FACT's 20 albums for 2011

i'm still looking forward to the next forest swords record

So do you guys have a problem with people saying "this album's best heard on big speakers" or "this is dark-room headphone music"? Just asking. I agree if someone started using crit-theory to deconstruct an album, they'd need extremely good grounds to pass the bullshitometer.

no, those are perfectly acceptable

I don't resent Actress any more than I resent a sit-up fwiw

So do you guys have a problem with people saying "this album's best heard on big speakers" or "this is dark-room headphone music"?

I'd hope anyone would have some idea of how to talk to me about something, and can tell difference between talking to me and talking at me.

ie

f someone started using crit-theory to deconstruct an album, they'd need extremely good grounds to pass the bullshitometer.

it doesnt matter how good or bad their grounds are - if someone started down this track when talking to me about a record, then they're talking at me not to me

I think it's mostly "know your audience." Some of the best speakers/conversationalists I know are great at packing in information by giving a quick summary of salient points to the point where even if you're familiar, it's not annoying to hear again.

If you're immediately referencing a philosophical concept I may or may not know and are attempting to engage with me about an album on that standpoint, it's kind of a failure of communication, or you're a dick for implying I need to know these concepts to enjoy music.

ahh well no, you seem quite understanding xxp

thing is I picked up the Actress album less as a result of nakh's thread (although it was interesting), or anything else I read, but on the merch table after seeing him play live

which was just one unsmiley dude w/ his hood up doing raw semi-generative on-the-fly techno on a small table of kit - the more I think about that the more bringing crit theory on board seems like abject madness

this is where I reiterate for the 50th time that I want kodwo eshun to write more on music

Am I wrong in thinking that it misses the entire thrust and point of critical theory to employ it in the service of explaining *why* one enjoys a piece of art?

haha yeah, it seems like you are more explaining why you like critical theory than why you like music

Am I wrong in thinking that it misses the entire thrust and point of critical theory to employ it in the service of explaining *why* one enjoys a piece of art?

― Clarke B., Wednesday, 31 August 2011 16:46 (1 minute ago)

sure

actress is just particularly amenable to that post-grime theory blog tendency

'wack'

this rustie clip is pretty exciting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8C1RmVJ1xE