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| it finally hit me that this is really going to happen...and it isn't going to be me.h: so... ****** really is getting married huh?
k: yeah.
h: ....
h: ....
h: yeah.
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| rantwow...i was rifling through some of my old emails and i saw this one from 2003 that i wrote to michelle and posted on the forums...i can't believe that it STILL applies 4 years down the track.
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okay.
here is my little rant.
if you knew me well enough, if a topic is raised which i am very passionate about, i tend to rant on and write lengthy diatribes pertaining to the issue at hand.
okay. now to the evil that is the music industry in general.
let me sum it up. in a nutshell.
abstract:
record companies will go to any lengths to sell records, no matter how crap the actual musical content is.
content:
i have a philosophical objection to artists such as britney, christina aguilera, shakira, backdoor boys, n*suck and J(gay)-lo.
[quote] Both Britney and Xtina have lasted a lot longer than many pop acts, because of the way they change, not just vocal talent. [/quote]
i wouldn't say that they've lasted long at all. look at acts such as michael jackson, elton john, billy joel, pearl jam, tool, radiohead, r.e.m., u2, elvis presley.
look at that list and tell me britney and christina will have career longievity that will be even HALF that of that previous list. these guys have had 10,15,20, even 30-year careers.
sure you could rebut by saying that these people have just begun their careers...sorry bub, i believe their careers have already peaked. how relevant is ricky martin now? how relevant are the backstreet boys now? how relevant are boyz ii men?
how relevant will christina be in 5 years time?
by then, there will be a new, gorgeous, sexy starlet with average to very good vocal skills who sells records based on how well they can gyrate their finely toned pelvis into the camera.
but the so called "anti-britney" backlash has already begun. michelle branch, avril, vanessa carlton and nelly furtardo are leading the way. they have their own set of evils, which i prefer not to discuss at this present moment, but at least it's not only about sex and over-produced records anymore.
next point. what matters most. (the music).
unfortunately, nowadays, the music itself doesn't matter. it just needs to be (vaguely) sing-able with thumping bass and body-moving rhythm, while a sultry artist with some semblance of talent shows off their new breat implants in the latest multi-million dollar video clip (for crying out loud, it's only for FOUR minutes at the most!!!)
shallow shallow stuff.
it needs to sell. that's the only criteria that is used to write songs.
no longer is it about writing good music, aesthetically pleasing and technically challenging music. it no longer challenges the listener to think, to appreciate, to savour.
no longer is it a true expression of the artist themselves. no longer do we critically think about music.
i used to sit at my father's record player and listen to guys like the beatles, the bee-gees, elvis presley and simon and garfunkel. i was blown away, not by the technical abilities of these guys, but how amazing at the quality of the songwriting. they were not buried under hundreds of layers of instruments. their voices were not digitally enhanced because they can't sing to save themselves (re: boob job bub britney).
these guys were REAL.
[quote] By dressing how THEY want, singing THEIR OWN style, and not letting themselves be sugarcoated or told what to do by a record label.
Xtina is now singing songs written mostly by her, and has a CD exec produced by herself. Her first few albums she didn't have that control. And if the blatant sexuality expressed in this current album is the way she really is, then good for her that she is finally expressing her true self and the way she feels instead of being censored by other people. [/quote]
i refuse to believe that these songs were written solely by her. co-written would be more believable. despite the criticism that pop music is shallow, even pop music has its complexities in its instrumentation and i don't believe that christina aguilera, or most other solo artists have the ability to fully orchestrate and score a whole pop song. listen to the keyboard runs sometime. some of them are very tricky. some of the harmonies are also fairly complex. i doubt they wrote it themselves, unless they're someone like alicia keys.
another thing is that everyone's stealing everyone else's sound. listen to a rap record. the number of samples that they used would fill up a whole page. macy gray's new song sounds like a bad jackson 5 rip-off. yuk!
being a drummer, i've noticed that all the beats are bloody the same! for crying out loud, use REAL musicians and get some original beats happening rather than using a computer.
which brings me to my next point. the pervasive use of electronics in pop music certainly has its place. to COMPLEMENT real live musicians. HOWEVER, the current common use of these computers is to REPLACE musicians, which i believe is wrong. it's to save money and maximise profitability.
there is nothing more fulfilling than playing in a band where all the musicians are locked into the same groove and it just feels beautiful. it's all about the FEEL. electronic beeps and blurps do NOT have FEEL. and that is when the music itself sounds and feels very artificial.
your argument would be that people like to dance to a good beat. a computer can do a decent job. but seriously, a really good drummer can do an even better job because deep inside, he/she has that tribal, primitive, percussive rhythm inside him/her that only he/she can impart onto the audience. i have listened to a lot of jazz music and even the jazz beat isn't the typical techno DOOF DOOF beat, it makes ME tap my feet along with the music because it has a beautiful FEEL to it.
creativity with rhythms can also extend to odd meters. being able to master odd times is a peak of your musical skills. odd times...no one can listen to odd times cos it's too different, right? wrong. in the hands of a skilled musician, playing a steady odd time, you won't notice that it isn't in 4/4 time. listen to dave brubeck's "take 5" sometime. it's in 5/4 but it feels so natural. listen to the goo goo dolls' "iris". it goes from 12/8 to 4/4 to 12/8 again and you won't notice it. yet that's a song you can still tap your foot to.
it's not about the perfection and polish. we're humans, for crying out loud. we aren't perfect. that's why "perfect" and "polished" music sounds artificial and a little unreal. that rawness is the spark that is missing in a lot of today's music as well. there is even a bit of manufactured "rawness" in recent songs as well...but it's still not REAL!!
why does christina have a live band? why do a lot of rnb groups have a live band? because there's the energy that only a live band can bring to the audience. only when they're touring, yes. if only for the visuals, though. however, why can't they use those same musicians in the studio? it would certainly sound better, in my opinion...
i may sound like a pretentious arts student, but i regard myself as a "music connoisseur" and to be honest, they seem to be rather thin on the ground nowadays, especially those who critique modern music.
sorry, i don't mean to bash, but there is more to music than the pop (even rnb) world where fervent materialism and sexuality runs rampant. and that's something i'm afraid not many people realise.
i don't mean to boast, but i am a gigging drummer and trained classical percussionist with a 10-year piano and violin background. i've played in orchestras and other musical ensembles and i will be doing further musical studies overseas (hopefully in canada). the reason why i mention that is that i just want to let you know that as a result of my training, i am a bit more aware of OTHER types of music out there joe public doesn't really know about. and so at least i don't sound like a ranting ignoramus.
my background also has helped me discover, for myself, what constitutes a "good" piece of music (yes it's subjective, but there are basic tenets that MUST be met)
i'm not saying that music should sound like the 60s and 70s. i'm not advocating to a return of flimsy low-quality and lo-fi equipment used back in that era. we've already been there done it. otherwise we would end up repeating ourselves. why can't we progress even further in musical artistry?
because it won't sell.
coming from an avid follower of pop culture :D
p.s. there's a lot more points i want to write, but for the sake of so-called brevity (damn it's a long piece), i'll save them for next time.
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| ARGHHHHH...my head hurts so much...it hurts
it's so frustrating
trying to reach out to you
and i get no answer
and i'm too shy to approach you
i know both our hearts are bruised and we're both hurting
but please give me a chance
we can both make a new start. forget our hurts, our pasts, and start again at the beginning
things can only get better from here
i can save you as you can save me
why won't you let me in damnit?
you're the first girl i have met whom i've seriously had no doubts over. over who you are, what you are
but i'm just so scared that i won't measure up to him
everything i do will be compared to how he did it
or everything i don't do will be compared to what he did do
i'm someone else; i hope you understand that
you're right; i don't know you.
but please give me the chance
to learn more about you
i hope to see you eye-to-eye this sunday
please give me a chance.
why does everyone have issues with people in their past they can't seem to let go of?
edit: i came too late. by then you were gone. next week, i hope. my last chance before i leave.
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| i was the nowhere manif anyone has seen cirque du soleil's beatles tribute "love" in vegas...then, this character tugged at my heart. he was me.
nobody wanted the flowers...
| | |
| i will rememberwhen i close my eyes...
...i see a small man in a suit sitting on a train, shirt untucked, tie loosened, holding a bouquet of roses, bought with every last cent he had in the world. he sits in his seat, looking at the ground, roses drooping, with the scenery rushing by in the window behind him and the lights above flickering.
crestfallen, devastated, he cuts a solitary figure.
it was a long train ride home.
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