What led you to start reviewing music?
Around this time last year, I went to see Ed Sheeran in concert. At the time, I had just been getting into watching music reviews, thanks largely to Mr. Anthony Fantano, who probably inspired a bunch of us album reviewers. Before the concert, my good friend that I went with gifted me Ed’s latest album “÷,” since the concert was mere days after my birthday. A few days later (this day last year), I listened to the album in its entirety, and I wrote down some minor notes on it, basically in my current format but far less detailed. After writing my notes, I thought it would be fun to possibly post them to my Facebook in the style of a review. Eventually, it just kinda stuck as more albums started to release and my curiosity became more and more piqued. The idea to move my reviews to this blog was to try to branch out and allow more than just my Facebook friends to read them.
Are you a musician yourself?
I am! As of the time of this writing, I have been playing the drums for 10 years. It’s not a main focus of mine, because that’s not my career path, but it’s always something to have, and it’s a really enjoyable activity. I have a little piano experience as well, nothing too big but just a little bit. In regards to singing…uhh, my Mom tells me I’m good but I think that’s what she's supposed to do. I feel like I don’t have the greatest voice in the world or anything like that, but I can at the very least hold a note and sing in key, so at least I’ve got that.
How do you choose which albums to review?
Well, obviously, there has to be a desire for me to review them. I don’t often go out of my way to review albums from artists I don’t like or don’t listen to unless the albums receive some kind of critical acclaim, huge chart success, or larger viral discussion. My own personal desire to listen to them comes first and foremost, though sometimes I’ll disregard that if I feel like an album is going to be talked about by many, and I want to understand what the buzz is (in some cases, very negative reviews from other critics might even make me want to review something just out of bile fascination). And, of course, if someone requests an album, I’ll try to look at that as well if time permits it.
Do you set aside time to focus and listen to the album, or do you do things while listening?
Most of the time, I set aside time to focus and listen. There have been a few times where I would do things like, say, play video games while listening to an album, thus allowing me to judge how the album is as a comfort listen, but I’ve stopped doing that. Big reason being, I tend to type out my thoughts on a song as I’m listening to it. While I’m digesting it, I like to type out exactly what I’m thinking exactly as it’s happening. That way, I get my thoughts out while they’re still in my head, but also so that I don’t have to listen to a song, pause, type out my thoughts, and THEN play the next song.
How many times do you listen to an album before you review it?
Controversially…just once. If I had more time, I’d listen to an album more than once before I review it, but most of the time, it’s just once. Usually, if my thoughts on something change very heavily, I’ll edit my review to point that out (and I’ll leave a disclaimer in the review so that people know that my thoughts have changed), but my reviews are always written after a single listen. Generally, outside of maybe interludes and short tracks, I think I can get the point of what a song is trying to do and whether or not I enjoy it off of one listen.
Why do you prefer to review music subjectively as opposed to objectively?
The beautiful thing about music is that it’s pretty much entirely subjective. Something that sounds great to me might not sound great to someone else, and some aspects of a song that others may find abhorrent or annoying might actually be charming and fun to me.
For me personally, there's also a difference between reviewing music as opposed to reviewing, say, a film or a video game: with a film or a video game, the good and bad elements are more set in stone than they are in a song. For example, I can definitively say if a film's writing is subpar or if a game has bad controls because that's tangible and visual; I can clearly tell if a film's writing is weak or if a game's controls are bad simply by watching or experiencing it. Whereas, with music, as I said earlier, a groovy bassline or a dreamy synth to me might be a generic bassline or an overbearing synth to someone else.
I’m more subjective with my reviews because, at the end of the day, I review albums to see if they have music that I will enjoy. I don’t write my reviews to conform to what others are saying or to tell you guys the things you want to hear, I write them because I like to listen to music and I like to tell you guys if I PERSONALLY found the music to be enjoyable.
What made you choose to review pop/rap/R&B/“radio” music instead of alternative/underground music?
Just happens to be the music that I’m into. Not that I’m totally against underground or alternative music, but a lot of times, pop/rap/R&B or "radio music," as some call it, just happens to be the kind of stuff that I look forward to listening to and reviewing. That, and a lot of times, I like to listen to what charts to see if I can ascertain the appeal of it, and figure out why it could be charting so high. Again, though, I’m not opposed to reviewing more underground music, I just happen to mostly look forward to the stuff that charts.
Have you ever regretted any of your reviews?
No, not really. Generally speaking, I go into my reviews with an “I regret nothing” kind of mindset because what do I have to gain by writing a dishonest opinion on an album? I feel like I do have some reviews that people would conceivably hound me for if I had a larger following (giving U2’s “Songs of Experience” an “Excellent?” The Weeknd’s “House of Balloons” and “Kiss Land” “Okay” ratings? Remember those?), but if I like an album, I’ll tell you I like it, and if I don’t, I’ll tell you that, too.
If anything, I wish I had given that Wendy’s “We Beefin?” EP an actual rating and not “FRESH, NEVER FROZEN.” I probably would’ve given it a “Good” if I wasn’t giving in to the meme.
Would you be interested in becoming an official music critic someday?
Honestly, probably not. Personally, I already get enough anxiety writing reviews as I do now on an underground blog that doesn’t get a whole lot of views, I feel like writing for a major publication would only raise my anxiety for several reasons: I might have to change my style (since it’s a bit unconventional for a review), I might have to change my rating system and conform to a 1-5 or 1-10 scale, I’d have to listen to even more albums than I do now, and, where my reviews now are written after a first listen, I’d probably have to give albums even more listens before writing a review for a major publication, and while I’m not opposed to re-listening to albums, I feel like forcing myself to do so would be slightly maddening. In all honesty, if I were a music critic for a major publication, I’d probably end up hating the medium entirely, quit my job at said publication, and lock myself in some desolate location where I’d never have to hear a single note of music ever again.
Okay, maybe that’s a bit dramatic, and I'd probably just ask to write different kinds of articles, but you get the idea.
Have you ever thought about making your own music?
In some cases, I have, but I’ve always been held back by something. Personally, I’ve wanted to be a cover artist, but I don’t really have enough confidence in my vocals to try something like that, and while I’d love to be a drummer for a band/artist of some kind, I’ve never figured out what genre I would want to try out. I love playing music and I would definitely enjoy trying something like that, but I haven’t put a ton of legitimate, critical thought into how I would go about it.
Yeah, that’s all the questions I received. I know it wasn’t all that much, but something’s better than nothing. In any case, thank you to everyone that’s supported my reviews over the last year! I really appreciate it, and here’s to several more years of reviews! Oh, and if you have other questions about my reviews that went unanswered, you can just comment them below!
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