I wonder. Is my other blog an attempt to change my critical style, in response to the fact the entire blogosphere now seems to take a sociological approach to music criticism? (i.e. It's all about the interaction with the audience, specifically the individual writing the blog.) Or is my style of writing mutating because of the physical demands of blogging, and the way it almost forces you to link to other sites?
Either way, it's starting to look worryingly close to...no, don't be too concerned, not criticism viewing rock-as-art...but a consumer guide, what with the overload of hypertext.
i don't like hypertext. not much. subvert the medium. if you can find a way.
ReplyDeleteYour style of writing is changing/mutating. But then again I think it's been changing for a while. Proximity has an effect. There's also no wordlimit on a blog article.
ReplyDeleteThen again, the weather also has it's effects. The hypertext is a helpful touch though. :)
No, no, no, no, no, True: if I've said it once I've said it, um, once. The critic is defined by their relationship TO THE ART THEY ARE CRITIQUING, not by their relationship to their audience/readers. Are you falling into your own trap? Is that what it is?
ReplyDeleteThen again... I remember you once writing a cogent, unimprovable review of an album during the time it took for me to walk down the stairs from the MM office on the 26th floor, having dropped the CD off with you, to my desk in the Vox office on the 25th. Not much time to interact with the art there.
So, you're right. I'm wrong. Please visit my new blog, otherwise I won't exist. Or won't mean anything. Or something.
Cheers,
AB
I think that in an online environment where opinions are so diverse (potentially, at least) the need for rock criticism that exercises acute judgement is as necessary as it has ever been, perhaps more necessary. I would tend to look for a good, incisive critic, regardless of the medium.
ReplyDeleteIt's quite possible to create a blog that consists of music criticism, but doesn't interact with the audience: just post reviews, interviews etc - and disable comments.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, if we listen to Roland Barthes, even a post without comments is an interaction, because simply by the fact of being read, the text is implicitly being interrogated, discussed, criticised, rewritten. So in that case you have interaction whether you want it or not; the only way to avoid it is not to show it to anyone.
Batey vs Barthes: fiiiight!!!