Celebrating The Blog That Celebrates Itself ...

For a number of years, too many to count, I’ve been following, and have been a huge fan of, a music blog called The Blog That Celebrates Itself … there’s the blog itself, various social media handles, plus the blog’s Bandcamp page, which presents a veritable treasure trove of downloadable music.

As I understand it, the blog is the project of one Renato Malizia of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and I learned this week that its apparently all about to come to an end in early May. Which is real a shame. Obviously, Renato will have his reasons for that. But before it does cease to exist as an ongoing concern, I just wanted to to express my own appreciation by sharing some links … a little too belatedly perhaps. 

You’ll find the main blog page here. 

And you’ll access a feast of music released by the blog here. 

Of special note are the various themed compilation releases dedicated to specific artists, genres, etc. Many of these albums are name-your-price, and serve to introduce unknown and/or underground artists and bands far too readily overlooked by the mainstream. My own favourite themed releases over the years have been those paying tribute to some of the bands I love, in the form of offering a selection of cover versions. 

Included in that category are TBTCI covers or tribute albums for Cocteau Twins, David Bowie, Ride, The Smiths, New Order, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Cure, Husker Du, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Nirvana, My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, The Sound, Stereolab, Velvet Underground, Psychedelic Furs, Lush, Smashing Pumpkins, Nick Cave, and R.E.M. Plus many others. Beyond that, various other themes are covered. 

As ever, the quality on offer is variable; sometimes great, occasionally terrible, but mostly quite decent. A lot of that will depend on your own taste, of course. But part of the fun for me has been listening through these compilations, sorting the wheat from the chaff, recycle-binning what doesn’t appeal, and keeping what does. I’ve been introduced to so many bands that I continue to follow and simply wouldn’t have heard if it hadn’t been for the exposure offered by TBTCI. 

According to a recent Facebook post, the blog’s final release will be a tribute/covers offering for The Cure’s landmark Disintegration album. Possibly as early as next week. 

Anyway, thank you Renato Malizia and The Blog That Celebrates Itself for all your hard work over the past decade or so … go well, wherever it is you're going.