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.

It's Dead! It's In The Middle! And It's Stinking To High, High Heaven!

I know! I know! My opinion of your marketing department! 

As seen at the Route 8 Trader Horn.

What's The Agenda, What Were You Thinking?

Just learned that Guided By Voices drummer Kevin Fennel was fired from the band before their fifth LP since the reunion. Apparently, Fennel put the drums he used on the landmark album Alien Lanes up for sale for about $55,000. Ok, nothing wrong with that, right?

Apparently not if you're Robert Pollard. The GBV lead fired Fennel from the band and derided him for using the GBV name and the use of the set on Alien Lanes as his key selling point. He also had a few choice words to say about Fennel's drumming skills, none of then supportive. Bob, I love the music but seriously, take a chill pill.

It's kind of silly for Pollard to be pissed at Fennel over this as firstly, they're Fennel's drums. He can do whatever he wants with them. Secondly, it's as though Pollard is trying to make the point that he and he alone is GBV, which he's said in the past (something that I find kind of big-headed, but ok he's the key songwriter, I can let it slide), but here it doesn't make much sense. Fennel is credited with the drum work on Alien Lanes, whatever Pollard might have to say about it.

If Pollard is unhappy about his bandmates riding on his coattails, I don't feel he's chosen a good battlefield this time. I think he's off base.

One Day I Feel I'm Ahead Of The Wheel

This was actually published. This letter was actually published by the Valley News Dispatch on Monday, August 5.

That means that someone had to think these thoughts, write them down on paper or pixels, and then send them to the editor. 

Said editor surely read, proofread, and ruminated upon this submission and as a result decided it was worthy of publication. 

Somewhere along this chain of events, a failure of some sort of judgment certainly must have occurred. My evidence:

As a result, I am forced to make this formal reply to send to same editorial staff:

And by the way, here is my informal reply, composed (verbally) immediately after reading the original submission at top:

ARE YOU A FRICKIN' MORON!? YOU REALLY THINK THAT LOUD WARNINGS OF THE PRESENCE OF A VEHICLE AS FRICKIN' HUGE AS A TRAIN IS UNNECESSARY!? WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT THE ABSENCE OF LOCOMOTIVE WHISTLES WOULD EVER BE A GOOD IDEA!? WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOUR SENSE OF JUDGMENT!?

Ahem.