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Looper's Delight
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Yo Ted, Hooo-boy... Let me see here. > So, here are two reviews -- one more or less negative and one > more or less positive > --and neither one of these guys really > seems to understand what he's listening too -- I actually felt that both reviews exhibited a pretty significant understanding of the general area that you're operating in. Obviously the first one had a pretty jaded, sarcastic angle on it, but it came across to me as more of an issue with the "genre" (such as it is) of independent solo avant-guitar experimentalists than with you or your music personally. (He actually seemed to approve of what you're doing *in spite* of that element.) > or at least neither > one really seems to understand what caused the music to be > made in the first place (me). I think that's inevitable -- they weren't presented with "you," after all, but with one particular example of the fruits of your own musical work. For them (or anyone else) to have the same understanding of the material (and its origins) as the guy who single-handedly saw it from inception to execution isn't gonna happen. > Did I make a mistake in being rather > stingy on the liner notes? Should I have said more? Did you want listeners to identify the material with any specific ideas/ambitions/concepts that you had in mind? Is this music "about" something in particular, and is knowing about that fundamental to people enjoying it, in your mind? Frank Gerace's band Dreamchild is a good exmaple. Their albums are very well-written and performed, and definitely stand on their own without any additional background. BUT... their music (and lyrics in particular) are so heavily based on specific (and often obscure) allusions to history and mythology that their background annotations are essential for getting the full meaning behind each tune (at least for an unschooled luddite like myself). > how does one go about handling liner notes? The press kit that > went out with my CD had more info about the label pfMENTUM > than about me. Was that a mistake? I have next to nothing about myself personally in my CD press kit; it's mostly about the album specifically, and what I was trying to accomplish with it conceptually. Even with several paragraphs of explanation, though, you never know how some people are going to react to it. (Example: one guy, to whom I had sent my in-depth treatise on the "why" of the CD, essentially said, "Hopefully one day LaFosse will leave this programmed jungle stuff behind and find some other musicians to make a really good album with." Never mind that such a suggestion completely misses the point of the record in the first place...) My advice? Approach any press you get, good or bad, with both an open mind and a grain of salt. Sometimes a review can shed some light onto a valid element of the work that the musician in question might not have considered. And sometimes it can totally misinterpret it. For my part, if there was a specific "thing" I wanted people to get, I probably wouldn't try and express it through abstract instrumental music. I personally am always intrigued by the different ways in which people react to the same music, but I try not to take commentary too seriously either way. And while I still haven't been able to spend the time with your CD that I want to, I've been enjoying the hell out of it! Take care, --Andre LaFosse http://www.altruistmusic.com