What is the function/purpose of rock criticism?
- Christgau: "Consumer Guide." Ironic or just honest? We tell people what they should and shouldn't buy. But is anyone listening when Pitchfork give Weezer a 0.4 rating? They still sold a lotta records.
- Morality -- evaluating "the good" because something moral is at stake. Is it my duty to explain why Cibo Matto is brilliant and that what they do is superior to Sum 41? And if I feel this so deeply, why can't I articulate why? What is morality, anyway? The old critical models (Adorno, and heading all the way back to Plato, I suppose) just don't seem to hold water anymore.
- Constituting the interpretive community (see Fish). This is what I have to keep coming back to for any contemporary definition AND evaluation of pop music. We make pop music meaningful in communities. The problem then is "What community? Whose community? How many communities?" Does the "goth community" evaluate Morrissey differently than the "britpop community?"
The more I think about this the more I think we need to recognize ONE "Pop World" that is very large and includes anybody who cares about this kind of music. We'll also be forced to admit that this world is made in large part by economic forces -- but so is anything you can buy and sell, including fine art and Bibles, right?
Still working on the problem of definition -- I want to define rock as something created when people get together and play, but the existence of recording is still tripping me up, because now musicians get together for the sole purpose of recording. You can make a record with 4 people who are never in the same room at one time and who never tour, but they can still sell that recording to thousands of people. So the modern definition of pop music can't really be based on performance, even though it comes from a tradition of performance. I think.
PS: NEW MIDGET SONG! I realize I am the only Midget fan in the world and this song is totally not as good as anything on Jukebox, but it is a NEW MIDGET SONG!
2 comments:
there is a band i like called the midget, but it is not these guys. although, they are fun, too.
i don't have time to read your writings on rocksthetics right now, but i am looking forward to reading them soon.
Yeah, this song really doesn't do them justice. "Invisible Balloon" is probably my favorite single from the entire 1990s, so if you get a chance, listen to that one. I think it's on their page as well.
Post a Comment