An Introduction

Welcome to Chic Misery, a collection of my thoughts on popular music. As an introduction, I’d like to talk about my approach to writing about music. Hopefully it isn’t too dull.

To me, music criticism is vastly undervalued and misunderstood. Its role should go deeper than simply decreeing what is good and what is bad. Music is an art form. It is also deeply intertwined with social and political issues. It is at once deeply personal and capable of unifying millions. In my writing, I attempt to see how music plays all of these roles.

Music criticism has a deserved reputation for being elitist and pretentious. I try to stay away from this. There is much more value in celebrating what I love than picking on anyone's tastes. That said, if I come off as pretentious, it's because this stuff really does matter to me.

In my mind the best music writing is part explanation of sound, part cultural critique, and part personal account. With this in mind, the topics will at times be very personal. Several articles that I will post eventually even reveal information about me that even many of my family members and close friends don’t know.  

As far as styles, I have pretty broad tastes. Much of my favorite music comes from the late 70s and early 80s. In the past couple of years I’ve gotten more and more into hip hop, so expect lots of that. The only genre that I haven’t been able to set any real foothold in is metal, but I’m working on that. I also love finding new things, so send as many recommendations as you like.

Hope you enjoy.