
Death of the hatchet job - samclemens
http://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk/2016/11/death-hatchet-job
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matt4077
A casual acquaintance of mine recently had the chance to find out that it's
alive and kicking: [https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/30/symphony-
to-a-...](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/30/symphony-to-a-lost-
generation-review-adam-donen)

Quote: "ntil 2010, Donen was writing naive, two-chord pop songs that recall
Syd Barrett’s more rudimentary creations. He’s since reinvented himself as an
orchestral composer, teaching himself to arrange by reading Rimsky-Korsakov’s
Principles of Orchestration. Never mind one of those “couch-to-5k” exercise
programmes, this is the equivalent of a sofa-bound slob attempting to compete
in the Olympics having just read Mo Farah’s autobiography."

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JimmyM
I don't personally think that is a hatchet job - the quote seems harsh, but
it's not the full extent of the review.

> The sublime moments come when Donen calms down and concentrates on melody.

That's a pretty glowing quote!

Overall, the review gives two stars - bad, but not exactly a hatchet job. The
criticisms are fair, and well-justified - and Syd Barrett is a pretty cool
point of comparison. If anything, I would say it suggests that the hatchet job
really is dead if this is the worst that can be found - it's negative, but it
really works to justify its negativity and struggles throughout to pick out
bright spots.

A hatchet job, in my opinion, must be unremittingly & deliberately brutal, or
slash quickly and leave the target all-but-beheaded. Coldplay saw many
examples of the former, as reviewers struggled to explain why mediocrity in
sufficient quantity became something somehow worse, while I think it was
_Terrorizer_ magazine (maybe _Metal Hammer_?) who managed a one-word review of
Fall Out Boy.

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StavrosK
What was the word?

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JimmyM
It began with 'C', I don't like to use or even mention it when there may be
Americans present, and it was plural...

I never said it was a particularly clever review. Although it did seem
heartfelt.

~~~
StavrosK
Oh, ouch.

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jessaustin
Clicking the author's name, one finds that in this publication the author
writes primarily glowing reviews, and navel-gazing inside-baseball meditations
on the act of reviewing. Writing more "hatchet jobs" might be the easiest way
to solve this problem?

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Neliquat
Halfway through article and popup blocks all text. Too bad. Was interesting
until then.

