Toronto – Anyone who know me probably knows that I am kind of obsessed with the show Community. One of Community‘s defining characteristics is that it gets quite meta at times. So in the interests of paying tribute to the show now that it’s going off the air for awhile, but mostly because this idea just snowballed out of a joke between Ricky and I, I will be doing a review of Ricky’s review of Austra’s Dec. 1 show at The Phoenix. See? So meta. And in doing so, I hope that my review of his review will eclipse the original review in importance, much the same way that Hearts Of Darkness is way better than Apocalypse Now. And yes, that was another reference to Community. I may be a little too obsessed with that show. But enough about me. Here’s what I thought of what Ricky thought.
Any good review needs to have a hook, a story of some sort that will snag the reader and draw them in. Ricky accomplished this nicely with the old “discuss how the artist has undergone an image change” trick. This also works nicely as an introduction for people who don’t know who Katie Stelmanis and/or Austra is. Who are these people and why are they reading our blog? That’s not important. What’s important is they’re reading. Or at least looking at the pictures.
Also notable is Ricky’s trademark use of adjectives to coin a turn of phrase such as “platinum blond midnight electro goth sexpot.” I know I’m excited when I see all those words strung together. Who wouldn’t be? Why it’s almost as good as his recent review of Lana Del Rey where he described her persona as “mysterious DIY meets James Dean meets Vogue magazine.” Why was that description better? Because it rhymed, people. Description is important. A good review needs to be descriptive, but not too descriptive. Much like Ricky’s concert photography, you want to leave something to the reader’s imagination. Look at that photo. Are you certain that it even is Austra? Doesn’t the mystery make it better? Of course it does.
Despite the fact that Ricky “felt rather disconnected from the show” for whatever reason, he still wrote up a solid review of the show while resisting the temptation to describe what he ate for dinner and avoiding copious spelling mistakes. This is the sign of a great reviewer. Ricky, I anxiously await your review of my review of your review. The ball is in your court, sir.