Department of Eagles - In Ear Park

There were two posts at Pitchforkmedia today which I believe reflect how you should and shouldn't cover music.

The review of Beck's Modern Guilt was poor because it was merely a psycho-analysis of Mr. Beck based upon the lyrics of his music. While lyrics have meaning I've always found the advice of professor of poetry in college quite helpful: No matter what you think or how you think you will never truly know the meaning of another person's writing. Instead - what does it mean to you? I think this can also inform how you listen to music.

Secondly, the brief news story about Department of Eagles informed the reader about an upcoming album being released. Little did I know that the one song preview would match the quality of anything released by a related band by the name of Grizzly Bear.

Both articles presented music to the reader, but the way each was done was significantly different. The review of Modern Guilt attempted to explain the meaning of the album while the article about Department of Eagles merely presented the reader with the opportunity to think - what does this song mean to me?

If you want an example of irresponsible journalism read this post at the Portland Mercury End Hits Blog. I usually enjoy reading this blog, but this article was extremely disrespectful.