Stupid music reviews

So today in the Times, Jon Pareles reviews a Prince concert.  The review is fine enough, except for this strange jab: "It was all proudly played in real time by a well-rehearsed band; Prince is a holdout that way."

It took me a minute to even figure out what he was saying - "oh, you mean a rock star played a concert where he was backed by a band?  What audacity."   I think what he was talking about is the fact that a lot of singers (Madonna, Lady Gaga, etc.) perform with dancers to a tape of the music (and sometimes the vocals.)  And that Prince did not.  For which he should be lauded.  As a 'holdout.'

There are a number of ways in which this is stupid, but I'm going on about it for one that drives me nuts - when a reviewer points out something perfectly normal or average as if it is unusual, and people who don't know any better repeat it.  This is what bugs me about Taylor Swift.

In general, I don't have anything against Taylor Swift.  She's country, I'm not, and I'm happy to leave it at that.  She's kind of crossed over to pop, and that's fine too.  I'm perfectly good at ignoring music I don't like and am not interested in.  But people talk about Taylor Swift, and praise her for writing all her own songs.  Her acceptance speech at the (I can't remember which award show - CMA?  Grammy's?  The one where Kanye didn't interrupt her) was exceptionally strange: "I'd like to thank my record company for having the faith in me to let me write all my own songs." (Paraphrased.)

By country standards, Taylor writing all her own songs may be unusual (as is the fact that she's a teenager who writes halfway decent ones) but with her pop/rock crossover, a very strange cultural difference has become apparent.  Praising a rock singer for writing all their own songs is kind of like saying "She sings all her own vocals."  This is also why I keep insisting to my wife that the Beatles are still influential - before them, it was unusual for pop acts to write any, let alone all, of their own material.  In many ways, modern country music is like pop in the fifties.  I wonder how they stayed so insulated over the years.  It's like something else I used to hear, that drove me nuts when I was in a band - X pop group plays all their own instruments.  Yes, like every rock band.

So Prince, keep playing with a live band.  Taylor, keep writing your own songs.  And everyone else, eat lunch in between your other two meals every day.