| Ooops!; (Who critiques the Critics?) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 7 2013, 07:08 PM (722 Views) | |
| May-Cee | May 7 2013, 07:08 PM Post #1 |
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I won't name names because - He's a superb journalist, especially when writing about music. He's a former boss of mine on the Arts Desk of a newspaper, and a nice fella. But... In '69, Lennon and Ono released a single album; but the advance copies were released on two discs. The "blank" side of each disc was just a "test signal"; a monotonous drone. Alas, my old chum thought it was a double album; and that two sides were exercises in electronic minimalism. In his review, he offered these insights: "Sides Two and Four consist entirely of single tones maintained throughout, presumably produced electronically. This might sound arid, to say the least, but in fact constant listening reveals a curious point: the pitch of the tone alters frequently, but only by micro-tones or, at most, a semi-tone. This oscillation produces an almost subliminal, uneven beat which maintains interest." Ooops! Ouch! As you can probably guess, Lennon saw the funny side and sent him a little note. I'm not telling this to have a pop at the fella (well, just a wee one!) but really to say - When I was young and eager (and took these things far too seriously) I would EASILY have fallen into that same trap. (Plus - to be extra-fair to the guy; you can tell I like him! - those were the days when art-rockers were starting to assimilate the experiments made by the likes of Cage and Stockhausen; it's the sort of album Yoko Ono WOULD have made.) |
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| dai Cottomy | May 7 2013, 07:51 PM Post #2 |
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Sounds like a candidate for Pseud's Corner. |
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| AmosBurke | May 7 2013, 09:25 PM Post #3 |
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In August 1987, Heuwell Tircuit of the San Francisco Chronicle reviewed the San Francisco Ballet's performance of the pas de deux from "La Jolie Fille de Perth". Headed "San Francisco Ballet Misses A Step", he said "Either the San Francisco Ballet is being overworked or under-rehearsed". He further said the dancers "looked a tad dumpy", found that David McNaughton was "not up to his best" and said of Ludmilla Lopukhova "her potato-drenched Russian training seemed less heavy than in the past, but she, when added to Tomasson's dank choreography, didn't quite come through". On the night, the pdd was cancelled and replaced with Ballet For Five Male Dancers, in which Lopukhova naturally did not appear. In his review, Tircuit estimated 10,000 people in the audience of the open air theatre. His editor estimated that Tircuit hadn't been one of them. Defending his review, Tircuit said that he had attended the performance, but fell so ill that he was unaware of what he was watching. Sadly I have not been able to track down the original review in the Chronicle, but my search continues. |
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