1. interesting article by Marc Myers on the current boogaloo scene in NYC:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303459004577360052911682604.html
2. obit for a British guitar legend:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/arts/music/bert-weedon-guitar-teacher-to-a-generation-dies-at-91.html
3. finally, some light reading, from High Fidelity May 1968:
http://www.yousendit.com/download/M3Brc2ZPK3g1bmpWUThUQw?cid=tx-02002207340200000000&s=19102
(paste full link if it's split by e-mail)
"How To Be A Music Critic" (a tongue in cheek critique of the critics)
This article should be mandatory reading for would-be reviewers for ARSC Journal and of course all
the rest of the higher-brow music press. What's left of a "mainstream" musical press is hopeless.
There is still some good review-writing out there, a lot of it online now (blogs and the like).
Regarding point 8, fluffing up a piece with meaningless words, the current favorites infecting all
manner of arts-opinion journalism are "effortless" and "organic." When I see them, I generally stop
reading.
The point about needlessly describing physical appearance has morphed into needlessly describing
what some would-be "star" or "celebrity" eats when he/she and the reporter sit down for a
"conversation." This is rampant in movie-star coverage. The point seems to be to prove that the
reporter and "celebrity" actually met face-to-face rather than twittering an interview. I call it
the mandatory mastication riff.
-- Tom Fine
|