music critics who are also musicians

Charles Shaar Murray used to have his own blues covers group called something like Steam Shovel or Steam Packet ... And of course Meltzer has written lyrics for Blue Oyster Cult and played w/ various punkers...

I prefer Julian Cope's Krautrock bk to any of his recs...

But how else to differentiate?

Does Morrissey count? Biography of the NY Dolls, load of rejected criticism in the late 80s, etc etc.

How many would you like? It's annoying that whenever this question is trotted out the same dull names are always cited - Lester Bangs, Bob Stanley, Chrissie Hynde, myself even. Morrissey wrote far less than all the people on the above list; yet he always gets mentioned.

There are tens of thousands (the list above took me 5 minutes to compile)... and, if you start including people like Taylor and Neil, then it goes on and on. It's the norm for writers to dabble in music, not otherwise. And vice versa.

And I haven't even begun to touch on DJs.

In that case I violate the norm. Then again, I'm astoundingly lazy.

I've just had to read through an entire 340 page manuscript AGAIN - and found mistakes on the chapter headings. Why don't book companies employ proof readers?

And yes, it is far too early for me to be up.

I feel it most days. Maybe I'm not, who knows!

That reminds me... isn't that Negativland interview a little overdue... like eight months?

I'll be reviewing the new album, but beyond that I'm despairing of ever getting that together. I can try again, though!

I think there's a better case to be made for this in the world of film where you have the whole Cahiers du Cinema crowd: Godard, Truffaut, etc. I can't think of a comparable accomplishment by a music critic. Of course there's Jim Greer who went from being an avid Guided By Voices backer at Spin to being a bassist for the band, but you have to wonder how much talent that requires.

Regarding the Cahiers du Cinema crowd...well, correct me if I'm wrong - I've only started reading some of their stuff, but wasn't the magazine essentially a collaborative personal effort. (ie - not for money/pay?) That's always the impression I've had. I think that all real musicians have some next-level critical skills. But I would guess that the criticism coming from musicians would be more likely found at a place like Freaky Trigger/ILM than as a gun for hire at a rag like Rolling Stone.

In other words, the real critics fled to the internet, websites, and blogs.

Snobbish and elitist? Of course. That's what I'm into.

A ?UESTION: re STEVE LAKE ?! a great, great writer -- but has he ever made music himself? the reason i'm asking, i saw some catalogue once, and there were a coupla records listed where Steve Lake seemed to be credited as one of the performers; as these were Improv kinda things, it *could* been him... but has anybody here actually HEARD a 'Steve Lake record'?

doveman.

Charles Rosen, excellent at both btw

Robert Forster

wasn't chrissie hynde a music journo originally?

Had no idea that Chris Richards was in Q and Not U.

Spent the holidays digging through boxes and was pleased to find myself in excellent company. Entertainment Weekly Oct. 8, 2004 pic.twitter.com/t1BltlQDod

— Chris _ _ Richards (@Chris__Richards) January 1, 2018

Robert Schumann.