Thanks, Antony.
I, for one, have finally gotten over the early hurdles of Alex Ross' "The Rest Is Noise", Ross' declaration, statement, if you will, about what is good in 20th century music. Needless to say, while I do find the Beatles in the index, I do not find Hendrix, Crosby- Stills-Nash, or Electric Light Orchestra.
One might ask Ross, who died and made you king? But the same can be said for Harold Bloom and his "Western Canon" of literature.
Take it or leave it. I need to take it, and read it, as twentieth century serious music, Classical and now Jazz, is one of my passions.
Ross, 40, is the music critic of The New Yorker. He is the preeminent music critic in the US today, a mantle once held by Alan Rich. Mr. Ross was at times at The New York Times, The New Republic, The London Review of Books. He has been writing for the New Yorker since 1993 and joined the staff in 1996. Along with the book, he has a blog,
http://www.therestisnoise.com/. So, Alex knows his S@#T.
But, still....
Mr. Rich is an octogenarian, most recently (1992-2008) at L.A. Weekly, a free paper owned by the Village Voice. Rich held the critic's chair at different times at the New York Times, The New York Herald Tribune, Newsweek. Music critics all over the US are being tossed out by publishers. They are starting blogs. Mr. Rich's blog is
http://www.soiveheard.com. I spend so much time here because Alan is worth it. Also, I am on his distribution list. Long story. Even today, he is at some concert somewhere almost every night. His writing in his blog is sharp as a tack.
If anyone has any serious interest in serious music, I recommend both of these critics.
I must say to all who read this thread, I am gratified that it has not died. At first, I thought is was a gonner, not at all like the Weather thread I started. But, I see that there are minds out there, beyond computerland. We are, first, thinkers. Computers, after all, invent nothing, emulate everything. So, thanks for the posts, keep'em coming, don't be afraid to talk.
Maybe it's cooking, aliens, weaving, who cares? Express yourself. Geeze, I just related my whole religious quest.
>>RSM
New Jersey Weather: a nice dry chilly blanket, soon to be dampened.
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