“Most rock journalism is people
who can’t write, interviewing people who can’t talk, for people who can’t
read.” - Zappa
Obviously I am back
from vacation, and some things worked out and some things didn’t.
I did not get the WiFi
working. In fact, that failed so spectacularly that I killed the wired network,
and in the process of just trying to get back to a direct connection between
the main PC and the cable modem, I disconnected the phone. Since this happened
late Saturday night, and we left early Sunday morning, we did not know why our
calls to our mother went unanswered, and she was left desolate and
disconnected. Fortunately, I was able to walk Misty through reconnecting the
landline via our cells from the train. I’m thinking of recruiting a teenager to
get that one resolved.
The reason I was so
anxious to get the WiFi up is that I needed an internet connection to get the
laptop setup completed, so that did not happen, and I did not take it on
vacation with me, and did not get any writing done at all. I worked out the
timeline for the main plot points in the graphic novel, but so much of it
happens in flashback that I am still not sure where to put everything. Again, I
may need a teenager.
We relaxed (napped) a
great deal, and spent some quality family time with my brother and his wife. At
dinner one night I mentioned my memories of him playing the intro to Smoke on
the Water over and over again, and was surprised to learn that he did not like
Deep Purple or that song, and he hated what a cliché Stairway to Heaven was, so
avoided that.
What he told me, and I
did not remember at all, was that shortly after getting Smoke on the Water
down, he switched to Sweet Leaf by Black Sabbath. I had not heard of it, but
going through the comments on the 100 Greatest Guitar songs, it is on there, so
I listened to it, and I have to say that it, much like the rest of the Black
Sabbath catalog, does nothing for me. This is no big surprise, as Lance’s
tastes and mine tend to differ a lot.
However, it was a nice
to learn something about him, and it happened because of going through the
list, and led me back to something else related to the list, which is a nice
bit of convergence with one of the other list results and vacation goals: reading
an issue of Rolling Stone and seeing if it is something that I might aspire to.
No!
I really hate that
magazine. I read an issue many years ago, and I didn’t like it then, but I
thought maybe I was wrong. I hate that magazine. Listening to all of this music
has made me want to listen to more and learn more and know more. Reading
Rolling Stone kind of made me feel like music is gross and I don’t want to
listen to it anymore. I knew it was a false feeling, and that listening to good
music again would cure it, and that’s already happened, but it’s crazy how
negatively I reacted.
The question I had
been wondering was whether it was possible to write meaningfully about music.
To some extent, it was a silly question, because I had been writing about music
for three weeks, basically, and it was meaningful to me anyway. The reason it
was a question is vague memories of Rolling Stone being awful, and some points
made by Steve Almond in “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life”, and many concert
reviews by critics who probably never belonged at the concert.
There was the question
of taste, certainly, but I don’t think a fan will necessarily give the best
feedback for a non-fan, and also while I was listening to different things I
found my appreciation expanding, so it should be possible to do a reasonable
review of something even if it is not your thing. There are probably a few
hindrances.
One is definitely ego.
I was reminded of the words of Anton Ego in Ratatouille:
“In many
ways, the work of a critic is easy. We risk very little yet enjoy a position
over those who offer up their work and their selves to our judgment. We thrive
on negative criticism, which is fun to write and to read. But the bitter truth
we critics must face, is that in the grand scheme of things, the average piece
of junk is probably more meaningful than our criticism designating it so.”
Some of the best writing in
Rolling Stone was found in negative album reviews, where they cleverly skewered
the weaknesses of the offering. I’m sure it was fun to write. Shawn Levy
(Oregonian film critic) used to have some beauties in his movie reviews, and
yet I find him more reliable now, at the same time that I find him more mellow.
And I say that without in any way implying that he was wrong about Godzilla or
Daredevil.
There may also be a question of
depth. I was watching a clip of a live interview where some musicians were
describing the thrill of their first recording, and the interviewer asked how
it compared to a specific sex act. My first lucid thought, other than the
emotional reaction of being appalled, was “Kurt Loder would never do that!”
Actually, I am not that familiar
with Loder’s work, so maybe he would, but I know that he had some intellect and
depth to him, and so didn’t need to. If I remember correctly with this other
guy, he was trying to bring things down earlier, and it was not working because
he was talking to guys who are smart and classy, but maybe he did not have it
in him to even relate at that level. (The band deflected it nicely.)
A lot of what bothered me in the
magazine was unearned adulation, which is common with any kind of celebrity
interviews, but I’m sure there can be something better. Remember where Ego went
next:
“But there are times when a critic
truly risks something, and that is in the discovery and defense of the new. The
world is often unkind to new talent, new creations, the new needs friends.”
Surely there is a place for interesting and incisive
commentary from an open mind, not only to introduce the truly new, but to
popularize what has been around for a while for those who are unfamiliar with
it.
When I was talking to
my supervisor about the listening I was doing, she told me her ex-husband used
to give people CDs of the music he thought they should be listening to. “But I
don’t like bluegrass,” they would say, but he felt that they should.
I don’t want to be
like that, but I am seeing the value in doing something. Thursday my dentist
was talking about her daughter’s music, and while there were some songs that
she would gladly never hear again, there was one that was good, and it really
surprised her that there was anything current that she even could like. Then
Saturday I found this:
He had assumed that
good music was over too, and then it wasn’t. Years ago there was a special on
The Day the Music Died, so they talked about the crash, and about the song
American Pie, and they made a pretty good case for that being a devastating
blow to rock, but it’s still out there. Maybe the music does die, but it is
constantly reborn.
(Actually, I have a
theory about worse times creating better music, so that we have better sound
scenes under Republican presidents, but I have not had a chance to fully
explore it.)
Anyway, I have a bug in my
brain. I’m not sure where it’s going to go. I may start doing record reviews on
the blog. I don’t know. For right now, I have like four pages of suggested songs
from the comments on Stereogum, and that will probably lead to its own things,
and I have lots of stuff to write about besides music, so the posts will just
keep coming.
Posts
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