February 9th, 2009
When I read Katjusa Cisar’s review of Leo Kottke’s performance at the Barrymore on Friday, the first thing that popped into my head was that she had never seen one of his concerts before and knew little to nothing about the adroit guitarist.
The first thing that stood out was that she referenced only one song title – “Oddball”. This isn’t proof positive of her ignorance but it should ring some alarm bells. Similarly, her review is devoid of references to any of Kottke’s albums or previous live performances. How does his studio work compare to his live performances? Usually reviews of concerts by established musicians include some commentary on whether the hall was filled with old classics, new material, or some combination of both. None of that here. Also missing is talk about genre. Cisar takes Kottke to task for not milking a hook for all it’s worth. Does this stem from jazz? How much did he draw from folk? Cisar opines that technique is not enough. How about some more on his technique – unusual tunings? any 12-string guitar? One would imagine that a reviewer familiar with Kottke would have noted things such as the genres he drew from, any use of open tunings, and from what albums he played songs. From the review, it seems that Ms. Cisar just views him as a boring old fart who happens to have technique in abundance. Obviously she would have preferred to have been at the Los Campesinos!/Titus Andronicus gig at the Union.
But I’m sympathetic to Cisar. I write music reviews here and elsewhere and it’s always more fun to try to express how much you enjoyed something as opposed to how much you didn’t. Plus reviewers have to write about music by musicians they know nothing about and in styles that are foreign. In the past, I’ve been tasked with formulating a few hundred words about Nordic neo-folk bands, a genre that is way out of my bailiwick. But, in the end, being a music reviewer means all music is in your purview.
Cisar does a great job when she dons her Madison scenester hat or gives readers a dispatch from the High Noon Saloon where an indie rock band or hip hop act has made a tour stop. Her enthusiasm shows as does her knowledge of the musicians. She knows about their back catalogue and where they fit into the musical landscape. And she almost without fail writes positive reviews. The problem with her take on the Kottke show wasn’t that she really didn’t enjoy herself but that that was all she wrote about. I’d wager that Cisar went to the Barrymore knowing next to nothing about Leo Kottke and, sadly, it doesn’t seem like she made an attempt to find anything out about him. You can’t put a musician in a context, talk about past albums, etc. just in those instances when you happen to like the music. In the interest of fairness, a reviewer should give the same courtesy to musicians whose work the reviewer doesn’t like as well.
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