"Consumer Guide," 1969-2010

“The CG has generally required a seven-days-a-week time commitment over the 41 years I’ve written it, and I’m grateful to MSN for paying me what the work was worth over the three-and-a-half years I published it here. But though I always enjoyed the work, work it was, and I’ve long been aware there were other things I could be doing with my ears. So while I have every intention of keeping up with popular music as it evolves, being less encyclopedic about it will come as a relief as well as a loss.” Robert Christgau’s Consumer Guide, in which the critic guided people through the ever-knotty maze of “popular music” on a more or less monthly basis, retires after a 41-year run. (A partial archive is online at his site.)