet read. I am a bookworm and that book is already on my to-read list at the library.