Is There Anyone Left Here Who ISNT A 'Rock Critic'???

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I used to get kind of peeved when people would come on to ILM and call us all a bunch of snobbish rock critic parasites - Doom-e used this tactic quite a lot. Because most of us weren't paid critics.

Now however Marcello, Jess, Sean C, Mary, Sterling, Doomie himself and several others I'm forgetting have taken the king's shilling (dean's shilling in most cases) and lots more published crits have showed up here. Is there anyone left who's 'just' a fan and has no ambition to see their pop noodlings in print??

― Tom (Groke), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:03 (twenty-three years ago)

Me me me! I don't envision ever being published.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:05 (twenty-three years ago)

me, i write like shit.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:08 (twenty-three years ago)

although my friends consider me one.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:09 (twenty-three years ago)

i never WANTED to be a pop critic. in fact, music critic is probably the LAST career i ever would have chosen. i hate the occupation, and i hate myself for participating. yet i can't seem to stop, it's an addictive compulsion.

i say "never again!" every time, and then i see some way in which i can help out a band i really truly love and want to grab exposure for... and back i go.

― kate, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:09 (twenty-three years ago)

You're just like Michael Corleone, Kate.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Never ever ever. I am so much more than a writer. Feh.

― Jacob (Jacob), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Absolutely no chance. Can't write, you see.

― James Ball (James Ball), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:13 (twenty-three years ago)

shyeah, right.

― michael wells (michael w.), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:13 (twenty-three years ago)

bwah hah hah!

― kate, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:13 (twenty-three years ago)

Like I said, I don't write, but of course I want to! Who doesn't a job that feeds their hobby/obsession??

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:15 (twenty-three years ago)

N.B. However, would need to learn to construct sentences first (see above).

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:19 (twenty-three years ago)

I am not disciplined or coherent enough and I tend not to "specialize" in any kind of music, especially not the types rock critics are supposed to know about, so I've decided I am not fit for this game.

― Honda (Honda), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not. I can't string a coherant sentence together.

― leigh (leigh), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not a doctor, but I play one on TV.

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:22 (twenty-three years ago)

"Never ever ever. I am so much more than a writer. Feh."

What? A planner? ;)

― Nordicskillz (Nordicskillz), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Here's something tangential:

Since so many music writers are hobbyist/dallyers, does that help or hinder the gung ho pro's? Does that h or h music writing en masse? I mean, what if (and this hyperbolic to say the least) commercial pilots operated like this?
Oh, today your flight is brought to you Sam, an aging boomer accountant, who lately has been spending more time at the local blues bar than with his menopausal wife. Your return flight will be done by Jimmy, a college junior who's just read Marx and now "finally gets what Tupac's talking about."

― Horace Mann, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:25 (twenty-three years ago)

Since so many music writers are hobbyist/dallyers, does that help or hinder the gung ho pro's?

I don't think there are many music writers that can afford to be full time, to be honest. To compare it to a pilot is unhelpful, because they usually have a job with an annual wage and benefits whereas it seems most music writing is freelance.

― Nicole (Nicole), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:30 (twenty-three years ago)

the weird thing that i've found is, so many of the really brilliant gung-ho types full of passion and fire and love of music get TOTALLY BURNEED OUT by the biz in about six months. leaving the careerists as being the ones who are only in it for the free stuff. OK, obviously there are exceptions to that, as evidenced by some of the lovely people here. but the music press really is an industry that eats its own, the high turnover of people willing to do it seems to be built in to institutions like the NME.

― kate, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Those who can do
Those who can't become critics
Those who can't become critics wind up posting on ILM
And those who don't wind up posting on ILM are probably on the Coldplay at this very moment
And somewhere Moby is crying over his broken glasses

Geez... it's called natural order!!

― Aaron W, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:33 (twenty-three years ago)

"the Coldplay" -> "the Coldplay messageboard"

Although that could be a new insult... "What??? Are you on the Coldplay again??"

― aaron w, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:34 (twenty-three years ago)

Sometimes I suspect that's the whole point of letting EVERYBODY in. That way nobody can get a foothold, and the only people willing to put up with it are the (no personal insults intended to anyone who feels this applies to them) sycophants.

― Horace Mann, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:37 (twenty-three years ago)

Ah, but didn't you know, Coldplay are NME's Album Of The Year?

― Marcello Carlin, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:39 (twenty-three years ago)

This is similar to a bumper sticker on the car of an art prof. I had in college:

Those who can do, do
Those who can't, Duchamp

And that's so completely and utterly wrong, I don't even know where to begin.

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:39 (twenty-three years ago)

i am not a music crit writer
nor a music crit reader (generally) i check out some of y'all's blogs every once in a while

― ron (ron), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:40 (twenty-three years ago)

me! I only write for free! Yesterday, I spared you an NYLPM piece about Devo.

― jel -- (jel), Friday, 13 December 2002 15:43 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not a rock critic and don't aspire to be. I am ambivalent about the idead of writing about music. Frankly, I think I would much rather make music than write about it. (I don't do that either, however.) I find it very hard to write about the aspects of music that really excite me, and I don't see other people doing it very often at all, either. Even if I were more enthusiastic about the idea of writing about music, I would be reluctant to try to make a living that way, since I don't think very many music critics can really make it their profession. There's room for the most doggedly ambitious, but that seems to be about it.

(On the other hand, I do have one token article, under another name, in an online music magazine, because I saw a genuine need that no one else was addressing. I am not entirely satisfied with the way I handled it, however. I was not paid for it.)

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I could see myself writing more if I saw something that I felt needed to be done, and that I was capable of doing. If I had the encyclopedic knowledge, I would consider doing a guide to recordings by selected Arabic performers, but I don't have the knowledge to do it now.

― Rockist Scientist, Friday, 13 December 2002 15:57 (twenty-three years ago)

I am here to talk about music-nothing more, nothing less.

― mal2478 (mal2478), Friday, 13 December 2002 16:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I write about music for money sometimes, but I'm not a rock critic. mostly interviews.
i've got some criticism-type ideas that I'm knocking around, though i don't know if I'll ever make time to submit a query letter anywhere.

― Fritz Wollner (Fritz), Friday, 13 December 2002 16:05 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't think there are many music writers that can afford to be full time, to be honest.

Yup. J. D. Considine said as much to me many moons ago and that's one reason why I'll stick with freelancing on the side.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 13 December 2002 16:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not a critic, except in the sense that everyone is.

― o. nate (onate), Friday, 13 December 2002 16:14 (twenty-three years ago)

really takes all kinds
(ye hear, Aaron W? ...never mind)

chancing upon ILM a mere week ago, or so,
i'd been a quite happy un-published ex-crit (by my own choice) for nearly a year;
prior to which i'd written for ten years more or less regularly, if not always too productively, for a couple of different titles; had a weekly record reviews column for two and a half years on a daily paper as well, etc -- no, not in the English language ("but 'fcourse"), just wagging my mother tongue

i've done music shows on the radio, also on a regular basis, for approximately as long, but unlike writing for a mag or a daily, at this point i find the air-borne experience rather more satisfying (nope, never've had to pay any attention to any "regular playlist"; mayhaps i should count (some of) my blessings, dunno)

oh yeah, the day job's been "ALWAYS there to remind me"...

― t\'\'t (t''t), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:03 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not a critic although I might like to be one. I'm not sure I have the skills (probably not). I just started writing about music for my college's publications but that doesn't count.

― lou, Friday, 13 December 2002 17:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm not a critic, I just crush a lot.

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 17:09 (twenty-three years ago)

I've been absent for a while, but i am still here. no ambition to print any pop crit...

― g (graysonlane), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:10 (twenty-three years ago)

"I am a critic, not a castrate."

― Roger Fascist (Roger Fascist), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:10 (twenty-three years ago)

I have nothing published that pertains to music. The moniker makes me feel dirty.. thats one reason. This doesnt mean I havent entertained the idea, ususally what happens is I write something..and by the time I finish writing it I say to myself "but why would anyone give a shit about this?" then I just trash it or put it somewhere.

I wish more "critics" would do this

― insectifly (insectifly), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:21 (twenty-three years ago)

ILM just turns people into critics. When I started posting here I wasn't writing about music anymore, and didn't really have much desire to. But constantly writing about music on a public board with a bunch of people who are critics ... I dunno, I gradually found myself writing again without ever having the intention. Do you count as a "rock critic" if you happily admit to knowing very little about music? I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that you can't really be considered a "rock critic" until you've listened to an entire David Bowie album.

― nabisco (nabisco), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:25 (twenty-three years ago)

i only decided to do it for money when ilm turned to shit. ("if i'm gonna be talking to myself, i might as well be making money for it.") so, if you don't like it, blame yourselves.

― jess (dubplatestyle), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:29 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm sure there's a rule somewhere that you can't really be considered a "rock critic" until you've listened to an entire David Bowie album.

to this Id add "just because you've listened to an entire Bowie album, doesnt make you a rock critic" :)

― insectifly (insectifly), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:31 (twenty-three years ago)

Jess, please get over yourself.

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 13 December 2002 17:51 (twenty-three years ago)

if jess ever got over himself, he wouldn't be jess.

Writing reviews/articles is the perfect medium for someone who wants a one-sided conversation.

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 17:54 (twenty-three years ago)

i agree with kate's 'burned out' theory...i only did it in a very limited unpaid capacity for a few months, and by the time i got fired for mouthing off to the boss, it came as such a relief. but i'm sure there are people who have healthy mindsets toward music and don't get fazed by industry stuff who still write well and passionately. but i think in the end i'd much rather be making the music instead of reviewing it.

― Al (sitcom), Friday, 13 December 2002 18:02 (twenty-three years ago)

EVERYBODY is a critic.

― Lee G (Lee G), Friday, 13 December 2002 18:13 (twenty-three years ago)

More critics = Less Dialogue = More Ego-stroking

I'm a fan. ¥

― christoff (christoff), Friday, 13 December 2002 18:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Writing reviews/articles is the perfect medium for someone who wants a one-sided conversation.

i think BLOGs fall into the same boat.

i'm a rock poet or a perhaps an arranger of rocks and noodles.

but definitely not a rock critic.
m.

― msp, Friday, 13 December 2002 18:33 (twenty-three years ago)

i'm a rock poet

Ha!

I'm a rock lobster sandwich.

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 18:38 (twenty-three years ago)

I'm a rock lobster sandwich.

ahoy matey!

eee! eee!
m.

― msp, Friday, 13 December 2002 18:42 (twenty-three years ago)

this would be a good place to say that I love the Deadly Snakes

"ship ahoy! Pirate cowboy!"

― Horace Mann, Friday, 13 December 2002 18:44 (twenty-three years ago)

Skipping 18 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

No, it was an Eternals review. They're about as erotic as a plant. An unerotic, unsexy plant, that is.

I actually used to really dislike her writing, but I've *ahem* come around to it. I like that she's probably the most RAWK of all of the Reader writers AND she's a woman. Even if I don't like every thing she covers, that's fucking cool.

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 21:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Enough RAWK already. How come no women write about Mahler?

― Curmbludgeon, Friday, 13 December 2002 22:05 (twenty-three years ago)

How come no women write about Mahler?

How come more publications don't cover classical music?

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 13 December 2002 22:09 (twenty-three years ago)

How come no *men* write about Mahler for that matter?

What bothers me is the narrow range of discourse in rock/music criticism not the minute differences (perceived as lapses) in taste, sensibility and so on. I can't see *anyone* (male or female) writing about indie rock as being particularly provocative or original. Tired genre, tired subject. Good to have some knowledge of indie rock for chatting up people in bars, I suppose. Maybe that's what rock critics are good for.

― Curmbludgeon, Friday, 13 December 2002 22:13 (twenty-three years ago)

I used to be a lot more prolific, scribbling for long since deceased rock rags. However, I'm still contributing to the "Goings On About Town" section of THE NEW YORKER (writing about bands that the average NEW YORKER reader would probably rather eat a hot plate of maggot-riddled dirt than have to listen to), so I guess I'm guilty too. Alas.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 13 December 2002 22:20 (twenty-three years ago)

How come no women write about Mahler?

Huh?

How come more publications don't cover classical music?

Plenty do, they're just not discussed here.

Alex, did you write up VHS or Beta? this week?

― hstencil, Friday, 13 December 2002 22:23 (twenty-three years ago)

I'd like to write, but I know I never will. Does that count?

― Dan I., Friday, 13 December 2002 22:27 (twenty-three years ago)

Nah, that wasn't mine. I did, however, do the ones for Dio, Molly Hatchet, the Mooney Suzuki, the Rapture, Vanilla Ice, Mudhoney and the blurbs for the Iron Maiden box set (Eddie's Archive) and the Dischord box set.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 13 December 2002 22:31 (twenty-three years ago)

i got tripped into being a rock critic for a while 'cause i lived with one & i'd tell her i could do what those people you got do & do it better but they couldn't vice versa, so she called me out on it & there i was. it stopped being fun/i stopped doing it.

― unknown or illegal user (doorag), Friday, 13 December 2002 22:43 (twenty-three years ago)

Alex, I had no idea!

― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 13 December 2002 22:58 (twenty-three years ago)

Probably cause they don't give me a byline. Dang it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Friday, 13 December 2002 23:06 (twenty-three years ago)

I do actually make my living writing features for magazines and newspapers but money is often tight and it makes me anxious enough to eat up vast quantities of life worrying. But never, ever about finding another career. I haven't had to have 'supplementary' work since 1994.

I don't often write about music these days but up until about 1997, I wrote tons of stuff about every possible music movement and person in it. I stopped because it felt too much like being a cog in someone's marketing strategy - someone, unlike the artistes you were covering, who hadn't known the artistes as long as you, didn't know as much as you, and was all about the control and reflected glory. And it is really boring for the reader to read that rant from me, best have new things to write about, like ARTISTS.

― suzy (suzy), Friday, 13 December 2002 23:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Because I love all music the same, I would not be able to be a critic.

― A Nairn (moretap), Friday, 13 December 2002 23:12 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't feel any strong need to tell people that they shouldn't be deriving pleasure from certain kinds of music. (Greil Marcu's bete noire apparently being C+C Music Factory; for other critics it's Britney or whoever.) Unfortunately that seems to be a major role of the rock critic these days. There are people who sidestep this role but too many who revel in it.

― sdeg, Friday, 13 December 2002 23:31 (twenty-three years ago)

No, simply because I'm a shitty writer.

― Micheline Gros-Jean (Micheline), Saturday, 14 December 2002 00:18 (twenty-three years ago)

I did, however, do the ones for Dio, Molly Hatchet, the Mooney Suzuki, the Rapture, Vanilla Ice, Mudhoney and the blurbs for the Iron Maiden box set (Eddie's Archive) and the Dischord box set.

!!!

My god. My world has just exploded.

― geeta (geeta), Saturday, 14 December 2002 00:20 (twenty-three years ago)

I committed infanticide on my 'rock criticism' within a year of beginning. I have earned less than $250 doing any kind of 'rock criticism' and haven't done it for close to 10 years.

I have nothing against it; however I can't really think of any time I ever read rock criticism because I don't trust anyone except my own ears to tell me whether I should like something or not. I realize that isn't what many rock critics set out to do; it's just the reason I stopped reading.

― webcrack (music=crack), Saturday, 14 December 2002 00:36 (twenty-three years ago)

Right now, I'm taking a 9-month break from being a rock critic. I'm looking forward to getting back to it, though--the first couple of months I was thrilled to be able to listen to anything I wanted to hear & not have deadlines, now I'm itching to tell the world about We're Twins and _Super Disco_.

― Douglas, Saturday, 14 December 2002 03:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Is 'Super Disco' the Peter Brown comp?

― James Blount (James Blount), Saturday, 14 December 2002 03:29 (twenty-three years ago)

I just picked that P&P Super Disco comp up this week, and it's great. It's definitely earned a place among my 2002 favorites. An mp3 of Jessie Gould's awesome "Out of Work" is up at my blog right now; see the sidebar.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Saturday, 14 December 2002 03:33 (twenty-three years ago)

yeah, Super Disco is fucking nuts. (reviewed it and Super Rap together for Time Out New York if anyone cares; hasn't run yet.) I'm especially awe-inspired by "25 Hours," which goes on for what seems like that long, in a really compulsive manner: like watching someone on speed do their taxes or something, and then they edit in a crappy-sounding bomb explosion because they don't have an actual ending for it!

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 14 December 2002 04:00 (twenty-three years ago)

also, Monica Kendrick's libido is one of many things to love about her writing.

― M Matos (M Matos), Saturday, 14 December 2002 04:01 (twenty-three years ago)

nine months pass...

Damn, Matos!!

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Sunday, 21 September 2003 04:08 (twenty-two years ago)

This whole thread is interesting, actually.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 21 September 2003 04:19 (twenty-two years ago)

wow, i didn't see this thread??!! i'm not a rock critic, but i'm writing my disssertation about a rock band so i cannot claim to not be a rock writer. it makes me very sad to admit this.

― The Lady Ms Lurex (lucylurex), Sunday, 21 September 2003 04:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Diamond, why "damn Matos"?

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 21 September 2003 06:17 (twenty-two years ago)

haha- nothing at all, Michaelango! I wuz just kind of teasing you about that Kendrick comment. (to be clear: I think you're totally great!!; I think Monica is totally great!!; all in good fun, etc. (I mean, Monica is really cool becuz she has this total off-the-cuff style but always reveals herself to be a sympathetic listener to the stuff she likes) Again, I wuz just gently teasing you, M!! I had actually just reread this thread cuz it turned up in a search... It's a pretty good thread..

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Sunday, 21 September 2003 07:17 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, I didn't take any offense, I was just trying to figure out the thrust of yr comment.

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 21 September 2003 07:21 (twenty-two years ago)

hahahahah look at how much i was posting back in december just to stay awake in the lab...and now at home, i wish i could sleep

― Vic (Vic), Sunday, 21 September 2003 07:24 (twenty-two years ago)

sorry to panic you!

― M Matos (M Matos), Sunday, 21 September 2003 07:24 (twenty-two years ago)

i couldn't write my way out of a paper bag, so ME. I'm not!!

― phil-two (phil-two), Sunday, 21 September 2003 07:55 (twenty-two years ago)

music critic = person who writes about music and posesses an opinion = everyone on ILM

If this were a live chatline, you could plausibly duck the tag.

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 21 September 2003 08:36 (twenty-two years ago)

...'m trying envision how a "Coldplay massage board" would look like...

(not criticising or anything, merely postponing doing my sun-day job! :)

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Sunday, 21 September 2003 08:59 (twenty-two years ago)

Tom’s original question concerned ILM writers who’ve actually been published -and paid for it - and those who aspire to be. By contrast I’m just ‘a fan’. I enjoy listening to music, thinking about music, and reading about music. When writing about music I struggle, and get frustrated. I now prefer to leave that to those more gifted with words, of whom there are plenty in this parish. I was once mildly jealous of the likes of Sterling, Jess, Marcello, Tom and Robin C. who can bring much pleasure, and provoke much thought, with a well-turned phrase. Now I just enjoy.

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 21 September 2003 09:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Well everyone who writes gets frustrated. Like anything, it's something you learn and get better at by doing. I was trying to poke fun at the contradiction in Tom's premise: Essentially, anyone who writes word one in this forum has just published themselves. As soon as I print out this thread, it's "in print." Maybe there's a definite line between people who have sold their words and those who haven't, but I find that line fairly blurred most of the time. Most writers are unpaid. (Disclosure: I'm a paid writer.)

― Pete Scholtes, Sunday, 21 September 2003 09:18 (twenty-two years ago)

I agree it’s a blurred line, one getting vaguer by the month. Reynolds’s recent description of the ‘Blogosphere’ as the ‘music press in exile’ made me realize that I haven’t bought a single paper, magazine, or fanzine all year. For me blogs, boards and webzines are the music press. Few of the writers will have been paid for their efforts, one or two would benefit from having an editor.

(English music press is widely available here in the Netherlands but at twice the price, the Dutch press is lamentable.)

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 21 September 2003 09:54 (twenty-two years ago)

good to see you back stevo, how come you havent joined the ilx fantasy football league?

― ... (gareth), Sunday, 21 September 2003 12:56 (twenty-two years ago)

i'm not a rock writer and have no plans to be, i can't cram enough cliches into a paragraph apparently

― Bob Shaw (Bob Shaw), Sunday, 21 September 2003 13:22 (twenty-two years ago)

Why thankyou :-) Enforced IL* sabbatical largely due to work/study/avoiding Mrs Stevo becoming an internet-widow. Joining the ILX Fantasy League ASAP.

― stevo (stevo), Sunday, 21 September 2003 13:32 (twenty-two years ago)

its at http://fantasy.premierleague.com, you'll have to search ilx to find the code to enter the ilx league

― ... (gareth), Sunday, 21 September 2003 14:47 (twenty-two years ago)

When writing about music I struggle, and get frustrated. I now prefer to leave that to those more gifted with words, of whom there are plenty in this parish. I was once mildly jealous of the likes of Sterling, Jess, Marcello, Tom and Robin C. who can bring much pleasure, and provoke much thought, with a well-turned phrase.

Obviously I can't speak for them, but I find that good writing only comes after struggle and frustration anyway... just because you can't immediately live up to whatever standard you set for yourself doesn't mean you're not a good music writer. Like... I wouldn't expect to be able to rattle off Rachmaninov concertos even after a few years of piano lessons. I struggle and get frustrated with my writing most of the time, and the end result is rarely as good as I want it to be (let alone as good as other people's writing)... yet.

― The Lex (The Lex), Sunday, 21 September 2003 14:53 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not a rock critic, although I have written the odd article on the technical side of electronic music.

― colin s barrow (colin s barrow), Monday, 22 September 2003 00:37 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not, but that's 'cuz I'm a wok star, baby.

― Francis Watlington (Francis Watlington), Monday, 22 September 2003 02:00 (twenty-two years ago)

Too squealy and sentimental to be a critic, and too apathetic about most of the hip music. If I wrote "reviews" they would probably come out like bad poetry.

― Blood and sparkles (bloodandsparkles), Monday, 22 September 2003 03:20 (twenty-two years ago)

I write about music, on my blog, and in CD reviews that are generally under 1000 words.

There isn't a single thing I've written that I don't wince at later. I've always written stuff about music, before there was an interweb, so I don't really regret even the most embarrassing stuff -- although making it public has upped the internal pressure for me.

Thing is, I don't believe in reincarnation, so this life is all I have and it's worth looking like a dick, ultimately, in order to thrust some of these bizarro thoughts and feelings I have about music out there into a harsh, indifferent world, to either plummet or float (sink or swim).

ILM itself (and some of the better music sites/blogs) is invaluable in that it can help shape some of those amorphous thoughts which would otherwise remain pretty much unformed.

Weird thing about music-crit is, no matter how good some of the feedback may be, you always remember the slagging you got for missing some obvious point, or for a clumsy expression, or for your occasional example of sheer unblinking stupidity, whatever.

― David A. (Davant), Monday, 22 September 2003 03:31 (twenty-two years ago)

just because you can't immediately live up to whatever standard you set for yourself doesn't mean you're not a good music writer.

side question - how often are the music writers on this list actually happy with the work they submit?

― stevie (stevie), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:26 (twenty-two years ago)

In my case it's a fairly low amount of times.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 September 2003 15:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm not. There's no way I could say more than a paragraph's worth of stuff about any album.

― Dan I., Monday, 22 September 2003 16:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Not only am I not, but I don't read it either. I'm more interested in social history and how music fits into that.

― Kerry (dymaxia), Monday, 22 September 2003 17:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I don't even know who Chuck Eddy is!

― oops (Oops), Monday, 22 September 2003 17:19 (twenty-two years ago)

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