an attempt at focus and regularity

In the past year or so I've come to really enjoy and respect the New York Times movie critics and their opinions on movies. While I may not always agree, I find myself thoroughly engaged by their analyses of movies and also feel the opinions expressed are well-informed and articulate. Further, the reviews tend to be rather exhaustive, covering most of the major movies coming out each week, along with many films that are not the big studio productions. I admit I do not read the Times movie reviews as frequently as I should but I still find the reviews compelling and always worth reading.

I also must admit that the reviews in the Times (or more precisely, on the Times' website) are what inspired this blog in many ways. Seeing the skillful writing of individuals like A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis, writing that is thorough yet at the same time light and easily comprehended, in a way lit a bit of a fire inside me to achieve a similar result when it comes to opining about music. Obviously I have a long way to go and I'm sure lack the educational background, training and experience of these individuals blessed to have jobs I imagine are quite enjoyable in many ways. But how great would it be to be the A.O. Scott of music for the New York Times?

Unfortunately, I consistently find myself disappointed with the music reviews that appear in the Music section of the Times. One might expect a similar level of sophistication, thoroughness and well-rounded coverage from a section so close to that of the Movies. Instead, my frequent visits to this section of the website often yield a disappointingly low number of articles of interest.

I'm sure this is in part due to the nature of the music industry...the increased output on a weekly basis and variety of styles of music compared to movies. Further, one can argue that music is a bit more subjective and open to intrepration than film [I'm sure some will dispute this claim...and I can see why]. A part of me wants to criticize the Times for focusing too much on the more classical aspect of music (opera, classical music, even jazz) than more mainstream tastes...but I have come across my fair share of articles devoted to hip-hop, pop, et al.

Either way, it's disappointing that each week I find a "Critics' Choice" article for the week's new albums, with a handful of albums summarized in a manner that seems more curt than the film reviews...when it's quite possible that a review of an album should be equal in length, if not justifiably longer.

The point of this post is to acknowledge my feelings regarding a source that seems so venerable when it comes to movies that one might expect more from its music selection [altho I must also credit the Times for what I think are quite strong reviews of live performances]. More importantly, the thoughts expressed here have again rekindled that flame a bit and also provided me with an idea on achieving a more focused effort: the new goal is to post a review of an album every Tuesday [at least until I get all caught up...hopefully I'll be able to come across new music regularly and be able to keep the run going for some time]. Tuesday is the day of choice based on the fact that it is the day of the week that albums are normally released...so look for something later "today."