There�s a train of thought that genius is a weighty word that shouldn�t be used lightly as it�s something that only comes along once in a while like a Smile or an Aerial. There�s an implied distance between normal jobbing / hobbying musicians and the genius who creates this work. Some of the requirements for this position are personality quirks which make it impossible for them to ever hold down a real job, incredibly long lay offs between actually releasing music with tenuous excuses and a bevy of press officers to make you aware of this info.

I subscribe to the theory that there is genius in every single song that I love and funnily enough these moments don’t normally arrive incredibly coincidentally with every big name release that turns up. They come on CDRs, during live shows that 30 people attend, on B-sides and with acts that are never going to make the front cover of Mojo and Q. I don’t reserve the word for use on returning ‘icons’ who bless us with an album after years of scratching their arses in domesticity. In fact I’m annoyed at how little the word is bandied about these days and I can�t understand why. If we believe what the canon says then there have only about ten of these geniuses (not genii as you might think) since the bloody sixties.

How about we start spreading the joy around a little bit?

If a song can lift you out of a stinking mood or make you see the blue behind the clouds for even a moment (sometimes it�s especially for that single moment) then surely that�s genius. Does it need to have been a decade in the making? Take the latest target of my ire, Kate �I�m Back� Bush, and her twelve year album gap. Didn�t take a genius to figure out that whether it sucked ass (it did) or not it was still going to be proclaimed a work of genius did it? I�m not saying once you reach a particular age or fame plateau type thing you no longer need coverage or that good music should be ignored because of who makes it but did it need all those yards of coverage and adulation. It wouldn�t have been such a big problem if the LP hadn�t been a record of second hand ideas (albeit her own) and second hand passion. Is the world so small that this is all the genius these magazines/websites/TV shows could find that week?

Now just for a second just imagine all the great unsung acts and artists out there producing magnificent work that could�ve used the space used up for the fawning over the record. How many times does the same stuff need to be said? I feel sometimes like I’m drowning in the same hundred band names, the same opening �quoting something unrelated� paragraphs and the same old rehashed sentiments. Isn�t it time that we all decided to turn the search for moments of genius away from the major acts that we get fed? There are infinite moments of a less loudly pronounced magic out there beyond the eternal loop of popular culture spin doctoring. There�s too much chipping in of opinion and not enough A&R work.

Do I sound like an elitist fuck? If I do I apologise, I�m just frustrated. I�ve hit a time in my life when I’m more bored by and more excited by music than I’ve ever been in my life. I�m revaluating why I�m looking to hear certain LPs above others, why I�m finding time to see if Brain Wilson�s Christmas LP has more to say to me than Sunroof!