The book was definitely an interesting read and I drew some inspiration from it to better my own descriptions (this is something I was struggling with). Hanif says, “Rap in my household oscillated between taboo and acceptable, depending on the year or the mood my parents were in, or if they’d decided to give up altogether and leave their four children to their own musical devices.” My favorite thing about this sentence is his verb usage. When I think oscillate– I imagine a fan moving back and forth, but Hanif uses this creatively to create a sort of imagery of the music that he was allowed to listen to. Throughout the book, Hanif also made sure to insert himself and his experiences in the relation to the  impact of the music. This allowed the reader to see who he is as a music aficionado. This is something I will be trying to do in my album review.

On the Ian Curtis episode of Lost Notes: 1980, Hanif does the same thing and shares his experiences as an epileptic to Ian Curtis’ performances. This stuck out to me, as I am also an epileptic and his description of Curtis’ performance reminded me a lot of what seizures are physically like. For example Hanif states that, “His movements on stage were chaotic and unpredictable: a moment of stillness followed by a windmill of rapid arm movements, or his body, twisting and turning into a brief and uncontrolled tornado before settling into abrupt calm again. There are videos online – compilations of these moments that people can watch and marvel at. Through the grainy black and white footage, the small fists of Curtis cut through the darknesses, like he’s fighting some invisible demon, circling the stage.” As an epileptic, Hanif undoubtedly understands what it is like having a seizure, so his description of Curtis’ performance is based off of personal experience. The words Hanif uses helps his listeners visualize Curtis’ performance. Words like, uncontrolled, tornado, demon, and windmill do a good job of re-creating the performance Hanif is analyzing.

Based on these examples, Hanif’s word usage and descriptions are what makes him such a recognized critic. Going forward, I have to do my best to not overthink my wiring and become more creative with the words I use to describe music.