if you're looking for a piece that criticizes D'Angelo's album (which I still really like!) this piece by jazz trumpeter Nicholas Payton is incredibly well-written: https://nicholaspayton.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/will-the-real-black-messiah-please-stand-up/. I thought the artist's critiques of Garvey's review were spot on--she barely mentions the music itself, and then only in the context of collaborators. The review is beyond negative when it's calling your philosophical underpinnings into question and in a philosophical kind of context, arguing for your viewpoint is pretty standard/expected.
i love Sia and I know how long her career has been, and all her struggles. she suffers from severe bipolar disorder (something she addressed in her interview with Howard Stern [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7CQdmUQLN4]! and you guys thought i don't listen to him! i love her music. but it does feel a bit disrespectful to turn your back on people, and refuse to show your face. if she wants to be a behind the scenes songwriter i love that. if she wants to be a popstar, i love that. but it feels like a farce when she's onstage backwards... what does that even accomplish? part of being a musician is /performing/. and she's good at that! i wish she would stop with all the face obscuring stuff because we know what she looks like anyway.
Yeah, I thought it felt like she took a really different lyrical approach too! And I think it was for a specific reason—like she wanted to address these issues head on instead of obliquely. I agree about them not getting enough attention, I feel like they are gonna get big and this will be the album when they do.
I'm so glad you like her too! She has a lot of tracks out, but I don't believe she's released any sort of EP or collection of them yet—her record comes at the beginning of June! I think SG premiered one of her first-ever tracks a while back: http://www.stereogum.com/1663041/soak-blud-video-stereogum-premiere/video/. I think she's gonna be big, reminds me of how Lorde struck me before she got famous. Either way, I love her voice and songwriting style so much.
bloc–have you tried westbrook gose? it's not a sour but this crazy salty beer i got obsessed with last summer. sorry i'm co-opting this for more beer discussion but it IS friday night...
I listen to both Taylor and Beyonce almost non-stop. I love the music that both of them create a great deal. But yeah, I have some issues with Taylor concocting this fan-friendly "I'm your BFF" marketing campaign, and then after blatantly encouraging this kind of fan-identification, nipping it in the bud. Like I wrote, there's no way the money made off these items will conflict with Taylor selling them too. Hers will make just as much even if these were still allowed to be created. Her fans wouldn't be making this kind of art as eagerly if that wasn't the whole thrust of what 1989 encouraged. I don't hate Taylor Swift but I do think she does disingenuous stuff sometimes and it irks me. All the stuff you mentioned, why do you know that she does that? Because she meticulously catalogues it! I'm way more sick of reading about all the Good Samaritan public appearances that she's slated than supposed "clickbait" articles that might be offering much-needed critiques of our richest, most-powerful citizens. I stand by every single thing I wrote, and I also know all the words to "Style" and listen to it daily. I think she should accept the fact that if she wants to be an enormous public figure and encourage her fans to strongly self-identify with her lyrics, that she should be ready for them to create artifacts that reflect that.
Taylor is Type A control obsessive. She controls every facet of her empire. The comments from that Etsy seller were so real to me, like, she's not even making any money she just likes the music? And how does it possibly detract from Taylor's immense, never-ending wealth? I love a lot of her music but this struck me as totally at odds with the entire 1989 marketing campaign too, and therefore, even more icky (to use your word :)).
I thought the title was especially great, too. Can't wait to hear something from it! I prefer album announcements that come with a single too, but unfortunately the band didn't consult with me on this.
His new stuff I can take or leave, I used to be obsessed with Room For Squares (yes I'll admit it). This song "Vultures" from his Trio is sooooo good that I still listen to it some days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=So8RxLoiZw4. That guitar lick >>>>
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