rockcritics daily (phase 1)

ANOTHER ONE REFUSES TO BITE THE DUST

J.D. CONSIDINE WRITES:

This link is actually courtesy Jim Romenesko. Larry Nager, 50, is suing the Cincinnati Enquirer, claiming the paper fired him for (among other reasons) being old and male. The paper claims he was "not aggressive." Attentive music critics will likely recall that when the Washington Post tried (unsuccessfully) to push Richard Harrington out, there were also allegations that Harrington was deemed inadequate due to his age.

In a flash of astonishing irony, Jethro Tull's "Too Old to Rock and Roll, Too Young to Die" happened to be playing in the background as this was being typed.

OBIT

RPM mag founder Walter Grealis dies.

THE SOURCE OF THE SOURCE...

The Real History of The Source - Part One, from hiphopmusic.com.

"In her editor's note Kim Osorio proclaims that 'Eminem and his people wanted to stop the truth from reaching the public,' and assures the reader that 'our intentions have always been to present you, the reader, with the truth, and to give you the information you need to draw your own conclusion.'

"But all this righteous talk rings hollow, for numerous reasons. For one thing, The Source is lying to readers about its own history in every single issue, by listing Raymond 'Benzino' Scott as a co-founder of the magazine alongside David Mays...So I've taken some time to try and compile the real story of how The Source magazine got started..."

ZEN BABBLE

Boblog: The quiet and uninteresting life of...Bob Mould.

[Link courtesy of Marc Weisblott: "gosh, flash back 18 or so years and you can imagine a bunch of people falling over themselves to read this."]

BOOK ALERT: MUSIC & TECHNOLOGY

Playback: From The Victrola To Mp3, 100 Years Of Music, Machines, And Money.
By Mark Coleman.

"Suddenly, popular music resembles an alien landscape. The great common ground of 45s, LPs, and even compact discs is rapidly falling by the wayside to be replaced by binary bits of sound. In the 21st century, radical advances in music technology threaten to overshadow the music itself. Indeed, today the generations divide over how they listen to the music, not what kinds of music they enjoy."

[I'll keep my eye on this title...sounds intriguing. In-stores in February, available online now.]

ROBERT JOHNSON DEBUNKED IN NEW BOOK

Author dares to question Robert Johnson hype.

Bill Ellis in The Commercial Appeal interviews Elijah Wald, author of, "Escaping the Delta: Robert Johnson and the Invention of the Blues."

Sample: "I have this fantasy in which he went up to New York and played Spirituals to Swing. Then, like all the others who did it, he went on to Cafe Society and, having figured out what rich white New Yorkers like, pretty soon was singing 'Barbara Allen.' And along came the '60s and everybody was going around looking for real blues players, not fakes like Robert Johnson."

[Sounds like another version of that old standard, "If Robert Johnson Didn't Exist Rock Critics Would've Invented Him."]

[Link courtesy of Barbara Flaska.]

VOTE IN THE 2004 BLOGGIES...

The Fourth Annual Weblog Awards. Someone needs to do an all-music version of this?

[Thanks to James E. for the link.]

ANTHONY'S TOP 100 COUNTDOWN

On Anthony's Right Anthony Miccio counts down his 100 favourite albums of all-time. I fully expect (having some familiarity with his writing from both his blog and the I Love Music chat board) to applaud him now and again while simultaneously (or a sentence or two later) fighting back the urge to put the leg of my chair through the screen, but that's a good thing, no? Anyway, I like this review from his #99:

"'Why Can't I Touch It?' bounces about like Wire doing Television doing reggae for six minutes of gorgeous yearn while Shelley pines for the security of tangibility, something that life (and especially romance) will rarely provide."

SCARIEST HEADLINE OF '04?

Nick Hornby proves it's hip to be square.

By Geoff Dougherty in Metromix.com.

Sample: "'Classical songwriting has become a very minority taste, in a way that you wouldn't have been able to anticipate 10 years ago,' [Hornby] said. 'I think it happened with dance music, the sort of house phenomenon. Songwriting became less prized as a craft.'

"Hornby believes the kind of music he likes--Lucinda Williams, the Pernice Brothers, Rhett Miller--will eventually come back into the mainstream."

[Someone please warn--better yet, shoot--me if this does indeed happen.]

NUMBER ONE ALBUMS DISSECTED

As an offshoot of his Useful Noise blog, Keith Harris has a new as-yet-untitled page with an interesting premise: "Each week I choose two albums, one of which is the number one record in America and one of which isn't. Then I'll publish three compare & contrast mini-essays."

NEW BLOG ALERT

Mann's World is a fine new blog from Karen Mann. I enjoyed the entry on dancehall, in which she asks, "Is it wrong to enjoy a song even if you find the lyrics morally repugnant?"

(Karen's blog also has links to her recently published pieces on bloggers and on i-pod-like gadgets.)

NEW BOOKS PAGE

I've started a new book arm of the rockcritics empire--listings of new(ish) music books that I hope a) will grow quickly (it's very tiny right now), and b) will amount to something a little more than just me linking to amazon.com pages. The idea is to keep track of new titles as they come out, however obscure the publisher. Discussion of books and links to reviews will still take place here, at the daily; this is more like a Yellow Pages listing, if you will. Needless to say, if you have a new book or know of a recent good one, send me a link.

A QUICK ONE WHILE HE'S AWAY

Busy being lazy this week--more updates in the next day or two, promise. My inbox has links I've barely even looked at yet. And only 37 of them are "members" only.

MORE JANN...

Wenner investing $200,000 into Salon.

By David Carr in the New York Times. (Link courtesy of musicjournalist.com.)

FROM THE DESK OF RICKEY WRIGHT

Co-founder Jann Wenner to be inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; hilarity ensues.

STEAL THIS IDEA

To Patent: An alt-weekly rock critic action figure.

SHORT-TERM MEMORY LOSS

All right, the masses have spoken. Er, well, um, I've now received five e-mails (incl. one rather testy one--down boy) in the last week, bringing this piece by Evelyn McDonnell (Rock critics may have worn out their voices) to my attention. I actually linked to this a couple months ago when it ran in the Miami Herald (under the stunningly original headline, Almost Famous). But fine, I'll link it again in case you missed it. (What I said originally: "Same old complaints from the same old sources, basically.") (I've always wanted to sanctimoniously quote myself as an authority on a subject--any subject will do, really--so it's all good that I'm doing this. Thanks everyone!)

AIDIN VAZIRI'S GREATEST HITS: DISC ONE

I've linked to Aidin's stuff (posted on his blog) in the past--and just to alleviate your suspicion, no, we're not friends, and I'm not on his payroll--but after reading his Q&As with the rich, the famous, and the not-quite-there-yet, I feel small and hopeless (in a good way, of course!), and never ever want to feign interest in the presence of a musician again. Now excuse me while I go buy some stain remover. (Coffee stains, y'know.)

Tom Jones
Q: I didn't even know you were into hip-hop now.
A: It all depends on what mood I'm in. I always listen to Top 40 when I'm in L.A. because I want to know what's going on. So I might be singing with Nelly one day and singing with Norah Jones another.
Q: You can probably relate because your songs are all about sex and partying and big butts and everything.
A: You've got to sing stuff that people can associate with.

Leann Rimes
Q: Do you buy a dog every time you put a new record out?
A: No, but that's not a bad idea.

Robert Plant
Q: I heard you were on a break-beat-techno-folk kick lately.
A: Who told you that?
Q: I just made it up.

Jack Johnson
Q: Have you ever had a job?
A: Yeah, I've had a lot. My first job was washing dishes at the local pizza restaurant. That was in high school. And then for three years I was the director of this surf and kayak camp for little kids.
Q: Wait, let me rephrase that: Have you ever had a job where you had to wear shoes?
A: I never had a job where I had to wear shoes.

Burt Bacharach
Q: Ron [Isley] looks like he smells really good.
A: Smells good? He's really a good guy.
Q: Did he try to make you wear any leopard print robes?
A: Not really. We both wore sweats in the studio.

Ryan Adams
Q: From what I've heard, you like to celebrate your birthday every day.
A: From what you've heard I like to celebrate my birthday every day?
Q: I can't open a newspaper without reading about you falling down drunk in a bar.
A: You can't open a newspaper without reading about me falling down drunk in a bar?

Mandy Moore
Q: Can you hold your breath for a really long time?
A: No, that's something that scares me more than skydiving. It freaks me out.
Q: I don't mean underwater though. Like, if you're watching TV.
A: Is that on your list?
Q: I want to hold it for four hours.
A: Oh my gosh.

Peter Cincotti
Q: You've been such a good boy for the past 19 years. When are you going to lash out?
A: How do you know I haven't rebelled already?
Q: You're too nice.
A: So you believe everything you read?
Q: Sure, why not?

2003: THE YEAR IN HATE

Right, time to move on to 2004, and my apologies if someone out there has already done this, but I got to wondering today: which albums received the worst reviews in 2003? Up until a few years ago, such a question would be a nightmare to ponder, unless you were willing to spend a couple days in a damn good research library going through wrinkly old 'zines and micro-fiche indexes and what-not. Today, of course, thanks to the amazing metacritic site and system, we can at least get what seems like a fair enough answer to such mysteries.

To determine the Top 10 Least Liked Albums by Critics in 2003, I went into their Advanced Search page, sorted results from lowest to highest, and chose music a with release date from January 1, 2003, to December 31, 2003. Simple.

Here's how it looks. (The number bolded after each album is the "metascore"--the average review rating based on their system.)

1. Results May Vary by Limp Bizkit (2003) 33
Interscope

2. 14 Shades Of Grey by Staind (2003) 34
Elektra/Asylum

3. Life On Display by Puddle Of Mudd (2003) 36
Geffen

4. Liz Phair by Liz Phair (2003) 38
Capitol

5. Other People's Songs by Erasure (2003) 42
Mute

6. Birds Of Pray by Live (2003) 44
MCA

7. Amateur Night In The Big Top by Shaun William Ryder (2003) 45
Offworld Sounds

8. Blood In My Eye by Ja Rule (2003) 45
Def Jam

9. Faceless by Godsmack (2003) 46
Universal

10. Street Dreams by Fabolous (2003) 46
Elektra/Asylum

You could argue that this still doesn't determine an exact result--a more reasonable argument goes: there's no such thing--and there are followup questions for sure. Like, how many publications reviewed each of these albums, and how many of those publications are counted by metacritic? Still, it's probably the closest to a scientific answer we'll get. (For the record, I've only even heard #4.)

S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G

CashforCDs.com.

"We make it easy for you to sell your used CDs & used DVDs!"

I haven't looked at this really closely yet (yeah, I know--I start every fifth post that way), and no, I haven't morphed into the spokesman for Oliver's Jewellery (inside Toronto joke)...but here's a consumer service I don't mind bringing to your attention. The FAQ explains it well. They also have a very good links section to all sorts of stuff, from music blogs to music photography sites to online sheet music outlets.

(Perhaps the value of such a service for music reviewers is too obvious to mention...)

UM, SPEAKING OF DA CAPO...

Jeff Chang recounts his blog battle against the "Best Music Writing" series (and attempts to clarify his position) in the San Francisco Bay Guardian. [Should I be upset that he didn't enter the Super Quiz?!]

Return of the white noise supremacists: Truth, lies, Da Capo's Best Music Writing series, and the white man's burden.

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A WINNER...

Stanley Whyte, from Lasalle, Quebec, is the winner of the Super-Quiz--congratulations!

It was a tight race, decided by half a point, with Bob Dylan dividing the difference. Stanley's point total was 47 (out of a possible 60). The runner-up scored 46.5, having been docked a half point in the Pazz & Jop albums question: he correctly identified that it was Bob Dylan who topped the poll three times, but incorrectly listed Blood on the Tracks instead of Basement Tapes as one of the winning titles. Thanks to Bob, there was no need for a sudden-death wheelbarrow race.

Stanley will receive a complimentary copy of Da Capo's Best Music Writing 2004 book. Good job!

In his questionnaire, Stanley threw back some good questions of his own at me. I'll leave them for the minions to answer:

1) Name an album that Christgau has downgraded from an A+ to an A- or less. (There are plenty that go from A+ to A.)
2) Identify the book that starts with the line, "Bob Dylan broke his neck--close, but no cigar."
3) Name two songs that sample the voices of rock critics (actual samples of them talking).

No more prizes, but feel free to answer in the comments box below.

CORRECTION AND APOLOGY

In the last post, I asked, "Whither Penny Valentine." Stanley Whyte informs me of something I should've already known (and I'm really sorry I was too stupid to remember this): Penny Valentine died last year. There's an obit in the Guardian here by Richard Williams.

ANSWERS TO THE SUPER-CHALLENGE

694 readers participated in the rockcritics daily 2004 Super-Challenge, and all things considered, I'm relatively happy with the turnout. That's one less person than the number of critics that voted in last year's Pazz & Jop poll, but you're comparing 29 or 30 years of polling history at America's largest alternative weekly with 6 months in the life of a measly blog from Canada. So I can hardly complain. But I can lie--and in fact, I just did. Three people participated. And the truth is--you can believe me on this--I'm surprised, and more than a little grateful, that anyone at all took me up on the challenge. So a big thanks to all the participants.

The winner will be announced in the next day or two. I still have to go through their responses. At a cursory glance, it appears to be a very tight race.

In the meantime, the answers to the quiz are below. I'm posting them now partly in the hopes that if any other readers spot an error on my behalf (not an unlikely possibility; I was definitely lazy with at least two questions here) they can write and tell me so before I erroneously announce a winner. There are lives in the balance here, so I appreciate any input you can offer.

1) Who started a record review in Rolling Stone with the question, "What is this shit?" Which album was being reviewed?
Greil Marcus reviewing Bob Dylan's Self-Portrait.

2) True or False: the above sentence contributed to the firing of this writer by Jann Wenner.
True. Well, true according to Robert Draper's Rolling Stone Magazine (not an unreliable source as far as I know). On p. 168, Draper writes: "At about the same time, Jann fired Greil Marcus as well. Marcus had written a long and (considering the subject) unflattering critique of the new Bob Dylan record, Self-Portrait...
"At Jann's request, the two met to discuss how Marcus's role in the magazine could be redefined. By the end of the meeting, Greil Marcus was off the Straight Arrow payroll."

3) What is the most popular album ever produced by a rock critic?
Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A.. (Unless someone can tell me otherwise. There's no Billboard chart for this sort of thing, unfortunately.)

4) Of all the critics interviewed in the "exclusives" section of rockcritics.com, how many of them are from England?
The correct answer is 6: Geoff Barton, Simon Frith, Richard Williams, Everett True, Simon Reynolds, Barney Hoskyns.

5) Which rock critic (aside from Lester Bangs) is name-checked most often in Jim DeRogatis's Let it Blurt: The Life and Times of Lester Bangs?
A little contentious, perhaps, so everyone who answered this, correctly or not, is getting a point. I should have specified, "Which critic has the most index entries in Let it Blurt?" By this method, and by my count (and when an entry reads 29-33, I count that as five, not one), the correct answer is Christgau, with 34. But it's possible that Marsh or Meltzer or Marcus or Morthland (who all showed up in the answers) may actually have more mentions within those pages.

6) What was the last album Lester Bangs listened to?
Human League, Dare.

7) Name three albums that Robert Christgau upgraded to an A+ from an original grade of A or lower.
Some of the ones mentioned: The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, Let it Be (Replacements), Have Moicy!, Sign 'O' the Times, Maxinquaye, Another Green World, New York Dolls, Field Day (Marshall Crenshaw), It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.

8) Which college was Richard Meltzer booted out of?
Yale

9) Who was the founder of Bomp magazine?
Greg Shaw

10) What was the original title of Bomp magazine?
Who Put the Bomp? (I won't dock any marks for a missing question mark.)

11) Trouser Press was published in magazine format from [what year] to [what year]?
1974-1984.

12) Joe Carducci, author of Rock and the Pop Narcotic, was once employed at which record label:
e) SST

13) Which former Rolling Stone and Village Voice rock critic is now a regular columnist at Entertainment Weekly?
a) Ken Tucker

14) Who took over Lester Bangs's position as Managing Editor at Creem after he left in 1976?
Terrible work on my behalf--everyone will get their point. Without bothering to check, I assumed the answer was Susan Whitall (the idea of which I got from somewhere...Let it Blurt, maybe?). I should've verified this answer beforehand. My ever-reliable Creem source, Richard Riegel (who did not participate in the quiz), wrote in regards to this:

"I wanted to add my 2 cents (US) about item #14--I don't know if you mean it to be a 'trick' question, but it might come out that way depending on how the participants interpret 'managing editor.' That role was always nebulous at Creem in the early '70s because of their leftover hippie-commune vibe, but from the time I started writing for the mag in 1974 until Lester left for NYC in the summer of '76, he functioned as the record-reviews editor with me. This is not to say that Lester didn't assign nor influence the content of the balance of the magazine, but the reviews were always his primary beat, in my experience. John Morthland was probably the first specific "managing editor," as noted in his rc.com interview, and then Wayne Robins followed him in '75, etc. During the latter half of '76, when Lester took off, and turned over the reviews-editor slot to Billy Altman, the managing editor was this really esoteric guy named Bill Gubbins (not mentioned at all in Let It Blurt, I don't think)--I wasn't writing that much for Gubbins, but I recall him as he came down to one of the '76 World Series games in Cincinnati, and wanted to meet me for some reason, so we got together at a Tom Paxton (I think) show at Bogart's. Gubbins asked me if I was working on a novel (which I wasn't), and that was about it for my contact with him, as he left Creem a few months later--Susan Whitall became managing editor in '77, and held that post until she departed for the Detroit News in early '83. Billy Altman had some influence on the non-review content of the mag too, but not as much as Lester had had, as Billy wasn't on the scene in Birmingham--he handled his review editor's job from NYC the whole time. Anyway, I'm not sure if you're after Billy Altman's name as the answer to #14 (and I'm not trying to worm it out of you), but that "managing" tag may throw people off, depending on their knowledge of the internal Creem scene."

15) Identify the writer:
"I believe that we are all, openly or secretly, struggling against one or another kind of nihilism. I believe that body and spirit are not really separate, though it often seems that way. I believe that redemption is never impossible and always equivocal. But I guess that I just don't know."
Ellen Willis, in her Stranded review of the Velvet Underground.

16) Identify the writer:
"Little rock criticism is concerned with music, because most rock critics are less concerned with sound than sociology."
The correct answer is Dave Marsh. Quoted on p. 361 of the Draper book (and I'm pretty sure Carducci quotes him--and berates him for it--as well).

17) There is one use of the word "detumescence" in the Greil Marcus anthology, Stranded. By which writer, and in relation to which artist?
A ridiculous question, I know. The answer is Nick Tosches on p. 7: "I realize now that 'Honky Tonk Woman' was welcome detumescence for the sixties, and a surly, languid waking from the restless sleep of ideology."

18) Define "detumescence."
The answers I got here were all acceptable:
""Reduction or lessening of a swelling, especially the restoration of a swollen organ or part to normal size"
"(Note clever Cintra Wilson reference) Sexually speaking, the opposite of a massive swelling."
"Return of the penis to its flaccid state."

19) What song did Richard Meltzer describe as Herman's Hermits "most profound (and profane) work"?
"I'm Henry VIII, I Am"

20) Which of these books has the most mentions of John Denver:
c) Chuck Eddy, The Accidental Evolution of Rock 'n' Roll with two. (Runner-up is Any Old Way You Choose It with one.)

21) Which of these books has the most mentions of Catherine Deneuve:
e) Greil Marcus, Lipstick Traces, with two.

22) Name the five members of the New York "rock critic establishment" as defined by Robert Christgau in 1976.
Christgau, Landau, Marsh, John Rockwell, and Paul Nelson.

23) In America, an issue of Creem in the spring of 1980 would cost you:
d) $1.25

24) Nick Tosches has not written a biography of one of the following:
Not c) Hall & Oates, but d) Jim Morrison. Scroll halfway down this page for Dangerous Dances: The Authorized Hall & Oates Biography by Nick Tosches. I once held this book; it was lighter than the Bible, King James version.

25) The phrase "punk rock" first found its way into print in which magazine, by which writer, and in which year?
Dave Marsh, Creem, 1971. See here.

26) Neil Tennant of the Pet Shop Boys was once an editor at what music magazine?
Smash Hits

27) Two artists or groups have topped the Pazz & Jop album poll twice. Who are they?
The Clash (London Calling and Sandinista!) and Elvis Costello (This Years Model and Imperial Bedroom)...Outkast soon to join this prestigious grouping??

28) One artist or group has topped the Pazz & Jop album poll three times. Who is it? And with which albums?
Bob Dylan with The Basement Tapes, Time Out of Mind, and Love and Theft. (I notice at least one contestant listed Blood on the Tracks instead of The Basement Tapes.)

29) Which video has received more votes than any other video in Pazz & Jop history?
"Sledgehammer" by Peter Gabriel in 1986 with 87 votes. The following year, Squeeze put up a good battle by winning the poll with 12 votes for "Hourglass."

30) Two artists or groups have topped the Pazz & Jop singles poll twice. Who are they?
Prince ("When Doves Cry," "Sign 'o' the Times") and Missy Elliott ("Get Ur Freak On," "Work It").

31) True or False: J.D. Considine is Canadian.
False. Writes J.D. (not a participant): "I'm a landed immigrant here in Canada, but a U.S. citizen."

32) Which of these writers is not named either 'Nik' or 'Nick'?
c) Deborah Frost

33) Name two people who have written the "Letter From Britain" column in Creem?
The ones I know for sure: Simon Frith, Penny Valentine (wither Penny Valentine?), Ian MacDonald. I'll have to check on Nick Kent...anyone know?

34) Name two people who have written the "Eleganza" column in Creem?
The ones I know: Lisa Robinson, John Mendelsohn, Jaan Uhelszki.

35) How many books are there in Da Capo's "Best Music Writing" series?
Four

36) Name three Series Editors for the Da Capo "Best Music Writing" series.
Ben Schafer, Paul Bresnick (x 2), Douglas Wolk.

37) Who appeared on the cover of the first issue of Spin?
Madonna

38) Who appeared on the cover of the second issue of Spin?
Talking Heads

39) The following has been written about which rock critic on which CD box set: "If not the father of American rock criticism, at least its nephew!"
John Mendelssohn, I Caramba.

40) Identify the writer:
"[The Rolling Stones] existed only to go bang one time, and then disappear again. And if they have any sense of neatness, they'll get themselves killed in an air crash, three days before their thirtieth birthday."
Nik Cohn in Pop: From the Beginning.

Bonus Question: Name two reformed rock critics who, after discovering that Eric Clapton wasn't God after all, entered the priesthood.
Reverend Charles M. Young is NOT correct. The answers are Father Charley Crespo and Rev. Mark Stetz.

3 HOURS, 5 MINUTES, AND 23 SECONDS...

Before the rockcritics super-challenge (see below) officially closes. There will be no last-call at the bar with 15 minutes left to go, no Jimmy Page soliloquys to provide any cues...get those ballots in now, people!

NEW BLOG ALERT

the film critics blog

"watching the people who watch the movies."

A brand new blog started by Ted Cogswell. I'm flattered of course by the kind things he says about rockcritics daily, but honestly, I've been secretly hoping for a while now that someone would start a blog just like the one Ted has. I've linked to a fair bit of movie critic-related stuff both here and in rockcritics.com--and I'll still do so if the mood strikes--but it's great to see someone devote an entire site to that type of discussion. So please, visit Ted's blog, make suggestions, ply him with links, drinks, and any other festive goodies you can think of.

HIP-HOP HEADLINES

Daily Hip-Hop News: Hip-Hop's Most Memorable Stories for 2003 - Part 1

By Carl Cheri, in S.O.H.H.

FROM THE DESK OF STEVEN WARD

RETHINKING THE ALBUM

Here is New York Times culutral critic and "Reverberations" columnist John Rockwell on why he resigned as the paper's chief rock critic and why musicians may want to go back to making actual albums or something that resembles that important art form.

Reverberations: Beyond Singles and Concept Albums, Pop Yearns for a Long Form

[You will need to register with NY Times online to read this.]