adios, david segal
Segal is a fine writer with a distinct voice, but his coverage of the music beat was prickly at best, snarky at worst. Rather than inviting readers into the music world, he kept his distance and covered it from afar.
Asked to suggest a good example of his work, Segal sent a first-person story about his live appearance on stage playing guitar with his favorite group, Guided by Voices, in Philadelphia. It was about Segal, not the music.
The Washingtonian's Harry Jaffe on the Washington Post's Big Apple envy and its crummy-ass music coverage. Pop music critic David Segal leaves the beat soon for New York and I can only hope the Post hires someone who takes music more seriously, a la the excellent writers and critics at the New York Times. Segal covers pop music as if it were little more than a fashionable freak show -- which it may be at times, but it deserves far better than his snide, above-it-all jibing. Good riddance, moron.