Robert christgau

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Among the most well-known [1] and influential music critics, [2] he began his career in the late s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop , riot grrrl , and the import of African popular music in the West. Hutton of the music world — when he talks, people listen. Christgau is best known for his terse, letter-graded capsule album reviews, composed in a concentrated, fragmented prose style featuring layered clauses , caustic wit, one-liner jokes , political digressions, and allusions ranging from common knowledge to the esoteric. At college, his musical interests turned to jazz , but he quickly returned to rock after moving back to New York. I am interested in those places where popular culture and avant-garde culture intersect. As a critic, I want to achieve a new understanding of culture in both its aesthetic and political aspects; as a journalist, I want to suggest whatever I figure out to an audience in an entertaining and provocative way. Christgau wrote short stories, before giving up fiction in to become a sportswriter , and later, a police reporter for the Newark Star-Ledger.

Robert christgau

Minstrelsy was a horrifically racist enterprise, founded upon white-from-black appropriation; it also stands as a launching pad for the entire tangled, rotten, potentially liberating history of American popular music, from the blues through rock and roll, hip-hop, and whatever other composite style comes next—for all of the pop music any of us have ever loved. Fun is a big part of why. That assessment is less true now than it was then, and this is at least partly a testament to how successfully Christgau has spread the gospel of fun ever since, not only in the pages of the Voice but in rock magazines, such as Rolling Stone and Creem , and general-interest outlets, such as Newsday and Esquire. Along with his fellow-pioneer rock critic Greil Marcus , at Rolling Stone , and Ellen Willis , at The New Yorker , Christgau developed a pop-with-politics aesthetic that, not unlike rock and roll itself, foregrounded freedom and democracy. At the time, there were more Beatles than there were mainstream popular music critics. Christgau soon abandoned narrative journalism, but that tightness of structure remained a notable strength of his writing. For critical models, he turned to essayists who were able to wrestle ideas big and small from all varieties of American popular culture. That was the end of his stint at Esquire. At once vernacular and highfalutin, each of his capsule reviews concludes with a letter grade—a cheeky touch, at least when he started—offering marks for what professors had assured us was a waste of our time. The grade was also a sincere effort to offer tips for record buyers on a budget: in the early days, Christgau even docked points for short running times and cheaply glued album covers. The bulk of these reviews have been gathered in three decade-focussed guidebooks, which are always indispensable, even as particular judgments—inevitably, at such a pace—may infuriate. The collections also reveal how his writing for the column became more specialized, if not downright esoteric, as it went. His reviews are crammed with cultural allusions, political asides, aesthetic assumptions, and pocket histories. Plus: jokes.

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Three live shows from Xgau Sez: February, Consumer Guide: February, Robert Christgau. Most Popular. Dean's List: The s. Dean's List: Lists on Lists on Lists. The 84 best albums of the past year or so. A Duller Bang.

Robert christgau

Minstrelsy was a horrifically racist enterprise, founded upon white-from-black appropriation; it also stands as a launching pad for the entire tangled, rotten, potentially liberating history of American popular music, from the blues through rock and roll, hip-hop, and whatever other composite style comes next—for all of the pop music any of us have ever loved. Fun is a big part of why. That assessment is less true now than it was then, and this is at least partly a testament to how successfully Christgau has spread the gospel of fun ever since, not only in the pages of the Voice but in rock magazines, such as Rolling Stone and Creem , and general-interest outlets, such as Newsday and Esquire. Along with his fellow-pioneer rock critic Greil Marcus , at Rolling Stone , and Ellen Willis , at The New Yorker , Christgau developed a pop-with-politics aesthetic that, not unlike rock and roll itself, foregrounded freedom and democracy. At the time, there were more Beatles than there were mainstream popular music critics. Christgau soon abandoned narrative journalism, but that tightness of structure remained a notable strength of his writing. For critical models, he turned to essayists who were able to wrestle ideas big and small from all varieties of American popular culture. That was the end of his stint at Esquire.

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He was a power pop Hall Of Famer. An album ballad, not worth resurrecting. Culture Desk. Retrieved on October 15, With Pauline Kael , Christgau is arguably one of the two most important American mass-culture critics of the second half of the 20th century. Nightaxians Video Podcast. Retrieved January 23, I don't like to be clueless, just sitting in my own bubble of like and dislikes, careless of what anyone else thinks. Those are fun and some were awesome, but their time on the pop charts came and went. Thank You 4 Your Service. Gabriel September Most fans would put this one much higher on the list. Fun song in concert; cheesier at home. Car Wheels on a Gravel Road. Posted September 29,

Among the most well-known [1] and influential music critics, [2] he began his career in the late s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became an early proponent of musical movements such as hip hop , riot grrrl , and the import of African popular music in the West. Hutton of the music world — when he talks, people listen. Christgau is best known for his terse, letter-graded capsule album reviews, composed in a concentrated, fragmented prose style featuring layered clauses , caustic wit, one-liner jokes , political digressions, and allusions ranging from common knowledge to the esoteric.

The big piano breaks are old-fashioned but not bad. Tags: vulture compendiums billy joel music madison square garden vulture lists vulture picks song rankings rankings vulture recommends More. American music journalist born Bob Dylan and the Band. Sign Out. Already a subscriber? The Million Song Dataset, when scrubbed for repeats and unreliable information, turns out to be about , songs, with none from before For other uses, see Christgau disambiguation. You just gotta dig it. RIP Eric Along with his fellow-pioneer rock critic Greil Marcus , at Rolling Stone , and Ellen Willis , at The New Yorker , Christgau developed a pop-with-politics aesthetic that, not unlike rock and roll itself, foregrounded freedom and democracy. I'm sure it was not my boyish good looks on the album covers.