ALEX ROSS OF THE NEW YORKER WINS A MACARTHUR GENIUS GRANT

Alex Ross? A music critic wins a MacArthur? I always resent somebody winning one of these who writes about people who make stuff instead of making stuff, unless the writing so originally frames the making that our understanding is radically refreshed. But Ross is not a critic of striking originality. He bemoans the false imposed boundaries of genres, particularly between classical and popular music. That is not new, right? The guy is good at framing Radiohead for the aspiring haute bourgeois liberal conformists who take the New Yorker as gospel. His reinforcement of Radiohead as the one "smart" band, because they listen to Messiaen, is annoying. Isn't there room for more than one "smart" rock band? One that hasn't been designated as such by every other critic and lagging underexposed hipster? One that isn't as self-consciously "smart," maybe has a sense of humor? Middlebrow avant garde.