"Prejudices against the subject have of course been rooted in conservative academic philosophy; if Allen Bloom can receive support for his assertion that rock is nothing more than 'nonstop, commercially pre-packaged masturbational fantasy' (Bloom 75), then how can those who think lyrics and music a vital field of critical examination expect a serious hearing?"
"They Don't Know About Us"
For those who insist on actually bringing some discussion of the music into their reviews of music, Robert T. Kelley has provided his
Guide to Critiquing a Performance: for use in Improving Your own Playing or Giving Commentary to Others
"Under monopoly all mass culture is identical, and the lines of its artificial framework begin to show through. The people at the top are no longer so interested in concealing monopoly; as its violence becomes more open, so its power grows. Movies and radio need no longer pretend to be art. The truth that they are just business is made into an ideology in order to justify the rubbish they deliberately produce. 121 "
An interesting, apparently anonymous
series of contemplations on culture, adorno as the main man and only critic, and the increasing "culture of barbarity".
Just a reminder you might think about reading through the archives when you have some time. There's some remarkable writing about writing about music that's already archived.
It's refreshing to get
back to basics
and decide how you should
talk about music
when
writing about music.
The reader benefits immensely if the writer describes how the music
sounds.