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=> GENERAL DISCUSSION => Topic started by: joz on February 01, 2005, 04:47:00 pm
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who is this lady and how did she manage to score a job reviewing shows for the washington post? i just read the arcade fire and bright eyes show reviews and she's a downright terrible journalist. not to say that i have the talent to be writing for a paper...the post is a highly respected newspaper and i would expect the talent pool for writers in dc has to be better than most cities. what really irks me is that she probably gets guestlisted for these shows and to read her reviews you'd think she's never listened to any recorded material by the band. maybe she should do some research and write something a bit more insightful next time.
bright eyes and bright eye-openers (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50127-2005Jan30.html)
arcade fire (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52767-2005Jan31.html)
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Originally posted by joz:
who is this lady and how did she manage to score a job reviewing shows for the washington post? i just read the arcade fire and bright eyes show reviews and she's a downright terrible journalist. not to say that i have the talent to be writing for a paper...the post is a highly respected newspaper and i would expect the talent pool for writers in dc has to be better than most cities. what really irks me is that she probably gets guestlisted for these shows and to read her reviews you'd think she's never listened to any recorded material by the band. maybe she should do some research and write something a bit more insightful next time.
Don't feel so bad. Reviewing shows for the post isn't as glamorous a gig as you think. Mostly you wind up going to shows you'd rather not go to at venues you'd prefer never to visit.
My bud used to be in their little stable of show reviewers but finally got canned for pissing too many people off. He's better off for it.
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didnt she used to write for BigYawn?
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Originally posted by sonickteam2:
didnt she used to write for BigYawn?
sonick gets the prize...i knew someone wouldn't miss the opportunity to get a jab in on big yawn on this thread. sadly, i don't think she's even good enough to write for them.
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is that the "boobie prize" ?
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Joz sounds jealous.
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http://bosshog.pablonet.princeton.edu/pgd/former.html (http://bosshog.pablonet.princeton.edu/pgd/former.html)
http://www.tabletmag.com/85/music/85_music_reviews.shtml (http://www.tabletmag.com/85/music/85_music_reviews.shtml)
http://www.autumnshades.com/writing/albums/baltcp_akrauss_lonelyboth.html (http://www.autumnshades.com/writing/albums/baltcp_akrauss_lonelyboth.html)
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jealous? no. i'm just disappointed in the Post..don't they have editors over there? the articles tell me hardly anything about the shows, the bands, or anything of substance for that matter. better not to publish a show review at all than to publish that shite.
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Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
http://bosshog.pablonet.princeton.edu/pgd/former.html (http://bosshog.pablonet.princeton.edu/pgd/former.html)
http://www.tabletmag.com/85/music/85_music_reviews.shtml (http://www.tabletmag.com/85/music/85_music_reviews.shtml)
http://www.autumnshades.com/writing/albums/baltcp_akrauss_lonelyboth.html (http://www.autumnshades.com/writing/albums/baltcp_akrauss_lonelyboth.html)
congratulations, rhett! you've finally mastered the google search engine.
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What is lacking in this review? Seems to describe the show pretty well to me.
The 9:30 club stage seemed too small for the eight musicians of the Arcade Fire, whose Sunday night concert operated according to the formula that constant movement and shouting in unison create a powerful show. The group's music centered on the beats: Three simultaneous rhythm guitars drilled power chords that were accented by pounding drums and the yelping vocals of Win Butler and Regine Chassagne. Two violinists filled in the gaps, bringing out melodies in songs that were otherwise just percussive.
Most of the musicians rotated instruments like a holiday gift exchange, sometimes throwing a tambourine from person to person between songs. But not everyone played an instrument: During most songs, one or two members of the group would grab a pair of drumsticks and pound on anything in sight, even wearing motorcycle helmets for extra protection.
These energetic gimmicks won over the capacity audience more often than not: By the end of the set, the crowd was clapping along to the bouncy rhythm of "Rebellion (Lies)" and pounding fists in the air as "Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)" disintegrated into musical mayhem. Despite the energy and chaos, the songs weren't very memorable, and Butler's vocals were murky and often unintelligible.
The last song of the night, "In the Backseat," concluded with all eight members wandering through the downstairs audience, waving their instruments in the air, oooh-ing the song's final chorus in unison as they made their way upstairs and through the balcony crowd back to their dressing rooms.
The group's haphazard movements on stage were fascinating to watch, and it's a miracle there were no collisions all night. While its simplistic musical style and histrionic vocals had little substance, the Arcade Fire is certainly to be admired for its extreme and unwavering physicality.
Originally posted by joz:
jealous? no. i'm just disappointed in the Post..don't they have editors over there? the articles tell me hardly anything about the shows, the bands, or anything of substance for that matter. better not to publish a show review at all than to publish that shite.
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i agree with joz ... put me in coach! i can do it!
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were you even there, rhett?
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i am actually a friend of catherine's. she knows more music than i think you're giving her credit for.
i don't think she's the best writer around, but i don't think she's a terrible journalist. i also find no faults with her review of the arcade fire show (maybe because her thoughts echoed my own sentiments). i don't think you have to worship a band in order to write a review of their record or live show.
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Originally posted by joz:
were you even there, rhett?
The review seems Ok to me and Rhett, probably because we were not there....
How is it inaccurate?
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No, but I can get a good idea of what the show was like, given what was written. At least the writers observation of what the show was like.
Isn't the person who was NOT at the show the target audience of a concert review?
Originally posted by joz:
were you even there, rhett?
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rhett is right. reviews arent for people who were there...unless they were VERY drunk. i never read reviews of CDs i have or shows i went to. unless its from one of my friends, or one of you clowns.
actually, i dont read reviews of anything, ever really. i cant read english too good.
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From the Arcade Fire review I get the impression the band was incredibly active. I will say that it could have been written better.
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writing indie rock reviews for the post can't be the easiest gig. you get like 300 words -- max -- and then it probably gets cut from that. you write about bands that 98% of the people reading have no clue about, so you have to make it matter to them, so you have to waste some of your precious space explaining background and what might be obvious to us "in the know" folks. actually, i'm surprised she didn't mention how "funeral" was THE most critically acclaimed album of the year, but maybe it was cut or she knew she had limited space and left it out to talk more about the show.
i thought the arcade fire one was one of her better ones. bright eyes wasn't. but it didn't offend me at all. and i was a journalism major!
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Have you read the labels on your butt packs lately?
Please don't smoke when you're pregnant. You'll have a baby who looks and acts like me.
Originally posted by sonickteam2:
rhett is right. reviews arent for people who were there...unless they were VERY drunk. i never read reviews of CDs i have or shows i went to. unless its from one of my friends, or one of you clowns.
actually, i dont read reviews of anything, ever really. i cant read english too good.
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I dunno. She describes the music as simplistic and lacking in melody, the lyrics as murky and unintelligible...oh wait, that's 98% of all indie rock bands, isn't it?
Originally posted by econo:
From the Arcade Fire review I get the impression the band was incredibly active. I will say that it could have been written better.
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Yes, that was part of her review, but she also commented on band members handing out instruments to each other, using drum sticks on random objects, lots of percussive beats, power chords, etc. Doesn't sound so murky to me. With that, you could say that she comes close to contradicting herself.
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She said the VOCALS were murky.
With all that other crap going on sound wise, how could they have been anything other than murky?
Originally posted by econo:
Yes, that was part of her review, but she also commented on band members handing out instruments to each other, using drum sticks on random objects, lots of percussive beats, power chords, etc. Doesn't sound so murky to me. With that, you could say that she comes close to contradicting herself.
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i'm not saying that the arcade fire show was the best i'd ever seen either...i was really impressed by funeral and honestly expected more intensity at the show. conversely, although i wasn't at the bright eyes show, her review told me hardly anything about the headliner and focused almost entirely on the openers (which may or may not be deserved), yet there's no mention of final fantasy in the arcade fire review?
in the arcade fire review specifically, i was thrown by her comment regarding the lack of "melody"...i think AF songs are quite melodic. maybe the sound wasn't mixed right and the percussion was perhaps too overpowering at times, but to say that the violinists were "filling the gaps in otherwise percussive songs" is really off the mark.
regine's vocals were gorgeous on "in the backseat" and i thought the whole band's vocals (win included) were generally very controlled, especially during some of the quieter songs...it's like writing a pogues review and saying that shane mcgowan and kate o'riordan are "yelping" through the album.
i just got the impression from both of those reviews that she hadn't really listened to the albums.
and i appreciate that she probably has only a limited amount of space but isn't being able to clearly and concisely report the news (in 300 words or whatever) the mark of a good journalist?
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A review is just one person's opinion. You take it with a grain of salt. This ain't physics - there aren't objective laws that we can judge these things against.
Having said that, I *WAS* at the show and have seen Arcade Fire several times. A few things could be easily stated:
- yes, they are incredibly active on stage.
- yes, the group's music is centered on beats. The melody is primarily delivered through keyboards and strings.
- yes, they do exchange instruments frequently through the show. The violinists were the only people not to play at least three different instruments throughout the night.
- yes, Win's vocals were murky and unintelligible. Same thing with Regine's vox. I've had the same complaint everytime I've seen them.
Her main subjective statement is saying that she thought the songs weren't memorable. Hey - to each their own. I can tell you that the after the first time I saw the band, songs like Laika and Wake Up were indelibly stamped on my mind. Then again, I think stuff like The White Stripes are crap and I couldn't remember one of their songs to save my life.
So I think her review was for the most part accurate. But when a reviewer says something like "the music was lame", just forget that unless you know from previous history that you agree/disagree consistently with him/her.
I'm babbling, aren't I? :)
Off to Keane tonite! Five shows in five nights. Woo hoo!!
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Originally posted by joz:
regine's vocals were gorgeous on "in the backseat" and i thought the whole band's vocals (win included) were generally very controlled, especially during some of the quieter songs...
Haha! Right after I post that I agree that the vox were murky, someone else who was at the show posts that they disagree. So maybe it's not so empirical! I'm just a pacifist Canadian who wants us all to get along (and to have a nice beer while doing it).
Regine and Wil were audible during the quiet moments but otherwise I thought they were really hard to hear. I was up on the balcony and was getting the house speakers. Maybe you were closer to the stage and got more of the monitors? I was up against the stage last night in Philly and got all of Regine's monitors. Much better!!
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Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
I dunno. She describes the music as simplistic and lacking in melody, the lyrics as murky and unintelligible...oh wait, that's 98% of all indie rock bands, isn't it?
with a comment like that, maybe YOU should right for bigYawn, rhett
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Originally posted by snailhook:
i am actually a friend of catherine's. she knows more music than i think you're giving her credit for.
i don't think she's the best writer around, but i don't think she's a terrible journalist. i also find no faults with her review of the arcade fire show (maybe because her thoughts echoed my own sentiments). i don't think you have to worship a band in order to write a review of their record or live show.
Do us a favor and suggest that she lose the FUCKING Thesaurus next time...she attempts to sound smart and failed miserably.
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Originally posted by bbbsmith:
Do us a favor and suggest that she lose the FUCKING Thesaurus next time...she attempts to sound smart and failed miserably.
What "big words" did you not understand in the review? :roll:
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Originally posted by Rhett Miller:
http://www.tabletmag.com/85/music/85_music_reviews.shtml (http://www.tabletmag.com/85/music/85_music_reviews.shtml)
[/b]
This is a friend of mine's site.
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Originally posted by Random Citizen:
Originally posted by bbbsmith:
Do us a favor and suggest that she lose the FUCKING Thesaurus next time...she attempts to sound smart and failed miserably.
What "big words" did you not understand in the review? :roll: [/b]
Don't be an ass...you know what I mean.
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Come on now. I think the indie kids can handle polysyllabic words.
Originally posted by bbbsmith:
Originally posted by Random Citizen:
Originally posted by bbbsmith:
Do us a favor and suggest that she lose the FUCKING Thesaurus next time...she attempts to sound smart and failed miserably.
What "big words" did you not understand in the review? :roll: [/b]
Don't be an ass...you know what I mean. [/b]