The First Casualties of Fairfax Budget Cuts

Collateral damage: Fairfax readers. Well, to be fair, SMH readers appear to have been dealt the biggest blow having to suffer through more in-house music reviews manifesting itself in a new reviewer for Sydney readers, Kylie Northover. I was instantly struck by the first review I read by Northover, a review of the Trouble Andrew release. Apart from using the word gnarly and referring to EMI as a 'big label' rather than a major label struck me as strange and amateurish but when Northover rattled off a few influences, rounded out with Gangster Pat, I thought WTF? I think I'm ok with hiphop knowledge but who the hell is Gangster Pat? The impression is of someone adding an obscure artist to a string of well know artists just to prove their knowledge. I was right. A quick Google search turned up some blogging about Northover's Qua review. Again, she listed some influences/references and one almighty obscure Musique Concrete artist. She must know her shit. Well, apparently not. As you discover here and here you'll find discussions showing Northover merely used a blog review that quoted the same obscure artist. In the process of trying to appear knowledgeable she's indicated the background and reference are not her own. Same with Gangster Pat. A quick Google search of Trouble Andrew and Gangster Pat will bring up Andrew's Myspace page where Gangster Pat is listed, among numerous others, as an influence. It's a clear and pernicious attempt to display knowledge that doesn't exist. What's more, it seems quite silly to make such references when writing for the Fairfax audience. They neither know nor are interested in such references and it adds nothing to the review. Poor music reviewing, poor journalism.

The real question is why? There are many answers to that. The unfortunate outcome is the questioning of the review and the journalist in general. With genuinely talented music writers out there how did this journalist come to be writing music reviews and how did Fairfax find Northover capable? I look forward to more inept reviews!