Sam Machkovech Out at the Observer
Cindy Chaffin posted this on Fine Line a few minutes ago. Apparently Sam was fired by the Dallas Observer today, and I'm assuming that many of you who read this blog will either laugh at or be saddened by this turn of events, judging from the strong comments for and against him that we've seen on here since day one. Cindy doesn't know any of the details and neither do we, but we'll try to get you some if they are available later.
UPDATE #1: here is a bit more from Sam on what happened:
The reason on my goodbye letter says "you are being terminated today as a result of the performance issues we have discussed with you on multiple occasions.
UPDATE #1: here is a bit more from Sam on what happened:
The reason on my goodbye letter says "you are being terminated today as a result of the performance issues we have discussed with you on multiple occasions.
posted by stonedranger at 12:35 PM
82 Comments:
that sucks ): give'em hell sam
agreed w/ delmore. this is shitty news.
As an occasional freelancer and someone who likes stuff waaaay more dangerous than the "safe" stuff he veers toward, I still give Sam a vote of confidence. What, did you expect it to read like an underground zine? It *is* Dallas, you know. If he had a more diverse talent pool of freelancers, the section would be (have been) much better. So, again, instead of bitching why don't you apply for a freelance position there?
i think sam did a decent job and certainly took the shit everyone slung his way pretty well.
and guess what dudes? if you didn't like the observer when sam was music editor, just get ready for the sharp turn downhill the observer music section is about to take. it will make the sam-era observer look like skyscraper. seriously, i can only imagine the burden brothers-spoonfed tribe-south fm wank that we'll have suffer through. good luck!
Aww so sad! I feel your lose! Wang no lose job but him lose crack pipe. Losing crack pipe is crazing! One time losing both crack pipe AND heroin needle at same time in Algoma, WI......I get on stage, playing one Stooges song, then say: "Enough! Touring Cancel! This crazings too much!". Never got US money for show but someone giving me smack later on same night rocking hard! Yazuki!!!
Big sads,
-wang chung
a shame; course i am biased
The music section of the Observer was loads better under Sam's watch than I've ever seen it before. At least he covered lots of good bands and called out the bullshit going on in Dallas when he saw it. Did he support some bands that some people thought were douchey? Ya. But, he also supported some other great bands in Dallas and helped try to foster the indie music scene. And he didn't support bullshit like Belafonte, and he didn't kiss the Burden Brothers' asses. He was a music fan, and pretty phucking funny too. Sam, sorry buddy. That sucks.
maybe it had something to do with the lack of Curtain/Clearview ads last week??? hmmm..... I wonder. $$$. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
Nevertheless, I thought Sam did a good job of giving people hell. I liked it. Nobody knows anything about music in this town. That's why it is called Dallas.
Actually, Dallas is a Comanche Indian word meaning "Belafonte Kicks Ass".
Cannot wait for the new girl to start, so we can see that we had it good for a while.
Sam is a great guy, and I've always enjoyed his articles. I'm sure he'll be fine w/out the Observer. Good luck to you, Machovech, in whatever you do.
All you Sam haters sure are gonna eat crow if he gets replaced by some emo/metal/Curtain club ass-kisser.
He did a a really good job of covering the indie scene here, shedding light on it. He couldn't write about everything that people may have wanted to see, but that is what these blogs are for.
Sam supported and championed some of our area's best bands and acts from many genres. Some of those genres may not have been to my liking, but he I got over it because he can't be as narrow-minded as some typical music fans. He criticized things that needed to be criticized and I thought he was pretty damn honest about it too.
I had gotten to know him recently and he was a really nice, friendly dude with good taste in music. I'm sorry to see you go Sam.
Too bad. Hate to see him go.
I know Sam was rad because he gave my band good press and bad press and no press and lots of press.
he's not dead people. stop talking in the past tense. waniewawah.
3:41 is hilario
is the new music editor a girl? i wouldn't have a problem w/ it except for the fact that i now feel like if you love music and are a dude, yer kinda fucked in dallas.... cause there are like 3 or 4 major concert bookers who are female, about 1/2 the blogs around here are (or seem to be.. bobbyewingdreams) written by girls.
...when's a dude gonna do something rad? is our time up?
...oh well, at least they don't piss me off too bad (not as bad as lance from spune, who might as well be a 16 year old girl w/ his booking practices)
i'm not trying to sound sexist or anything of that nature... i'm just wondering when a guy is gonna do something similar to what 5 or 6 girls are doing in dallas.
maybe i'm just waiting for someone to put on the shows that i would put on if i were somehow capable of doing so.
Yes, the new music editor is a girl. She starts the end of September.
4:22-
You'd already have a job booking if you were half as smart as the 4 or 5 girls booking shows in Dallas. I've dealt with both male and female bookers. It's all the same. In fact, most female bookers are friendlier. For instance, if you ran across one out in the street and she realized you were in a band she booked, she'd probably say "hi". Not so, for the stoic assholes I've had to deal with from Rubber Gloves (a looooong time ago anyways) to Emo's to Tree's etc. etc.
the booking agent at rubber gloves is a girl, and she's pretty fly. when she knows you're in a band she buys you a drink. that and she emails you back about shit. there's a new idea.
"(not as bad as lance from spune, who might as well be a 16 year old girl w/ his booking practices)":
hey lance, MYSPACE BULLETINS IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROMOTING A SHOW. JESUS CHRIST.
exactly what i mean.... and what's this "retreat" we're having?
gawd! quit spit-shining turds and book a show that's worth a damn. just a bunch of "whacky" ideas for the events name, etc but it's always the same damn show
it's called tallent, and the ability to put on eyeliner w/o a mirror isn't the kind of tallent we're looking for
Spune's upcoming shows at Cavern, next week, have something for everyone:
Tues: Lost Generation's Solo Composer Showcase featuring
Sean Kirtpatrick (the paper chase), Warren Hearne, Silk Stocking, Plexus Loom, Wanz Dover & more.
Wed: Drums and Tuba, Fishboy, Man Factory, Comrade
Thurs: The Chemistry Set, Calhoun, The Paper South (members of American Analog Set/Winslow), I Love Math
Fri: The Happy Bullets, Doug Burr, George Neal, Chao, Glen Farris
Sat: Single Frame, Red Monroe, Faceless Werewolves, Cartright, Emil Rapstine (of The Angelus)
Diverse lineups featuring some of the area's brightest talent.
5:03
"No results found for tallent.
Did you mean talent?"
I think 5:53 should get post of the day.
awe, shucks.
good riddance redhead!
well this is never good news. sorry to hear about that sam - good luck finding the new gig.
oh and yeah that spune's a funny guy. love him or hate him he's definately become one of those 'gatekeepers' that don't always make it easy for a band.
but whatever.
Doncha love when you get to see someone get their comeuppance? This has been a long time coming. You can only fool people for so long into thinking you actually have any ability and talent besides shooting off half formed opinions.
You're a naive fool if you think this has anything to do with his writing ability or his opinions. It's about money, nothing more, nothing less. And get ready for even less local music coverage.
sam, c'mon down to cedar springs, where you really belong. all the betty ford's you can drink, and a special spunkburger at hunky's.
don't worry sam, you are but the first of many. come to think of it, you werent even the first. maybe you should worry, fuckhead.
maybe samuel and tim delaughter can go back out to waco and raise the ashes. and drink their own kool-aid.........
Boy, you people sure are brave. Throwing shit like monkeys, but not man enough to say it with your real names.
Not only are you happy that someone lost their job, which is pretty fucking low, but you are mindlessly throwing out childish insults to top it off.
I definitely cheer everytime someone gets laid off or loses a job... hooray! Take that! Guess you anons win, huh?
I almost hope this new writer loves emo, plano, curtain club and country music. Then wtf will you people do?
not read the observer? still?
Didn't know Sam. I do know the guys from Belafonte and yes I admit I'm friends with them and not ashamed of it. What your feelings about them is your opinion and I'm not going to try to change that, but some of the reactions I've been reading sound so Chicken Little style. It's not the end of the world. The Observer is not bringing about the second coming of nu-metal. Things will still remain the same. Music writers don't make a scene, people do.
as far as the no curtain club ads theory goes like shampoomohawk said at 2:05. i would say that has less to do with Sam and more to do with the fact that Clearview is usually only open one night a week recently.
Sam you should team up with Frank, I bet you guys could cook up something supersweet
well when Sam spent several weeks condeming Clearview in print..what do you expect. Everybody suddenly thinks it's uncool to play at Clearview.
alot of shows were canceld at clearview by bands, which is sad, cause most bands sound better there than other places around town. They need to fix their AC tho.
zak: whats wrong with cheering when someone gets fired??
if my garbage man decided not to pick up my garage for 4 weeks, and he got fired.. i sure as hell would cheer! and if someone told me it was wrong to cheer for that persons lost job.. well i'd tell them they are a jerk for even thinking about condescending twards me in such a way..
this being said.. there is a lot of garbage as far as dallas, and music is concerned.. sam shouldn't be blamed for 'all' of it..
also as far as your comments on anonymity..
some people confuse the ability of being brave, and the ability of one to be stupid.. this is exceedingly true when it concerns themselves.. doubly so for as they talk about others..
I don't care who they bring in I stopped reading that stupid paper a long time ago. The internet is where it's at. Sams writing was shit anyway. The sky is NOT falling and no one will care about this next week.
Just think, Sam can run for Mayor. Everyone else from the Observer has.
"Everybody suddenly thinks it's uncool to play at Clearview."
suddenly? SUDDENLY? since when was it EVER cool to play at that place?
that's like saying that because he thought the deep elum music festival was crap, people decided it was uncool to go.... it's uncool because it IS. not because somebody had the balls to point it out dispite the fact that advertisements to the event were plastered all over the paper.
Sorry Sam. I did not alwaya agree with him or some of his opinions of me, but the local coverage was pretty much the best it has ever been under his watch. Not to mention he actually went to a wide variety of local shows and events which is a first for an Observer music editor. I am crossing my fingers on the replacement, but I have a bad feeling about what we are gonna get instead.
I agree with Wanz. Like him or not, Sam was really covering some cool shit - Strange Boys, laptop deathmatch, undoing, wall of sound, etc etc. He was a good voice for the scene that we all bitch and argue about on this very blog. I am REALLY concerned with who will be chosen for the job next. I fear thw whole thing is going to turn into Texas Gigs part 2.
sam himself will tell you that i run around town talking shit about him. but since the days of 'the met', i haven't known our local free papers to be the most trusted place concerning the scene. i think the observer definitely improved while sam was there. it's a tough job that i definitely wouldn't want. anyway, i probably won't be picking up the observer anytime soon. unless i'm looking for a place to sell some sperm or get some methadone treatment.
Disagree or agree with him, Sam will be truly missed.
And while it sucks Sam's gone, there are a lot of freelancers that were hired by Sam and staffers that are damn fine music writers. He gave them a chance, so if you appreciated him, you should too. Don't let Jesse, MC, Darryl, Geoff, Merritt, Noah and others fall by the wayside or the corporation wins.
I've actually got lots of writeups upcoming, which has nothing to do w/ Sam, more like $$$. If they were smart they'd be hounding me to take this job. I won't of course, but I guess for the next month or so I'll be doing what I can to improve it (at least the critics picks). Please send me any under-the-radar shows I need to write up at least 2 weeks in advance to m_chamy@excite.com or my myspace.
I've actually got lots of writeups upcoming, which has nothing to do w/ Sam, more like $$$. If they were smart they'd be hounding me to take this job. I won't of course, but I guess for the next month or so I'll be doing what I can to improve it (at least the critics picks). Please send me any under-the-radar shows I need to write up at least 2 weeks in advance to m_chamy@excite.com or my myspace.
I've actually got lots of writeups upcoming, which has nothing to do w/ Sam, more like $$$. If they were smart they'd be hounding me to take this job. I won't of course, but I guess for the next month or so I'll be doing what I can to improve it (at least the critics picks). Please send me any under-the-radar shows I need to write up at least 2 weeks in advance to m_chamy@excite.com or my myspace.
I think blogger's server or whatever actually does this double posting garbage. I did not do a click - click wait thingie at all!
I think blogger's server or whatever actually does this double posting garbage. I did not do a click - click wait thingie at all!
I think blogger's server or whatever actually does this double posting garbage. I did not do a click - click wait thingie at all!
yawn
BLOGGER ADMIN: you eat skanky asssss corn ....
[note to anons: cut and re-post every two hours! rinse, lather, repeat]
ugh shut up. i wish you were an ANON you're so terribly forgetable.
One of the best things in local music free paper history has just happened and theres not a war going on over here? But you guys can easily conjure 100 plus comments on nothing or Wanz? Amazing.
Or maybe we just don't care. Ha!
"Stonedranger said...
how is my ass getting kicked?"
well, I'd guess that your "ass being kicked" is the product of how you handle this blog, not by any other blog actually doing it better or anything, moreso I'd guess people like me are just losing interest in the whole damn thing. but, you're too cool to care about any of that shit, right? I mean really, what are you without everyone's crack-addict, dedicated attention Mr. Stonedranger? would you just instinctively list up all the weekly music happenings every week even if no one was actually reading?
further, your one-sided, repetative commentaries and "eh, whatever I don't give a shit" writing seems to do LESS for the readers, and MORE to your ego. I use the word "ego" lightly because, how much ego can an Anonymous person have? I guess you're showing us! seems like it's an army of Anons led by King Anon - that's what you offer, right? I think people are getting a little tired of it, I am. your one political post doesn't convince me you're "branching out" or anything, and your contributors posts are increasingly difficult to read and overly-opinionated. I read this blog all the time, but out of chore. it doesn't seem so much of a music lover's blog these days, more like a wrecking crew. unfortunately, it's all we have! can't you offer something more progressive?
the point of me writing this isn't to dog you Stoney, but to point out that THIS is the type of shit that is wrong with Dallas and it's music scene! this website promotes drama, the people get all riled up and act high school on here, on PURPOSE! we all care so much (apparently) that we get on a dumbass website and anonymously attack each other - is that actually GOOD for this scene?? it's very sad to me. you'd all seemingly rather bite each others heads off and pass around gossip than make actual changes. everyone wonders "why we don't have a scene like ______?" well, they probably spend more time sharing and enjoying their local arts rather than sitting around all day verbally attacking each other like fucking children.
I don't think Dallas can change at this point, and somehow become a national, important music scene in this country. am I wrong? prove me wrong. for every few good things that happen here, ten bad ones follow. this idea is based mainly on the fact that the "care" we have towards our scene is complately misdirected into drama-filled websites like this.
Weshotjr, you assist in all of this by allowing a free-for-all forum for this type of shit, a steady 75 replies deep with constant negative commentary...ever thought about disallowing Anon posts? or would that bruise your ego?
love, Anonymous
Is it just me, or did that post contradict itself every other sentence?
The Dallas scene is fine. It's probably better then ever because there's a dialogue, of which Sam has been the harbinger and WSJR the catalyst.
From what I've seen, the Metal/AlternaCrap and Trance/Techno Clubs are on their way out, and some creative stuff has been beginning to thrive. If that's the case, Sam's mission has been achived, and up to us to keep it going.
"...creative stuff has been beginning to thrive. If that's the case, Sam's mission has been achived, and up to us to keep it going." --4:59 PM
This is a joke, right?
Well, you should feel free to start your own blog if you don't like this one. Maybe you can help save the scene from all of the completely brainless negativity that is just driving things into the ground! However, there already is a blog (Fine Line) that is read by a lot of people and takes an extremely positive position on local music. The Dallas Obeserver, despite its negativity at times, also champions many bands that we don't, and you can read about those bands there.
As far as making the scene suck or whatever, its hard for me to respond to that because I don't know how much effect we really have on the local scene, if any. We have never held this blog out to be anything more than statements of our own opinions, and I think if anything, we have tried to move towards more professional writing and a careful approach (Most of the time) to true criticism and praise where we feel it is warranted.
As for the anon comments, a lot of them are pretty stupid and hardly productive. However, I'm not sure that requiring people to create a screen name to post on here would really make that much of a difference, because it doesn't require you to reveal anything about who you actually are. And it has nothing to do with my ego, even though it might be pleasant and easy for you to think that it does. We have a statcounter program that tells us how many people are on the site every day, so we don't even use the comments as a measure of popularily or success, because many times, the # of comments on any given day aren't a very accurate reflection of how many people are actually visiting the site... sometimes low comment days have a lot more people than high comment days, etc.
And if you don't like the writing on here, thats fine. I'm not always completely satisfied with what we produce either, but I will say that we all work pretty hard to make the content on here as solid as we possibly can in our spare time without compensation. We have done countless profiles of local bands we like, interviews with local figures and national touring bands, MP3s, record store sales and radio play info, pieces about underground music and culture in general, local politics, and our opinions on the Dallas scene in general. I think we have improved our content quite a bit in the past few months, and although you may not like it, the number of people that visit our site every day continues to increase on average, indicating that people are at least as interested in the site as they were six months ago, and probably more, since our returing traffic has increased as well.
I encourage fair and thoughtful criticism of our content, which is why I have taken the time to respond to yours. However, I hardly see how this blog is hurting the Dallas scene in any way, and if anything, I think Dallas has started to improve a bit over the past few months. I'm not saying that this is because of us, because again I have no idea about the effect we have (especially since we don't really talk to people about the blog in person), but I certainly don't think that we have ruined anything, and if you are going to say that we have, I would like to at least hear some concrete examples.
and actually, I do think that anonymous dialogue can help this scene, as it allows people to be more open in what they say. Does it also lead to sloppy and mean spirited crap a lot of the time? Yes, but I seriously doubt that people take the posts that say "Nigger" and "fuck your band you dumbass" very seriously at all. I just seriously doubt that people really care that much about that stuff.
I just simply can't start limiting what people say on here, because i want this place to continue to be a place where people can be honest and open, even if they don't always chose to be intelligent. I think the rational, intelligent voices on here will always prevail over the mean spirited and pointless.
wow.
"and actually, I do think that anonymous dialogue can help this scene, as it allows people to be more open in what they say..."
I have to agree here. I see this every day in my "real job." People get fired up, have opinions, want to make changes to corporate bullshit...but as soon as you stick 'em in a conference room full of execs, they clam up.
I don't think its as much cowardice as it is self-preservation and while its disappointing when real change needs to be made, I can't say that I blame some people for wanting to keep their identity cloaked.
Dialogue is dialogue no matter what, and thankfully, wankers aside, it can make a difference.
4:21
Wow, that made no sense. Are you being forced at gunpoint to read this blog? The writers are opinionated? Just like your longwinded comment, you mean? The anons are so negative? Just like your negative anonymous comment? It's really weird how there is all this outcry for this fucking blog to live up to some standard set by a bunch of assholes who are mostly just people in local bands who get all crybabyish when the focus isn't on them. Some of you sound worse than shareholders whining about how their investment isn't returning enough. This is a free blog. You come here out of your own free will. Then you bitch about it. It's free. Who cares? You're like people I dealt with working in retail who would complain that a coupon was "buy one-get one free" rather than "buy one-get three free" or some shit. If you're getting anything for free at all, why complain? If it entertains you then that should be enough. I don't think this blog was started to change your life or save the "scene". Define "progressive" for me? As in "Progressive Adult Alternative"? What progressive ideas do you want from someone who's just wasting all his fucking free time to tell you what he thinks is cool? Keep in mind that that's all this really is when this is said and done. The reason this blog has gotten so much attention is that every other outlet has done such a poor job of that. That only reflects on the local culture or lack thereof. As for not having the anonymous option anymore, that's been addressed on here several times and it's the reason you're allowed to criticize this blog and the anonymous comments with your very own anonymous comment.
fin
stop.
now.
please.
well, I got a little mouthy earlier, but if this is the high school, you're the principal Mr. Stonedranger. I love your site, but your kids are running amok. I didn't mean to go nuts on my earlier post, but please understand my frustrations towards people that just want to BITCH about the scene, rather than DO something about it. my diatribe was aimed more towards your readers, honestly. call it PMS, my bad.
and yes, I guess I inadvertantly joined in and ultimately added to the lengthy e-drama. oops, contagious dallas vibe!
yours,
Anonymous
and to earlier gentleman:
"The reason this blog has gotten so much attention is that every other outlet has done such a poor job of that. That only reflects on the local culture or lack thereof."
exactly, I concur wholeheartedly
Posted in fineline's comments:
"DTC Says:
August 30th, 2006 at 6:38 pm
his replacement, according to Lyons, is a Fort Worth native, Trinity Valley alum, and former editor/writer for the Santa Fe Reporter, Jonanna Widner"
Do a google search of her name & you can see some of the reviews she's done. Not too encouraging.
Ha. Ha. Ha.
Congrats Anti-Sam-ites, you have gotten the emo-tastic Teen Beat music editor you all deserve. I hope you do like your elitist blogs because I have a feeling this girl's gonna make you want to run away to the dark recesses of the internet and curl up in a ball while rocking back and forth.
And I quote...
"... excellent silky country pop... Not only are they cute, Hundred Year Flood can play too."
~Santa Fe Reporter
Golly gee!
sheesh... that sucks.
"... excellent silky country pop... Not only are they cute, Hundred Year Flood can play too."
are you sure thats not the fine lines quote?
Yes, us anti-Samites that have long abandoned The DO(uche)are sad because they replaced him with another douche. That makes perfect sense. Douche for douche. What's the difference. The point is that paper stinks.
Can this new person possibly make the observer any worse? I really don't know what the big deal is. People lose much more important jobs everyday.
people also DIE every day, it's just that it doesn't have anything to do w/ this blog so we don't type about it.
...i'd say a dallas music blog has a certain duty to point out when a music editor of a dallas newspaper (especially one who frequents this site) has been fired.
it may not matter, people who are "waaaay better" may lose their jobs every day, but it has nothing to do w/ dallas, music, or dallas music.
this does (he added, not much later).
you know the sound of pacman dying? thats what I keep hearing every time I read about Sam getting fired.
pyoo pyoo pyoo
GAME OVER
Oh my "Gawd", everyone take flowers to The Fine Line as they mourn the death of Sam M. It's like a wake over there. Its as bad as Courtney Love reading Kurts suicide letter. He was so profound and AMAZING and now he's gone. A moment of silence please.
All of you "Oh my God they fired Sam" people are the lamest collection of DNA on the planet. WAAAAAAAHHHHHH! A shitty music writer for a shitty FREE magazine for a shitty music town lost his shitty job.
And I agree with the Anon (whatever time) about how important people with important jobs lose them daily.
Well I guess I can't really blame you Dallas people. You are only a result of your town's lack of culture.
It's ok, we can all cry when this next music person gets chopped.
Ahhh the Dallas Observer, gave Dallas such greatness such as the douches known as Laura Miller and Zac Crain. C'mon Sam, run for mayor! You can do it! Make your town even shittier!
I'd like to thank Sam for getting Laptop Deathmatch a full spread when it was starting out. I hope he finds his place and keeps coming out to the event.
sam talked about the same 5 bands that have been talked about for over 5 years. He never had one good thing to say, and sold CDs to stores without even listening to them. Karma is a bitch and Africa isn't far enough away for someone who probably doesn't even know what dimished means.
Do you remember Perfect Strangers? Sam was neither perfect, nor a stranger, but he could sure form sentences better than Balki. (Don't even get me started on Cousin Larry...)
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