Devin King finds out from a musician what makes a good music review.

'There's a seedy side to this music-writing business (and I'm not talking about my guest vocals on the new Fischerspooner album -- or the champagne room that led up to them). I'm talking about reading what other writers have said about the artists you've been assigned. I have to come clean: We fragile, objective reviewers are constantly digging through press materials, blogs and message boards, wrapping ourselves in recycled information as it reassuringly whispers, "Here's something pertinent about their history as a band, here are their various influences, here's an outlandish metaphor that you should try really hard to forget, lest you accidentally use it." Well, maybe it doesn't happen quite like that. After all, most of the time, music writers are so caught up in their own personal histories and ideas that it's hard to consciously rip something off. At bottom they're just giving opinions -- and those are easy to come up with.'  ¶ 4/20/2005 07:03:00 PM