Rock Criticism’s Musical Text: Robert Christgau’s Writing about Words and Music in Song
Year: 2019
Type: article
Abstract: The academic study of rock criticism assumes musical works to be interesting for the way the words and music of song reflect history, society and culture. However, how did rock critics approach the musical text? This paper examines Robert Christgau’s writing on the balance between words and music in song, 1970-89. Christgau is then examined as a music analyst, based on a smaller collection of case studies including a sustained passage on DJ Shadow. A productive dialogue is suggested between the study of rock criticism and a music theory attentive to writing as a form of music analysis.
Source: Rock Music Studies
Author: Dai Griffiths
Institution: Oxford Brookes University
Language: English
Subfield: Music
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2990216920