Freaky Trigger is two years old. For those who don’t know, the Trigger and it’s sister blog New York London Paris Music are home to what I consider to be just about the best music writing on the web. Now writing about music is a pretty meaningless occupation – great music (and there’s really no point in discussing any other type) is something that can be described, but I don’t really think it can be dissected, analysed or examined to try and weed out any meaning or gain an insight into the mind of the author. If you were to try and read every piece of text written about Pet Sounds you’d die of old age before nearing completion, whereas it takes just 40 minutes to listen to the bugger and decide whether it’s any good or not. Which is the only thing that matters in the end. Good music should make you feel something emotionally, but it’s a mistake to think that it means anything. Treating music like a science is like treating beauty the same way. Marylin Monroe was obviously a beautiful woman, but no-one would attempt to explain the fact by examining the geography of her face.
Having said all that, I read Freaky Trigger and NYPLM daily because I love good music and I love good writing, and you’ll find both there in plentiful supply. To celebrate it’s second anniversary, site curator Tom Ewing has asked a host of talented writers to contribute their thoughts on records they feel deserve more attention. The downside? He asked me as well, and I accepted, which kinda devalues my earlier point completely. But what the hell, go and read everyone else’s pieces. They’re much better.