So All You Critics Sit Alone

I realize I've been posting a lot of music reviews, but I do read other reviewers as well. Sometimes it helps to consider a different point of view.

Probably my favorite reviewer would have to be John McFerrin. An insightful and thorough reviewer, he has convinced me to check out a number of albums I actually would not have thought of listening to. He's very clear about what he likes and dislikes, and can eloquently convey what he feels and thinks about a record. I find myself disagreeing with him rarely (qualifed by how little overlap there is in what we've both heard) but being able to understand why he holds his opinion regardless. 

Mark Prindle is a really unique voice among album reviewers, mainly reviewing a lot of punk and hardcore that I've never even heard of. I confess I disagree with Prindle on a lot of things, and his attempts to be funny can get really distracting at times. Also, he occasionally goes very off the rails with some of his reviews, but he does have some valuable insights. Okay, some of his stupidity can be pretty funny after all - see some of his Guided By Voices, Metallica and Sonic Youth reviews for an example. He seems to be in retirement as of 2011, but there's quite a bit to read on his site even so. 

Although it's been a long time since I've read him, George Starostin of Russia has long been an advocate of keeping music good. His original website, Only Solitaire, still remains a good archive of what makes rock and pop music good. I remember reading his Neil Young reviews back in college - critical, but constructively. Starostin had very good reasons for considering Neil a very good artist, but equally compelling ones for not considering him to be some king of phenomenal. He's got a new blog now, and he's just go so much material on there that I have no idea if I'll ever really get to read it all.

Robert Christgau is one of the legendary rock reviewers of the late 60s and on through the 70s. I can't consider him one of my major influences in record reviews because he and I disagree so widely - he can't stand The Black Keys or Guided By Voices, seemingly - but he does have some insights and makes some points to consider from his point of view. He's also keeping me in touch with some new stuff thanks to his Expert Witness column on Vice Magazine's music site, Noisey.

And of course I would be remiss if I didn't mention hipster tastemaker website Pitchfork. Like with Christgau, I think their reviewers have a tendency to miss the point of most of the records they review that I've listened to. But again, a contrarian voice can be helpful to consider.