Pop music, Lip syncing, and the Art of Mass Production.

Business first: I will in all likelihood not be posting next wednesday or the following one as it is Christmas/ New Years and I will be on vacation.  Things will resume the 8th in all odds.

Thanks for your patience. 

Now to music:

So, practically every five minutes in the music industry we see another performer “caught in the act” of lip-syncing.  Usually they are pop artists and it becomes a big deal briefly before it fades out.

I’m here to defend them.

(I actually got distracted from this entry arguing about weather pop music is art or not, I’m not exaggerating but that’s another entry(touched on it a bit here))

The lip-syncing is an artifact of the industry. There are several reasons for it. First, those of you who consider yourself fairly able bodied and have the space, try a little experiment for me. Stand up and sing. Not mumble sing, but actually sing. Now try to keep that consistency, range, and sound while crouching, jumping twisting and shimmying.

Not easy, is it?

But, people in Broadway do it all the time! If you watch a good musical the vast majority of the intense dancing is during musical breaks, not when the lead is trying to belt out a long note. Furthermore, Pop stars are not hired to be Broadway stars. It’s not just their talent they are hired for (nor should it be) it’s their marketability. They have to look good up close, be able to dance and be able to at least carry a tune. Moreover, they have to do so consistently. If they get 2/3 there, we fudge the rest in studio. If a rock star gets grungy, or his/her voice goes a little gravely it’s all part of the sprit of rock and roll. If a pop star starts looking older, or gains weight they are immediately torn apart.

So yeah, they lip sync. They have to or they’d get eaten alive for being imperfect. There are enough variables out there. And the more popular a particular song is, the more vital it is that everything sound *perfect* and homogenous. It is the double-edged sword of pop music.

Don’t misunderstand me I’m not saying pop music is more challenging than other genres. Each genre has it’s own unique challenges and struggles. It is part of what makes music so powerful. However, pop music is often unfairly criticized as being much weaker than it is.

Thirty Seconds To Mars with Queens of the Stone Age, The Foals, Alt. J and Grouplove

Venue: See previous

The show:

Generally: I hate arena shows, but being on the floor makes it a lot better. It feels a lot like somewhere like the Aragon–– Flat, crowed, but still spacious enough that those of us that want to can hang toward the back of the crowd don’t feel crushed. A word to the wise on arena shows: If you are deep in the crowd, you will get crushed and it will be a stronger crush than you’d experience anywhere else. It is the Nature of Arenas. I on the whole loved the show; it had a solid line up with fast enough pacing to be comfortable but not so fast that there wasn’t time for bathroom breaks!

Onward.

I missed group love, so no review there.

Alt-J (2.5/6): Hailing from Liverpool, Alt. J is an indi-rock group with a distinctive sound that stands out in a sea of generic indi rock. I’m not a big fan of their sound ––It’s not my style. However, they do what they do deliberately and with a keen sense of precision. Seemingly intentionally slurred and without particular regard for tonality, the vocals are simultaneously sleep inducing and grating. There was also an odd clicking sound that they brought into play in one of the songs, which pushed their overall sound into something jarring. That being said, the synth work is absolutely wonderful and their sense of composition is surprisingly precise.

 It did not work for me, however, I believe that it would for someone who could stomach that sound.

Foals (3/6) The Foals had a little bit of an an 80s sound, but on the whole not horrible, I found they were really not attention grabbing and had a little of the old school shoe gaze sound in some of their songs. I also noticed that their guitar was slightly out of tune, which is just sloppy. It distracted me quite a bit. That being said, I did really enjoy some of their numbers.

Queens of the Stone Age (4/6-- Probably would have been higher if I knew their stuff) Really fun show. It seemed as though they were there particularly to have fun and give the audience a good time. NO holds bared lyrics, without that hard edged in your face sound.  Queens of the Stone Age were a little retro and bouncy. The guitar work was no frills, but very articulate and it impressed. Or rather it seems impressive until their drummer cut loose. The drum work is nigh unparalleled in its sheer craziness that some how manages to maintain it’s precision. My hat is off to their drummer.

The place they lose points is the lack of interaction with the audience. He was mostly blandly making comments about the beach balls that q87.7 tossed into the audience, if he said anything about the crowd. I really enjoyed the overall sound of Queens of the Stone Age and will be looking into getting a hold of more of their stuff. They seem to mesh really well as a band and keep a laid back, yet still rock and roll atmosphere.

Thirty seconds To Mars (4/6) I was worried going into this show, as last tour it felt like lead singer Jared Leto was straining his voice significantly. And his voice has changed, however, he compensated very well by dropping a lot of the songs into a lower key. , I really think the band is trying to find itself again and the rockiness does show on the album Or at least that’s what the music feels like. All three of the members of Thirty Seconds To Mars have an incredible amount of passion and talent. It is very clear that they have a passion for what they do. However, Leto is definitively the force behind the band. Attention grabbing in both his looks and presence Leto brings a still strong voice a powerhouse of charisma and poise with a hint of well-deserved arrogance.

The amount of audience participation he encouraged was an absolute delight. The amount of conscious effort he’s put into being gracious, especially toward his fans is very clear. When I first saw him, he had a lot of the aloofness that he is criticized for and part of that will always be there, however, touring he’s picked up a degree of sincere, grace that I do hope sticks around. It very much becomes him.

While he a presence all unto himself, Leto is not the only talented member of the band. Younger Brother Shannon Leto keeps a thunderous, vibrant pulse on the drums and the guitar work from Tomo Miličević gave the music a brilliant edge.

The overall sound was very investing from a critical standpoint. I had a lot of curiosity going into this show, as their newest album is chaotic and not very cohesive. While the sense that the band itself is coming out of a rugged period and trying to find itself again, they are as cohesive as ever. It was actually difficult to pick out from the sound which instrument was which. The show was also a lot more produced than their previous works and I’m not sure how I feel about that.

On the whole, it was a wonderful show and I am anxious for their next evolution.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Genre, Pt. 2

Music has always been broken down into genres and eventually subgenres as people innovated and musical styles merged and split. People who listen to these genres often define genres, (or the genres define them, perhaps.)

If you were to look just at Wikipedia there are twenty-one primary genres listed alone, and dozens upon dozens of sub-genres. I can guarantee without even getting it into the fabricated genres named solely to make a band sound more impressive that there are twice as many sub-genres out there and more on the way. Music is in a perpetual state of evolution.

So, how does someone like me whose career is based on knowing things like the criteria for various genres and sub-genres even begin to tackle the concept of genre?
To be honest? I don’t to a degree. I could make an entire blog all of its own on genres/sub-genres some of with, frankly, I could happily go the rest of my life without hearing again.

So where does that put us?

As humans, we have a creative drive to make things that are uniquely ours or at least take owner ship of existing things. Musicians in particular have an itch to make their mark. This is in no small part how subgenera get birthed. It also stems from one person or band liking certain components of a genre but actively disliking others. And then the media asks, “Well what do you call yourselves?” Almost every artist I’ve seen answer this question starts with one sound “Uhhh” No one really knows, some bands will outright say “We cannot be classified” Unfortunately, in order for people to find your band, you need things to demarcate what your sound is to someone who hasn’t ever heard your work. You need to know whom to tour with. I vividly remember when Shawn Mullins was popular in the 90s. He’s a county/folk singer who really isn’t a fan of big crowds and yet he found himself opening for backstreet boys, as he recalled during one of the shows. His popularity faded from mainstream quickly partly because of this. You can’t bill a folk singer as pop. But if we lived in a world whiteout genera borders, we would be constantly doing just that. Things are changing; I’ll be the first to admit it. There are things like Pandora that analyze the sounds and aesthetics of what you listen to and try to find more but as is commonly quoted on memebase-- a lot of the music we love is a lot like music we cannot stand. Sub genres and genera markers can warn us about this and make billing, choosing and listening to music easier. There are probably at this point Billions of songs out there knowing the sub genes can narrow things down much faster than thumbing through all the songs out there.

So, genre has its use? But how the hell do we figure out what genres and sub-genres we enjoy.
It used to be you had to spend time either with friends with obscure taste, or waiting for a good song to play on the radio. Now it’s as easy as typing, all you have to do is find one song you like. Even then, its really easy to post on Facebook (for example) “Hey guys, I’m bored throw some good music at me.” Even clumsy old Pandora helps.

And for musicians it’s becoming easier to say “We’re like a fusion of subgenre A and Sub-genre B with influences from sub-genre C.” and as fans we can look up those sub-genres. The evolution continues.

Why, Yes, it is personal, pt.2 "Somebody's Gotta Feel This."

Yeah, yeah I quoted Kid Rock. Call the Taste Police.

Subtitle part two: Wherein Arin gets personal

I try to be not personal in this blog, but frankly I'm having a shit day. 

Another reason music is ridiculously personal, at least for me anyway, is that everyone has Pavlov-like reactions to certain music (You remember That One Song from a few entries back?) Maybe you hate that song because it's associated with an ex, maybe that other song makes your heart go nuts because it played when you found out you got into your first choice school. Maybe it’s that song you play to get yourself gunned up for something.

Whatever it is these songs are twined to things in our lives that are ours alone. They take us back to that one moment or that feeling. Sometimes you can't even explain it just *is*. 

Then someone has the damn nerve to say, "I really hate that song."

Oh, hell no.

 Weather we admit it or not we have this immediate gut reaction to people's reactions. Ever been forced to listen to a song you hate? Yeah. There’s that reaction again that "oh my god, I want to stab something."

And then when you try to share That One Song and someone else doesn’t like it, a part of you gets crushed. And it kinda ruins part of it. 

Folks, listen to me very carefully.

I don't give a fuck what song it is. It’s *your* song. Own that song with all of your heart. Don't let people try to fuck with that, even by accident. They don't like it? It’s their loss, not yours.

And that one song you hate? Fuck that song. You don't have to love all music ever.  But here's where I encourage a little compassion. Someone else might love that terrible song. It might have saved a life. Yes, that song. So have some respect about it. Stand by your hatred, but have respect.  

These are your songs. Especially in a day and age when we can pick and choose exactly what we hear. Music is that much more personal because you've hand picked these songs and artists.  This is your music. Not theirs. Own it. 

And don't be embarrassed by it either. I don't care if your song is "I love you, you love me" (or whatever that Barney song is called) own it. Hold onto it like the world's gonna catch fire. If it does it’s going to be you, the apocalypse and that music.