Music Journalism - Why?
Posted by: JamieL_v2 on 03 September 2010
'Writing about music is like dancing about architecture'
Attributed to Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello, Alan P Scott, Martin Mull, and probably some others too.
Yesterday I did something stupid, something I had not done for a very long time, I bought a music magazine, one called 'Classic Rock'. I bought it mostly as it had an article about one of my favourite albums, Led Zeppelin 'Physical Graffiti'. It also had a nice cover artwork.
The eight page article on the album by Barney Hoskyns began with a whole page apologising for liking an album made before 1976, and telling us that the bass player of the Clash said that looking at a Led Zeppelin album cover made him feel sick. Perhaps the juvenile little oik should have consulted a doctor, or carried a few sick bags if he had such a temperamental stomach.
There were no original interviews with any band member, and I am not convinced that the quotes from the recording engineer were anything other than library material.
The article also told me that 'Trampled Underfoot' was not a good track.
The obsession such 'journalists' have with punk is perhaps because it offered such dumb but headline making statements, but if they think anyone wishing to read about Led Zeppelin gives a damn about what anyone in the Clash has to say about any form of artwork they are sadly deluded.
Furthermore the style of writing was the kind of 'flowery' rubbish you might expect from some sixth from poet, although thankfully not as awful as Paul Morley's unending similes.
I love journalism, and I love music, but I have yet to find any meeting between the two that is worth the paper it is printed on. I will stick to reading Hunter S Thompson and P J O'Rourke while listening to Led Zeppelin.
Right now I am off to do a modern dance to a friend to describe a building to turn left at when driving over here. Oh, and Barney Hoskyns is writing a biography of Led Zeppelin to be published by Faber & Faber in 2012, hopefully with some face to face interviews with members of The Clash and other pertinent material.
Posted on: 03 September 2010 by Bruce Woodhouse
quote:
Originally posted by JamieL_v2:
'Writing about music is like dancing about architecture'
Attributed to Frank Zappa, Elvis Costello, Alan P Scott, Martin Mull, and probably some others too.
Yesterday I did something stupid, something I had not done for a very long time, I bought a music magazine, one called 'Classic Rock'. I bought it mostly as it had an article about one of my favourite albums, Led Zeppelin 'Physical Graffiti'. It also had a nice cover artwork.
The eight page article on the album by Barney Hoskyns began with a whole page apologising for liking an album made before 1976, and telling us that the bass player of the Clash said that looking at a Led Zeppelin album cover made him feel sick. Perhaps the juvenile little oik should have consulted a doctor, or carried a few sick bags if he had such a temperamental stomach.
There were no original interviews with any band member, and I am not convinced that the quotes from the recording engineer were anything other than library material.
The article also told me that 'Trampled Underfoot' was not a good track.
The obsession such 'journalists' have with punk is perhaps because it offered such dumb but headline making statements, but if they think anyone wishing to read about Led Zeppelin gives a damn about what anyone in the Clash has to say about any form of artwork they are sadly deluded.
Furthermore the style of writing was the kind of 'flowery' rubbish you might expect from some sixth from poet, although thankfully not as awful as Paul Morley's unending similes.
I love journalism, and I love music, but I have yet to find any meeting between the two that is worth the paper it is printed on. I will stick to reading Hunter S Thompson and P J O'Rourke while listening to Led Zeppelin.
Right now I am off to do a modern dance to a friend to describe a building to turn left at when driving over here. Oh, and Barney Hoskyns is writing a biography of Led Zeppelin to be published by Faber & Faber in 2012, hopefully with some face to face interviews with members of The Clash and other pertinent material.
+
I pretty much get what you mean. I used to subscribe to Q a long while ago, then (briefly) Mojo but never really found much enlightening in them. They either seem to uncritically swallow every gem from the mouths of the over-hyped or alternatively be cynical and blinkered about those somehow out of favour. I bought them just to get news about new releases really, and the web allows me so many better ways to find out about new music (including this forum) that this purpose is now redundant.
In terms of music writing I do quite like the review writing on Pitchforkmedia. This can be pretty pretentious, and it is not unusual that I disagree significantly with the conclusions, but it tends to be well written and informed. It also feels unbiased.
Perhaps I don't have a 'fan' mentality but I'm generally not that interested in reading about the individuals behind the music I like. Hearing them say how many drugs they have taken and what a bore it is touring all the time just does not light my fire!
Bruce
PS Jamie, I'm still loving Sun Kil Moon; April. Did you ever follow my suggestions in that thread such as for Bonnie Prince Billy?
Posted on: 03 September 2010 by Kevin-W
I know Barney Hoskyns, and he is a BIG Zeppelin fan. He just doesn't like everything they do (including "Trampled"). And yes, he is a big fan of punk too.
(To digress briefly, I adore Kate Bush, and I think she is the most remarkable female talent ever to have emerged in pop - I think "Aerial" is probably the best record of the past 10 years - but I found about 25% of her output completely unlistenable, and another 25% I can take or leave. But I count myself as a massive fan).
I certainly didn't get the impression Jamie got from reading Barney's piece.
By the way, AFAIK, he has conducted new interviews for the book, it's not just going to be a cuttings job.
Posted on: 03 September 2010 by fred simon
If you think about it, dancing is very much about architecture.
And while there's certainly loads of crap written about music, there's good stuff, too. Just like there's loads of crap music, and good music, too.
Posted on: 04 September 2010 by irwan shah
I like reading Stanley Crouch's liner notes that are found in many of Wynton Marsalis' albums, if one can consider that journalism. The comments are really informative and usually put both the album and performer in context.
Posted on: 04 September 2010 by JamieL_v2
Kevin, I think Barney Hoskyns has probably fallen into some of the clichés of the culture of music journalism, or perhaps those are pillars that must be upheld in order to continue working in the field.
Perhaps it is now the case that for music journalists to have their writing published that they must make 1976 the 'year zero'. It had probably become hard at the time to interview the established bands, riding to stadium gigs in limos, and the young punk bands offered easy soundbites and headlines, and were at the time something new.
It is just a pity that over thirty years later this cliché has become so engrained. Looking at what is listed in the 'now playing' threads on this forum, it certainly looks as though music journalism is stuck in its past, and does not reflect music fans current tastes. It can also be said that in in the late 70's bands like Yes were still selling just as many albums as they ever had (Going for the One, 1977, being their biggest selling album of the decade in the UK).
Punk had catered for a new market, that bands like Yes and Led Zeppelin did not reach, which was a good thing. I found, and still do find many of the things said by the punks about the music that pre-dated them rather infantile.
Like Barney, I do not like all of Led Zeppelin's writing, but to just dismiss 'Trampled Underfoot', which was a mainstay of Led Zeppelin performances until their end in 1980, as he does in the article, is like attending a news conference by the prime minister, and reporting that you do not like him much, so didn't bother with what he said.
Personally I did not like the style in which the article was written, but that is subjective, each to their own.
Posted on: 05 September 2010 by TomK
Thanks Jamie. You've saved me a few quid. I was going to buy that mag today, for the same reasons you did. I stopped reading music comics regularly many years ago when I felt too many articles were of the "Look how clever and condescending I am" type and generally contained little actually worth reading. Sounds like little has changed.
Posted on: 05 September 2010 by Mike Hughes
I think it's a jump from Classic Rock or Q to music journalists in general. To be blunt neither is where I would look for great music journalism. Mojo in the early 90s had some great stuff but is currently the staff of Sounds in disguise much as Uncut is the staff of Melody Maker in disguise. Word is generally a great read although the standard of column there has also fallen recently. Q always good for no more than a release schedule IMO. The rest are niche publications, at least in the rock world, and they attract writers either doing puff pieces or syndicated stuff like the Hoskyns piece.
FWIW Barney is well past his use by date and even the cutting edge of people like Simon Reynolds has been blunted recently. Kits a fallow period but it will turn again and great music journalism will always exist.
Mike
Posted on: 05 September 2010 by Guido Fawkes
Record Collector, although not as good as it was, has some decent reviews written by guys who like the bands they are reviewing.
It would be pointless asking me to review Collins, Sinatra, Knopfler or dire straits as the reader could predict what I'm going to say before I write - much better writers concentrate on artists they enjoy.
I would concern over comments by Paul Simonon; it was the done thing in 1977/8 to declare all music from pre-76 as worthless - I doubt Paul or John Graham Mellor really disliked Zep, but it was hip to say so. The Clash made some superb records too and could certainly play even if they were loathe to admit it at the time.
John Lydon claimed to loathe Zep, but recently asked Robert Plant for permission to cover some Zep songs.
Bring back Record Mirror
