Comments on: Musings on Music Writing and Everett True

By: Drowned In Sound: RIP Music Journalism? at Andrew McMillen

Drowned In Sound: RIP Music Journalism? at Andrew McMillen — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 02:48:37 +0000

[...] was surprised when Everett asked me to contribute to this topic. True and I have butted heads in the past, following that Guardian column with which you’re surely familiar. I experienced [...]

By: A Conversation With Christie Eliezer, music journalist at Andrew McMillen

A Conversation With Christie Eliezer, music journalist at Andrew McMillen — Sun, 17 May 2009 03:55:53 +0000

[...] believes in being memorable, above all else, because “if you’re not memorable, then why the fuck are you writing about music?” Agree or [...]

By: Cam

Cam — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:09:01 +0000

ps: this shouldn’t be seen as me saying that writers should write nice things about every small band. i guess i’m just saying that if you’re not into it either a) don’t write about it or b) say what you think but try to give an even account of things. obviously if you’re being sent to review a show by the street press and you’re not into the local supports then you’re still going to have to write something about them. i just don’t see the point in being overly harsh when in all likelihood the band will have broken up within 9months anyway.

By: Andrew McMillen

Andrew McMillen — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:08:31 +0000

Thanks for the input, Cam.

You’re right about few bands being good right off the bat – The Go-Betweens barely knew how to play their instruments in the early years, but honed their craft to become sensational songwriters and musicians.

Like you say, early support is crucial, and I really enjoy writing positively about upcoming bands who I enjoy, knowing that my words will affect them on a personal level and encourage their ongoing development.

By: Cam

Cam — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 06:00:50 +0000

firstly i’d like to say that i enjoy reading your blog on occasion, it provides an interesting perspective and i can tell that you put a lot of thought into the things you write.

regarding being ‘critical’ when writing as a critic, personally i don’t have much of a stomach for it. it’s one thing to get stuck into an established band like powderfinger, but it’s another thing to have a go at a small band who are still trying to find out what they really sound like. in brisbane there’s enough forces conspiring to kill a young band without careless street press / blog writers putting the boot in – things like the apathy of the local audiences, difficulties with finding people to play with, the small number of venues to play at (it becomes REALLY boring REALLY quickly when you’re playing the same 4 or 5 venues over and over) do a good enough job of that, they don’t need my acidic writing to help.

personally, i find enjoyment from letting people know of bands / venues / events that would perhaps fly under their radar, and so that directs the focus of my writing and my blog. some people seem to think that i have some sort of ulterior motive (the ‘elitist indie hipster’ accusation gets thrown around a bit), but really all i’m doing is writing about acts that i really enjoy and that i want to see succeed to a greater extent. sometimes a nice review can be the difference between a band breaking up and it keeping together for a few more months, and that’s one thing that (in my opinion) brisbane needs – bands sticking around long enough to actually BECOME GOOD. very few bands are *good* straight off the bat, but if they can stick around long enough they can gain an insight into their own musicality that will help them to move beyond the pale imitations that most brisbane acts fall prey to (a good example of this being the recent musical shifts of tragic/athletic and their subsequent recognition from outside their small sphere of friends). to that end, whenever i offer criticism i hope that it’s constructive. i imagine that your goals may be somewhat similar.

By: Meg

Meg — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 01:59:41 +0000

I think the problem in Australian media culture is that there is no ROOM for criticism. If there were, if it were not considered an act of significance to say, ‘I disagree with the following:’ or, ‘This album was impossible to sit through, here’s why’ then people would a) have no capacity to exploit criticism as sensational and memorable, and b) actually review things honestly.

Like I said when this kind of discussion was going ape shit over on TOMB, baseless criticism shits me just as much as baseless praise. There should be motivating factors for everything you say in a review, otherwise it is just masquerading fiction.

By: Denis Semchenko

Denis Semchenko — Tue, 21 Oct 2008 08:07:10 +0000

Being a critic… I feel I have to give more bands shit like Everett True does. Spewing I missed the talk sesh, bet it was a good one.

By: This Devil's Workday

This Devil's Workday — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 05:04:17 +0000

Being a critic… well I think it’s far more valuable to be honest than memorable. If you write for yourself, and not an audience in particularl, then being honest is the best thing you can do. If you’re writing for an audience, even then, being overly critical and harsh for the sake of it is just annoying. I don’t understand why critics feel they have to “critisise” just because they’re “critics”. It’s more about reviewing, and explaining the enjoyment of the show to someone who was or wasn’t there. After all, even if a band plays relatively shit, it can still be enjoyable. Surely that’s so much more important to the purpose of music in the first place?

By: Sophie

Sophie — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:24:07 +0000

Nice post. I personally think the purpose of music reviews are to entertain – opinions on music are so subjective that unless you can track down a critic that has unfailingly similar tastes to you, it’s unwise to take them as gospel. Not that anyone with two brain cells to rub together would.
As ET wisely and infamously said, we don’t have a critical discourse in the music press. It’s difficult – we are a small city in a small country and of course the “scene” and the business associated with it is a bit of a mate’s club. Then again, as True said in his reply to this post “Why waste space on the negative?”.

Opinions are like arseholes etc etc…

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 00:06:26 +0000

I prefer to mentally refer to myself a (semi)-professional music appreciator. Sounds wanky, but I’ve disliked the negative connotations associated with music critic for a long time. I’ll reply at greater length later, I have to head to work now.