X Marks the Spot: Idolator Columnist Rides Shotgun

Hi. I’m Michaelangelo Matos. I’ve been a regular Idolator contributor since December, when I undertook the Jackin’ Pop Critics Poll. After that I finagled a column, Project X, in which I examine a different Top 10 list every other week. It’s the most sheerly enjoyable writing I do by a mile. Today, I’m co-blogging with Maura while that deadbeat Raftery hides in the cupboard. More about me after the jump.

I started writing music criticism for print (remember print?) a decade ago, for alternative weeklies in Minneapolis and Chicago. I’ve worked twice at Seattle Weekly–as staff writer and music editor–and have been published in numerous other places. I wrote a short book about Prince’s greatest album and contributed chapters to a pair of upcoming anthologies. I’ve lived in Seattle for five of the last eight years, interrupted by a pair of stints in New York, the latter working for eMusic. Amazingly, writing still pays the bills, but that’s mostly because I live in a really cheap house that’s great for parties. I’ve also been blogging for a while, if by “blogging” you don’t mean “regularly.” Wish me luck.