Blasmo's thread

Blasmo said: "I assume someone else is going to start the "critics I trust/used to trust so much I'd buy whatever they recommended" thread now."

Not sure there's anyone who I fall completely into lockstep with, but the much praised Fricke is pretty reliable for my tastes. Rob Sheffield is pretty much on the same wavelength as me, although I think there are a few things he likes for irony's sake that I'd shy away from.

I figure I would be happy with 75-85% of most of anything Jack Rabid recommends. DeRogatis, probably the same proportion.

I'll leave it to someone else to brown nose Mr. Robbins.



Post Edited (07-18-08 17:06)

"I'll leave it to someone else to brown nose Mr. Robbins."

I'll take that opportunity. Though I know where my tastes and Ira's diverge (pop-punk is not something I dig), but his TP guide entries have frequently shored up with my own perceptions and tastes--and his perceptive gaze and wordmsmithery put him in the rare legion of upper-stratosphere hardcore critics. I think he writes about music the way that John Lahr (one of my favorite writers) writes about theater. I tend to like Dave Sprague's TP stuff too. I also really like Geoffrey Himes from the Washington Post for Americana, and Jon Pareles from the NY Times is brilliant. I like the way that Christgau congeals things down to nuggets (that sometimes are a bit myopic) but I like his writing more often than I agree with him. Derogatis is sometimes too joyful in his eviscerations and someone once wrote or said that he seems to like rock criticism better than music. (He did write the Bangs bio.) Fricke is the only RS critic that I consistently read for my own edification. Greg Kot, Ann Powers, and Alan Light I rarely agree with. Bill Flanagan is a great interviewer, though I've often found his reviews opaque. Ellen Willis was a great, great writer. I can also be swayed by Ben Ratliff's insights.



Post Edited (07-18-08 18:23)

Oof, Eric, you just reminded me: Ann Powers recently wrote a gushingly positive review of....wait for it...Cher in Vegas. Wow. The LA Times found someone worse then Hilburn. Come back Bob, all is forgiven!

> "critics I trust/used to trust so much I'd buy whatever they
> recommended"


art black

I'm easily confused on such terrain.

Please help me...

Some are critics
others are just critiques.