The Diamond and the Pen
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Artist:
[John Coltrane - Olé / 18:14]
If per chance you were to meet a stranger on a moonless night would you think much of his telling you: The moon does not shine, it merely reflects? Now picture yourself reading the following review by the same stranger: "Foals’ sonics dominate the senses. But they alone don’t make an open-and-shut case for Antidotes." While you would have looked askance at the former, you are most likely to want to ponder on the short sentences of the latter.
The difference between spoken and written words does not totally account for your attitude. You have consciously waived your suspicions at the word "review." And indeed for a critique to work, you need to suspend your mistrust as you would your disbelief when reading a novel. No other form of criticism requires such "pre-faith" than the popular review, especially that of popular music. Doesn't Lester Bangs say that the reader must be willing to trust him?
Of course citing Bangs is already admitting that (rock and its declinations) reviews have their own legitimacy. Professional critics are endorsed not only by their readers but also by those who employ them and publish their words. An artist's view (or commentary) on another artist's work is easily accepted as it is tradesmen speaking of their common trade, as it were. The only credit a popular reviewer has is what his reader is willing to offer: trust.
For his troth what does the reader gain? In most cases, he will get a fairly descriptive account as well as an evaluation of an album. After all, that is what we expect more or less from perusing such critiques.—Admittedly, the synonymy between the two terms may be well overstretched.—The word itself comes from the French "revue" i.e. re-examination. The prefix assumes that the reader is already aware of the work being discussed. Which is seldom the case.
So what is the use of an album review when the reader has yet to listen to the music? Well, the obvious never fails to comfort: to present an artist's work to its potential public. Therein lies the crux of the matter, for how do you transcribe a sound. Other popular art forms (cinema, theatre etc.) have a plot, a script, actions all of which can be overlapped by using words. But music is already a language of its own. If "music is thinking noise," how would you make noise into words?
Of course, songs offer an anchor for commentaries as they deal with the same medium. But what about instrumental music? Take this piece by John Coltrane for instance. It starts monaurally with Reggie Workman's bass opening the "tercio de varas." Then McCoy Tyner joins in with his piano as the drums of Elvin Jones kick in. Coltrane's soprano sax calls up Freddie Hubbard's trumpet for entering the "arena." George Lane awaits behind the doors which open on his flute at around 1'51". Lane and Hubbard are Coltrane's "bandelliros."Thus begins the first stage of Olé. (Art Davis will join in later into the theme). This lazy metaphor no matter how evocative cannot describe the intricate interplays within the opening sequence of "Olé."
Another way to describe "Olé" is to stress its musical kinship to bop jazz, its rhythmic pattern (3/4) and the burgeoning modal scheme in which Coltrane's band improvises. But that would be jargon from which I'm not sure even professional can hear anything but a cacophonous and verbose assemblage.
Sound doesn't abide words. The popular reviews are thus condemned to impressionistic metaphors. If lyrics provide a glimpse of the substance, the style and manner will always slip the reviewer by.—That is if they don't want to sound pretentious or worse jabberwocky.
So what is the use of popular reviews? What is the use of the pen if it cannot tell anything the diamond plays? To me they make up the agora of music, a Speaker’s Corner where opinions rather than evaluation are exchanged.—Notes and stars kill all possible discussions.
Spontaneous music commentaries are a sort of ghettoblaster of the aficionados: to take away with you and shout out your likes and dislikes in the most civilised manner for the world to hear. So thank you for putting up with this boombox of a review of reviews.
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