Brit Music Scene

Calvin Harris Twitters On ‘Ready For The Weekend’ Review

Posted: 14 Aug 2009 01:05 PM PDT

Calvin Harris is an acquired taste. I happen to like the slightly retro, slightly awkward music he writes and produces. At least in the main. I wasn’t actually that keen on his last single, I’m Not Alone, but he’s still an artist I respect and admire. Or at least he was until he decided to rant on Twitter about a negative review for his new album Ready For The Weekend.

Calvin Harris Ready For The Weekend Album Cover

Calvin Harris is a well-known Twitter addict, using the social networking site to talk to his fans and let everyone know what he’s up to. And that’s usually a good thing. However, he recently used his Twitter page to have a foul-mouthed rant against a critical review of Ready For The Weekend.

Harris never names the reviewer he’s taking his frustrations out on but it’s thought to be Alexis Petridis, a music reviewer for The Guardian who gave Ready For The Weekend two stars out of five last Friday. Petridis compares Harris’s music to Handbag House from the 1990s, which itself was inspired by the 1970s.

Harris reacted to the review with his own criticism of music journalists, tweeting:

“Rich people’s kids getting good reviews because mummy f**ked the journo in the ’80s. Rich people mean f**k all to me seriously. I’m making music for real people and read people dance – rich people stand at the back. F**k the rich people’s kids with their jobs as runners on TV shows of their ‘club nights’. F**k you, you’ve done nothing. Absolutely f**k-all.”

“I can’t ignore it, sorry, but it does affect me, and it is hurtful, and I know that it’s [the album] exactly what I wanted it to be, and I’m proud of it. Imagine you just spent two years of your life making a record. On your own. Every single day, long hours, working to get it sounding right.

“Imagine the buzz of making something that you love, and after two years you finally have something you can’t wait for other people to hear. Then imagine that CD landing on the desk of ‘Snide Rich Person’s Kid’ or ‘Pathetic London Scene-Face’. Then them skipping through the tracks in their lunch break, and saying, “Well it’s Calvin Harris isn’t it? Two stars, he’s a dickhead.”

I have got sympathy for Calvin Harris on this one because it must be absolutely horrifying to spend so long working on something you’re passionate about only to have it ripped apart by someone. Anyone.

However, Harris needs to realize that not everyone is going to like the music he produces, and if they don’t then they’re entitled to pass that opinion on to others. And if they’re paid to give their opinion then that’s tough.

Everyone has their own unique tastes, in music, movies, people, whatever. And Harris should be happy that he has thousands of fans who’ll buy the record regardless what other people think of it, be they a music critic or not.

The maddening thing for Harris is that him ranting about this review and reviewer on Twitter has done nothing but give kudos and attention to Petridis. I’ve now read the review which I hadn’t done previously, and I’m sure others will as well. Maybe Harris needs to learn to keep quiet and accept criticism more readily.

[Photo Source: Amazon.co.uk]

Post from: Brit Music Scene