Xgau Sez: November, 2025

What's in a name, live vs. recorded, tuneful vs. melodic, Pulnoc at P.S. 122, a lost Clash cassette, and a half-century-plus of delightful rhetoric.

I have come across your name so many times in my search tracing my dad’s side of the family. I did a Google search and came across this post of someone asking about your last name. I read the same things about the meaning but my dad also told me it had a French spelling and sound prior to the current spelling. Have you ever come across this? His name was Henry William Christgau. He passed in 2018 and was 63. I am from upstate New York but live in Florida now. I love my last name and that it is rare. I did trace the origins and where it came from in Germany. Side note I appreciate your Taylor Swift reviews—die hard Swiftie here and was pleasantly surprised to see your ratings. Reputation is my favorite album and so misunderstood by those who don’t follow her and what has happened to her. “This Is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” is a dis track for Kayne West and all the drama they caused her. It is one of my favorite songs on that album. — Andrea Christgau, Florida.

In my family lore the name Christgau is either North German or Danish—there is a Danish coffee brand of that name, an empty bag of which hangs on my office door. And huzzah huzzah, as noted in a strange coincidence you can find below but as I’ve long known, Minnesotan Victor Christgau was an early director of the Social Security Administration, which is something for all Christgaus to be proud of. Plus, oops, a Minnesotan jerkola named, oops, Robert Wayne Christgau was once arrested for driving his pickup with a young kid on the roof. Hope he did hard time for that.

Being born in 1961 and not getting into rock music until the late ‘70s, I was not contemporaneous with a lot of rock’s goings-on in the ‘60s and ‘70s. For example, Emotional Rescue was my first Rolling Stones cassette. I did voraciously listen to everything I missed, thanks to several guides, notably Paul Gambaccini’s Rock Critics’ Choice: The Top 200 Albums (to which you were a contributor) and two copies of Christgau’s Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. What I could never replicate was the live experience. While the Stones “Not Fade Away” was easily accessible to me, the visceral experience of their live show from the ‘60s and ‘70s was not. My question is, how crucial is this? Are they two different experiences or essential parts of one? Is it the difference between viewing (and being a part of) history and reading about it or simply different facets? Or is the difference simply unavoidable? — Ted Raikin, Metuchen, New Jersey

The answer, obviously, is that they’re two different but related experiences, with the recording generally more foundational, although it happens a lot that seeing a performer you’ve never heard before live inspires you to buy his/her/their recordings. One nice thing about records is that they tend to be a lot cheaper; another is that by familiarizing the listener with the artist’s material they generally render the performance more revelatory. And of course, many artists make more money on the road than they do from royalties.

At least a couple times in your reviews you’ve made the distinction between “tuneful” and “melodic” music (I’m thinking in particular of your reviews of the Beths’ Expert in a Dying Field and Sleater-Kinney’s The Woods). How exactly do you personally distinguish the two terms? — Rogan, Melbourne, Australia.

Tuneful, implies simple and catchy. Melodic has more duration in it. Which is not to say I feel any need to be strict and/or absolute about the distinction.

In 1989, you named Pulnoc’s Live at P.S. 122 Album of the Year. Was it the Eastern European Revolutions that were a shock to you? — Barbara, Prague

Shock? Nah. Barely even a surprise. As I recall, it was my minimalist avant-garde colleague Tom Johnson who first alerted me to the Plastic People of the Universe, who evolved into Pulnoc. As for the P.S. 122 show, which Carola and I attended a few blocks from home and enjoyed tremendously, someone but I no longer recall who who made me/us a CD of that show, which Carola and I enjoyed tremendously just this morning. Under the title “Reality Czech,” Carola also reviewed Jana Chytlovas’s documentary The Plastic People of the Universe. And as it happens, my fan Joe Yanosik has published a book called A Consumer Guide to the Plastic People of the Universe.

Hi Robert, Your review of The Clash US version mentioned a tape you made of the Clash singles from that time period and how dandy it was. Do you still have said tape and if so, what was the sequencing of the songs. — Chris Kelly, Raleigh, North Carolina

By moving coats around in my hallway I was discombobulated to discover I’ve shelved, alphabetically of course, what looks like hundreds of homemade cassettes, none of which I’ve played in years. Couldn’t find a Clash one, unfortunately. Sorry.

Dear Mr. Christgau, Why do you dislike and rag on so much delightful music? — Brent, New Orleans

Because over half a century I’ve found that a lot of people either agree with me about what’s “delightful” or enjoy my rhetoric.