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say what you will about FIOE, but this song is top five strokes for me
coincidentally, the artist emulated here, james brown also had a history of assaulting women with one rape accusation that never made it to court.
a huge James Brown copy...but is that really ever a bad thing?
strip away the glitter and googly eyes, and you have pretty much a standard, underwhelming cover with a slightly horrendous bridge. I've never been huge into flaming lips, kinda have always felt like i should dig them but i was definitely expecting more for this. The flaming lips (mainly Wayne, i guess) have always been praised for their big imagination on stage and in the studio, but i see none of that here. I would've been more pleased if they completely destroyed the song and turned it inside out, but this was pretty tame and by-the-numbers. A lot of frosting with no cake.
I get that people like her because she's a talented, pretty, young songwriter whose had enormous amount of success. And there's nothing wrong with that. I get the whole appreciating the "craft" thing with her manufactured pop sound. But there's something missing here, a real reason to write anything about it. I like to read articles on Stereogum that are interesting viewpoints about interesting people and intriguing music, but i really don't see any of that with Swift. 1989 might have have competent pop songs, but it's also produced/co-written by the same people that have given us all the other pop "craft" over the years. So is there really anything to write about here if her music is crafted by the same people who churned out Backstreet Boys and Britney Spears hits? She has more corporate endorsements than she has albums at this point. It just seems similar to a food blog writing about the merits of Coca-Cola. Yeah sure it's a quality beverage, but it's a brand that has a more recognizable logo than flavor. What is there really left to say about it? She isn't a soulless pop machine like others, but I don't think there's much left to say at this point other than "Taylor Swift is still very much popular and profitable." In order for something to become this popular in music, it can't afford a ton of depth without alienating her target market, which is everyone (like Coca-Cola). This is why this narrative seems so pompous and tiring to me, because it simply doesn't exist. Meanwhile, the constant barrage is forcing smaller artists off the front page and into the back reaches of the news log. Plus I already have ads everywhere in every other site forcing her image into my life. Stereogum is following; not leading.
I went into this wanting to hate it, as Pet Sounds is very near and dear to me. But I actually kinda liked it, beautiful visuals and some good performances. Sure I don't like some of the singers in it (i just don't like Lorde's delivery at all, too slinky/sultry),but i think it kinda worked. I also watched the 'making of' video and although it was commissioned by a huge media conglomerate, it seemed like a pretty sincere endeavour (produced by Ethan Johns no doubt!).
I saw these guys live a couple nights ago, clearly something special is happening here...great performance
Sure they don't sound alike anymore, but they definitely used White's sound as a springboard to achieve a certain level of success; that's the dirty part of it. It's kind of a "fake it til you make it" situation. I definitely think Dan Auerbach has immense talent for sure (I love that Dr. John record to death!) but fair is fair.
They needed to transpose that song in a better key to suit her voice so she could really wail in that chorus. Something tells me she would agree with me, probably my ego fantasy :p
Hey man, this is no place for sobering reality, this is the internet!! All joking aside, this essay is pretty amazing. I'd argue that trying to recapture the consequence/responsibility-free, inhibition-less feeling of childhood is why a lot of people like to get drunk every weekend. It's all about recreating the reckless abandon of youth, a reaction to the confines of the work-week. That being said, I can't picture a day that i'll stop eating boxed mac n' cheese! But then again I'm still technically in my 20s and don't care about my health..
what a great comment section, I was glad to find out i wasn't the only one who tears up in that epic build-up. I love the song so much, but I don't listen to it very often because the "feel" is so intense!
I'll preface this story saying that I had no cable TV growing up. did anyone else discover this band via the Buddy Holly video on the Windows 95 CD-ROM? cuz I did. Until I looked them up online on my 28K dial-up internet, I actually BELIEVED the video. I had watched several episodes of Happy Days on afternoon syndication and thought it was an episode I hadn't seen! I asked my dad about it and thought no because of how modern the guitar tones sounded. It wasn't until they performed 'Hash Pipe' and 'Island in the Sun' on SNL that I saw them for the first time (albeit without Sharp). I immediately asked my parents for new glasses, Rivers-style black rimmed. I'll take credit for being the first person in middle school for having them, lol The Blue Album turned me from a guitarist into a songwriter, still one of my favorite albums of all time.
First Death Grips, now Daft Punk. Why are entertainers fucking with us like this? In an over-saturated landscape of "indie" artists all competing for an audience, is this what passes for promotion these days?
agree, except it should be MySpace not Facebook. haha remember MySpace?! where everyone had Donnie Darko and Fight Club in their favorite movies? Radiohead and Death Cab in their favorite bands? Chuck Klosterman shit in their favorite books? good times?
the problem with these "Deconstructing" articles is they discuss a hot button issue that's a few days (even hours!) old and rush to form a judgement/perspective. I'm assuming this one was rushed in particular due to the numerous spelling/grammar errors.
Lip-synching to a recording of your own song for six hours is ART.
it's cuz they're being propped up too fast. These guys, while having some genuine talent, are 90% aesthetic, cool clothes, wacky personality, MGMT-hacking (yes, I went there), bunch of cute indie darlings. aww aren't they cute, they write pretty songs but argue all the time! I do like a few tunes I've heard, but it's all too much.
Sometimes downvote rage breeds great artistic vision. props to you, adddo!
this is all true. but i think the real question is, should youtube be making artistic judgements like it did?
that was a little tantrum-y, it just boils down to this. People get really offended when they get told what to do, but it's all about respect for the artist. A lot of great stand-up comedians have to deal with this too. If Yeah Yeah Yeahs wants me to put my phone away for couple hours, fine, no big deal.
"Each assumes that the audience as a whole will be more rewarded if that whole audience is forbade from these activities (activities that are inherently creative)." creative?!? what's creative about pointing your cell phone at the stage? What's creative is what's happening ON stage. The constant need to interact with your surroundings with your phone is ridiculous and made to seem like you're somehow "documenting" something and it's part of the "experience". Call it what it is, messing around with your fun toy smart phone. I know there are some dissenting opinions, but would anyone really enjoy the concert less without taking pictures/videos of it? (in all honesty, it's mainly the videos that bother me because the phone is up in the air in front of my face for too long)
my thoughts while watching Thicke video: “Hey, look! Tits and ass!” my thoughts while watching Timberlake video: “Hey, look! Tits and ass!”
is there any actual "deconstructing" in this article?
I feel like this new album will be similar to last M.I.A. album where it will get a "love" or "hate" reaction depending on who you are and how you interpret it.
There are very few spontaneous moments left on television in general. So when angry-Kanye performs live on a show he hates, you know i'll have my popcorn ready.
1. For some personality types, "putting yourself out there" is a difficult thing to do. For her it's 24/7 obsession; so she gets no props there. 2. Pioneering is quite literally defined as being first. 3. She does not own up to anything. 4. Your copious spelling/grammar mistakes make it hard to take you seriously.
Am I mistaken or is MGMT getting better? what a great track..
In the same situation as choosing between Weezer's Blue Album and Pinkerton, or Bowie's Low and Station to Station, Fear of Music and Remain in Light are equal in value. Can't decide!
absolutely. I got goosebumps at that strokes show.
Though I love Berlin, I am straight baffled at the inclusion of "The Kids". Almost any other song on that album would've been a better choice.
so..good for them i guess? (that throwback might be too stale, 'gum in-jokes should be freshness-dated)