The music journalism hall of shame thread

[SecondLine]

for instance, i can probably judge a "good"/successful skrillex record from a "bad"/unsuccessful one, but i can still personally dislike skrillex's music. which i do.

but then by 'successful' do you mean (and I'm being pedantic here really, sorry):

1) successful in terms of sales or popularity (I'm sure everyone here would argue that this shouldn't be the sole determinant of success)

2) successful in terms of meeting the expectations of a particular, defined crowd - in which case, you might argue that pleasing that particular crowd is by definition aesthetically/creatively/intellectually bankrupt for some reason (like how a new Screwdriver song might go down well with neo-nazis)

3) successful in terms of skilfully playing to a certain stylistic 'formula' - in which case you might argue (in the reynolds/fisher vein) that that is by definition a bad thing as it implies a lack of innovation - perhaps for you it's the breaking down (or at least subtle subversion) of formula which is central to making something worthwhile.

4) successful in terms of its effects on a body/crowd (e.g. something having 'dancefloor effectiveness' implies that it's good at inducing certain effects) - which then leads onto a whole load of knotty arguments about to what extent our responses are culturally learned as opposed to biological, and where that learning might come from.

Which of these or whatever else you mean by 'success' is obviously linked to your underlying conception of what music is, what it's for, etc. - and that's inextricable from your 'taste' really - the two aren't identical but they certainly interrelate.

phew ok, done now

 

[Leo]

phew ok, done now

what tangled webs we weave!

well stated. i could answer "yes" to all of those points, but then getting a level deeper into the critique does pull in subjective beliefs, you're right.

 

[Frankstah]

lol fact step it up

http://www.factmag.com/2012/07/03/justin-bieber-believe/

 

[SecondLine]

funny one that. obviously you can't blame people for putting the boot in under a badly written/poorly reasoned article (lord knows I've written a few of those), but that review is pretty solid really, as you'd expect from Alex. though he's obviously doing it to get a rise, that's what he does

surprisingly large no. of comments along the lines of 'this cannot be art because of the commercial forces involved', I thought FACT's readers were mostly under 21, not Adornian dinosaurs

 

[stephenk]

speaking of adorno...

http://thequietus.com/articles/09274-plvs-vltra-parthenon-review

 

[Roshman]

Whoever wrote the FACTMag redbull culture clash report could have at least pretended they were having a good time. Whole things comes off quite snobby.

http://www.factmag.com/2012/11/08/r...ure-clash-2012-who-won-and-how-it-happened/3/

 

[Sectionfive]

Good story in the eye with labels and publishers fighting over quotes

 

[Roshman]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/15/wiley-30-minutes-interview

What is the point in even organising an interview if this is what you're going to do with it?

 

[SecondLine]

that is fucking godawful

 

[Roshman]

http://www.dummymag.com/features/2013/07/02/essay-meanwhile-in-the-uk-s-dance-underground/

Thanks to Slackk for pointing this one out. Just opening paragraph alone is enough to knot my stomach.

The foundations of the rhythmic architecture are almost entirely hidden inside its deceptive bulk, wrapped in the blobs of curved muscle that urge us forward

There are almost no perpendicular lines in time or timbre space – sounds curve upward, glide downward, slide off another or withdraw swiftly into the membranes they came from

 

[dert]

http://www.dummymag.com/features/2013/07/02/essay-meanwhile-in-the-uk-s-dance-underground/

Thanks to Slackk for pointing this one out. Just opening paragraph alone is enough to knot my stomach.

The foundations of the rhythmic architecture are almost entirely hidden inside its deceptive bulk, wrapped in the blobs of curved muscle that urge us forward
There are almost no perpendicular lines in time or timbre space – sounds curve upward, glide downward, slide off another or withdraw swiftly into the membranes they came from.

as paradoxical as that description may seem, I know what track that's talking about

 

[stephenk]

i hate that fucking track

 

[Benny Bunter]

Bipp is a good track, but its funny that ,for all the guys talk about syncopation and 'anti-house', this straight 4x4 track by Sophie is actually much superior iyam

 

[craner]

Balzac nailed this whole thread in part 2 of Lost Illusions.

 

[Corpsey]

Balzac nailed this whole thread in part 2 of Lost Illusions.

Explain or Die!

I've been reading this with interest, and wondering just how bad a music journalist I am.

 

[Corpsey]

Reading this Kulkarni thing, linked somewhere above

http://fuckyouneilkulkarni.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/for-new-editor-of-nme-whomever-it-may.html

and I think I fall far short of this. But I think there are two sides in this debate: those who think a music critic should labour to reduce themselves out of their reviews, and those who think a music critic should put themselves, and their opinion, front row and centre. But tbh, I sympathise with the POV that pseudo-objective criticism is often highly reasonable and even persuasive, but also utterly forgettable. My favourite writers on music are highly opinionated and to the point.