THE MUSIC CRITICISM DIET
Go through any newspaper’s “top (X) albums of the year.” Count how many of them are hip-hop. Do not count Kanye West’s most recent album (it’s too obvious a selection). Then compare to the number of records to which the phrase “indie rock” could be applied. If there’s anything other than the occasional major act (after having looked through about a dozen fairly major and comprehensive lists so far, the only albums I’ve seen mentioned are Kanye and Jay-Z), eat a triple-caramel-fudge ice cream sundae for each album mentioned.
You will lose weight, I promise you.
You know what? Hip-hop critics don’t do the same in reverse. You don’t see a hip-hop critic do their top whatever albums of the year then throw on a Fall Out Boy album just to show that they really do listen to other genres of music. (This is not to accuse “regular” music critics of tokenism. Well, actually, come to think, it is.)
And given the output of 2007 – which featured outstanding new albums from Common, M.i.A., Ghostface Killah, Ozomatli, and Underground Kingz in addition to the aforementioned Kanye and Jay-Z discs – it’s either shortsighted or just stupid. I don’t even listen to that much hip-hop, but I was at least aware of the existence and significance of these albums, and nobody’s paying me to talk about music.
(Which is probably for the best, considering that I’d waste valuable common inches on how awesome a song “Thunderstruck” is. Every week. I mean it.)
In summary: hipsters now ruining music criticism, just as they manage to ruin everything else. DAMN YOU, HIPSTERS.
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7 users responded in this post
Hey man, any hipster worth their salt loves Common and M.I.A. It’s the fake hipsters employed by major media corporations that don’t. The people who are simultaneously music snobs, but also really really want you to know that they are so super cool and HERE ARE THE COOL BANDS THAT I KNOW YOU WILL KNOW ARE COOL SO LOOK HOW COOL I AM.
Magazines and newspapers are awesome. I read more than one daily. But their art, literature and music critiques? Often, although certainly not always, leave something to be desired.
I don’t pretend to appreciate hip-hop; I don’t try to denigrate it either. I’m an artistic relativist who can only rate music by how much I enjoy it.
It is true that newspapers can give the impression that alt rock and hip-hop collectively encompass the entire popular music scene, but maybe I’m just used to bias in music reviewing, coming from a largely classical background until this year. Gramophone would have you believe that most of the best music written after WWI is British, specifically English.
I hated hipsters before it was cool.
Na na Naaaaahhhh naaaah naaaaah nah.
THUNDAH!!
To be fair, the Ghostface album came out Dec 4, and most of the media people probably already had their lists made by then. It’s also a terrible album, especially compared the the one-two punch of Fishscale/More Fish in 2006.
I don’t even read the newspaper anymore, because it is a LIAR about most things in my life. I got a free subscription to “Blender” magazine, and they seem to have reviewed a LOT of different stuff; in their “Top 100 ‘Top’ Things in 2007” type article, Kala was named the number one album of the year. I also distinctly remember Ghostface Killah and Ozomatli being mentioned at least 3 times in the past few months.
I wouldn’t call myself a “hipster”, as a nerd and all. For example: I don’t trust anyone who declares that they loved the “Umbrella” song. It stuck in my head, but I think it’s annoying as hell. Also, I didn’t download all the music I wanted to put on my last generation non-iPod MP3 player because I’ve been busy studying and not getting paid. Fuggin’ medical clinicals…