Do any critics like/appreciate jam rock?

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A little research would turn up the names of music critics who appreciate rap music or indie rock. If I asked for you for names, you would be able to name critics who take heavy metal or dance music seriously -- who understand each genre's background and can evaluate a contemporary recording or performance in terms of 1) how it conforms with or breaks from that heritage and 2) its entertainment value.

Jam rock ("Jerry's Kids") would seem to be second only to smooth jazz as the most commonly reviled current music genre. Do any reputable critics take this genre seriously, or are all its reviews written by either fawning fanboys or nonspecialist critics, holding their noses?

― j.lu, Sunday, 25 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Is jam rock different from blues rock? Would SRV be jam rock? I dunno what the answer is, but it's a good question. Jam rock or whatever is kind of nice sometimes. I mean, it's not much different from that techno crap, if you think about it, just different ways of making long strips of lyricless music that you can zone into and feel.

― Nude Spock, Sunday, 25 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Well, The Wire takes The Dead VERY seriously, much more than any high circulation music mag I've ever seen. I'm always amazed & amused by it (I like The Dead, too, but nothing like Biba Kopf.) In terms of Jerry's kids, all the followers that sprung up in the last ten years or so, yeah, it is difficult to think of any measured, intelligent commentary.

― Mark, Sunday, 25 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I think Richard Gehr's your man--very big on pretty much all the jam bands.

― Douglas, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Kandia Crazy Horse is another writer who covers the stuff pretty frequently. Her tastes tends to reside closer to the scruffier, blues- rockier end of things (Allman Bros., Gov't Mule), and less with whimsies like Phish. Gehr tends to go closer to the latter. Will Hermes, an editor at Spin, also keeps a toe in those waters-- he was a big Deadhead for awhile there--writing about Oysterhead in the last issue of the magazine, for instance.

― M. Matos, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Reputable" critics= who are they then?

Depends on the publication. Edwin Pouncey, Biba Kopf and David keenan love their Grateful Dead/Aamon dull II/ fushitsusha/etc, etc. stuff.

I suppose it's the post-punk effect which means that solos going beyond 3 minutes don't go down well with many brain dead critics.

It's nice to see a few of them have the sense to judge each band on its own merits.

― Julio Desouza, Monday, 26 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

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