5,000 Record reviews at your fingertips...

"Reviews" that only state that something is "brilliant" or words to that effect without saying why are utterly meaningless. I won't be wasting any more words over this other than that I totally agree with Parkertown and Signothetimes53.

[edited to correct a spelling error]

 

I agree there is a healthy Chicago scene - but it's tiny - that is the nature of the beast - and honestly not that innovative - but we may differ on this.

 

He he I was wandering when you'll be here....

 

Wow what is going on here? Why is everybody blasting this? You can feel the animosity.

 

It is refreshing to be reminded that the US isn't all too relevant.

 

So what have you actually heard?

I don't agree that it is tiny but any titles will do that you've listened to or reviewed.

 

What's going on?

5,000 reviews, and a sampling of them demonstrates some (perhaps many) are shallow and ill-informed, and he's being questioned about them.

Add a dose of lack of humility to an ill-informed review, i.e., "When I call something a classic, it's a classic", and it's not a winning combination to win universal plaudits.

Have you read Jazzis' own biography?

http://www.adambaruch.com/biography.asp

 

Yes it was written by him.

 

This is so typical... it's actually funny

Do you have a nicer biography to show us?

There are talkers and there are doers... and there are those who envy the doers...

 

There are also self-promoters, my friend, who promote beyond the value of that which they promote.

If folks think Jazzis' reviews comprise "The World's Finest and Most Eclectic Collection of Record Reviews", they are absolutely entitled to their opinions.

 

Indeed they are...

Please show me another body of reviews written by one person which presents such a comprehensive picture of ambitious recorded music from all over the world?

 

How about Nat Hentoff? Or are you better than him also?

 

http://robertchristgau.com/

 

If you're the only such person, as you seem to be implying, you possess both the Finest and The Worst set of reviews, all at once.

I'm reminded of the old canard about Kerouac's "On The Road": "That's not writing, that's typing." That book eventually was acknowledged to be a unique new novel/writing form. One can only hope that your writings will equally come to be recognized as quality writing, and not merely quantitative typing.

And yes, I think Hentoff and Christgau have a more impressive body of work than you do. Sorry, though that's just my opinion.

 

I never said I was better than anybody - that's a blunt lie.

Nat is a great Jazz critic and historian, but he does not have a site with record reviews, or does he?

Christgau also a legendary critic - again you are missing the point.

My site is not competing with anybody - it's a resource - use it if you like it forget it if you don't.

 

So many people here must be negative.
The Jazzis reviews are concise and informative without random ramblings.
That's the Jazzis style. There's other critics to read, maybe you like their style.
If you guys want something else, there's that My Husband's Stupid Record Collection blog.

 

Your website banner doesn't say "The World's Finest and Most Eclectic Collection of Record Reviews On The Internet"....and yes, when you state categorically that you are the writer of the "The World's Finest"...you are attempting to position yourself as superior to other writers and reviewers. Perhaps a little modesty, as you exhibit in the last sentence, used earlier in this thread, might have forestalled some of the people here like me who found your tone something less than appropriate.

 

OK time to summarize:

Thanks for all the people who supported me.

Thanks to all the people who criticized me, as well. Sadly the criticism was mostly personal and unsubstantiated.

Any piece of writing can be discussed endlessly, surely 5,000 pieces can be as well.

I offer a collection of my personal observations about recorded music - written over a long period of time and after I have listened (actually listened) to all of them and many others. When I say it's a classic it's a classic to me. What is wrong with such approach? As mentioned above they are concise and informative, that's the whole idea, like it or not.

It is an impressive body of INFORMATION and additionally that information is easily accessible by use of links and internal cross references, which are all programmed by me (I am a professor of Computer Science after all, which is not in my biography on that site ). Millions of people find my site useful and visit it repeatedly, record labels and musicians from all over the world send me their releases asking for my opinion; it's hardly imaginable that all those music lovers, musicians, magazine editors and record label owners are all stupid?

 

Coca Cola is allowed to say that it produces the taste of life?

I happen to think that there's no other site on the web, where a visitor can take a journey around the world and discover new music, new styles, new genres, new Artists at their fingertips. It is the World's Finest at what it does and what it offers.

 

Nothing, as long as that's what you say. Unfortunately you did not use the qualifier "to me" previously.

They are not, but record label owners such as Sony count on relatively uncritical "cheerleader" reviewers like you and the folks at The Second Disc to say nice things to help them sell sub-standard product to gullible consumers. And you and The Second Disc both praised that Bessie Smith collection without commenting on the poor sonics.

 

Some of the criticism of Jazzis's writing strikes me as harsh and unfair: the man has put together a website of reviews as a labour of love, which will be a useful reference tool for many people, and is charging nobody to enjoy it.

Having said that, some of the reviews are perhaps a little general. Compare Jazzis's reviews of the first two Steeleye Span albums to my own (which were published in a well-known reference book that I'm not going to plug here). Whilst both albums are brilliant, the point is that they're very different, which is not something one gleans from Jazzis's reviews:

Hark! The Village Wait (1970)

Jazzis's review:

1st album by the finest UK Folk-Rock band in all times - Steeleye Span. Although Steeleye Span had fierce competition to the title of the leading force in UK Folk-Rock in their early days from bands like Fairport Convention and Pentangle, in retrospect they proved to be the winners in the long rum and emerged as the only band still active 35 years later. Their spectacular recorded legacy over the years not only managed to sustain a level of excellence rarely met by any other musical outfit, but also contains a cannon and core of the genre’s essence. The band was formed in the late 1969, when bass player Ashley Hutchings left Fairport Convention (after recording the seminalLiege & Lief album) to start his own band and pursue a more traditional route than his former band was taking. Hutchings joined forces with Tim Hart, Gay Woods, Terry Woods and the singer Maddy Prior to form the first version of Steeleye Span, which lasted only a few months, but managed to record this exceptionally beautiful album. Hart and Prior (who were a couple) were to remain in all the future versions of the band, with the cream of the crop of UK Folk-Rock players joining them on a less permanent basis. As on all the early Steeleye Span albums, the material consists of traditional Folk tunes, arranged and often altered by the band members. Prior’s superb vocals, vocal harmonies with other band members and exceptional instrumental work are all present here and will be the band’s trademark for years to come. The incredible sensitivity and respect for the origins of the music and incredible musicianship guarantees an unsurpassed mark of quality. Absolutely essential!

My review:

The first, short-lived Steeleye Span line-up was apparently far from harmonious, which is surprising considering that they made an album of exceptional fragility and beauty. Indeed, I’d go further and say that this magical LP is the best folk/rock album ever made. The magnificent harmony vocals of Maddy Prior and Gay Woods (both world-class singers in their own right) are the obvious attraction, but the shimmering, restrained backing is also consistently stunning, especially on haunting, bittersweet pieces like ‘The Blacksmith’, ‘All Things Are Quite Silent’ and ‘Lowlands Of Holland’. It’s one of the great tragedies of life that this line-up never recorded again, though it’s impossible to imagine how they could have surpassed this.

Please To See The King (1971)

Jazzis's review:

2nd album by Steeleye Span Mk. II. After the recording of the debut album the coupleGay Woods & Terry Woods returned to their native Ireland and the band enlisted the services of two exceptional musicians, both of them members of the UK Folk-Rock elite: guitarist Martin Carthy and fiddler Peter Knight. With this enhanced lineup they recorded one of the ultimate Folk-Rock albums, present here. The incredible lead vocals by Maddy Prior and vocal harmonies with the four male members, as well as the intricate and highly sophisticated instrumental work all come together to create a true masterpiece. The material is all traditional Folk tunes, skillfully and ingeniously arranged by the band. This beautiful new edition almost triples the playing time of the album by including four BBC sessions recorded in late 1970 and early 1971, all previously unreleased. Absolutely essential!

My review:

The second Steeleye Span line-up was quite different from the first, and their second album was unrecognisable as the work of the same outfit that had cut Hark! The Village Wait. Gone were the lush female harmonies and relaxed folk/rock backing, replaced by keening solo vocals and sparse, harsh instrumentation underpinned by a murky recording to create a very eerie atmosphere. As though to emphasise the change, ‘The Blacksmith’ was re-recorded in a completely different, and this time very alienating, version. Another standout track was ‘Boys Of Bedlam’, the weird vocal effect for which was created by Martin Carthy singing into the back of a banjo. For those who imagine Steeleye Span were only capable of easy-listening, mid-tempo folk/rock like their hit ‘All Around My Hat’, this powerful LP should be mandatory listening; it certainly was for a whole generation of underground electric folk bands, with its echoes extending everywhere from Malicorne to Stone Angel.

Of course, it will be interesting to hear other members' feedback on this, and I'm certainly not knocking Jazzis — he deserves kudos, not criticism, for what he has done.

 

It's redundant to use "IMO" or "to me."
It's his site, he can claim what he wants.

If I reviewed record albums I would say Who Are You is an unrecognized masterpiece.
Others would then complain that I didn't add in my opinion.
Well, of course it's my opinion without saying.

There's a whole world of record reviews out there thanks to the internet. If you don't like the Jazzis style then there are others. If you want music snobs who think R.E.M. went downhill once Chronic Town was released and will tell you why in fifteen paragraphs I'm sure you will find it.

 

Somehow, the discourse in this thread reminds me of themes discussed in The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand.


Anyway, back to the regularly scheduled programming...

 

Actually if you have had read some of my reviews, you'd notice that sonic quality is one of the primary factors in my reviews, but sadly you have commited the "sin" of judging 5,000 items by reading one - this is a mistake of Biblical proportions And yet you repeat the same argument over and over again... I am trying to be civil here and ignore all the personal stabs, but I advise a peek in the mirror?

 

Says someone one who thinks that US jazz has been rubbish for ages and knows some American musicians who've said so too...but can't provide any evidence, and that the Chicago scene is tiny and not that innovative but can't say what he's listened to.



BTW I see you have a review on your site from a jazz/improv duo called Mikrokolektyw - I have their Absent Minded CD. Wonder why they're on Delmark?