Writing an album review on an artist that you “really” appreciate is enough to give you a stress headache. You weigh the shows, albums and the amount of time you have spent receiving joy from their art against the artists themselves. Not connecting to their new music in a meaningful way is supposedly a knock on the artist rather than the perception of the reviewer… in other words, the whole process of criticism can at times seem rather… well, ass backwards.

That said if you open up a record and the artist has exceeded your expectations, you’re left with the task of tempering your enthusiasm lest you fall into the column of fan over critic.

Except this isn’t 1994 and I’m not writing for a publication. This is a blog and the pretense of professionalism can be used or tossed aside on my own whim. Besides, ‘professionalism’ and I were…