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1. Sasha Frere-Jones
The New Yorker
The New Yorker’s pop-music writer; has also contributed to The New York Times, The Village Voice, LA Weekly, Slate and TONY; former member of the instrumental post-rock band Ui.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 5.4 | 5.1 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 5.1 | 4.98 |
“Can run toward the hipster side, but backs it up with knowledge and panache.”…“I often disagree with his picks, but generally look forward to reading him. He writes well.”…“Goes out of his way to discover new music.”
2. Kelefa Sanneh
The New York Times
Pop-music writer for the Times; has contributed to The Village Voice, the Boston Phoenix and The Source.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 5.3 | 4.8 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 5.4 | 4.9 |
“His taste is broad and his knowledge of the genres he loves runs deep. Great writer.Brings much-needed comedy/levity to the Times.”…“His agenda is to raise crap to the level of art—he tends to write glowingly about some of the worst American music.”…“My favorite of the ‘new guard.’ He oozes passion, has an interesting perspective and can write with equal knowledge on hip-hop, folkies and trendy pop.”
3. Jody Rosen
Slate
Slate’s pop-music critic; has contributed to The Nation and The New York Times; author of White Christmas: The Story of an American Song.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 5 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 4.2 | 4.62 |
“Great writer, good taste. Slate isn’t a regular read for me, but his pieces in the Times have been strong.”…“He’s working hard these days, and is much more present.”
4. Jon Pareles
The New York Times
Chief pop-music critic of the Times, where he’s been since 1982; had previous stints at Crawdaddy, Rolling Stone and the Voice.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 5.1 | 3.9 | 4.4 | 4.6 | 5 | 4.6 |
“At his best when he’s ballsy and calling out things he doesn’t like, though he doesn’t always articulate those critiques in the best way possible.”…“He will sometimes soft-pedal a negative review and move toward reportage. A little more bite sometimes would be welcome.”…“He’s too smart to be aggressively critical, but knows how to write about things he ‘feels.’”
5. Robert Christgau
National Public Radio
Joined NPR’s All Things Considered in October; his career at The Village Voice ended in August after nearly 40 years; author of several record guides; teaches at NYU; self-appointed dean of rock critics.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 5.1 | 3.8 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 4.1 | 4.12 |
“Pretentious, unyielding, stuck in the past, but still pretty brilliant.”…“He can be obtuse in his writing, but has a strong point of view and broad tastes.”…“Parsing his language can be a chore, but it’s worth it for the insight once in a while.”
6. Ben Ratliff
The New York Times
Jazz and rock critic for the Times since 1996.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 4.4 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4 | 3.6 | 4.04 |
“His beat seems to move from jazz to country to metal, etc., so it’s a little hard to pin down where he is.”…“Supersmart -writer, but a little too ‘heady’ sometimes for rock & roll writing. Analysis paralysis.”…“He’s amazing at putting music in its context and place in history.”
7. Jim Farber
Daily News
Moved to the Daily News after gigs with Creem, Circus and Rolling Stone, where he was first published at age 16.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 3.9 | 3.7 | 3.7 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 3.7 |
“He has great spins on why he likes or dislikes things.”…“Would have more influence if he didn’t write for the Daily News. He enjoys what he does, and that comes through in his reviews.”…“Eh.”
8. Rob Harvilla
The Village Voice
Became music editor at the Voice earlier this year; did stints at the Phoenix New Times and the East Bay Express.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 4.3 | 3.7 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.2 | 3.52 |
“I sorta dig what he does, but I don’t read the Voice often enough to really know that much of what he does.”…“He’s all right; no strong opinion.”
9. Dan Aquilante
New York Post
Pop-music critic at the Post, where he started as copy boy in 1980.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 3.7 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 2.3 | 2.9 |
“I grew up reading Aquilante’s stuff, to the point that you can hear echoes of his voice in my own at my most hackish moments. His taste is totally puzzling, but it always enter-tains me.”…“If he doesn’t like it, I’ll buy it.”…“He gave Evanescence three stars out of four. Nuff said.”
TONY’s own
Cristina Black
Staff music writer since 2005.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 4.3 | 4 | 4 | 4.3 | 3.1 | 3.94 |
“Very easy to read, decent taste, but a bit neither here nor there.”…“She gets it.”
Jay Ruttenberg
Staff music writer since 2000.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 4.6 | 4 | 4 | 4.6 | 3.4 | 4.12 |
“He can have his obscurantist -moments, but I trust him more than just about anyone reviewing today.”…“Very passionate about music. Finds great bands no one has heard of.”
Mike Wolf
At TONY since 2000; music editor since 2003.
| K | S | T | A | I | AVG |
| 4.6 | 3.9 | 4.1 | 4.5 | 4.1 | 4.24 |
“Very good taste, broad-minded, though negative reviews can get a bit snarky.”…“If he and Kelefa [Sanneh] wrote the new Trouser Press guide, I’d buy it.”…“A very good writer whose taste is mystifying to me on occasion.”
