Re: Why I'm starting to loath news paper music critics

[ArsOcarina@aol.com]

Kris,

Yeah, really good critical reviewers are rather hard to find in any field of art -- and I'm not just talking about plethora of writers of reality-deprived "puff pieces" out there who are unerringly positive boosters of whatever is going on in a given locality or those many, mean, conceited cranks that disdain almost everything and mostly write reviews as an excuse to talk about themselves. Finding a real writer with "big" enough ears to write cogently about a wide range of musical approaches and styles from a point of view of actual connoisseurship is a rare thing indeed. 

The dearth of "melodies" that the guy was complaining about seems to say more about HIS lack of understanding that "melody" is not limited to just the happy tunes that some performers leave an auduence humming (or whistling) as they leave the venue. The absence of "earth rhythms" says something similar about HIS inability to get his head around music that is not a slave to easy, toe-tapping grooves either. He obviously brought to the listening experience a well-formed expectation of those things and cannot conceive of good music that does not have them -- unless it's "meditative or spiritual fare." 

He doesn't particularly speak well of himself with the "abstract wandering" quip either. He is clearly someone who finds it hard to enjoy art outside of familiar, popular "art" structures -- like the verse-chorus-verse of most pop music. He's a person who always wants to know where he's going next before he gets there, who probably enjoys typical "Hollywood" endings to movies and likely sneaks a peak at the last couple of pages of a book before he begins reading at the beginning. He's affraid. He's uncomfortable not knowing where your "wandering" journey might take him. It's a similar sort of issue that your recording did not conclude each track with applause I think. His need for reassurance is greater than you need and desire for a pristine, hi-fidelity recording -- and his desire for "falling spoons" and clinking glasses would give him the illusion of "company" on the trip.

Certainly what he enjoys is his prerogative -- as is what he writes about and reviews. There's not much you can do about that. His journalistic employment gives him a podium of sorts (whether he's qualified for it or not). As someone who has worked for four newspapers at various points in my life (not as a writer, but nevertheless as an office insider), entertainment and music review tasks rarely go to the most gifted or qualified persons. Outside of the really BIG CITY publications these slots are much-coveted "plum" jobs given to brown-nosers, nephews and girlfriends/boyfriends of bigger fish in the organizational pond.

My recommendation to you Kris is to send your CD to some avant-jazz rag like CADENCE magazine (http://www.cadencebuilding.com/cadence/cadencemagazine.html) or some other publication like that (unless you know someone inside at the NY or LA Times, et al). Those guys've got ears to hear what you're doing and are not averse to reviewing unknown artists from Boise, ID. Your music is worth it.

Best of luck

Ted Killian