Happy St. Patty's day. Maybe today I will start a fight because that's the kind of mood I'm in. Have you ever checked out the Sacto's top 25 website? Here's a link (I just figured out how to do that linking thing yesterday). I tried to join it when I saw the four eyes site was on there but I couldn't figure out how to insert their little website graphic into my template. So I gave up. But there are some other sites that profess to be about Sacramento and they are horrible. Here are two: http://www.sactosaurus.com/ and http://www.sacramentolifestyle.com/ This is the sixth most popular site: http://www.cursetheconscious.com/ I can't understand the point of it and it doesn't seem to be about Sacramento. One of the top sites is retrocrush, which is fun to read. I read the whole interview with the actress who played Nellie on little house on the prairie on a slow day at work. A good Sacto site that isn't on the top 25 is cockeyed.com.
Christian Kiefer has an article in the SN&R today justifying his bad reviews. Well, not justifying how poorly written they are, just the fact that he sometimes gives negative reviews. I do find this refreshing, and a nice change from the hyperventilating of Alive and Kicking where every band is the best band ever! Perhaps one of my musician friends with an axe to grind can explain his or her beef with C.K. I've heard it explained that it's not so much that he is sometimes negative, it's that his criticisms and comparisons often aren't valid. Anyone? I know one example is his recent "local CD round-up" type column which just rambled on without reviewing any of the CDs and told how he tossed each one against the wall after listening to it for only a few moments. It was completely pointless and confusing. I can't find that in the archives to link.
my main problem with mr. keifer is that he seems to believe that he has to be "balanced," that he has to find something negative to say about everything, and something positive. but at least he taught me that danny offer is an outsider artist, like wesley willis.
ReplyDeletei have no problem with the relentless optimism of a&k, because i believe it's honest. jerry just feels that it's a better use of limited space to write about the stuff he & the other writers like, rather than what they don't. they're not pretending to like music they hate. it'd be nice if they had the same taste in music as me... - darin
I don't trust that he always has a good sense of where a band is coming from. Like, if he saw The Bananas, I would expect him to bag on our "drunkeness" and long pauses between songs - but that's all part of the deal. We don't need advice on how to become a more professional version of our already fun selves. Criticism is one thing, but criticism when you don't even have the subject of your criticism in the proper context is annoying. Like when he bagged on some bar band for being cheesy & doing covers! Sorry they weren't Radiohead dude. I do like that he's not a total kiss-ass though. And he did love Danny. I just hope he never writes anything about one of my bands.
ReplyDeletemiller
I read Christian's article and I found it kind of sad. I guess he had to call up Greil Marcus to feel validated about being honest. Unfortunately, it aint his honesty that I have a problem with -- its his lack of taste. My room-mate, McNeil, commented that no matter how you look at it, The Local Roundup (review of local CDs he threw against the wall) was plain mean spirited. I will concede that he has made a few good points, he liked Danny's music (without understanding it), and he probably means well in his own twisted way. Still, it would be nice to see him review a band- and whether he likes them or not- do a decent job of conveying what the music's intention is, rather than reviewing the "musicianship" of the band.
ReplyDeleteStill pissed about the Feeling Review,
-Heckamax
Christian Keifer is a J.O.
ReplyDeleteI know I'm a bit behind the curve on this blog but let me make a couple of quick comments. As a music fan, the "intentions" of the band are mostly irrelevant. What isn't irrelevant is what the band is actually doing. Think about it this way: If I intended to write a brilliant novel but my skills only allowed to write a mediocre novel, does that mean a reviewer should write "Gee, this novel is brilliant" because the intentions were such? God, I hope not.
ReplyDeleteAs for the CD Roundup: You're right it was stupid. Sometimes these things seem like good ideas when you're writing them and then later you eat shit for it. It was a dark and stormy night, indeed.
Miller: Let's talk about context. I'm not sure what you mean exactly, or how I'm missing the point. What I want to be is a good, critical writer, and I'm definitely interested in what you have to say. I may not agree with your criticisms of my criticism, but I'd like to understand where you're coming from.
Heckasac: I've been lurking around your blog for a while and like it very much. Hope you don't mind that I've jumped on for a moment.