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MY FRIEND JAY SHERMAN-GODFREY WEIGHS IN ON THE MYSTIFICATION OF THE MUSICAL CRAFT BY NON-MUSICIAN CRITICS (IN A MUCH NICER WAY THAN I WOULD HAVE)


"Read the National Arts Journalism criticism pieces you linked with great interest. I especially enjoyed Christgau and SFJ (I like SFJ's print voice over his blog voice). It got me thinking.

"I wanted to expand on SFJ's Subject/Object analysis. He brushes on something at the end, in that the musician/critic has a greater interest in "longitudinal history" of music as opposed to the lay critic's here and now approach. I think this is an important distinction. In search of novelty and through a self-serving need to promote exclusivity, music critics on the whole overplay genre. Especially with the myriad sub- and sub-sub-genres exploding in rap and dance music. It's just silly, and the artificial divisions are bad for music. I think the musician/critic, especially one who has first-hand knowledge of a number of musical styles, has a better grasp of the underlying sameness of American popular music. I, for example, find it easy to hear Jimmie Rodgers and Louis Armstrong as musical kin, whereas many a layperson cannot get past the superficial stylistic differences. I practically divide the world into people who understand this and people who don't. The critics who SFJ refers to as "experts in hearing and understanding lateral connections," Christgau, et al, are of course tuned into this. It reminds me of an office- workmate who was crazy for Springsteen and Dylan, could make the leap to Guthrie (but would never actually listen to him) but not to Hank Williams or The Kingston Trio. Couldn't (wouldn't) hear it.

"Following on this, I would say that lay critics are more apt to feed the notion that powerful music must be all mystery and magic, somehow channeled rather than created, spawn of the Robert Johnson at the Crossroads myth (as handy as "country and blues had a baby"?). Isn't inspiration enough? A musician, or better yet a composer of music, knows from inspiration (and lack of it) and blood-sweat-and-tears craft (I was so heartened to see the phrase "musician craftsman" in SFJ's piece). Some of course play along, but most I know smile at the hyperbole. I like critics who bring it down to earth, and for me these are mostly musicians; Ian McDonald comes to mind as one of the best. But I can understand why a fan might want to keep the idols in the air."