smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | "MTN HIGH" <mtn-high@msn.com> |
| Subject | Re: obscure critic reference points and Stewat's soapbox |
| Date | Thu, 17 Jul 2003 13:40:43 +0000 |
[Part 1 text/plain (2.7 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
>From: Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com>
>To address another point, a decent music writer knows his intended
>audience: one must assume that someone who reads Amplifier or the like on a
>regular basis has at least a working knowledge of some fairly obscure
>reference points, or at least can work out an idea from the parts they do
>recognize. (For example, in a recent review of a new album by a new group
>called Bronwyn, I mentioned a string of very similar late '80s college rock
>bands that they sound an awful lot alike: Salem 66, Downy Mildew, Vomit
>Launch, the Cat Heads, early Barbara Manning. But I also made a point of
>describing the general sound shared by all of these bands: moody female
>vocals buried low in the mix, inscrutable "poetic" lyrics, minor-key
>melodies, guitars that go jingle-jangle-jingle, a lot of vaguely
>neo-psychedelic echo and reverb, etc. If you know those '80s bands, great,
>you know exactly what Bronwyn sounds like now -- and by the way, if you
>like those bands, get this, you'll plotz -- but if you don't, you know not
>only have an idea what this new band sounds like, you know that there are
>all of these other old bands with a similar vibe and if you like this
>album, there's a lot more stuff to keep an eye out for in the used bins.)
>When I'm writing for a more general audience, I use more general reference
>points.
Stewart
You illustrated my point well in the above referenced bands. Never heard of
'em....and it's doubtful I could find their tunes 15 years later unless I
made it my life's work to do so as you have.
Centering myself in the sights even further....I still say that if anyone
here who writes reviews cares about furthering the genre', they'll ratchet
it down a notch or two and realize that 99.9% of the folks out there will
share my cluelessness re the mention of a group of higly obscure college
bands from 15 years ago. Maybe that's taboo...and maybe such a practice is
somehow below some of the writers who offer these pieces to the reader, but
I think it's somewhat necessary to offer a familiarity (that is, a reference
that is familiar to the average reader, not the average pop geek) *if* the
intent of the writer is to "spread the word" to others about music in this
genre' that is available for purchase/might be of interest beyond this
group.
I don't know about the rest of you...but a reference to a band called "Vomit
Launch" *isn't* going to send me to the disc store anytime soon.
pop on....
P
_________________________________________________________________
Protect your PC - get McAfee.com VirusScan Online
http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.