Critiquing the Critics
You see them in interviews, or maybe read something they've said in the paper. "I don't pay attention to the critics," artists say, enunciating the word "critics" like they would "Hitler" or "rapist." Perhaps such quotes should be amended to end with "anymore," because in each case it's clear a nerve has been touched.
But before stooping too low, let's back up.
The critic's job is
to serve as some
level of filter
for the public.
Critics love music. No matter our tastes, preferences, backgrounds, prejudices, burnout factors or fetishes, we love music. Every single time we drop a CD in the player we hope to be awestruck. We hear CD after CD of flavor-of-the-week, trend-imitating knockoffs who aren't nearly as good as the banjo player we heard in the Tube in London once. We are ready to be wowed at any time, by any artist. Many critics prefer the company of music to the company of musicians (which would explain why we're such bad interviewers sometimes). This makes critics, despite our reputation as dour party-poopers, a clan of optimists.
By and large, we are educated. We have been taught and/or hold degrees in music theory, composition, history, some instrument(s), or maybe we just spend inestimable hours in intimate contact with albums, CDs, singles, bootlegs, DVDs, books, etc. And yes, some of us are failed musicians who couldn't or wouldn't make it on our own talent. You might be able to say the same thing about the guy who just sold you that Slurpee, or your CEO.
But music is, first and foremost, intended for listeners, not for musicians or scholars. The critic's job is to serve as some level of filter for the public.
Don't take this to mean that in some way we feel that we hold some authority over the public at large, or as a rule think we know more about what's good and what's not than you. Taste is taste, opinions are opinions. We're quite aware that, no matter what we think or write, Britney Spears will sell a lot of CDs. Popular taste works on something akin to mob mentality, and critical taste can be equally dumbfounding.
Rather, our aim is to offer something more subjective than what bands and labels proffer in unfiltered forums such as interviews, press releases, etc. A negative review should, potentially, be as valuable to a reader as a positive one. A critic may spend all or most of a piece deriding the very sorts of characteristics you enjoy about music. If there's a critic you loathe because he disregards, say, acid jazz as a whole, well, you've got a perspective from which to gauge his opinion. If you think a critic's an idiot, he can still function as a barometer of sorts.
I can't count how many priceless CDs and artists I've discovered because of music criticism, both positive and negative. I was led to discover some of my favorite artists from reading reviews that classified them as: atmospheric Hendrix knockoff (Eric Johnson), tightly cartoonish funk with bad vocals (Primus), and MOR riff-rock with a black perspective (Living Colour). The music industry is sprawling; if you have any preference for something other than what's in radio and/or MTV/VH1 rotation, reviews serve as the truest road map.
Sure, there are critics who have axes to grind. We're human, and we're an opinionated breed. Piss us off and we'll howl to Valhalla about it, in print and in person. But keep in mind that when it comes down to it, each artist we review wants you to spend $17 for a CD or $10, $20, $100 or more for a concert ticket. If they expect money for what they do, we expect it to be a fair return on investment. If an artist puts forth a CD or show that's a dripping bucket of fertilizer, it's our job to point it out.
But if a CD or show is good, great, phenomenal, legendary, or orgasmic, a critic will be its champion. Not only will the critic trip over his words in an effort to genuinely turn a reader on to what he loves, but he'll use other opportunities to boost the artist. The critic will attend the shows, use space in notes columns to wish artists speedy rehab, wear the worn out t-shirt ten days a month, and make mix CDs for friends and philistines that feature whatever amazing thing the artist has done.
So readers, musicians, countrymen: love us, hate us, dismiss us or line your bird cage with us, but read us.
Brian Briscoe
Contributing writer
