Comments on: Thoughts on Genres

By: On The Futility of Genres « Progarchy: A Celebration of Music

On The Futility of Genres « Progarchy: A Celebration of Music — Sat, 20 Oct 2012 13:49:49 +0000

[...] you haven’t heard yet. Or perhaps Tim Hall (@Kalyr) had it right when he suggested on Twitter and his blog that genres should be regarded as recipe ingredients rather than [...]

By: Graham Meigh

Graham Meigh — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:42:36 +0000

Was that because you thought there was no prog flavour to the album?

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:27:12 +0000

And if you look at the review of SKIN I wrote for Trebuchet Magazine, I didn’t use the p-word at all.

By: Graham Meigh

Graham Meigh — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 16:17:36 +0000

I think labels can be useful; but agree that as pigeonholes they become problematic.

But it all depends on who is using the labels. A lot bands will wriggle and squirm if they have to use prog as a label because for most it will conquer images of Rick Wakeman in a silver cape.

I love SKIN and notice that the dreaded p word is not used in the pr material that I have seen. No criticism intended.

I would say that the genre labels should be used as flavours.

I guess we both mean the same thing.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:26:29 +0000

Indeed. In that case, genre labels for an artist tend to reflect the ingredients they use most often.

This is always how I try to use genre labels in reviews.

By: PaulE

PaulE — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 13:14:39 +0000

Genre labels make more sense applied to individual works rather than an artists’ entire catalogue. Which certainly fits the “ingredients” view.
For an artists’ work as a whole, a genre label is a rough guide rather than a precise definition.

By: Tim Hall

Tim Hall — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:48:35 +0000

HippyDave – That’s how I approach genres when reviewing music; there’s no other way you can review something like Panic Room’s “SKIN”.

Serdar – I guess it’s as true for books, although the publishing industry tends to market by genre far more that the music business does, which probably does mean some authors miss out on potential readers.

By: Serdar

Serdar — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:43:16 +0000

I try to think the same way about books, too. A book can have elements of SF or thrillers, but if it isn’t about people I care about and doesn’t tell a compelling story, then it doesn’t matter if they’re ingredients or labels.

By: HippyDave

HippyDave — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:10:57 +0000

Yes, absolutely. Pigeonholes only help people who don’t have a truly open mind, I feel. Whereas noting an ingredient in a recipe adds a particular flavour is helpful for comparison purposes (e.g. in reviews) and in giving the impression of how something really *feels*.

Most ‘pigeonholes’ are so wide anyway, these days, that you could drive a Saturn V launch platform through them. What kind of ‘help’ is that to the prospective listener?