smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | king radio <kingradio@pumpingstation.com> |
| Subject | Re: doughboys, big takeover, critics |
| Date | Thu, 17 Jul 2003 19:51:51 -0400 |
[Part 1 text/plain us-ascii (2.5 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
>
>Mike Wrote:
>
>>But comparisons can only go so far. I've been plowing through the
>>review
>>section of the new Big Takeover -- as I write more, I become somewhat
>>disenchanted with some of the reviewing. For one thing, I notice that
>>limited reference points make for irritating reviews. When one
>reviewer
>>compares about 40 percent of the discs he writes about to The
>>Doughboys...what good does that do? In fact, reviews that do nothing
>more
>>than stack up comparisons are about as compelling as reading the
>>ingredients off the side of a box of cereal.
>
>
>funny thing that as a fan..I love reviews that tell me what bands
>they sort of sound like..it gives me a reference point..that is why
>I love Big Takeover so much..
>
>If a reviewer says..it sounds like the doughboys..then I know if is
>probably going to be excellent...if he says it sounds like later
>wilco..I know it is going to suck!..so give me more references, if
>available
Yeah, but that is part of the problem. I don't tend to blame writers
for comparisons, because that is the way things are done, and it
gives the writer a frame of reference. However, I seek out reviewers
who share my same taste or ones who have the polar opposite of my
taste. That way, I know that whoever they compare somebody to, I can
guage if I might like it by their suggestion. The more times they
are right (in my opinion) the more times I can trust them.
The problem with these comparisons is how often I don't agree with
them. Do you know how many records I could have bought because they
were compared to Pet Sounds? And I saw this with my own band. One
of the early reviews compared a song on our first record to Ben
Folds. Personally, I can't see it. I didn't hear it, and when I
wrote it I had heard maybe one Ben Folds song and had never bought a
record. As far as I can tell, the only thing in common was that both
songs have a piano. So in that regard, the song also had a lot in
common with Glen Gould. Subsequent reviews (And I'm talking mostly
about weekly arts rags here) stole liberally from the couple of
reviews in the front of our press kit. All of a sudden EVERYBODY
said we sounded like Ben Folds. Now I know all press is good press,
and I don't resent this.
But as a fan I'd be really bummed out if I bought the first King
Radio record thinking I was getting something like Ben Folds.
So beware the comparisons. what if the guy who tells you something
tells like later wilco, is out of their minds.
fvp
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.