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

["P. Lasell" <p_lasell@xxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting thread...

Well, maybe the age of the music reviewer is obsolete.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. This technique doesn't
work so well for vinyl-only releases, except in the case of SOUR.

But what I've been reading these days implies that reviewers are also
feeling the constraints of their medium in response to music that is
beginning to defy description. The Wire has been at the forefront of
the evocative review, but runs the risk of becoming a parody of itself.
They are also a bit guilty of namedropping to imply the style of music,
though drawing similarities has it's place. Pitchfork has some of the
worst writing, though they do try to cover a few challenging releases.
Forced Exposure is pretty consistant, and by far covers the widest
variety of releases. OtherMusic is generally solid. Aquarius is usually
good, but I've always felt they are guilty of following or generating
fads.

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.

Another point, if you don't like what you're reading, try it yourself
and get published. As someone who's done some art writing, it can be
harder than it looks.

Peter
www.peterlasell.net

> Date: Sat, 24 Sep 2005 20:55:44 -0400
> To: microsound@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> From: "Douglas Wolf" <llc2985984@xxxxxxxxxxx>
> Subject: RE: [microsound] Are all electronic music related writers  
> bad writers?
> Message-ID: <BAY101-F18C4C401101D21D14D7B129F880@xxxxxxx>
>
> Care to cite specific examples?
>
>
>> Has anyone else noticed how terribly articles and press materials 
and
>> things are written? Reviews, press, just about everything.. I'm no
>> professional myself but i've seen some pretty ridiculous stuff  
>> out  there.
>> The number one thing I see is convoluted run-ons full of 88%   
>> adjectives,
>> among other things.
>>
>> Anybody care to wager a guess why it's all so embarrassingly poor?
>>


		
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