as a younger music listener (enjoyer? lover? obsessive?) i have never paid much (any) mind to reviews when trying to find new music. i really despise assigning a numerical value to an album, maybe because i grew up with an established version of pitchfork, the rise of the needle drop, and guys on rym who rate each individual song and average the score to rate the album (what a detached, impersonal, data driven way to consume music).
like you said… “i only ever hate-read it to fill me with righteous indignation about how absolutely wrong they are almost all the time—except when they aren’t which is sometimes.” for me, that sometimes is few and far between (most recent example being the needle drop’s review of manning fireworks…. man i am so glad someone said what i was thinking).
the thing is, i also have grown to hate the algorithm. it was helpful for me in middle school— i liked nick cave, so i’d also like pj harvey— much of my early music discovery happened through spotify’s algorithm. the more music i’ve listened to, the more annoying i find their recommendations. most of it feels like watered down sloppy versions of genres and artists i love (i have been lamenting about the big thiefification of indie ever since the release of dragon new warm mountain, but maybe that’s less of an issue with the algorithm and more an issue of the type of music people are choosing to create and consume).
so what do i do to find music? i mainly look to friends, the favorite artists of the artists i love, labels i like, artists coming up together in the same scene (instagram is awesome), and college and independent radio (this one is heavily biased, as i am former college and current independent radio volunteer).
i think along the way i forgot the point of this comment. i think mainly to provide a different perspective on the role or importance of criticism in the now and the future. i have never felt like i needed criticism to “chart a path through the endless sea of music.” is it because i never grew up with any new music criticism that was being written by people like me, for me? very likely. but i think many people my age feel that way as well, and have figured out their own ways to navigate our infinite access to music that don’t include professional criticism at the forefront, or on their radar at all.
Yeah, I agree that in practice music criticism never did much to help me either, except to learn more facts about musicians. The critical part of it I never found helpful and much prefer the recommendations of friends.
This was a good read. I found it through your comment on Eric Harvey's death of Pitchfork piece ("Pitchfork and me" January 2024).
I don't listen to music on streaming services but didn't officially hate Spotify until they gave Joe Rogan $100 million dollars. Until then I was just happy they opened up touring markets for Shellac. They've pulled their music from Spotify since, and Steve Albini's dead. Apple has never been about anything except Apple.
I find new and new-to-me music "organically," but perhaps there never really was such a thing as organic, and certainly not in the curation age. I'm not sure I've ever been swayed by a review. They were always their own thing, enjoyed as a music lover way more than as a music buyer.
Thanks, Jim! I don’t think I’ve ever been swayed by music journalism either, and I have real love-hate thing for the self-aggrandizing tilt of a lot of music writing. But I do appreciate the recommendations of friends whose taste I respect—even and especially when it differs from my own!
The need to bundle songs into a marketable package led to the “album” which led to the idea of the band essentially putting out a mix tape of new songs every few years or whenever the money ran out.
Now you can just skip forever among singles, which is fun! But there was more to the album format than just stacking radio hits together.
I always admired Pink Floyd for making that Animals album into a radio success. A 17 minute lead single ranting against A&E execs (what else), then two 10 minute psychedelic political diatribes. Radio gold!!!
Or Synchronicity from The Police which was a monster album in the 80s full of radio formatted hits but also had a theme and coherence that pulled it all together.
as a younger music listener (enjoyer? lover? obsessive?) i have never paid much (any) mind to reviews when trying to find new music. i really despise assigning a numerical value to an album, maybe because i grew up with an established version of pitchfork, the rise of the needle drop, and guys on rym who rate each individual song and average the score to rate the album (what a detached, impersonal, data driven way to consume music).
like you said… “i only ever hate-read it to fill me with righteous indignation about how absolutely wrong they are almost all the time—except when they aren’t which is sometimes.” for me, that sometimes is few and far between (most recent example being the needle drop’s review of manning fireworks…. man i am so glad someone said what i was thinking).
the thing is, i also have grown to hate the algorithm. it was helpful for me in middle school— i liked nick cave, so i’d also like pj harvey— much of my early music discovery happened through spotify’s algorithm. the more music i’ve listened to, the more annoying i find their recommendations. most of it feels like watered down sloppy versions of genres and artists i love (i have been lamenting about the big thiefification of indie ever since the release of dragon new warm mountain, but maybe that’s less of an issue with the algorithm and more an issue of the type of music people are choosing to create and consume).
so what do i do to find music? i mainly look to friends, the favorite artists of the artists i love, labels i like, artists coming up together in the same scene (instagram is awesome), and college and independent radio (this one is heavily biased, as i am former college and current independent radio volunteer).
i think along the way i forgot the point of this comment. i think mainly to provide a different perspective on the role or importance of criticism in the now and the future. i have never felt like i needed criticism to “chart a path through the endless sea of music.” is it because i never grew up with any new music criticism that was being written by people like me, for me? very likely. but i think many people my age feel that way as well, and have figured out their own ways to navigate our infinite access to music that don’t include professional criticism at the forefront, or on their radar at all.
Yeah, I agree that in practice music criticism never did much to help me either, except to learn more facts about musicians. The critical part of it I never found helpful and much prefer the recommendations of friends.
This was a good read. I found it through your comment on Eric Harvey's death of Pitchfork piece ("Pitchfork and me" January 2024).
I don't listen to music on streaming services but didn't officially hate Spotify until they gave Joe Rogan $100 million dollars. Until then I was just happy they opened up touring markets for Shellac. They've pulled their music from Spotify since, and Steve Albini's dead. Apple has never been about anything except Apple.
I find new and new-to-me music "organically," but perhaps there never really was such a thing as organic, and certainly not in the curation age. I'm not sure I've ever been swayed by a review. They were always their own thing, enjoyed as a music lover way more than as a music buyer.
Thanks, Jim! I don’t think I’ve ever been swayed by music journalism either, and I have real love-hate thing for the self-aggrandizing tilt of a lot of music writing. But I do appreciate the recommendations of friends whose taste I respect—even and especially when it differs from my own!
The need to bundle songs into a marketable package led to the “album” which led to the idea of the band essentially putting out a mix tape of new songs every few years or whenever the money ran out.
Now you can just skip forever among singles, which is fun! But there was more to the album format than just stacking radio hits together.
I always admired Pink Floyd for making that Animals album into a radio success. A 17 minute lead single ranting against A&E execs (what else), then two 10 minute psychedelic political diatribes. Radio gold!!!
Or Synchronicity from The Police which was a monster album in the 80s full of radio formatted hits but also had a theme and coherence that pulled it all together.
Good points. I don’t feel much affinity for the album per se—though I know some folks really love that packaging