I’m generally very pleased to be alive in 2008. For example, just this morning I got an interview request from Time Out Beijing. Who knew. It appears to be a monthly publication rather than a weekly publication, but other than that, quite similar to Time Outs in other nations. Speaking of nations, this month has an article about GaydarNation coming to China; What Would Mao Zedong Do (WWMZD) about that?
Another reason I enjoy 2008 is that we’ve reached a point where journalistic criticism has been diluted (or, as some might argue, polluted) to a point where there cannot be a final word on an album, concert or artist in general; too many people have platforms on which to comment, she says as she blogs.
Composer/performer Nico Muhly posted one long paragraph on his blog last Friday that made my head explode a little, in a good way. An excerpt:
…I got a very mean review on Pitchfork
by Jayson Greene (whom I think had interviewed me before), which is too
bad, because it would have been nice to have a good one from them…What’s particularly unfortunate about that review, though, is that it
obsesses over other press coverage that I’ve gotten, of which, of
course, I am neither author nor source. I’m happy to be evaluated by
the notes, the rhythms, the sounds, and the textures but not by
something that’s been done to me, like my height or the way I spell my
name…Here, I am being called to task for the way the music relates to the
press materials, which I suppose is “fair” but not necessarily in what
we call good faith…
An artist gets a bad review for having too much press, and then comments on the points of criticism on his own blog. (((boom))). 2008, man.
Is an artist allowed (” “) to comment on his reviews? Sure. Artists (and family members/friends of artists) have written Letters to the Editors disagreeing with critics for years: artists/fans/family members having blogs just adds immediacy. Is a critic allowed to comment on the other press an artist has gotten? Apparently. It seems to me a bit like referencing ex boyfriends in your current relationship, but who am I to judge a writer’s…style.
What I’m more interested in here, though, is what defines The Journalist in 2008. Nico writes as well or better as/than most journalists, certainly knows as much about music, and majored in English at Columbia. Does his opinion on albums (if not on his own work) matter less, or differently, because journalism is not his profession of choice? His blog readership is a fraction of Pitchfork’s, certainly, but the hundreds of people who read it daily trust his voice and perspective, and he reports on that which he has experienced. Does this a journalist make? Or simply a tastemaker. Didn’t they used to be one and the same?
Whose opinion on art do you trust in your daily life? I’ve found that I trust distinct voices over publications or platforms. I know I will always hate the musicals Person X loves, and love the musicals Person Y hates. I write “Persons” X and Y rather than “Critics”, because so-called credentials aren’t especially relevant to me anymore, personally. Perhaps I’m in the minority, or, more likely, perhaps it’s split down the middle. “I will not buy Mothertongue because (A) Pitchfork told me not to (B) Jayson Greene told me not to (C) Nico Muhly has gotten too much press and I’m going to personally punish him by withholding my $9.99. Please circle (A) (B) or (C).” Is there even a (D)? “(D) I listened and decided for myself that I didn’t like it.”
I went to an interview-ish thing recently during which the interviewer kept telling me that publicity was about “influencing the influencers”. After listening to me digress for ten-odd minutes about who I thought said “influencers” were [SPOILER ALERT! They weren’t necessarily journalists], he raised his eyebrows and said, “My, you have quite the broad definition of what a publicist does.” I suppose I do. But then Jayson Green is an online official “influencer”, and his means of influence (a review) was influenced by print media official influencers, which was then picked up by a third, artist-reporter-blogger influencer. So you tell me what a publicist’s job in 2008 is.
Epilogue: A publicist has now commented on an artist’s criticism of a journalist’s criticism of his getting too much press. Doing my part in the circle of life. Nants ingonyama bagithi Baba!
