Monday, February 04, 2008
I'm always amused by critic's polls and the commentary they generate; they make for distracting water cooler conversation in a world bereft of water cooler conversation. (In my own slice of corporate America, I have been marching through the aisles of cubicles hoping for any post-Super Bowl chatter so I can raise my arms in a "touchdown" gesture and say, "Go Giants!"
Though the Village Voice music section ain't what it used to when Robert Christgau and Chuck Eddy ruled those pages with bravado, wit and a rigorous analytical depth, there were a few good articles in the wrap up of the
Village Voice 2007 Pazz & Jop critic's poll. Christopher R. Weingarten's main piece gave a better understanding of the unexpected (to me) album victory of LCD Soundsystem's "Sound of Silver." Weingarten's piece noted an unsatiated craving for authentic rock stars in the "Guitar Heroes III" era. It's not rock stars I crave, of course, just a couple of artists who can shred a Chuck Berry riff without embarassment or irony. Two think pieces featuring M.I.A.—one of which referred to her single "Paper Planes" as "dissertation-ready"—made me glad I don't have to grade said disserations.
The hit essay was Amy Linden's lament for Amy Winehouse, which represented the best tradition of Village Voice music writing: Linden has been an up close and personal eyewitness to drunken soul sister's artistic accomplishment and obsessive self-menace, and manages the difficult trick of striking the right tone between passionate engagement and critical detachment.
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Though the Village Voice music section ain't what it used to when Robert Christgau and Chuck Eddy ruled those pages with bravado, wit and a rigorous analytical depth, there were a few good articles in the wrap up of the
Village Voice 2007 Pazz & Jop critic's poll. Christopher R. Weingarten's main piece gave a better understanding of the unexpected (to me) album victory of LCD Soundsystem's "Sound of Silver." Weingarten's piece noted an unsatiated craving for authentic rock stars in the "Guitar Heroes III" era. It's not rock stars I crave, of course, just a couple of artists who can shred a Chuck Berry riff without embarassment or irony. Two think pieces featuring M.I.A.—one of which referred to her single "Paper Planes" as "dissertation-ready"—made me glad I don't have to grade said disserations.
The hit essay was Amy Linden's lament for Amy Winehouse, which represented the best tradition of Village Voice music writing: Linden has been an up close and personal eyewitness to drunken soul sister's artistic accomplishment and obsessive self-menace, and manages the difficult trick of striking the right tone between passionate engagement and critical detachment.
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