Well, to be fair almost everything is anaemic compared with Duke. And yeah Idol has pushed that trend to it's limits. But I went to school with some really good musicians and singers and i hope that we can break through and bring things back to a good level. I just wish we still had vaudeville to cut our teeth in. The most useful thing about vaudeville was it separated those who had what it took from those who didnt in swift fashion because you would get the hook and be fired that very night if you were underpar. It forced a give it your all everynight attitude. Knock em dead being the goal of the performance because otherwise you wouldnt have a job the next day And of course you can use "desperate mellismas""Desperate melismas" is perfect. May I borrow it?
None of this has been helped by the Idol shows, where the singers have one song to prove that they have the chops if required, so they show them off where it's not required (or even desirable).
The trend was already there, as you say, to provide some interest in slapdash, formulaic commercial tunes but the "sensitive talented female singer with the big voice who is cute and can dance" meme has been done to death.
Bring on the edgy women, I say!
Didn't know about Bing singing faster tunes, apart from his version of Caravan that IMO sounded anaemic as compared with Duke's.
I agree with the article. I researched it online after reading this thread, and people are saying it has it's place in music, but it's simply been done to death. Although the death of it hasn't quite gotten here yet.
I also didn't know what "melisma" was, so I looked it up. lol
Hopefully it will go back to being used in moderation, but in the entertainment world that rarely happens.
Well, to be fair almost everything is anaemic compared with Duke. And yeah Idol has pushed that trend to it's limits. But I went to school with some really good musicians and singers and i hope that we can break through and bring things back to a good level.
Since the early days of Rock and Roll, Pop music has always been for kids. There have been brief blips in chart history when more 'mature' music entered the fray, but mostly it was always for the teen market. Probably why I stopped listening to the charts in the early 80s.
Weird thing is that music has become so disposable that a lot of teens aren't even that interested in it. My young nephews (much to my brother's disappointment) don't listen to much music: sport is more their thing. They take music for granted - something that's always there, available for free, why get in a lather about it?
I feel sorry for the Queen having to sit through stuff she thought was 'new-fangled' when all those 'sirs' were contemporary. No wonder she looked at her watch during the Olympics opening ceremony...should have played her some Glenn Miller...or Iron Maiden (I always get the two confused).
i'm starting to feel old .. i'm only 25 and already getting the "why can't music be as good as it used to be" complex ...radio-wise of course .. there are many newer bands I listen to .. mostly through pandora radio searching for older bands that kick ass and getting similar bands ..
pop is bad ...but even worse .. I can't understand this dub-step stuff for anything
to me it sounds like.. twitchy bass frequencies speeding up and slowing down in some wah wah wah wom wom wom wah wah wah wom wom wom kinda morse code then high pitched "psycho" shrieks .. crappy sampled drum beat, and one sentence of lyrical content repeated over and over again in a strange way ..
side note .. my guitarist is not nearly as close minded .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mma_uZoZa4&list=UUrAcUemsmUbv5Hf19gC5rLQ&index=7&feature=plcp that video is him tapping the melody to that "break your heart" song by taio cruz which is creative and pretty f'in nifty. there is hope for pop .. THEY JUST HAVE TO DROP THE SYNTHS AND BRING BACK REAL MOTHER-SMURFIN MUSICIANS WHO ARE AT AN ABOVE COMPETENT PLAYING LEVEL.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with synthesisers, Shadowlorde.
Absolutely agree!!!!
I think the last thing popular music needs is more guitar-based bands.
Nothing wrong with guitar based bands either. There don't seem to be all that many good new ones at the moment but that's a different issue which has more to do with songwriting.
What about John Mayer?
"Desperate melismas" is perfect. May I borrow it?
None of this has been helped by the Idol shows, where the singers have one song to prove that they have the chops if required, so they show them off where it's not required (or even desirable).
The trend was already there, as you say, to provide some interest in slapdash, formulaic commercial tunes but the "sensitive talented female singer with the big voice who is cute and can dance" meme has been done to death.
Bring on the edgy women, I say!
Didn't know about Bing singing faster tunes, apart from his version of Caravan that IMO sounded anaemic as compared with Duke's.
...and some Willson sisters AKA Ann and Nancy AKA Heart.Ann can still hit those big notes.
completely agree....in fact, a great guitar player is exactly what pop music needs right now, at the talent level of Jimi or SRV...or both.
JM is a young guy playing old school music - love the live trio videos with Steve Jordan and Pino.