story by Chris Castaneda
Chicago Tribune rock critic Greg Kot has just suggested to me that I need to take more drugs. Well, at least he's not giving me the name of a good dealer. He's merely shocked that I haven't yet realized the supposed brilliance of My Bloody Valentine's hailed 1991 classic Loveless. There's nothing strange here. It's just one in a million conversations that go on between two people who love their music. Even if we both weren't rock critics, we would still be having this debate over an album released 15 years ago.
For Kot and his counterpart at the Chicago Sun-Times, Jim DeRogatis, music criticism is their lifeblood. They make their living standing in the back of clubs with their pens and notepads. They fish out albums from their dozens of mail bins that capture their interests as something other people should know about. They pick the brains of fresh faces on the music scene as well as seasoned veterans who have survived the rock and roll life to see past their 20s. They are the ones that Bono will hunt down by cell phone or Ryan Adams will bash over the course of a 2-minute rant left on the answering machine.
KOT'S INNER VIEW |
“We're living in a time when there's more writing ever about music. I think I've seen less good writing than ever about music at the same time.” |
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And, to the dismay of some, they actually get paid for what they do. It's all in a day's work for a rock critic.
Along with their decade-long stint at their respective newspapers, Kot and DeRogatis have been the hosts of the world's only rock ‘n' roll talk show known as “Sound Opinions”. After seven years with WXRT, the program left in November 2005 to make a new home at Chicago Public Radio-WBEZ. It was during their residency at WXRT that I came to know the two writers, my soon-to-be mentors.
Simply place any random column of theirs side by side and you'll see what complete opposites they are; Kot as the calm-minded writer who is as tactful as he is direct and DeRogatis as the lightning in the bottle — the disciple of Lester Bangs — longing to strike down the phonies in his path without hesitation. Their views are their own, but occasionally you can get them to agree on something.
Tackling the matter of the very field they work in brings out not only their differing professional perspectives, but also more of their personalities. "I think most of what I read sucks and very occasionally I'm surprised by something that's good," says DeRogatis with a laugh. "I think that's a disappointing state of affairs, and I couldn't name a goddamn thing for ya."
Journalism is only as good as the writers that bring the news to the people. Being original is equally as difficult as is serving up quality content. In the ever-expanding world of music, rock critics serve as the buffer between the industry and its consumers. "We're living in a time when there's more writing ever about music," says Kot. "I think I've seen less good writing than ever about music at the same time."
One example posed to Kot is Ryan Schreiber's successful music website Pitchfork, whose reputation has exploded in recent years as a forum where music fans and industry insiders go to discover the latest trends in music. Says Kot, "I think those guys [Pitchfork] do a great job of building their empire from basically the grassroots into something that's really a tastemaker, but I found most of the writing on that website very difficult to read and not very good. They've got so much stuff to write about and so many writers. In some ways, they might be better served by sort of narrowing their focus a little bit and focusing on a few writers that are really talented rather than spreading themselves so thin. I'm singling out Pitchfork only because they've done better than most."
According to DeRogatis, the tastemakers in music should watch the very thin line they walk between providing insight and providing flashy predictions. "Anybody who says where anything is going is an idiot," says DeRogatis. "Anybody who says they knew Nevermind was going to sell three million albums in three months, it's like ‘who are you fucking kidding?' Nobody knows. I think that when you think you do know, it's time to get out of the way because you're not paying attention to what's actually happening."
From Kot's viewpoint, "The distribution model has changed radically, not just for music itself but also for how we talk about music, how we discuss it as an art form, and how we critique it. All of that stuff is in flux right now."
The emergence of music journalism on the internet and the seemingly unstoppable growth of file-sharing could make some in print media nervous about trying to keep up. Some writers that are possibly not quite with the times would consider file-sharing as a blockade placed in their way from reaching the reader. Rather then reading a 500- or 5,000-word piece on an album, someone could just go online and download the album in minutes.
Both Kot and DeRogatis would disagree with the traditionalists who fear the change. "I think that's fantastic," says Kot about this ability to download albums. "The whole idea of democratizing the process is a real plus." DeRogatis isn't shaken either by technology that is here to stay: "I don't see how that's a bad thing,” he says of file-sharing and modern digital music transmission, “but I don't think it's a substitute for music journalism."
Three years ago, Kot described music journalism to me as "a noble, if frequently misunderstood profession that could always use a few more dedicated and conscientious souls." Where there are opinions, there are critics following right behind. That may never change. What can only get better are the writers who defend their words with great depth and passion.
Editor's Note: Chris Castaneda was a research assistant for Greg Kot's book Wilco: Learning How To Die and Jim DeRogatis' upcoming book Staring At Sound: The True Story Of Oklahoma's Fabulous Flaming Lips. He is also a moderator for the “Sound Opinions” website message board.
CI Special Report #004