About
Giorgio Watanabe
Editor-in-Chief of ROMBO Magazine.
Who
Giorgio Watanabe is the Editor-in-Chief of ROMBO Magazine, an independent, English-language music magazine. He signs ROMBO's reviews of singles, EPs and albums, along with interviews and features: 346 pieces so far, 199 of them singles, 91 albums and 35 EPs.
Here he writes what a review has no room for: an editorial once a week, about the music world as it looks from the critic's desk. Every review is in the index, and on his author page at ROMBO.
Words
Words are the only instrument a critic plays. They deserve the care the musicians gave their own, and the same silence around them.
Music
Music gets there first. A review arrives afterwards, and its work is to make the second listen richer than the first.
Culture
A song turns into culture once it leaves the room where it was made: whoever hears it, whatever they make of it, wherever it ends up. Writing about music means following it there.
Innovation
The new rarely announces itself. It shows up as a small decision nobody had made before, a sound in the wrong place that turns out to be the right one. Noticing it is most of the job.
Independence
An independent magazine answers to the record and to the reader, and to nobody's release schedule. That is all of its freedom, and all of its responsibility.
Send a record
Releases for review go through the magazine. Write to ROMBO from its contact page.