Punters' Corner

[Des]

A thread for us non-professionals to talk about music on our own.

Hacks, DJs, musicians and promoters please stay away although I love you dearly.

Dessiex

[CantSleepClownsWillGetMe]

Hey Des,

Don't you play drums?? ;)

June

[Dayna]

Can extreme weather damage a CD? Like extreme cold or hot? It was about 17 today. This is probably a question for a professional. :-)

[Gordon Neill]

Des said:

Hacks, DJs, musicians and promoters please stay away although I love you dearly.

I suppose the Forum can, at times, feel like Pros.' Korner. But, given that they put up with drivel from the likes of me when they're trying to say something sensible, I feel that we should be tolerant of their ways. I'd rather keep my tongue in my cheek than stick it out.

Clowns objected:

Hey Des, Don't you play drums??

In fairness, I don't this counts as being a musician, just a hanger-on. :-)

[CantSleepClownsWillGetMe]

Gordon Neill chipped in with -

I'd rather keep my tongue in my cheek than stick it out

Really?

In fairness, sometimes it can be a little daunting to chip in or ask a question when, quite clearly, other people know a lot more about a subject than you do. In fact, in the majority of cases, it's often wiser to say nothing at all. Have you never been in that situation Gordon?

June

[Dayna]

I think it is nice to have a conversation amonst ourselves sometimes. It can be difficult at times. But then sometimes it's nice to have the knowlegde of the others too.

[Gordon Neill]

Clowns scolded:

It's often wiser to say nothing at all. Have you never been in that situation Gordon?

Yup! At least once every day of my life. Like a fool, I usually rush in and later wish that I'd just kept my trap shut. But I mean well. On the plus side, I am starting to slow down. I still shuffle in and say the wrong thing. But at least I think about it first. Bear with me. Another 20 years or so, and I won't say anything at all. In the meantime, I'm happy to share my ignorance with the experts. After all, they're quite happy to rush in...

Anyway, how much do you need to know to tell whether or not a pop song is any good? It either is or it isn't. Everything else is just accumulated rust.

[Des]

That Adam Blake's a bit dodgy innit.

[CantSleepClownsWillGetMe]

Yes, I agree. To me, the idea of reading someone's description of a CD has to be one of the strangest ones going. I mean how do you describe the feeling that a certain piece of music gives you. It's all very well comparing it with another piece of music (that you haven't heard before either), or to hear about the artist's life, influences and previous work, or about how technically brilliant it is, but none of those gives me the slightest clue as to whether it'll make me smile or not. Or whether I should fork out the dosh and buy it.

Sometimes I think Howard comes close to describing the feel of the music (occasionally in less than 100 words!) but, generally, it's the amount of enthusiasm I hear that gets me interested. Say when someone like Garth or Rod or whoever, expresses a liking for some of the things I like and I then follow up on their other suggestions in the same genre. Reading reviews can be a help, but for me it's usually the tone, rather than the content that sparks my interest.

It's always fascinated me how there's a natural flow between liking one type of music and then moving on to the next. For instance I loved Rachid Taha's 'Tekitoi', but did that send me off in search of other rai music? Nope. Egyptian strings was the next big hunt (say slowly), because their sound was so amazing on that album. Does it work the same way for everyone, or are reviews more important to most people? I'd be interested to hear what others have to say on this.

June

[Gordon Neill]

Yes, I know. Isn't there a saying along the lines of writing about music is like dancing about architecture (or was it constructing a building about dancing?)? The technical stuff in a review usually leaves me baffled or at best amused*, although a bit of context (cultural, historic, its place in the artist' canons) can be interesting and add meaning. But, like Clowns, it's usually the writer's enthusiasm that will inspire me to go and throw some money at a CD. And, in time, you get to learn whose enthusiasms to trust.

*Howard's 'bulbous polyrhythms' is a recent favourite that still has me waking up in the wee small hours and chuckling.

[Des]

Bulbous Polyrhythms are lovely birds found in the jungles of Sumatra. They are close relatives of the parrots and have a very insistent, rhythmic call. Sadly as their name suggests they are too fat to fly and therefore easy prey for mammalian predators. Oh I've just heard they are now extinct.

[Gordon Neill]

Des expertly pointed out that:

Bulbous Polyrhythms are lovely birds found in the jungles of Sumatra.....Oh I've just heard they are now extinct.

That is a shame. But presumably their songs are recorded and can be sampled for all eternity. So it doesn't really matter. And anyway there's plenty of other parrots.

[NormanD]

Post edited/deleted in the interest of shoes, clouds, and general piece of mind.

[Gordon Neill]

Yes, I wasn't sure about that 10.46 (or is it 11.46?) posting. I assume that it was some obscure joke. For the avoidance of any doubt, I wasn't having a go at Howard with my reference to 'bulbous polyrhythms'. Howard's enthusiasm invariably comes through in his reviews and invariably engages my interest. I'm still not sure what 'bulbous' polyrhythms' means, but I shall make it my mission to find out.

[That Was Jonathan E. Then]

Isn't there a saying along the lines of writing about music is like dancing about architecture (or was it constructing a building about dancing?)?

A quote that has been attributed to both Elvis Costello and Duke Ellington, I believe. Personally, I think it makes sense to dance about architecture in at least two of the possible interpretation of that phrase.

And I love reading reviews, although some more than others. When I was a "professional," maybe semi-professional would be a more accurate description considering some of my antics, I rather dreaded writing reviews for a long time because of my non-technical understanding of music. Once I figured out the formula (rewrite the press release and write portentous pronouncements on the future prospects for success of the artist in question — or take a lot of drugs and imitate Lester Bangs), it was a piece of cake for a year or two before I started gagging on the task. Of course, the standards for review writing are much higher in the UK than the US, and certainly among the pro forumnistas I see much more integrity in their writing — although occasionally I get a twinge of formula or genre-forwarding axe-grinding when there's an admission of difference between published and personal opinions.

Now that I'm an amateur once again (that's why I dare post in this topic!), I enjoy music much more than when I felt I had to have a coherent opinion about it.

But I'm open to offers. I'm broke! Spend too much money on CDs!!! Happiness is a double-edged sword in this case.