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RE: [microsound] Are all electronic music related writers bad writers?




At 08:28 AM 9/28/2005 -0700, P. Lasell wrote:
Interesting thread...

bb> I agree.

Well, maybe the age of the music reviewer is obsolete. Most people,
especially those into electronic music, have more than enough avenues
to get new releases, often times before they're released publicly. This
automatically off-sets the need for a reviewer.

bb> Except for the way in which reviews can function to build the art form, challenge the artist, define a common vocabulary, document the history and development of a specific style or theme, and generally give all of us in a specific scene a feeling a validity and cohesion... Uh, maybe not obsolete yet.


I think there was a short time when music writers (or writer, Lester
Bangs) could talk about music objectively, and write about its larger
implications. But these days, music writing is torn between the big
magazines whose writers are enjoying the rewards of free music in
exchange for ad space, and smaller outlets where writers dont have a
grasp of language or history needed to express what's going into music
these days.

bb> Amen. Especially the point about history...and that's really problematic in our area because there's not just one history, there are myriad parallel developments that have spun around each other and often times cross-pollinated. Exacerbating that problem is the fact that many releasing entities (either labels or artists directly) are loathe to associate themselves with any stated tradition. The goal being to receive the music "on its own terms"...but this gives the listener and/or reviewer no point of reference for their "work" and thus further reduces the possibility of the review having any relevance on the subject matter.


In fact right now, I think there's more likelihood than ever for "similar sounding" releases to come from vastly different scenes/traditions. But the place it's coming from makes all the difference in the world as far as the artists intentions, etc.

I frankly think there should be more of an effort to identify and reinforce successful music reviewers to try to use as another underpinning of the overall viability of the music... Anyone have any specific names of people they like?



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