Call it an older sibling being protective of their kid brother, but I wholeheartedly disagree with Sam Pfeifle's review of Brenda's Silver Tower. (See "Sound of Silver," June 25). Though I would definitely disagree with the assertion that Brenda's debut is lo-fi, I won't here. Rather, I want to say that I was completely taken aback by his seeming desire for a polished, crystal-clear album sung by a woman when he was given a three-piece indie-rock record with a male vocalist. The sound of a band is the sound of a band, and the basic tenet of reviews should be to figure out what a band is trying to do, and judge them on it accordingly. To harp on the recording quality is like hating on Guided By Voices because their production doesn't sound like Nirvana, or more explicitly, hating apples 'cause they're not chicken wings. If Sam needs every record he reviews to sound like Bonnie Raitt's Luck Of The Draw, he is going to hate every single one of our upcoming releases, and has already missed out on one of the best local records this year.
Graeme Kennedy
Mckeenstreet Music
Portland
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