Monday, December 7, 2009

My Rant On Jim Farber

So I was innocently reading the Daily News yesterday...Okay I wasn't innocently reading, really I was reading it while mocking their complete lack of literary style as well as a lack of any intelligence at all in their opinion columns. But I digress... I was reading this article entitled Seasonal Songs Merry & Scary. Some nobody named Jim Farber crowned himself music critic of the day and listed 10 Christmas songs that are "heavenly" and 10 he called "annoying" and "humbug." So here is my problem, on the humbug list is my favorite, my husband's favorite and the six year old's favorite. So clearly someone has no taste. So first my husband's favorite, Santa Baby, which this excuse for a music critic calls "a joke that couldn't seem more forced." A joke?!? Really?!? I suppose the joke must be on the scores of artists who have remade this song including Shakira, Macy Gray, Natalie Merchant, Faith Evans, the Pussycat Dolls, Leann Rimes and Miss Piggy to name a few. Don't believe me, check it out for yourself on Wikipedia. If you haven't heard some version of this song over the years, you have been living in a box and you need to get out more. I know that you will be shocked to hear this but the six year old's favorite is Alvin and the Chipmunks, Christmas, Don't Be Late which the author says "wears thin fast...when played annually." May I respectfully suggest that the author is not the intended audience for Alvin and the Chipmunks. The six year old on the other hand can listen to this song all evening long and will ask me to play it again tomorrow. I admit it isn't the height of enjoyment for me but neither is Max and Ruby and Yo Gabba Gabba but I manage to sit through that without killing myself and I only have to hear the Chipmunks during the Christmas season. Finally on to my personal favorite which is Christmas Eve by the Trans Siberian Orchestra. Of course this lame author didn't even bother to specifically name any particular song, no he blanketly (is that a word? well it is now) disparaged everything the Orchestra has ever performed by calling it "late period Meatloaf mixed with a road company version of Jesus Christ Superstar." I suppose all those hundreds of thousands of fans going to see them every year are just fans of annoying music. I suppose that all the people who bought the Christmas Eve album (enough to make it go double platinum) just don't know what they are listening to. Whatever his excuse, Jim Farber needs to stop subjecting his unsolicited, unprofessional and highly erroneous opinion on the unsuspecting public and get himself a blog.

5 comments:

Mama-Face said...

So, what did this Mr. Farber consider heavenly? I think you should send this post in as a letter to the Editor. Or to the Jim Farber. What kind of person disparages the Chipmunks?

"Wears fast when play annually". As opposed to...?

Tracie said...

Critics have to make people mad. It gets them more publicity. I kind of like Trans Siberian Orchestra. And all Christmas music is annoying if you listen to it non-stop.

Lee said...

I don't do christmas music, although I do have a post coming up based on a christmas song, does that make me a hypocrite? Probably, but if the shoe fits I'll wear it!

Ed said...

This is like the 3rd or 4th Christmas music post I've read today.

I'll comment the same thing here that I did everywhere else.

It ain't Christmas without Bing Crosby.

Macey said...

Personally, I love TSO. They are awesome. They are the LEAST annoying Christmas music. And duh, what an idiot. He just lumped in all Christmas music together...it should have been separate. You can't have Chipmunks on the same list as TSO. It's just not right.