Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Small tasty snacks dept.
Short takes on music that shouldn't be overlooked, though flying in under the radar:
Blues, blues, blues, and roots.
My short takes today -- three reviews I wrote all by myself with my own little pencil -- on Pinetop Perkins, Blues Guitar, Gino de la Fose & French Rockin' Boogie.
I'm dangling these so I can comment about why I wonder people don't just write such things on their own. Anybody, but anybody, believes they can write short reviews like these, and they most probably can -- although some I've read are much better than others (not necessarily included among mine here). I'm alarmed that outside of print magazines and newspapers with shrinking word limits that no one is. Not many places I am aware of in the paper world that are providing the freedom and space for "think" pieces, either.
This is the area of self-publishing that I had expected to bloom; individuals writing honestly and freely about music they like, the very music they pick themselves to write about or talk about, feeling in their hearts it is deserving of at least a small mention. With all the attending freedom to really say something. They can go long, if they want. But they seem to be avoiding this activity on their own blogs. I'm not sure why, there is not too much even in the way of short reviews. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt. There's so much of this everywhere else.
The short review is a great writing exercise for nearly any writer, as this really shows the writer there is no much thing as "objective" writing. The very act of writing is a constant process of selection. You choose what you want to say, and what you want to discard. There is an angel on one shoulder and an imp on the other, and they're both talking to you at once. Should I say this, should I say that. What shall I include, what shall I scratch out. One or the other wins out. The self-editing process. 100 words.
¶ 3/10/2004 10:42:00 AM
Short takes on music that shouldn't be overlooked, though flying in under the radar:
Blues, blues, blues, and roots.
My short takes today -- three reviews I wrote all by myself with my own little pencil -- on Pinetop Perkins, Blues Guitar, Gino de la Fose & French Rockin' Boogie.
I'm dangling these so I can comment about why I wonder people don't just write such things on their own. Anybody, but anybody, believes they can write short reviews like these, and they most probably can -- although some I've read are much better than others (not necessarily included among mine here). I'm alarmed that outside of print magazines and newspapers with shrinking word limits that no one is. Not many places I am aware of in the paper world that are providing the freedom and space for "think" pieces, either.
This is the area of self-publishing that I had expected to bloom; individuals writing honestly and freely about music they like, the very music they pick themselves to write about or talk about, feeling in their hearts it is deserving of at least a small mention. With all the attending freedom to really say something. They can go long, if they want. But they seem to be avoiding this activity on their own blogs. I'm not sure why, there is not too much even in the way of short reviews. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt. There's so much of this everywhere else.
The short review is a great writing exercise for nearly any writer, as this really shows the writer there is no much thing as "objective" writing. The very act of writing is a constant process of selection. You choose what you want to say, and what you want to discard. There is an angel on one shoulder and an imp on the other, and they're both talking to you at once. Should I say this, should I say that. What shall I include, what shall I scratch out. One or the other wins out. The self-editing process. 100 words.
¶ 3/10/2004 10:42:00 AM
