Ira in Salon

Somehow I missed this column the other day. It's an interesting piece.

Ouch. The last paragraph is an attack on a good friend of mine:

"Record reviews are now brief, upbeat and simple: download these songs, they’re good. Beyond that service, writers don’t provide much real value. They are unlikely to establish a strong connection with their readers, as no sense of prejudices and predilections can emerge from four sentences (at least one of which is going to be strictly informational). Here is the critical half of a current Rolling Stone T.I. review, which I grabbed at random: “Incorporating everything from sex-rap with R. Kelly to power balladry with Pink to raging trap-rap with Meek Mill, his eighth album fuses lordly self-mythologizing with epic self-searching; a version of Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah,’ puts the T.I. saga in proper perspective.” (The extraneous comma is not mine, son.) Jon Dolan goes on to quote two lines of the song and concludes, “Even in torment, he only rolls VIP.” It’s hard to accept that as a descendant of the thought-provoking insights a writer like Ellen Willis or Paul Williams routinely delivered in their work. And you can’t even blame space. They are simply kowtowing to the preferences of those readers who care the least."

But beyond that....even T.I. did a version of Hallelujah ?!?!?!?!

Honestly, i meant no attack of any sort on a writer whose piece i did literally grab at random. my point is about the standards and goals of album reviewing, not anyone's writing. I have no idea whether the author of that TI review is capable of great work. He undoubtedly filed what was asked of him, and that's where the problem begins. I'm not saying I can do better, I'm saying almost no one -- publications and audience alike -- wants me, him or anyone else to.

I haven't read Ira's whole piece, but to play devil's advocate, not everybody was writing like Ellen Willis, Langdon Winner, and Paul Williams back in the day. That's a different line to descend from, and--halcyon eyeglasses aside--there was plenty of sophomoric music writing back in the day.

I loved Lester Bangs as a college student. Now, I cringe at most of his stuff. And now that I'm immersed in writing about American Literature, Greil Marcus' glancing allusions to critics like Leslie Fiedler or writers like Herman Melville make him seem more dilettantish than astute--intellectual parlor tricks meant to come off "academic" to people who thought they were reading purely music commentary.

There was plenty of sub-par music writing back in the 1960s and 70s, even by some of the respected practitioners. (The worst were the frustrated intellectuals like Meltzer, who really wanted to talk about everything but music, thought he was too good for reviewing, but "only" had music writing as a forum.) There's just more of it now because everyone has a platform and a medium to hold forth. We're in an era of social-media narcissism.

I have Rolling Stone magazines from the late 1960s, and honestly the writing doesn't--as a *whole* (let me make that clear)--impress me much more than the current crop. I love Langdon Winner and Ellen Willis, but they were they exception for me. And both seemed to truly grow as writers and commentators beyond the world of music writing. As did Tosches, of course, who I really admired for a long time--but now I find his blending of biographical truth and fancy plainly irresponsible and indulgent. I'd say that Ira himself is one of the few music writers that really holds up for me. His piece on Television in MOJO (2000? 2001?) is worth a read or re-read.



Post Edited (01-03-13 16:19)

I don't think Ira is saying music writing was inherently better back then, but I do think he's saying that the passion for discussion about music and certain albums and artists has been lost, and that it was stronger then. Of course, there was no internet (with its chat rooms, comment sections and 50 million online zines/blogs) back then, nor was there as many releases as there are now. I sometimes wonder if it's the sheer amount of music and (I'll be charitable) discourse that's out there that drains the energy and passion out of music criticism. I can certainly cop to spewing out plenty of the kind of reviews Ira denigrates when I'm just not feeling it.

Again, I didn't read the piece and was responding to the excerpt--this is in particular: "It’s hard to accept that as a descendant of the thought-provoking insights a writer like Ellen Willis or Paul Williams routinely delivered in their work." As someone who spends a good portion of his time around 18-22 year olds, my alarm bells go off when I start pulling the sepia or halcyon trip.



Post Edited (01-03-13 17:41)

Erik, did you see the comment a teacher left about how the kids today sometimes don't even know the names of the "artists" of their fave songs, they don't discuss music they way he did with his friends as a kid? Is that true with your students?

MrFab wrote:

> Erik, did you see the comment a teacher left about how the kids
> today sometimes don't even know the names of the "artists" of
> their fave songs, they don't discuss music they way he did with
> his friends as a kid? Is that true with your students?


It's not just the kids, nobody seems to know who they're listening to nowadays! I'm constantly hearing "ooooh, I love this song" and getting a "dunno" when I ask who it is.

MrFab wrote:

> Erik, did you see the comment a teacher left about how the kids
> today sometimes don't even know the names of the "artists" of
> their fave songs, they don't discuss music they way he did with
> his friends as a kid? Is that true with your students?

I mean, I see younger people who are kind of oblivious--and also those who are deeply obsessed and know everything about their favorite artists. It's not much different than when I was younger in the 1980s; there were the obsessives, like me, and then there were the kids who were like, "I really liked that song from the movie Pretty in Pink. . . " but who didn't necessarily care who the artist was. I have a student, for example, who is so into Coheed and Cambria that it reminds me a lot of myself at that age. . . hinging so much emotional life on someone else's words, knowing the catalogue backwards and forwards, etc.

My 12-year-old daughter is deep into One Direction and seems to know every single factoid there is to know about these young men (much the same way that I learned in 1979 that Sting's birthday was October 2nd and haven't forgotten it to this day).



Post Edited (01-04-13 08:45)

thanks for posting this rhett,
i predict, note the irony that iras entry was also posted on the first of jan (post date 1/1/13 probably after an early new year kiss), THIS to be best of all threads of 2013.
an incredible piece of writing ira, and i've only skimmed it for key words so far...but my initial feeling (even though we dont know each other) is that, you are who i thought you were. superbravo! and absolutely touching.



Post Edited (01-04-13 21:32)

that ain't no soliloquy folks!



Post Edited (01-04-13 22:24)

That was a very fine article - and a good excuse to listen to "Hats Off To Larry" (!)

It really comes down to the audience sort of deciding they don't need or want a formal criticism of their music. It is because music is so easy to get now and because everyone has the forum to criticize.

When I was a kid, reading a review of Zen Arcade was something that could help me process what I was feeling about it - it wasn't read by me to confirm or deny what I already felt. It was meant to enhance. The best criticism always enhances your understanding of the work whether you agree with it or not.

Not sure people see critics that way anymore.......they see them as information distributors mostly.

Quote

It really comes down to the audience sort of deciding they don't need or want a formal criticism of their music.

No one is allowed to be critical anymore. Try to count how many times a day you hear someone say "Don't you judge me!"

...

It's hard out here for the hyper-critical.

You hit the nail(s) on the head, Mats.

I enjoyed the article, but was surprised to see that Ira didn't immediately make the connection between 'Snoopy vs the Red Baron' (slammed) and Nick Lowe's early Stiff singles (warmly praised, at least at the time). The sound is very similar. Check it out.

art is not expensive.

is it?

Art is not expensive while the artist is alive and could benefit from it.

"Art is not expensive while the artist is alive and could benefit from it."

I'm sure Rothko is giving you big from-the-beyond amen to that.

Novelists, on the other hand (good ones at least) never make serious money unless their work is made into a movie.

First, a f.n.g. comes out of the box swinging against his Archers; now our CEO and founder takes a swipe at the work of his pal. (Not to mention the brave stand NP took on the Zep, despite slings and arrows.)

TP's first Purple Heart award goes to the Pail.

And don't forget that I failed to contact him on my trip to Boston last year, which left him in tears for weeks. Nosepail truly does deserve a medal!

And what happened to that Archers-hater dude anyway? Didn't he make noises about having finally found his online community? I guess he's moved on, just like they all do....

"I guess he's moved on, just like they all do..."

I get the sense that middle-aged sarcastic guys with long-standing music obsessions arrive here thinking it's paradise ("A bunch of people just like me!"), only to be cured of that by realizing, with our help, that being around a bunch of people just like oneself (that is, middle-aged sarcastic guys with long-standing music obsessions) is not all it's cracked up to be.

That doesn't in any way explain *us,* however.

Aaaaanywayyy, back to refining my list of favorite Durutti Column tracks.



Post Edited (01-10-13 12:58)

erikalbany wrote:

> "I guess he's moved on, just like they all do..."
>
> I get the sense that middle-aged sarcastic guys with
> long-standing music obsessions arrive here thinking it's
> paradise ("A bunch of people just like me!"), only to be cured
> of that by realizing, with our help, that being around a bunch
> of people just like oneself (that is, middle-aged sarcastic
> guys with long-standing music obsessions) is not all it's
> cracked up to be.
>
> That doesn't in any way explain *us,* however.
>
> Aaaaanywayyy, back to refining my list of favorite Durutti
> Column tracks.



Post of the Year

I wish they wouldn't do that. It always makes me feel so ... cheap.

There are many points to ponder with this one, but I just want to declare my admiration for one sentence in particular...

Quote

Sure, there are writers too dense to bother with – who wants to stop every sentence to translate English into English? – but I was raised to understand that other people knew more than me, and it was my job to try and catch up.

Perfect.