Posts by mark taslov
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Music, gee, what to say…
I don’t see how anyone who is interested in music could not find the whole phenomenon compelling. It’s a record that has shifted the axis of pop music.
That’s quite an interesting call, mammoth…and interesting. It’s undeniable that No 1 in ten territories (including the Euro digital Billboard chart) is absolutely massive, no question about it, both in terms of pop music and western pop culture.
As for anyone who may be in interested in music, well that’s a fair swag of ear, most in locations where this hasn’t made a dent. And I’m guessing by ‘interested’ in music we’re referring more to native language listeners who would use ‘authentic’ as a synonym for something akin to ‘genuine’ as opposed to those who would hear authentic as a dominant harmony followed by a tonic.
Personally I was drawn into this phenomena by a quote in week 3 (I think) of the Publicaddress Lorde campaign:
Lorde has given an interview to the Huffington Post and in the process given the impression that, at 16, she’s more lucid, thoughtful and centred than most adults I know. If she does go on to have a significant international career, it will be these qualities as much as her musical and writing talents that get her there.
And I figured that an interviewee whose copy was as compelling as her music must be one hell of a read, but it never struck me as that centred:
We go to house parties because we’re too young for the club, and we drink terrible vodka which tastes like dust because it’s cheap
and later:
I can’t touch alcohol at my age and I’m not sure I even want to when I’m older.
It simply stopped computing altogether, dead in its tracks.
No great loss as I only usually ever listen to the music anyway and the music is quite excellent pop music, my appraisal would be similar to Ken Double’s, but there’s always been one thing that I’ve been a little unsettled by and there’s an example of it in your post:
It was the song, the connection with Lorde’s producer and collaborator Joel Little
My go to descriptor of Joel Little is; cowriter of US number 1 Royals and US number 1 album Pure Heroine. It’s a case of the centuries old pop phenomenon, where the celebrity is built on the shoulders of others, Elvis or Michael Jackson being recent touchstones. And the last decade has seen a strong revival of this, The solo artist via team, filling the charts with commercials for their moniker, as opposed to the band of musicians where the audience knows the name of more than just the front person. In this sense, from the get go Lorde has reminded me of something akin to the Eurythmics, had they whittled it down to Eurythmic – David Stewart off the tour. A Showbiz approach.
I think the most entertaining thing I got served this year was a small helping of cultural nationalism:
It’s fine to celebrate a creative young Kiwi. It’s OK to sell music to Americans as part of getting it to more people’s ears."
A statement that I find impossible to refute, though it largely overlooked the context; a critique of the American vernacular and accent being used to sell music to the world.
James Robinson expressed what I was attempting to get at far more eloquently in his guest blog ’here:
Lorde’s entry into the pop-cultural spectrum in America has been epic. But in Royals, I only hear the sound of the first New Zealander to figure out how to sound seamlessly international. Its greatest asset is not sounding like it came from anywhere that isn’t America.
I too hear too little of home (which is what I want to hear, listening from afar) in the music, though ultimately that is by the by. The Rolling Stones have fairly well killed with this approach, which is why the nationalism stuck out, kiwi or not. This defensiveess in part could explain what appears to be something of an overcompensation in terms of the hyperbole exhibited in your paragraph Russell.
We’ve seen some comparisons made on this site, Kate Bush and Bjork as I recall, neither really stick for me. Which is largely a testament to my perception of Lorde’s originality and which to me would be a key requisite to the hits. On first listen the voice reminded me a little of Macy Gray (which quickly passed) while the minimalism echoed Gorrilaz and more recently James Blake via hiphop, these well crafted and produced songs with great lyrics together with a fresh stage presence are really something.
And to me that something is enough. Golden. I don’t see that any axis has tilted just yet, Kei$sha and Pitbull are hot on the heels of Eminem and Rihanna for the US No 1, so time will tell. And shifting the axis of pop music sounds like a heck of a burden for one (or two people) to bear.
But yeah, this music blog is compelling! I enjoy it.
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I enjoyed the music episode Russell, I was hoping to hear a just a little bit more of Shayne Carter’s stuff, but as he said…so I’m looking forward to the finished work.
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Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Yeah, Fair do's Bart, duly noted, thanks for responding and standing up against that.
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Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Bart Janssen,
Perhaps it’s just me, but following this up:
The hypocrisy on display from the editors at the Herald is disgusting.
So actually to answer the post’s question
“No, no we don’t need to be talking about Len”With some of this the following day:
the impact Brown’s affair had had on the Auckland “reputation that we have worked so hard to build”.
What a disgusting hypocrite.
Somehow diminishes the impact of the word ‘hypocrisy’ and its derivatives as part of your vocabulary, on this thread. just an observation.
Another;
Being one of the hyper-emotional few who has slipped through the cracks of the pervasive conditioning machine that would repress this type of behaviour, especially among adult human beings:
throw an enormous tantrum, screaming and crying so loudly
I find the association to be suspect and somewhat crass.
No harm intended Bart, I just thought I’d mention.
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Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Kracklite,
Sorry to barge in, I’m not a nice person
Yes you are, you are a good sort, a good sort of the best ilk, you're a very passionate advocate of noble and entirely human ideals, keyword is passionate at the mo, but you can't fool me with your renegade fighter getup, You remain both beautifully sensitive and highly intelligent to these eyes.
I've personally been in a situation where someone anonymously (via a friend's MSN) explicitly incited me to commit suicide over a three hour period, It never even occurred to me that something like that could be illegal, I wouldn't wish it on anyone, so thanks for the heads up. And yes, you are absolutely right that this is horrendous behaviour.
That being said:
"Boycott The Herald!"
In the same week as Russell is running a five day video series with the Herald. In the same week that he is stoking the fires of conversation on this Len Brown issue at 7am with daily links to their website, you know, posting that here was always going to be problematic and against the tide.
But still, I love you kracklite, and I don't even know who you are.
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Also is there some way to ensure that the versions they’re uploading are properly compressed? Almost all of the links I’m opening at the moment for your films (and there are tons – 40+ full length links for each film) are pretty heavily pixelated, which kind of jars after the HD ads, does MAFT handle this kind of stuff or is it left up to individual production companies?
The Pantene and Darlie adverts before Black Sheep are a nice touch;)
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Speaker: Levelling the Playing Field, in reply to Jonathan King,
That's awesome!
I'm interested to know, is much money being made off the versions of Black Sheep and Under the Mountain we're watching for free online in China?
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Congratulations Russell, ushering in the golden period, and on a station with mana to boot!
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Hard News: Friday Music: Punk rock and…, in reply to Russell Brown,
we couldn’t get through a week without any mention of Lorde,
That actually has the makings of one fascinating experiment.- some ween.
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Hard News: We need to talk about Len, in reply to Craig Ranapia,
Comparing the thread views here with the tens of thousands when this issue first emerged, in answer to the title up top, I’d respectfully counter; no we don’t.;)