Kia ora! This is the obligatory 'introductory first post of a new blog' we're all legally required to write. Whether you're here the day I start this or you're reading the post archive chronologically, welcome!
My name is Helena! I am a woman from Pōneke, Aotearoa, and I've been passionate about music for about half of my life up to this point. It's been a constant wish of mine to write about music professionally for much of that time -- hence, this blog!
You may have some questions about what all this is, which I will attempt to answer here.
What is this blog about?
Music!
I don't really consider myself a 'music reviewer' in a traditional sense -- there might be some posts on here which seem like reviews, but they're usually pretty nebulous and my actual 'proper' reviews tend to be shit. I consider myself more of a music critic than a reviewer; the posts here will sit somewhere between criticism, analysis, and essay, with occasional diversions into other forms (creative nonfiction, poetry, prose, journalism, what-have-you). I am also a transgender lesbian, a socialist, a librarian-in-training, a theatre nerd, and a fan of Dungeons & Dragons; I will likely find ways to jam all of these interests / attributes into these articles, too.
How often will you post?
I'm currently aiming to publish a longform piece roughly every couple of weeks, but this is subject to change. I'm studying full-time and looking for work (this job market is particularly abhorrent, so don't expect that to change for a while), and both of these factors (alongside burnout and life commitments) may impact my ability to write. I'll make sure to put out an update if circumstances shift.
I'll likely also alternate between formal analyses (like the billy woods reading posting in tandem with this article) and more casual pieces of music discussion so I have ample time to work on them. Again, subject to change.
A photo of the writer as a young fag UPSTANDING AND KINDLY LESBIAN
Why a blog?
The short answer: I wanted a decentralized place to publish my work, receive feedback, and collaborate with other writers! More importantly, this actually forces me to stick to a fucking schedule; as a chronic procrastinator, this alone justifies the blog's existence.
The long answer: recently, I've observed a shift in the culture of music discussion that has persisted and progressed over several years. There's always been two modes of engaging with music -- either as a consumer or as a critic. The consumer views the entire artform within the context of one's own enjoyment; everything is judged in isolation, granted value entirely by individual enjoyment. The critic is more focused on a piece in relation to all other pieces within the continuity of music; they are less concerned with judgements of individual value (how much they liked or disliked something) and more with observing and critiquing art, telling the stories in and around the music.
To be abundantly clear, neither of these modes are inherently better or worse than the other! I'm clearly biased towards one, but there's nothing wrong with valuing enjoyment in music first and foremost; most people aren't reading Ghosts of My Life recreationally, and there's plenty of knowledgeable and well-read music critics who also happen to be massive pricks. My argument, rather, is that a balance is required. Music criticism, once a small-but-steady counterculture, has become an ever-shrinking niche with the introduction of social media, digital centralization, and streaming services. Mainstream music reviewers have pivoted towards catering to the consumer rather the critic; music is judged using the same language and lenses as the people watching it, and the value of a review has shifted from inspiring discussion to assessing whether a piece of music is worth the dwindling amount of attention you can afford to give it.
This blog is my attempt to make a contribution towards music criticism's survival within this hostile attention economy. I can't solve this problem singlehandedly -- it would be foolish to try -- but this is me doing my bit. This is also why this website is currently being hosted on Neocities rather than a centralized network like Substack (for now, at least.)
The shorter answer: read Paddy Agius's On Genre Tourism, it's the essay that finally convinced me to begin working on all this.
Why 'Past the Watershed'?
The watershed refers to a specific time slot (usually later in the evening) within public broadcasting where the restrictions on what can and cannot be shown in shows loosen up a bit. I used to waste a lot of time at school looking at TV Tropes and Wikipedia pages for random information pertaining to media -- I learnt what a watershed was from that, and the phrase stuck with me.
Some of my favorite releases at the time of writing! You can find these on my RYM
I'd love to say it's some grand comment on the intent of this blog -- to go beyond the normal and challenge the preconceptions of the audience, or some vain fuckshit like that. It mostly just sounded cool ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
That's all for now! My first formal analysis should be out by the time you're seeing this (assuming you haven't read it already). Thanks for reading, and enjoy!