Well, of course I will. Because I still believe in it.

But there are times, particularly when I read the CD reviews on the various major music websites like metacritic or pitchforkmedia, when I doubt that you can actually say something only remotely comparable about art at all.

As I burst out earlier on Twitter, I yesterday bought the new Wilco album "Sky Blue Sky". It was instant love. While "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" had always been somewhat too esoteric for me to fully appreciate aside from songs such as "Jesus etc." and one or two other, I could instantly appreciate the mellow, silent and kind of uneventful beauty of "Sky Blue Sky". Even though "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot" had received a perfect 10 out of 10 from pitchforkmedia.

Yesterday, pitchformedia ripped "Sky Blue Sky" apart with a measly 5 out of 10. Nevertheless, the album hovers around 8 out of 10 on metacritic.

The latest Laura Veirs "Saltbreakers", a record I can't help myself from listening to for the past 10 days or so, was also shot down like a lame duck (4 out of 10) while the recent Battles release, "Mirrors", is praised without end - a CD I just can't stand, even though I do can appreciate its innovative musical value.

I won't be drawn into philosophizing about why all this is so. It was just an observation I wanted to quickly jot down. And my being so puzzled as to whatever ground there maybe for gauging what, in my personal view, still exists. The ability to appreciate that certain something about beauty that is indeed common to all of us.