tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post5483083533217283588..comments2024-03-03T23:39:06.689-06:00Comments on Rockaliser Baby: My Christgau ProblemAaronhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17389566303984348920noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-12332485939040851062017-09-21T03:05:40.068-05:002017-09-21T03:05:40.068-05:00People read a critic so they can get helpful point...People read a critic so they can get helpful pointers towards something they may like to listen to. I have never found Christgau to be helpful. His need for attention is really apparent thru his writing and that distracts a lot. It s actually quite annoying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-52215777688831089962011-02-01T10:21:04.082-06:002011-02-01T10:21:04.082-06:00^^Can't argue with that reasoning.^^Can't argue with that reasoning.Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12390942478204415875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-62001377536809932842011-01-12T08:52:04.927-06:002011-01-12T08:52:04.927-06:00^^ I could not have put it better myself. This is ...^^ I could not have put it better myself. This is a horrible analysis. Its totally missing the point. Christgau is the best critic around.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-24310073100207809322010-11-07T00:33:41.630-05:002010-11-07T00:33:41.630-05:00Christgau's New York Dolls capsule review is n...Christgau's New York Dolls capsule review is not one of his best - I'm still wondering what "and they don't stop there" is supposed to mean. Nevertheless it's far more precise, honest, informative, and thought-provoking than your take on it.<br /><br />"This is not criticism. This is Christgau talking about affluent white people in Manhattan, followed by a few sentences working several song titles into phrases that are otherwise completely empty of substance or content."<br /><br />Actually, it's three sentences putting the Dolls into sociological context, followed by succinct music criticism ("careening screech of their music ... mixing early-'60s popsong savvy with late-'60s fast-metal anarchy"), followed by representative lyrical samples and even exegesis (your clumsy parody doesn't resemble the original). That's a hell of a lot of useful criticism and consumer advice to pack into 100-odd words. Of course a capsule can't fully capture what's great about an A+ album, which is why he's fleshed out these ideas in long essays.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-57591288624633329792010-07-25T21:30:37.164-05:002010-07-25T21:30:37.164-05:00Anonymous
Impression of R. Christgau
Fun because ...<b>Anonymous</b><br /><i>Impression of R. Christgau</i><br /><br />Fun because it's punchy, ultimately a letdown because its smartypants claims are baseless. Points deducted for pop psychology. ("Steaming Streams of Consciousness") D+Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-79049392513886792892010-07-05T13:53:56.237-05:002010-07-05T13:53:56.237-05:00Sigh. If only Cormac McCarthy, the writer of '...Sigh. If only Cormac McCarthy, the writer of 'steaming streams of consciousness,' had been a good boy and waxed grandiloquent on the erection-inducing aspects of tennis, a game beloved by rich faggots.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-50335979120703969802010-06-12T00:20:56.674-05:002010-06-12T00:20:56.674-05:00If Christgau reviewed Christgau:
My random diatri...If Christgau reviewed Christgau:<br /><br />My random diatribes have befuddled many an impassioned coffee-house discussion on the merits of this and that. At least they're not bored.<br /><br />I re-hash (pun intended) the same old formula of listening to music while completely wasted, write down some incoherent thoughts (with lots of parentheses to contain the random thoughts within the random thoughts) and send them off to be published without any fear of editing, since I am the God, I mean Dean, of (American) Rock Critics.<br /><br />i am the cormac mccarthy of critics i produce steaming streams of consciousness and deserve a pulitzer prize for it please love me please because i hate myself<br /><br />While pseudo-intellectuals (white boys -- of course) ponder my mental diarrhea, I feel alone and empty inside. If only I had some fucking talent. God, I can't believe I wasted my life this way...Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-32914741561140093462010-05-01T08:42:32.789-05:002010-05-01T08:42:32.789-05:00"His criticism is two parts self-regard and o..."His criticism is two parts self-regard and one part flashy adjectives, which doesn't leave a lot of time for him to get around to the music."<br /><br />Did you make that impression solely on that essay(which I really couldn't read). PLEASE cite me another example of the same...would you?Gowthamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-11803726206643710952010-05-01T08:34:07.423-05:002010-05-01T08:34:07.423-05:00Xgau values a more personal approach to music, app...Xgau values a more personal approach to music, appreciates passion(or the lack of it). His taste is somewhat conventional and somewhat not. I'll tell you this: you can whine and bellow about all the merits the dolls have and sum up less than 10 percent of that paragraph, which evidently expresses his deep concern for the dolls and passes it on, the spirit of it, which is what great journalism should do. Let the music express itself to the listener. Classic albums should never be reviewed conventionally.<br /><br />While you are at it, check out his reviews of remain in light(Talking heads), Rumours(fleetwood mac), and then exile and dirty work by the stones among much much more. Then try to maintain this highly irrelevant opinion of yours.<br /><br />And (referring to yes), try to appreciate humour once in a while!Gowthamnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-90018331884739201172010-03-18T14:02:14.653-05:002010-03-18T14:02:14.653-05:00I've always found the Pazz & Jop poll to b...I've always found the Pazz & Jop poll to be a good indicator of what was most beloved by rock crit circles, and I'll often go to it when searching for new music, but again, if you look at a lot of the comments made by Christgau's successors in the "Comments" section, you'll find a lot of the same discombobulated, flashy and often irrelevant commentary that he made his MO.<br /><br />I do get and appreciate what you say about the breadth of his listening abilities, which seem to basically be without peer (he's also apparently very keen on modern classical music). I read his NPR review of Dessa and found it a lot more readable and illuminating than I expected, so maybe my real issue here is with Village Voice editorial standards.<br /><br />But again, I find it very rare that his obvious enthusiasms translate into his writing. What I can't stand the most, I guess, are his pithy uber-generalizations, such as the above comments about Yes or this comment regarding the Dead Boys: "The charm of good junk has always been its innocence." Huh? Why?<br /><br />By the terms you mentioned, I think I prefer someone like Lester Bangs, who was often as full of bullshit but far more clear about his enthusiasms, and why they remained his enthusiasms. It's also why I like Derogatis' writings despite the comparative lack of flash.Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12390942478204415875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-79357302384189519172010-03-17T22:07:47.445-05:002010-03-17T22:07:47.445-05:00also the best piece on lil wayne was by a guy name...also the best piece on lil wayne was by a guy named david ramsey, and was included in one of those "best new music writing" books. not music criticism per se, but a really beautiful article about his experience teaching middle school in post-katrina new orleans, in which weezy's msuic features prominently. can't find it online, unfortuantelyaaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04642131016081677297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-85676345477732790002010-03-17T08:46:29.287-05:002010-03-17T08:46:29.287-05:00Maybe "saddened" wasn't the right wo...Maybe "saddened" wasn't the right word, but I guess I've felt sympathy for the guy since the Voice threw him under the bus a few years back. Nothing about that seemed remotely fair, or to do with good journalism. And even if you don't like the man, surely you agree he ran the Pazz and Jop well?<br /><br />I guess what I respect about Christgau--who is, you are right, frequently wrong (inasmuch as a music critic can be 'wrong') and confusing--is how widely he listens, and how enthusiastic he is about new sounds. In the most recent consumer guide, he favorably writes up the new album by Dessa. Dessa, who I can't claim to love, is maybe the third most famous member of Minneapolis rap crew Doomtree, but released a strange, non-rap solo album recently. Unlike practically every other national/east coast critic, Xgau bothered to listen to it. It just seems indicative to me.<br /><br />He also has a way of 'getting' new sounds--African music, hip-hop, riot grrrl--before his colleagues do, without ignoring the heroes of his generation.<br /><br />I enjoy some of the inscrutable reviews, which he clearly does willfully. It might be more a matter of taste than you acknowledge. Is he a dick sometimes? Sure, but at least he forgave Sonic Youth.<br /><br />And sometimes he just nails it. On "Dirty Mind":<br />Mick Jagger should fold up his penis and go home.aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04642131016081677297noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20443115207766610.post-33360000195861954542010-03-17T08:44:32.156-05:002010-03-17T08:44:32.156-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.aaronhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04642131016081677297noreply@blogger.com