Banned Review Cliches

[Spontooneous]

New standards!

[jazzypaul]

New standards!

that one got used on us re: our version of REM's Losing My Religion. It was good for a chuckle.

[Ken Dryden]

How about "tour de force"?

That's one term I quit using not long after I got started writing reviews.

[Nate Dorward]

Just curious: what makes one commonplace phrase acceptable & another not? Why these phrases rather than others? (Take a look at the Language Log site for similar queries about why certain usages get condemned arbitrarily by self-appointed usage "experts".)

There are particular turns of phrase & words I avoid, but in general it seems to me the real problem is people who write without thinking or listening, & simply excising some cliche'd phrases isn't really going to address this problem. (One can write terribly while using entirely original turns of phrase, & write very well using no words out of the ordinary.)

If someone wants to recommend a disc I'd rather they simply say "Recommended." rather than trying to work out some tortuous evasion of the word.

[Bill Nelson]

People who write WITHOUT thinking or listening will lead-in their copy with: "Poll winning...Grammy nominated...legendary...more than paid his dues."

[Guest Bill Barton]

...While I'll admit that these are all cliches, and all cliches that I've used, I've got to say that there's a difference between good cliches and bad ones.

If something is recommended, it's recommended. If something doesn't sound like much else out there, it IS unique.

That said, really, what is someone going to have to do in order to TRULY chart NEW terrain these days? Arousing an elephant while hopping on a tambourine with one foot while playing changes on a casio keytar set on the choir setting?

And, now, the Paul Abella Trio has an idea for their next album...mmmm...keytar...

Hmmm... Maybe I'll put that list back in the "cliches that are okay" box.

How about "tour de force"?

That's one term I quit using not long after I got started writing reviews.

Ouch! I just used it. I confess.

And thanks, Debra, for posting that article by Bill Anschell, who is one hell of a witty writer in addition to being a fine musician (OMG, a soon-to-be-cliche phrase is born.)

[Dave James]

I have no idea who writes the copy for Dusty Groove, but whomever it is long ago mastered the art of the cliche. The one they use over and over again and with near reckless abandon is "spiritual".

Up over and out.

[bertrand]

'Deceptively simple'.

'Jackie McLean plays with urgency'.

[Teasing the Korean]

I'm sick of seeing the words "kitsch" and "kitschy" get completely misused by reviewers.

[clifford_thornton]

I really don't know how to write; I just do. Pardon the cliches you will inevitably find in my reviews.

[Jay]

I really don't know how to write; I just do. Pardon the cliches you will inevitably find in my reviews.

I'm with you, CT. I constantly grapple with appropriate, descriptive language when I write. I certainly spend waaaaaaay too much time on them anyway and my training certainly crafted my personal conception. Often, there are only so many words that one can use without stretching the meaning or context. I am certainly guilty, but hey, all I can say is that I think writers do try their best to keep their prose both interesting and worth reading. I know one thing that I absolutely try to avoid is any Yanowisms (or to be Yanowesque ).

[Teasing the Korean]

I really don't know how to write; I just do. Pardon the cliches you will inevitably find in my reviews.

Why should I pardon them? There is more to read in one lifetime than there is time to read it. Sorry.

[Debra]

Another cliche which I find tiresome is to include a list of the band leaders with whom the musician has played in the past, instead of any information about the music actually played by the musician.

Here is a made up example:

"Joe Doakes, one of today's most exciting jazz ocarina players, delighted a crowd of nearly 20 delirious listeners at the Poplar Room Saturday night. Joe, who has played with Clark Terry, Benny Golson, Ahmad Jamal, Sonny Stitt, Sarah Vaughan, Frank Sinatra, Archie Shepp, Stan Getz, Gary Burton, Al DiMeola, Mel Torme, Jane Monheit and Wynton Marsalis, was joined on piano by the legendary Art Plutkin. Art, who has played with Art Pepper, Hubert Laws, Maynard Ferguson, Max Roach, Betty Carter, Frank Zappa and Stanley Clarke, was featured on acoustic piano and slide whistle.

Following the set, Joe credited his tasty, swinging, accessible, Mobleyesque ocarina stylings to the training he received in his high school jazz band, led by the legendary Colonel Walter Frimpett (whose bands over the years at North South High have included Earl Hines, Coleman Hawkins, Gene Ammons, Wilbur Ware, Tommy Turrentine and George Duke). 'Colonel Frimpett, he told us to never lose sight of the melody, never take your eye off of the tune. I have kept his words in my heart all these years,' said Doakes with a beaming smile."

Edited February 8, 2008 by Debra

[7/4]

That's a problem typical to interviews - too much history and not enough new information.

[Ken Dryden]

Having done a few interviews over the past 20 years, I can't say that I've read every article or interview transcription of any guest. It also depends upon what the editor wants for the particular publication or website. But it I can get an artist to say "That's a really good question, no one ever asks that," it is satisfying. Having a big collection of the artist's work is definitely of help.

[Teasing the Korean]

Here's one that makes me sick:

"respect for the tradition."

[Bol]

"Joyous" or "joyful".

Constant misuse of the phrase "begs the question".

[Kalo]

After the first dozen or so reviews I wrote, I realized that I had used the word "angular" in nearly every one of them. A Google search of my name coupled with the offending term confirmed the worst. So for the next few articles, I made sure to substitute another word or phrase when the word "angular" came to mind; For a little while, I either avoided the issue entirely or substituted "zig-zag," "darting," or some such word or phrase before giving myself permission to use the word "angular" again.

After reading through this thread, though, I have to pride myself on having largely avoided the offending cliches. Though it is hard to avoid the laundry list of band leaders with whom the musician has played in the past.

[Kalo]

I'm sick of seeing the words "kitsch" and "kitschy" get completely misused by reviewers.

I actually used that word in my live review of the Maria Schneider Orchestra, in reference to her use of actual birdcalls in one of the pieces.

(And, I would add, I don't find Messaiean's use of birdcalls to fall into the realm of kitsch.)

To my mind, the much abused term "kitsch" is just a pedantic/Germanic way of saying "corny." It should probably be retired, as nobody seems to be sure what it means in the first place. I'm curious, TtK, as to how you employ this word.

[Teasing the Korean]

A lot of the traditional academic applications of the term "kitsch" no longer apply because of post-modernism, the no-brow movement, etc.

Kitsch is often used these days to describe things that are perceived to be "beneath" the abilities of an artist, such as

"The album's serious mood is broken by the inclusion of a kitschy disco number..." etc.

But - if we're talking about how the term was used originally - it would mean the opposite, such as attempting, say, a serious, extended work that may (or may not) be beyond the abilities of an artist.

Again, the old definitions are pretty much out the window these days.

Edited February 11, 2008 by Teasing the Korean

[clifford_thornton]

TTK, have you read "Avant-Garde & Kitcsh" by Clement Greenberg?

It is a great critical essay on modern art and culture, and is probably one of the best treatises on high/low culture ever written.

The standard meaning of "kitsch" is the one he's using, although the detail with which he defines the term and its societal ramifications is pretty deep.

[Guest Bill Barton]

"foil"

[Teasing the Korean]

TTK, have you read "Avant-Garde & Kitcsh" by Clement Greenberg?

Haven't read that but I do have an anthology produced in the 1960s called "Kitsch: The Art of Bad Taste," compiled from essays by a bunch of Euro academics. It is VERY dated but very enjoyable nonetheless.

[Teasing the Korean]

Just saw "muscular" again. Still banned for 2009.

[blajay]

"tinkling the ivories"

If I read one more review (specifically of my own projects) with that phrase, I'm going to go postal. THEY DON'T EVEN USE IVORY ON PIANOS ANYMORE! AND I PLAY ORGAN!!!

how about, "tinkling the unweighted plastic composites," then?

Isn't it "tickle" the ivories? Unless you're really insulting the instrument.