I’m A Published Author Now!

Here in Vancouver we have a local newspaper called The Georgia Straight – your basic local motion type stuff and left-leaning editorials. Most importantly, there’s a Music section that includes reviews of music releases, local concerts and local artists. It also includes a section called “Payback” where people write in and generally complain about how pathetic the Music section is.

Well, several weeks ago I read an article that, quite simply, made me want to complain to someone – so I did. They decided to publish my (edited) complaint in this week’s issue. Since it is an edited version, I’ll let you read their version and then you can continue here to read my original complaint if you’re curious to see how they can cut 4 paragraphs down to a single one without losing any meaning.

*cough*

Their response really is quite funny though. And they’ve agreed to give me 4 CDs, not the two they have listed in the article. Those two were two of six that I indicated I’d like if my complaint were used. Sadly I had to pick from their top-50 list, so it is not entirely a free choice. Luckily some good disks were in there – and who am I to say no to free CDs and a t-shirt?

Without further ado, here’s my original submission:

From: Kirk Bridger
Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 7:26 PM
To: payback@straight.com
Subject: Payback Time – the curtain is lifted

The entire idea of living as a music journalist has always seemed to me to be foreign and subversive, yet alluring and mysterious. So it was with great relief that I read Alexander Varty’s Offbeat piece this week (Feb. 23 – Mar. 2) – Cohen’s Home Is Where The Music Is

Reading this piece of journalism really lifted the veil on how the Straight’s music section has brought so many years of superficial and lifeless music news and reviews to the Lower Mainland. In it we hear how Mr. Varty meticulously researches his pending reviews by “spin(ing the artist’s) latest effort a couple of times before picking up the phone.” Wow, now there’s some serious time and effort spent on figuring out how to approach the interview for this artist’s brand new CD. We also learn that he won’t be sitting down to actually listen to the CD with any kind of focus, possibly with earphones to catch the nuances. No, our intrepid researcher will actually listen to the CD while driving his car down the length of Vancouver Island. No distractions there, no sir.

Gone are the days I suppose where we can expect a music journalist to invest some of their precious day in actually putting a new release through its paces before rendering their intelligent and carefully weighed opinion to the masses. Now we have them driving through traffic listening to a CD in their car. I guess this explains why Mr. Varty proceeds to discuss the players on the CD rather than the CD itself – he may not have been able to catch the gist of the CD after “five times through without ever getting bored”. This isn’t Trivial Pursuit, Mr. Varty. Player information is all well and good – unless it constitutes the bulk of the article. There are maybe 5 sentences in the article about this CD – the rest is filled with feel-good moments about the players, the artist’s mom, and the next CD.

I wonder if Mr. Cohen hung up after his interview and said to himself “Now there was a guy who just didn’t get it.” Whatever the case, I thank the Music section, and Mr. Varty in particular, for exposing the ugly underbelly of a Music Journalist’s day-to-day life. One more profession I can cross off my list of things I wanted to try before I die.

Kirk Bridger

Now if I should be asked to choose a few CDs to review from the comfort of my own home (with earphones), I’d pick the following:

Belle and Sebastian – Life Pursuit
Richard Ashcroft – Keys to the World
INXS – Switch
Arctic Monkeys – Whatever People Say I am …
U2 – How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb
Kanye West – Late Registration