JohnnyoftheWell
Da da duhhh da da da duh duh
Staff

Reviews 398
Soundoffs 77
News Articles 104
Band Edits + Tags 1,389
Album Edits 727

Album Ratings 4833
Objectivity 75%

Last Active 01-01-70 12:00 am
Joined 01-01-70

Review Comments 63,088

 Lists
01.13.25 @cylinder atmo drum and bass list lfg 01.09.25 ask me a question
01.01.25 End of 2024 well_Datadump12.27.24 well_2024: YES (FINISHED)
12.26.24 well_2024: NO 12.10.24 2024 BNM: cringe index
11.11.24 Openers to *infinitely repeat*11.02.24 DIG these DIGS
10.20.24 Top 47 albums of your time10.19.24 My 41 albums of all time
10.08.24 SPUT ROYALE: FINAL 10.05.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 6
10.02.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 509.30.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 4
09.26.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 309.24.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 2 Group B
09.21.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 2 Group A09.17.24 SPUT ROYALE: Round 1 Group D
More »

ask me a question

and i will answer it
1KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE


any question
2KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE


I will add it to the list
3KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE


and answer it
4KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE


tell me what album you want
5KILLING JOKE
KILLING JOKE


or I will pick one!
6The Mars Volta
The Bedlam in Goliath


Cugno: If you could ask me anything, what would you ask me?

ANSWER: was it just the one frog then?
7Men I Trust
Men I Trust


budgie: y dnt U like me ?

ANSWER: bad humour, f slurs, enabling every one of the scummiest users on the site, but tbqh mainly the alcestposting
8Leonard Cohen
Songs of Leonard Cohen


Squiggly: Who/what are the biggest influences on your writing?

ANSWER: oh fuck I thought I'd phrased this list in a way as unlikely as possible to attract earnest personal expo questions lmao, but since you ask, ig my earliest Sput inspo was Nick Greer because I liked his technical engagement with the music (not something I'd say as strongly now), and my biggest inspo when I applied for staff was by and far Fripp (not specifically for his writing, but that was certainly a factor).

In terms of writing style, I peaked early and hard with pomo absurdity (Pynchon, Barthelme) in my late teens, and a lot of what I was probably trying to do on Sput for a while was looking for a way to bring that kind of colourful irreverence to the confines of an academic essay short(ish) form? Nowadays I just write whatever I think is appropriate to the album and my attitude on it - the music and my uh vibes have more of a bearing than any individual writer. Every now and then I'll come across a writer whose prose style I love (recent examples Wang Xiaobo and Iris Murdoch) and ask myself why I'm not doing *that* too and then quickly drop it because there isn't a natural way to echo them within music revs (or otherwise). What to do.

Final thing that should probs be added is that when I came back to sput as a contrib in 2018/19, I was obsessed with bringing attention to Japanese artists, but I cooled off a bit there and sold out to playing the discourse - should get back into that form now that I'm more discrimatory and have a little more insight to offer on Japanese culture maybe. Failing that, I definitely want to make sharing off-piste discoveries a bigger part of my writing motivation this year, haven't done nearly enough of that lately.
9Kumo 99
HeadPlate


Animalforce1: What’s the one review you’d pick to showcase your writing style? In other words, what review would you show to someone completely unfamiliar with your revs?

ANSWER: those are two quite different questions ig - per my answer to Squiggly, I think that specific releases and my specific attitude should have a huge bearing on style and register, so I end up writing in very different ways for different albums -- can't really showcase that in one review.

Reviews on the whole should provide snappy context, convincing analysis, and ideally unique insight -- or at least be written in a way no one else would have thought of without shitting the bed (no joy in substantive analysis without a personal imprint). Ig this one does an adequate job of some of those things without imposing a brutal wordcount or punishing syntax on an unfamiliar reader.
10Liar (UK)
Set the World on Fire


Nex: What is the hardest question that can be asked?

ANSWER: does it count if you say no homo if the notes themselves are gay
11Julie
my anti-aircraft friend


artibox: beans on toast yay or nay

ANSWER: JFC nay
12Hawthorne Heights
Bad Frequencies


bellovddd: why is my musical taste the best you have ever come across?

ANSWER: Trying to get into the headspace of your taste puts me in such a fatalistic cope spiral that the only answer possible here is that no one else possibly ever has used music to fuel their own survival instincts to these extremes without sacrificing their sanity. Check fugazi.
13Creedence Clearwater Revival
Pendulum


Sunny: Have you ever seen the rain, / Comin' down on a sunny day?

ANSWER: Ya can say these streets are rivers / Ya can call these rivers streets / Ya can tell ya self ya dreaming, buddy / But no sleep runs this deep
14Hanatarash
Take Back Your Penis!!


Cugno: Jesus guys, he said ANY question, we could literally force him to list all of his STDs and you're asking him about his writing style ffs [ahrd 2 jfc guys]

Squiggly: If you really wanna know about his STDs then go ahead

ANSWER: jon IS the std [2] and this site being the unfuckable hellhole it is, none of you ever get the chance to catch me :'[
15Seiko Oomori
Sennou


ConcubinaryCode: What keeps you here?

ANSWER: habit, sharing good music, denigrating awful music, certain members of the community (enough of my Sput crowd has moved off-site that I'm increasingly grateful to interact with those who are primarily still here), the chance to (occasionally) make good use of the platform, morbid curiosity as to when the titanic goes under
16Kasabian
Velociraptor!


DocSportello: Who would win in a fight, t-rex or velociraptor? This was asked of Michael Crichton during a high school assembly but our headmaster shut the Q&A down and

ANSWER: now THIS right here is a real fucking question thank you Doc, forever a man in a sea of goats. The answer mathematically speaking is the velociraptor because its greater speed opens up a range of bait/switch tactics and underhand options that would allow for easy cheese were this a video game, but it is not and T Rex is bigger and has a big mouth so it wins in practice probably idk the dinosaurs didn't have maths.

I think the more valuable answer here would emerge from the ol would you rather fight 1 T Rex-sized velociraptor or 100 (let's say 10) velociraptor-sized T Rexes, and I don't honestly know which I would pick here - I never promised to answer my own questions - so let me instead ask YOU a fascinating question that emerged the other day: would YOU rather fight 1 truck-sized drone or 100 drone-sized trucks? I have no real idea how big a velociraptor is relative to a T Rex.
17Iron Maiden
Brave New World


Spec: Does Brave New World get better? I’m not digging the first chapter.

ANSWER: watch back to the future tbh
18The Fartz
Because This Fuckin' World Stinks...


Smok: how stanky ur fartz?

ANSWER: depends on recent cabbage/kimchi consumption tbh, but I think I've offended more frequently for decibels than for pong?
19Eluvium
Copia


anode: have you listened to eluvium - copia yet? ive recced it twice and i think youd like it

ANSWER: no i have been too busy being an inadequate piece of shit
20My Dying Bride
The Dreadful Hours


frozencarl: what is ur go-to depression meal?

ANSWER: ig this is?

ANSWER 2: wow i misparsed the question as 'depression metal' this truly is your brain on sputnik. katsu curry! i prefer indian or thai in almost all other situations, but it's such warm basic comfort food i can't even
21Tammy Wynette
Sometimes When We Touch [Vinyl]


Slothsam: If you were there incoming president of the United States, and had the chance incorporate another country, what country would it be and why?

ANSWER: putting myself in the orange man's shoes, AFRICA. Fuck national security, no force on earth would stop me from eyeing up the belt and road scheme and promptly sticking my dick in it
22GENDEMA
Soberanía


efp: You seem so nice. Is that really how you are?

ANSWER: thank you??? I would not describe myself as nice on sput and imagine I'm far from alone there? I am generally a more positive and considerate person offline, but we all have our limits
23florbiashnord
can u dont


TheSonomaDude: what is your credit card number?

ANSWER: jfc dude the other day i spent a full hr losing my shit at my laptop after my biometric login failed and i couldn't remember my pin how do you expect me to have the capacity to recall this shit
24Josey Rebelle
Josey In Space


jrlikestodance: Did my Secret Santa flop?

ANSWER: NO it did not! But I have been meaning to give it another spin (hence no comment!!) - it banged and waved, and I was a tired wreck and not in the form for it! Tbc!
25The Gerogerigegege
Mother Fellatio


Drifter: how come when i pulled my dick out to compare its size to yours you went running even though we agreed we’d be respectful

ANSWER: dude when you said you were cut you never implied that shit was *crinkle* i cannot even (or alternatively see 10)
26Foetus
Flow


Ars: Has anyone really been far even as decided to use even go want to do look more like?

ANSWER: yeah there was a guy I knew in my undergrad accom around the same age who had a stroke for (I think partially rowing-induced) stress reasons, but he's happily married and doing very well now
27Slint
Spiderland


Colton: thoughts on coltonmusic and will you join?

ANSWER: maybe if it adds the one thing Sputnik sorely lacks: a big red Delete Your Account button
28Snoop Dogg
Doggumentary


Drifter: can you list all the things about me that make me special and unique

ANSWER: no — am on mobile and cannot break the character limit for this text box rn
29Overkill
Feel the Fire


Fowl: What's the one thing you've consumed an absurd quantity of (dealer's pick) that you would absolutely not recommend to anyone else?

ANSWER: the answer here can only be Tentenko, but I also burned myself out hard on Asahi Clear. Recently recently sampled it for the first time in years and have no idea what the attraction was to begin with there. Stick with Dry if you're gonna go there!
30Sahara
Texarkana


Somona: If you were to go and choose any individual in an alien race of people with an infinite amount of different names and individuals who happen to speak a slight variant of English with an additional letter, the additional letter being (saying any sound for an infinitely short amount of time), would you speak to (saying any sound for an infinitely short amount of time), a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o, p, q, r, s, t, u, v, w, x, y, z, a(saying any sound for an infinitely short amount of time), aa, ab, ac, ad, ae, af, ag…(listing an infinite amount of names here)…, who would it be and why exactly would this be the answer you have chosen?

ANSWER: karter el karto. i would choose them. we would play mario kart and order takeaway. it would be fucking fire and no one would recover for it.
31Gris
Il Était Une Forêt...


Smok: whats ur favourie dsbm johnby

ANSWER: whichever one has the shortest runtime and/or Pon dislikes the most
32MGMT
Oracular Spectacular


Yolo: are children small, or just far away?

ANSWER: so, so far away. they are a looming threat and can never be small. the prospect of investing in a good child is distant. i am still not done eating my father.

Mason and Dixon is iirc the only classic Pynchon I never read smdh must fix this someday
33Mr. Bungle
Disco Volante


chemicalmarriage: How many times do you have to jerk off before you are gay? A mans hand is getting you off the entire time js

ANSWER: zero times. just the thought it is gay. it is your thought, a man thought. getting your rocks off to your male fantasy is gay. every male director of every male-catered porno you've seen is gay. imaginary girls are probably gay. your hand is probably the gayest thing of all, but we don't even need to go there tbqh
34ABBA
ABBA Gold


Trif: What is your fave ABBA song and why and tell us a nice story about it?

ANSWER: it is Lay All Your Love on Me! It has always been the best! I once sang it extremely badly during a thunderstorm in the snack bar that was the only fun hang in the town I lived in, and because the hosts didn't know it they weren't able to sing over me live and the vibe in the whole joint bombed for three minutes! So guilty. Great song!
35Alora Crucible
Oak Lace Apparition


Manatea: Why do we have a strange but beautiful friendship and how do I keep it that way?

ANSWER: we are but two lost souls saved by the power of chamber jazz now BUY ME MORE JEWELLERY and get on that Toby Driver grind and come to London to catch him + Alora Crucible with me in a couple of months
36Ulcerate
Cutting the Throat of God


evilford: Whats your favorite ulcerate album and why is it everything is fire?

ANSWER: for the time being it is this one because it is the only one I have any recollection of. everything is fire? sure it is!
37Dream Theater
Octavarium


Demon: If you could impart one piece of music-related wisdom to your 15 year old self, then what would it be? I'm not talking recs here, more of a general thing

ANSWER: Ummm very tough question - 15 was around the time my taste came down from mallcore and buttprog, and the next couple of years were full of gateway artists I have pretty few regrets about (in rough order: Children of Bodom, Thrice, Anathema, The Gathering, Mr Bungle, maudlin of the Well/Kayo Dot, John Zorn) — past me did an okay job of getting his shit together, so I don't think I'd rec him anything for development purposes (do wish he'd discovered Belvedere and A Wilhelm Scream around then though). Idk, am stalling

Oh wait, I know exactly what I'd say: don't put off listening to classics in the hope that one day the perfect day will come and you'll be in the right frame of mind etc.! Many opportunities missed, many expectations raised, many underwhelming results as a result of this.
38Dream Theater
Octavarium


(cont.) Wish I'd been more proactive in indulging my curiosity and becoming conversational in more genres instead of expecting every canon album to change my life and spacing them out as such — I know now that the ones that stick stick for a reason, but back then I had a mentality that being impressionable meant I had to enjoy everything I chose to jam. Cute! But not helpful.

Also, am happy with the timelines that got me into electronic, jazz and folk, but tbqh I could have done more with hip hop much earlier. Yeah.
39Boris
Amplifier Worship


anode: you fucked a frog cugno?

ANSWER: yes. Yes he did. He made a list about it. People were vomiting everywhere. I loved it. We can never go back.
40Deerhoof
Apple O'


Gnocchi: Did you ever figure out the correlation between apple and its juices and how it interacts with your digestive system? You never got back to me after the research phase.

ANSWER: lmfao I love that you brought this up — I've generally been off the hard stuff since your advice (and since my pisshole local supermarket discontinued their elderflower infusion apple juice, which was the most delicious but as you said contained a relaxant). Definitely haven't had any more explosive gates of hell interactions since, but have noticed things get looser if I have two back to back glasses or organic apple juice (nothing with orange, curiously). Should probably invest in a regular supply so that I can drink it little and often to test out your theory of resistance, but we're not quite there yet. My toilet is very grateful to you.
41Apocalyptica
The Best Of Apocalyptica


Doof: Will sput survive another decade and if sput dies how long would it take you to get over it?

ANSWER: lol absolutely not, I would be amazed if we made it to the end of the 20s. I'd like to say it'd be a downer for a couple of weeks or so but that I'd just turn the energy I had for sput towards more productive ends, but tbqh I'd find it hard to replace as a writing outlet. Absolutely no way would I settle for rym or aoty as a thinkpiece platform, and I don't have the motivation for a solo blog. Answer to your q would ultimately depend on the practicality and will to put together something from the diaspora of Sput writers, or whether I could snag a column on a worthwhile site. Discord would cushion the community wipeout (but see 15 for more on that)
42King's X
Dogman


Slex: Don't tell me what to do

ANSWER: you the man, bitch
43fantasy of a broken heart
Feats of Engineering


Nuggets: Johnny, a game in the style of 'Fuck, Marry, Kill' - which is:

Steal (steal someone's writing abilities and their back catalogue of reviews on the site)
Collab (you can only do joint reviews with this person for 2025)
Burn (wipe the reviewer's profile, ratings, and reviews permanently from the face of Sputnik)

The three reviewers to Steal, Collab, and Burn are:

Gnocchi (Robert Garland)
Rowan5215
Sowing

What are you choosing?

ANSWER: oof didn't expect to get a question like this, let's see...

Rowan has by far the longest and most severe record of bitterness around This Goddamn Site Sucking The Life Out Of Me Every Day, so we'll give him the mercy killing he deserves and try not to let the many excellent pieces of writing we lose in doing so (just focus on the disproportionate number of irredeemably terrible pop punk albums with high scores at the top!) BURN

Sowing vs. Gnocchi is a tough one for steal-or-collab. I feel like I've already collab'd plenty with Rob tbh, from being in the same trenches as a contrib to a lot of healthy teamwork in the proofreading threads -- on the one hand, this would probably make for a sustainable year, on the other... hmmm, if this is analogous to marriage, does this imply that we at some point separated and are now tying a second knot? Is this a healthy sign for my personal growth? Do I have those feelings of commitment for him, or is our relationship more rewarding as two friends who periodically knock a few back and do silly things with each other?

Hmm

Gonna go STEAL for Gnocchi on the basis that his abilities will also give me the aptitude/appetite to enjoy the genres he covers and COLLAB for Sowing in a brutal counter to his latest attempt to retire. Tough question.
44Venetian Snares
Songs About My Cats


Fogza: Favourite cat breed and cat colour?

ANSWER: Maine Coon, ginger
45Testament
Souls of Black


Steak: who is your favorite souls character of all time my good bitch, mine is artorias :3

ANSWER: hnnnnnnng gonna have to pull my degen card here and say Quelaag's sister. "I'll be fine, I have you dear sister, but promise me that you will take care of yourself" jfc how many packs of tissues can one game get a boi through (don't answer that)

also a big fan of Alvina (obvious based kitty reasons), Hyetta from ER (didn't think they'd ever top the BB Arianna questline for getting a character good and fucked up, but this one really goes there) and the fog-trapped assassination nutcase from DS2
46Bluetile Lounge
Half-Cut


Icebloom: What would make you leave Sput?

ANSWER: I think every drama and phase of discontent that would theoretically make me leave has already happened, and it's hard to imagine a change of ownership to anything more inadequate than what we already have so, so I guess irl circumstances? Or alternatively, Shamus getting staff.

Icebloom: also how many ears do you have

ANSWER: uhhhhh idk, three? two for my headphones, one for YOUR MUM???
47Eggman
First Fruits


SomeCallMeTim: How do you like your eggs

ANSWER: 1) scrambled 2) fried 3) poached (but only if eggs benedict/royale)
48OutKast
Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik


jrlikestodance: What is your preferred chicken wing?

ANSWER: uhhh flats? I don't eat enough chicken wings
49Unwound
Leaves Turn Inside You


platttt: why do you think leaves turn inside you is the best unwound album

ANSWER: Hmmmm some combination of atmosphere, versatility and sheer number of good songs? It's not a super strong opinion and I love New Plastic Ideas for such a different set of reasons that it's not a natural competition other than the fact that they're both in the same discog? I guess it's just possible to get lost in Leaves in a way that (bless it) the seethe of other Unwound albums doesn't really allow for? And that's something I ultimately value more at this point even though I love almost all of them? Maybe.
50Perfume
ネビュラロマンス 前篇 (Nebula Romance: Part I)


Havey: what perfume do you wear?

ANSWER: bespoke oriental woods & amber
51My Dying Bride
Turn Loose The Swans


Egarran: What the most alcohol you have drunk in a day?

ANSWER: by virtue of the state it probably incurred, I have absolutely no idea. Would probably be from a long-event day (wedding, festival or similar), or else some party I attended aged 16-18 when I still thought extensive spirits consumption was cool. Haven't tended to go above 2 bottles of wine (or equivalent) throughout my 20s, though I'm sure someone could produce a debasing record to the contrary
52The Exit Bags
Our Sun Will Clean Its Holy Wounds


jots: fuck you?

ANSWER: can't say it enough
53Charli XCX
Brat


granite: what Pokemon am I?

ANSWER: see https://www.sputnikmusic.com/list.php?listid=206413
54yeule
softscars


granite: also, do you think brat will miraculously win user aoty or is it gonna be some rock album that a bunch of annoying users will post on the thread about like "respectable pick for #1, wouldn't be my pick for aoty but I'm just glad it's not that trend chasing charli bullshit"

ANSWER: hmm any other year, I think this would be a strong possibility (much as softscars winning the user poll last year gave me unexpected hope that our community had finally learnt to stop coping over guitar angst and to take a fucking shower for once in their lives), but honestly this year's three biggest hypes (Charli/State Faults/The Cure) were so dominant that I expect the same podium as the staff list, in any order. The Cure winning would produce a bit of the phenom you outlined, State Faults would produce a big ol' hivemind cheer, Charli winning would produce another hysterical boydiaster fallout. Crossing my paws - Charli wouldn't be my pick for aoty but I'm just glad she's not that trend chasing sput bullshit
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