Off the top of the head sort of stuff – of no import to anyone, really.
5 Minutes That Will Make You Love Classical Music In which the New York Times asks several artists to provide an entry into classical for non-classical listeners. An idea which I’m sure has been done to death, but which is kind of irresistible anyway. And which in fact syncs up nicely with my own recent mission to finally explore the stuff. My exploration is two-fold—and … Continue reading Five minutes to ecstasy
“We don’t live in the golden age of television. We don’t even live in the platinum age of television. Apparently we live in the unobtanium age of television. “Enough. This has become a joke. Theodore Sturgeon said 90 percent of everything is crap. He was being generous. Even so, this means that maybe 2 or 3 percent of everything is truly outstanding. If you think … Continue reading The ‘unobtanium age’
“Poptimism now not only demands devotion to pop idols; it has instigated an increasingly shrill shouting match with those who might not be equally enamored of pop music. Disliking Taylor Swift or Beyoncé is not just to proffer a musical opinion, but to reveal potential proof of bias. Hardly a week goes by in music-critic land without such accusations flying to and fro.” – Saul … Continue reading On the “Pernicious Rise of Poptimism”
“My nephew went to Download Festival recently and saw Iron Maiden and also was in the D&B room, consuming all different types of music that were fast and loud and had no other links. “There isn’t that tribalism anymore, if you like ‘A’ you can’t listen to ‘B’. It doesn’t exist anymore and it’s a good thing. Things rubbing up against each other can be … Continue reading Loving A and Loving B
Obviously, dropping out is an integral move in rock criticism — some people exist in an almost permanent state of dropping out — but one thing I’ve long been curious about is, is dropping out particularly unique to rock criticism? Do movie critics and art critics and TV critics and ballet critics and comics critics routinely throw their hands up in the air and declare … Continue reading Today’s Deep Philosophical Inquiry
“For twenty years now, I’ve been telling the trainees who I teach and mentor that they should recognize that they will never develop such intense personal relationships as the ones they are now cultivating with their peers in the trenches during medical training. And for years this has held true for me. Until Expert Witness happened. “Expert Witness is just as vivid and important a … Continue reading The Expert Witness Community
Something I’ve been thinking about lately. Thoughts? Continue reading Does Hatred Have a Place in Music Criticism Anymore?
You know, I don’t care that most rock critics hate the Doors — I became a fan of their music at the age of seven or eight, and the greatest of their music has continued to sound good to me ever since (in the eighties, just as I was discovering and being persuaded by rock criticism, I adapted a kneejerk reaction towards them for a … Continue reading Critics Are Strange
This week hasn’t gone so well in terms of finding five available minutes for this site. Will hopefully resume with some activity soon (at least until the baby comes, at which point…?). Continue reading Soon
In which I muse about something which is hardly “news,” but never not a bloody distraction. TIMOTHY WHITE: You spoke to me earlier, in the taxi, about the incestuous, elitist qualities of the British press as opposed to the rock-crit self-importance of some of the American press. Do you think the music press makes any significantly positive contributions to the overall environment? ELVIS COSTELLO: If … Continue reading Ain’t that Mr. Mister in the newspaper?
Well, perhaps two months past, but today marks a special day for a couple of editors and music writers. Who might they be? Any oustanding moments in the past 12 years? Continue reading Happy Birthday, RockCritics!
Lost my way with this site again recently, for a whole host of reasons, but activity will pick up somewhat in 2012. There are two, possibly three, imminent podcast interviews in the works, and hopefully a few others as the year progresses. Beyond that, it’s hard to say. I’m having the same internal arguments I had the previous two Januarys regarding the viability of continuing … Continue reading Envisioning a future, or not
will resume shortly. Continue reading Janitorial duties…
Why I miss the monoculture by Toure, in Salon. Fretting about where we are and where we’re going is clearly the rock critical meme of the year, and you can add this article to the evidence (I fret also, though most of my fretting tends to be about why and how I seem to be tumbling headfirst into a do-I-really-give-a-shit-anymore attitude about the entire operation … Continue reading I Want My Monoculture
Alexa Weinstein puts the “i” in music writing: When I’m reading rock criticism, I am always looking for this — the personal take, the individual passionate reaction — and it’s very hard to find. But I think this is because the assumed audience of rock criticism is the rock & roll version of my dad. The reader who just wants to know what happened in … Continue reading Interior Reactions
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