So, half a year ago I promised that I was going to start writing music review again. Readers, I lied. I opted out of public review and ramblings and instead started a small group email chain with some like minded friends (Made possible through Gmail's super sleak reply all/conversation style format). Will I be starting a blog at any point that deals specificaly in music review? Likely not. Will that stop me from occasionaly rambling about music, among other things, here? Of course not! That being said, I generally keep my musing to 140 characters or less, leaving this blog as bleak as the blood donors line at the Aids testing center.
Look at this man...
Here is whats on my mind today.
Look at this man...Is he not beautiful? His name is Gackt, and he's driving my wife crazy. My music taste in general steers far away from whatever the current definition of pop music is. Not because I hate it, I can respect why certain musicians are more popular then others, or more accessible, and I don't begrudge anyone for doing thier job well. Pop music is like soda pop, it's sugary and easy. Some of us like things a little more complicated.
That being said, Gackt is so Pop it's like someone dropped a pallet of mentos into a swimming pool of diet coke. And I love it! Gackt was the front man for the deranged psyco goth group Malice Mizer during the 90s. He toned things down a little for his solo career, more pop hooks, but still retaining some of the gothic flare Malice Mizer was renowned for.
Lately, besides acting in a handful of movies and video games, Gackt has been making the migration over to harder louder music, abandoning the sweeping string melodies of his earlier solo work (Like Mizerable). If you have seen my ipod, you would undoubedly assume that this would be a welcome change. It isn't. Some people need to stick to what they know, Gackt is one of them.
I might also add that he creeps my wife out, as does my unhealthy obsession. But come on, he's gorgeous! Don't tell me you wouldn't jump at the opportunity to share horse back with him on a wind swept tuscan beach, gripping him tighter and neslting your nose in his hair (It smells like vanilla) as he speeds on to his ocean view villa where who even knows what will happen? (I know what will happen, ROCKBAND PJ PARTY, I'm so there).
Now I should be clear, Gackt is not something I keep on my ipod, nore do I follow his movements like a crazed fanboy. I like to check in every now and then, but only to satisfy nostalgia.
2 comments:
Apologies first: Sorry for ranting in the comment section of your post.
Pop is not people doing their jobs well. It's the industry telling people how to do their jobs to feed the masses of radio cattle in exchange for ridiculous amounts of money. It's the 'artists' whoring themselves out to make a buck. It is easy because it is manufactured. You have a mold, and each different pop song or album is just adding variation to the generic mold. The pop artists bring the food coloring and perfume, and ask the big factory that is the music industry if they can use their one-size-fits-all-because-we-tell-you-so mold to make their music. It smells and looks slightly different, but has the same overall shape.
You can't begrudgingly give these people any kind of recognition for doing their jobs properly or well because their job requires little-to-no effort on their part to begin with, so it can't be that well done after all. It's not even like most of these pop artists can muster more than a feeble attempt at singing, let alone play an instrument. I'm not saying that some of rock/metal (typically what I listen to) isn't manufactured to some degree, but at least these guys have a measure of talent (though depending on the band, 'measure' is used very loosely). And these musicians at least survive through the industry without forced radio play or the industry's massive marketing and publicity engine. That I can respect.
And I too must respect (though I'll never admit it) some pop groups that have a fantastic singer, with pipes that could rival an organs. I respect that level of talent required to belt it out night after night for four hours at a time. I still don't like the music these talented singers sing to, but I can admit when someone can sing, and how hard it can be to keep that up. Heck, I try to sing while playing bass. You've seen the video links. It's not that pretty.
Good article. Now go listen to some Danko Jones if you want poppish music that isn't too bad. Yes I listen to Danko, and for the most part love it. Ooo ooohhh, or the new STP album ('mediocre' does not have enough synonyms for this album).
All good points Stashee, but the definition of Pop is kinda of subjective. Like you say in your post, there is metal and rock out there that is over-produced and formulated. I think of Nickleback, which I would never think to call "pop music", it is definitely "Hard rock", but it's just as manufactured as Brittany Spears, and all those other hard radio bands like Three Days Grace or Theory of a Dead Man are no different.
So when I talk about pop musicians, I'm talking more about people who make music that is both accessible and light. I'm not specifically talking about the Brittany's or Bieber's.
You take someone like Lady Gaga, who is definitely a "Pop Icon". It would be easy to lump her in with past female top forty super stars, but there's one big difference with her - She's a musician, and a damn good one. Look her up in her NYU days before she took on any of the super strange pop star garb she adorns now and you would see a super talented singer song writer. And the fact that she still writes her music and plays piano on stage show that she's just as involved with her music as say a metal musician (I pick metal because you do have to put a lot of effort into making it in that genre). All that being said, she is definitely a part of the manufactured music machine, but when I call her music "pop" I mean no disrespect. She is doing her job well, and so are a lot of other pop musicians.
So just to wrap up (super long reply), I don't use pop to mean "Manufactured radio music". I use it to define low substance easy listening. It could have lots of hooks, it could be catchy, it could just... be easy. It's not a bad thing, but I think most of us want a little something more.
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