Rockin' the rock critics
bendy
bendy at example.com
Mon Feb 9 14:23:20 EST 2004
http://www.gapersblock.com wrote:
> It all boils down to this: music
> reviewers are even less successful in evoking the very sound of a piece of
> music than an art reviewer is in evoking the visual elements of the work
> they're reviewing."
It's the whole *dancing about architecture* problem, innut? Personally,
I like music reviews which go out of there way to describe the sounds in
non-musical terms, and heap on the comparisons to other bands. I think
it's about the best you could do, if you read music reviews as a
Consumer Reports activity. But I've never bought a record based on one
review- it's only after you've read several that you get a sense that it
might be worth taking a risk on it. And still it's a risk. American
Music Club never did a thing for me; but the descriptions (sad) and the
comparisons (Tom Waits) that I kept reading were totally valid. It just
didn't add up for me.
I'd have never drawn a line between Neutral Milk Hotel and the
Decemberists. But even if there isn't much they objectivly share, I
think the fact that this guy liked the Decemberists shows the the
comparision was valid at a subjective level.
bendy
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