The Needle Drop

The Needle Drop

Web address	theneedledrop.com youtube.com/theneedledrop youtube.com/thatistheplan
Slogan	"The Internet's Busiest Music Nerd"
Commercial?	No
Type of site	Music reviewing
Available in	English
Created by	Anthony Fantano
Launched	2007 (text reviews) 2009 (video reviews)
Alexa rank	170,962 (October 2015)[1]
Current status	Active

The Needle Drop is a blog/vlog created and run by Anthony Fantano /fænˈtænoʊ/ (born October 28, 1985), self-described as "the Internet's Busiest Music Nerd",^[2] in which he examines "rock, pop, electronic, metal, hip hop and experimental music" via video and audio reviews. The blog started in the fall of 2007, with video reviews beginning in February 2009. The blog reviews albums, individual songs in a segment called "Track Reviews" (stylized as "TRKRVWZ"), and occasionally a "Question of the Week" or list based video. His reviews often contain brief skits, usually involving his alter ego Cal Chuchesta, a musically oblivious man portrayed as Fantano's roommate.^[3]

The Needle Drop's YouTube channel currently has over 600,000 subscribers, and more than 115 million upload views.^[4] The channel was voted as September 2011's 'On The Rise' contest winner,^[5] a program by YouTube. His competitors were Pineapple Boy Productions, The Uncut Sports Show and Simple Kids Crafts.^[6] In October 2011, Fantano won the 'Beyond the Blog' award at the MTV O Music Awards.^[7] The logo art and website design was created by Juan Larrazabal.^[8] According to his Rate Your Music page, his favorite music artists are Roland Kirk, Sunn O))), Wire, and Godspeed You! Black Emperor.

Background and history

Fantano grew up in Connecticut^[9] and as a child had a desire to become a cartoonist, stating he was a fan of The Simpsons and that he still enjoys cartoons from today such as Adventure Time and Regular Show.^[10] Fantano was introduced to independent music in the early 2000s which eventually influenced him to start The Needle Drop. "I had a friend of mine on Livejournal–lol, I know–back in the early 00s who used to do these long writeups about certain artists and she turned me on to a few that were pretty great. It made me want to do the same, share the musical experience on the internet. It didn’t really turn into "reviews" until I tried doing YouTube in 2009, which I only did as an experiment because my blog and podcast were making much traction at the time." Fantano started his career in the mid 2000s as a music director for the Southern Connecticut State University college radio station. He stated "I’ve always loved music, but working there got me turned in to a lot of different styles, and got me pushing my tastes into different areas".^[11]

In 2007, Fantano started working at Connecticut Public Radio in which he hosted The Needle Drop.^[12] That same year, Fantano also launched The Needle Drop in text reviews, eventually starting as video reviews in 2009. Fantano, at the time, was working on The Needle Drop, at the college radio station and at a pizza restaurant. In late 2011, Fantano decided to pursue The Needle Drop full-time and therefore, he had quit working at the pizza restaurant. "It wasn’t really a decision. It was just a matter of the show taking up so much of my time and making me enough money to sustain myself. I was quitting a job where I was cooking pizza, so it wasn’t that hard of a decision. I love the people who I used to work with, and I was working with a lot of them for ten years, but they understand this is my passion and my own thing that I have to pursue" he said.^[8][11]

In 2011, Fantano was interviewed at SXSW about the rise of music vlogging, along with Sami Jarroush of the Rock It Out! Blog, and Michael Roffman, president and editor-in-chief of Consequence of Sound.^[13] In March 2011, he was featured in an article from The Guardian also about the rise of music vlogging.^[14] The Needle Drop is also an iTunes podcast ^[15] featuring artists and albums reviewed on The Needle Drop YouTube channel.

Cal Chuchesta is an alter ego of Fantano's often featured in reviews and skits. The character is portrayed as Fantano's musically oblivious and socially awkward roommate, and is depicted as having a strange Midwestern accent, fake mustache, and constantly wearing a turtleneck sweater. Fantano has described the character as "the Ren to my Stimpy".^[3] New CALassic is the debut mixtape by Chuchesta, released on August 18, 2015 as a free digital download.^[16] Anthony Fantano, himself, reviewed the mixtape and gave it a light 3, though he had promised Chuchesta a strong 10.

Personal life

Fantano lives in Connecticut. He is three quarters French Canadian and a quarter Sicilian.^[17][18][19] Fantano is a vegan, having grown into the diet since becoming vegetarian around 18–19.^[11]

Notable reviews and ratings

Rating system

The blog rates albums and tracks on a scale from 0 to 10, with an accompanying adjective, either "light," "decent," or "strong," for further specification to its score. Occasionally he will do parody reviews of albums such as Born This Way by Lady Gaga,^[20] Unknown Death 2002 by Yung Lean,^[21] Mastermind by Rick Ross^[22] and Dark Sky Paradise by Big Sean.^[23]

Album of the Year (2009-)

Year	Artist	Album	Nation	Top 5 Albums	Ref.
2009	Fever Ray	Fever Ray	Sweden	2nd: Sunn O))) - Monoliths & Dimensions 3rd: Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavilion 4th: MONO - Hymn to the Immortal Wind 5th: The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart	[24]
2010	LCD Soundsystem	This Is Happening	United States	2nd: The Books – The Way Out 3rd: Four Tet – There Is Love in You 4th: Agalloch – Marrow of the Spirit 5th: Beach House – Teen Dream	[25]
2011	Fleet Foxes	Helplessness Blues	United States	2nd: Death Grips – Exmilitary 3rd: Battles – Gloss Drop 4th: Shabazz Palaces – Black Up 5th: PJ Harvey – Let England Shake	[26]
2012	Death Grips	The Money Store	United States	2nd: Kendrick Lamar – good kid, m.A.A.d city 3rd: Ondatrópica – Ondatrópica 4th: Dope Body – Natural History 5th: Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel...	[27]
2013	Tim Hecker	Virgins	Canada	2nd: The Knife – Shaking the Habitual 3rd: Altar of Plagues – Teethed Glory and Injury 4th: Queens of the Stone Age – ...Like Clockwork 5th: Melt-Banana – Fetch	[28]
2014	Swans	To Be Kind	United States	2nd: Iceage – Plowing Into the Field of Love 3rd: Sun Kil Moon – Benji 4th: clipping. – CLPPNG 5th: Freddie Gibbs and Madlib – Piñata	[29]
2015	Kendrick Lamar	To Pimp A Butterfly	United States	2nd: Death Grips – The Powers That B 3rd: Kamasi Washington – The Epic 4th: Ghost – Meliora 5th: Julia Holter – Have You In My Wilderness	[30]

EP of the Year (2010-)

Year	Artist	EP	Nation	Ref.
2010	The Tallest Man on Earth	Sometimes the Blues Is Just a Passing Bird	Sweden	[31]
2011	Nicolas Jaar	Don't Break My Love	United States	[32]
2012	TNGHT	TNGHT	Canada  United Kingdom	[33]
2013	Milo	Things That Happen At Day	United States	[34]
2014	Girl Talk & Freeway	Broken Ankles	United States	[35]
2015	FKA twigs	M3LL155X	United Kingdom	[36]

Single of the Year (2010-)

Year	Artist	Single	Nation	Ref.
2010	LCD Soundsystem	"I Can Change"	United States	[37]
2011	Fleet Foxes	"Helplessness Blues"	United States	[38]
2012	Death Grips	"The Fever (Aye Aye)"	United States	[39]
2013	The Knife	"A Tooth for an Eye"	Sweden	[40]
2014	Liars	"Mess on a Mission"	United States	[41]
2015	Kendrick Lamar	"The Blacker The Berry"	United States	[42]

Worst Album of the Year (2015-)

Year	Artist	Album	Nation	Top 5 Albums	Ref.
2015	Kid Cudi	Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven	United States	2nd: Miley Cyrus - Miley Cyrus and Her Dead Petz 3rd: Dance Gavin Dance - Instant Gratification 4th: Lil Dicky - Professional Rapper 5th: Goldlink - And After That, We Didn't Talk	[43]

Classic Album Reviews (2011-)

The following albums are considered "classic" music releases by The Needle Drop, reviewed on its YouTube channel during a yearly segment known as Classics Week:

Year	Artist	Album	Nation	Ref.
1964	Roland Kirk	I Talk with the Spirits	United States	[44]
1965	Bob Dylan	Highway 61 Revisited[A]	United States	[45]
1965	Nina Simone	Pastel Blues	United States	[46]
1967	The Velvet Underground	The Velvet Underground & Nico	United States	[47]
1968	Johnny Cash	At Folsom Prison	United States	[48]
1969	Frank Zappa	Hot Rats	United States	[49]
1969	King Crimson	In the Court of the Crimson King	United Kingdom	[50]
1970	Miles Davis	Bitches Brew	United States	[51]
1971	Marvin Gaye	What's Going On	United States	[52]
1972	Yes	Close to the Edge[B]	United Kingdom	[53]
1974	Tangerine Dream	Phaedra[A]	Germany	[54]
1975	Patti Smith	Horses[B]	United States	[55]
1977	Kraftwerk	Trans-Europe Express	Germany	[56]
1979	Joy Division	Unknown Pleasures	United Kingdom	[57]
1980	Talking Heads	Remain in Light[B]	United States	[58]
1982	Dead Kennedys	Plastic Surgery Disasters	United States	[59]
1982	Iron Maiden	The Number of the Beast	United Kingdom	[60]
1984	Prince & The Revolution	Purple Rain	United States	[61]
1985	Kate Bush	Hounds of Love	United Kingdom	[62]
1988	N.W.A	Straight Outta Compton[A]	United States	[63]
1990	Fugazi	Repeater	United States	[64]
1991	My Bloody Valentine	Loveless	Ireland	[65]
1991	A Tribe Called Quest	The Low End Theory	United States	[66]
1991	Slint	Spiderland[A]	United States	[67]
1993	Nirvana	In Utero[B]	United States	[68]
1993	Wu-Tang Clan	Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)	United States	[69]
1994	Emperor	In the Nightside Eclipse[B]	Norway	[70]
1994	Nas	Illmatic[B]	United States	[71]
1996	DJ Shadow	Endtroducing.....[A]	United States	[72]
1998	Neutral Milk Hotel	In the Aeroplane Over the Sea	United States	[73]
2000	Radiohead	Kid A	United Kingdom	[74]
2000	Godspeed You! Black Emperor	Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven	Canada	[75]
2001	The Microphones	The Glow, Pt. 2[B]	United States	[76]
2004	Madvillain	Madvillainy	United States	[77]

^A Album that was in the Classics Week segment at the end of 2015, but was released early as a review only to be given to fans that donated at least $5 USD to The Needle Drop.^[78]

^B Album that will be in the mid year Classics Week segment of 2016, but was released early as a review only to be given to fans that donated at least $5 USD to The Needle Drop.^[79]

Albums with a perfect rating

Year	Artist	Album	Nation	Ref.
2012	Death Grips	The Money Store	United States	[80]
2014	Swans	To Be Kind	United States	[81]
2015	Kendrick Lamar	To Pimp a Butterfly	United States	[82]

Albums with a score of 0

Year	Artist	Album	Nation	Ref.
2011	Lil B	I'm Gay (I'm Happy)	United States	[83]
2015	Kid Cudi	Speedin' Bullet 2 Heaven[upper-alpha 1]	United States	[84]

References

External links

• Official website
• YouTube channel