tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030669615520724507.post2210952434191459658..comments2023-11-03T12:19:11.337+00:00Comments on Where shingle meets raincoat: Zero Books - recommendationsTom Mayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12926419257352932141noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030669615520724507.post-67620630302087447822009-12-20T16:13:27.282+00:002009-12-20T16:13:27.282+00:00Penman - a writer before my time, but truly of my ...Penman - a writer before my time, but truly of my time in the sense that he was part of the NME/Melody Maker continuum of intelligent musical criticism that did not talk down to its audience. He had an excellent blog a few years back, and older pieces I have read have always been enlightening.<br /><br />Opinions? Well, there are some value judgements on the various eras of Jackson's music, but more of the focus is on diagnosis (Jackson as 'symptom' of wider developments in free-market capitalism and the modern media culture), than straightforward music crit. Emphasis is on telling moments and their pertinence to large issues. It is refreshingly varied and experimental in form; Chris Roberts' tragicomic piece ('True Enough: Michael in fifty shards') is a fragmentary short story / biography made up of key moments and impressions. Sad and surreally amusing in equal measure. Robin expresses how Jackson mattered to Britain and how he influenced / embodied 1980s developments and symbolised the move into a self-centred, amnesiac, Americanised culture. Mark Fisher highlights the key moment of 'Billie Jean''s use to sell pepsi, and MJ's move into agent of a post-Fordist/Motown capitalism. Marcello Carlin's essay is a wise reflection upon why he mattered as a pop star. Tom Ewing excellent in exploring Jackson's under-analysed 'Kingdom', the wider pop context. there is an article on his resonance in India, his film career, etc. etc. Stubbs rails against the 'King' and what he became - brilliantly funny close reading of his lyrics for 'We are the World' - mournful that the music degenerated and people still listened, rather than to Arthur Russell. Mark Sinker elegantly destablisises the media and critical consensus... Overall, a cumulative and elegiac sense of the 1979-82 period as a window of infinite possibility amid broader chaos, decay and . The Dangerous era following on from 'We are the World' as the epitome of post-communism Liberal capitalism at its zenith. The Jackson career showing the outer limits that pop could inhabit - someone who became more and less than human. <br /><br />Interesting focus on the Jacksons' record following "Off the Wall", "Triumph" (1980), which I was barely aware of. Several articles get me wanting - incredibly - to listen to some of the later records, as the masks slips; the fun turning to anger - the utopia becoming instead a trap; a Neverland. 'A door marked nevermore' indeed.Tom Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12926419257352932141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030669615520724507.post-73113659098779378412009-12-19T08:01:34.256+00:002009-12-19T08:01:34.256+00:00It's been a while!
Who is Penman, any reputat...It's been a while!<br /><br />Who is Penman, any reputation?<br /><br />And what about some of the other writers and their opinions?Adelaide Duponthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01490123934889071074noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030669615520724507.post-82386417610990640822009-12-19T00:01:49.030+00:002009-12-19T00:01:49.030+00:00Nearly finished this book; broad-ranging, insightf...Nearly finished this book; broad-ranging, insightful, so many aspects and approaches. Just started on the Penman chapter.Tom Mayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12926419257352932141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3030669615520724507.post-50244387625337346502009-11-28T05:40:34.117+00:002009-11-28T05:40:34.117+00:00Three more days to go (at the time of your post)?Three more days to go (at the time of your post)?Adelaide Duponthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01490123934889071074noreply@blogger.com