#128: Nonsense Or Nietzsche
Nonsense Or Nietzsche
I’m Todd L. Burns, and welcome to Music Journalism Insider, a newsletter about music journalism. I highlight some of the best stuff I hear, read, and watch every week; publish news about the industry; and interview writers, scholars, and editors about their work. My goal is to share knowledge, celebrate great work, and expand the idea of what music journalism is—and where it happens. Questions, comments, concerns? You can reach me anytime at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. And if you’re not already subscribed to the newsletter, you can do so at musicjournalisminsider.com.
Today in the newsletter: Interviews with Uncut editor Michael Bonner; Nigerian freelance writer Oris Aigbokhaevbolo; and Joel Heng Hartse, author of the new book Dancing about Architecture is a Reasonable Thing to Do. Plus! Noise pollution in India, Amazonian sound mysteries, and more! But first…
Amen
Source
Reading List
- Chris Feliciano Arnold writes movingly about the music of Sesame Street and parenting through the pandemic [h/t MusicREDEF]
- Simon Behrman assesses the political economy of classical music
- Naomi Smith and Anne-Marie Snider look at ASMR through an academic lens
- Koh Ewe examines the effect of the pandemic on the Singapore club scene
- Megan Mueller talks with music journalist Melissa Vincent about her beginnings at the University of Toronto
- Margaret Frainier explores what Rachmaninov’s legacy tells us about musicians under the Putin regime
- Freelancer Luke Winkie admits he’s bad at taxes
- Geoff Edgers sets sail on an outlaw country music cruise
- Simon Reynolds goes long on punk’s earliest days
- Apoorva Phutela profiles an Indian woman on a crusade against noise pollution [h/t This Week in Sound]
Q&A: Michael Bonner
Michael Bonner is the editor of Uncut, a UK-based monthly music magazine currently celebrating its 300th issue. Michael began as the magazine’s film editor when it launched in May 1997, eventually moving to features editor, and finally editor at the start of 2018. As he puts it, “I’m very proud of—and probably a little sentimental towards—Uncut, which has been my home for 25 years. I’m endlessly grateful that I’m still doing the job that I love.” In this excerpt from our interview, Michael explains where he sees music journalism headed.
In the last six or seven years, the market has recalibrated around specialist titles like Uncut and within that fairly rarified environment, I think print journalism is in pretty good health. I’m pleased Uncut continues to sell well and, along with other titles like Mojo, prove that there’s an appetite for and appreciation of intelligent and engaging music writing. It’s helped, too, that there’s just a lot of excellent music being made right now—which, I think, encourages people to want to read about it in magazines.
The growth in bookazines and one-shots like our Ultimate Music Guides and Specials have opened up the market for ultra-specialist titles. I think John Robinson’s recent, exemplary work on our Beatles Miscellany & Atlas, The Complete Bob Dylan and The Ultimate Companion to Ziggy Stardust bookazines have further proved that there are still new things to say, and imaginative ways of saying them, about our core artists.
But beyond print, there’s a more rapacious digital environment driven by a news agenda and Google rankings—and a sharper, harder language. That said, there is a lot of good music writing online—places like Aquarium Drunkard, say—so I think whatever happens, in whatever form, good writing about music, both old and new, will prevail.
Read the full interview with Michael here.
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Free Speech May Be Dead, But This Leor Bit Will Never Die
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Podcasts!
- Jayson Greene joins The Big Picture to talk film scores
- Punk In Translation: Latinx Origins traces the history of Latinx folks in punk
- Tim Smolko and Joanna Smolko chat about Atomic Tunes: The Cold War in American and British Popular Music on New Books In Music
- Jeff Weiss talks about the life and work of rapper Drakeo The Ruler on Bullseye with Jesse Thorn
- C Squared Music chats with Eleanor Goodman of Metal Hammer
Q&A: Oris Aigbokhaevbolo
Oris Aigbokhaevbolo is a freelance writer based in Lagos, Nigeria. He was previously the West African editor for Music in Africa, and is currently putting the finishing touches on a book that “gives an account of the evolution of Nigerian music and film over the past decade.” In this excerpt from our interview, Oris explains what’s changed about his work over the past few years.
Back when I had a day-to-day job as editor and writer for a music publication, I would write a song review the same day it was released. I don’t do that as much anymore. That has to be the major change. To report, I needed to be out and about, attending events and interviewing folks. That has also reduced. But maybe that is a Covid thing. Who knows? On the page, I think I am the same writer but maybe freer and not quite as forceful as I used to be. Some days, I think that isn’t a very good thing.
Where do you see music journalism headed?
I think reporting about the business and the artists is where it is at. The review form is not quite as popular, I think. Who is the Lester Bangs of today? You have more report-driven and less stylish writing about music. All the music you need is a click away. Some algorithm recommends stuff to you. Maybe Lester Bangs would be writing copy for a streaming platform if he was born in the 1980s or 1990s. It is just so hard to see stylish stuff about music these days. There are people like me who love stylishly written music reviews. I just don’t think I belong to the majority.
What would you like to see more of in music journalism right now?
More stylish writing. More stuff talking about the lyrics, whether they be nonsense or Nietzsche.
Read the full interview with Oris here.
Trivia Time
What Minneapolis folk fanzine, started in 1959, is often credited as a forerunner to the first rock magazines, such as Crawdaddy and Rolling Stone?
Stuff You Gotta Watch
Stuff You Gotta Watch celebrates music journalism in video form. This week’s column is by Aaron Gonsher.
The circling threat in Curupira, Creature of the Woods is rarely seen but reliably heard. Directed by Félix Blume and featuring members of the Tauary community in the Amazon rainforest, there’s no on-screen dialogue, just subtitled voice-overs sharing stories of encounters with the titular mythological creature, while villagers listen on headphones to recordings that may or may not contain clues to its existence.
Unseen characters seem to track the creature, though there’s no equivalent to the Patterson-Gimlin footage to further convince or debunk. We only hear stories of the Curupira’s sirenic power, causing men to get lost in the forest and never return. People share contradictory claims about her sonic signatures, appearance, and modus operandi. It may be short like a child, with backwards feet, a face like a monkey and screaming from their belly button, which is—shades of the Death Star’s exhaust port—also the precise place it must be shot in order to die. It could live inside a tree trunk, or might manifest as a bird or woodpecker, mimicking elements of their song and rhythm to lure people deeper into the jungle. There are beautiful, inhuman sounds—growls and thwacks, whispers and hoots, trees and wind and birds. But what do you need to see to believe, and when are your ears enough?
The focus is on people as they listen, some with furrowed brows and closed eyes of locked-in attention, others bored, and some occasionally scanning the treeline, stressed and anxious. One sings about “The Pearl of Brazil,” and wonders whether the creature is an agent of anti-deforestation, ensnaring those who seek to exploit the forest for their own gain. In the end, it’s something like a Francisco Lopez recording mixed with suspense thriller, a climate crisis morality tale of environmental protection.
Bits, Bobs
- Carnegie Hall has a timeline of African American music
- ArtsATL leader Scott Freeman talks about keeping the publication alive during the pandemic
- East African music aficionado Doug Paterson has passed away
Pivoting to Video
- The Punk Rock MBA charts the evolution of blast beats
- Rick Beato and Adam Neely talk about recent music controversies
- Trash Theory explains how Motörhead united punks and metalheads
- Volksgeist explores the impact of Yung Lean on hip-hop
- Loudwire has a collection of unexpectedly honest answers to interview questions
Normalize This, But For People That Send Out Weekly Newsletters
Source
Q&A: Joel Heng Hartse
Joel Heng Hartse is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia, where he teaches courses in academic writing, TESOL, and education. His academic work has appeared in a variety of journals, and he’s the former editor of the journal Discourse & Writing / Rédactologie and incoming president (2022-2024) of the Canadian Association for the Study of Discourse and Writing. His music criticism, meanwhile, has appeared in Image, Geez, and many more. His latest book is Dancing about Architecture is a Reasonable Thing to Do. In this excerpt from our interview, he explains what the book is all about.
Dancing about Architecture is a Reasonable Thing to Do is kind of a personal greatest hits for me—it’s my attempt to get at why writing about music is a worthwhile enterprise, and I’m throwing every tool I can at it: theories of aesthetics, rhetorical analysis, poetry, personal essays, interviews, travel writing even—almost all the pieces are things I wrote in other contexts over the last 20 years repurposed to make the central point that music criticism is a good thing—in fact, more than a good thing, but part of the mysterious meaning-making impulse that drives almost everything that makes us human. My hope is that readers will come away with a sense that a) certain things are all but impossible to write about, but b) we should try anyway, and that the trying is a vital, joyful task.
Read the full interview with Joel here.
A Cause Worth Supporting
From Joel Heng Hartse:
I recommend donating to causes that serve the people of North Korea, just because of the difficulties they’ve had to endure for so long. I personally have supported Christian Friends of Korea, which assists tuberculosis and hepatitis hospitals, and First Steps Health Society, which works on malnutrition.
Check out all of the causes highlighted by folks I’ve interviewed.
Academic Stuff
- New issues: The Musical Quarterly, Journal of the Society for American Music, SEM Student News, and Musicology Australia
- Create your own musicology paper title
- Research anthropologist Adrienne Kaeppler has passed away
- The #SexyMF30 Virtual Symposium, celebrating 30 years since the release of Prince’s Love Symbol album, will take place later this month
The Closing Credits
Thanks for reading! In case you’ve missed them, I’ve published a number of special features in the newsletter, including articles about music journalism history, what music journalism will be like in 2221, and much more. You can check out all of that here.
I also do a recurring column in the newsletter called Notes On Process. The premise is simple: I share a Google Doc with a music journalist where we go into depth on one of their pieces. It hopefully provides an insight into how music writers do their work. You can check out all editions of Notes On Process here.
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Trivia Time Answer
The Little Sandy Review released 30 issues before it shut down in 1965.
A Final Note
Thanks for reading! I make playlists from time to time. Check them out if you’re interested! And, full disclosure, my day job is at uDiscover Music, a branded content online magazine owned by Universal Music. This newsletter is not affiliated or sponsored in any way by Universal, and any links that relate to the work of my department will be clearly marked.
Feel free to reach out to me via email at music.journalism.insider@gmail.com. On Twitter, it’s @JournalismMusic. Until next time…