« Thoughts on the future of Websnark... in a technical sense | Main | You know, this is the kind of trinity I can get behind. »
Eric: A music thing
Can someone tell me why the incredible, complex, musical, sophisticated and somewhat angry Nellie McKay is considered "Pop?" Pop these days makes me think of Britney Spears and her demon brood. McKay doesn't seem to fall into that so much as "twenty-five years from now we will fucking revere her as a genius in an age of vapidity."
Or am I missing something?
Posted by Eric Burns-White at January 2, 2005 10:53 PM
Comments
Comment from: sylvan posted at January 3, 2005 12:36 AM
Britney Spears does not define pop music. Pop is still around, and it's quite healthy without her. She isn't even worth thinking about. The following character is a representation of how much lasting power she has as an artistic and cultural entity: .
Or as Andy Partridge once said: "We come the long way / we come the wrong way/ we play the songs much too loud / THIS IS POP!"
Comment from: Eric the .5b posted at January 3, 2005 1:01 AM
"Pop" is just "popular" music that isn't structly one genre. If it's not some form of country, R&B, rock, or hip-hop, it's pop.
That being said, some of my favorite music right now is classified as "indie pop", which is rather amusic.
Comment from: Ibsu posted at January 3, 2005 3:21 AM
Think of the song "sari." I can see it on MTV.
I also thought the album was a bit immature and uneven, personally. Half of it was really good, but the other half just didn't work for me. I would have liked seeing her spend a couple of years paying her dues, I think. I feel the same way about Avril... Eventually she might be really good, but right now it's fluff.
Or perhaps I'm a grownup now. *sigh*
Comment from: Reinder Dijkhuis posted at January 3, 2005 5:28 AM
I was also unimpressed with Nelly McKay. She can write songs, and does, about half of the time. Her voice needs to grow stronger. A fine debut for one so young, but not Kate Bush in 1978.
Pop? Well, it's got catchy tunes, see.
Comment from: Kris@WLP posted at January 3, 2005 10:06 AM
Don't put too much reliance on a sorting system which files Jimmy Buffett under "Rock & Roll."
Comment from: CrazyDave posted at January 3, 2005 1:02 PM
Well remember the Beatles were a pop group.
Comment from: lochinola posted at January 3, 2005 4:10 PM
Does it help that the Rhapsody online music service lists her as "Baroque Pop"?
Comment from: Ibsu posted at January 3, 2005 5:43 PM
I don't even know if it fits in with Baroque Pop. I think of things more akin to The Shins or Stereolab for that (also listed in Rhapsody as Baroque Pop.)
I'd put her next to Bette Midler in Vocal-Pop.
Comment from: Kris@WLP posted at January 3, 2005 10:40 PM
Might I, again, suggest that the entire classification system is baroque?
(pun alert for the slow to grok)
Comment from: Ray Radlein posted at January 4, 2005 4:27 AM
Naaah; The Shins are Twee Pop; Stereolab is Lo-Fi.
This is what I imagine the Questionable Content message boards must be like. :-)
Comment from: Ray Radlein posted at January 4, 2005 4:31 AM
Oh, and I agree about Avril, FWIW. When her CD first came out, Best Buy had it for $5.99 or so, so I took a chance on it (heck, the same trick had worked with Nelly Furtado when Whoa Nelly first came out), and found it not half bad. No Kate Bush in '78, as you say, but it was certainly better than Y Kant Tori Read, at least. :-)
Comment from: Mr. Guilt posted at January 4, 2005 1:00 PM
Nelly McKay is pop because she produces the same bland, contrived music as Brittney Spears and her ilk.
Post a comment
Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)
(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)