Not to put too blunt a criticism on the music press, but can't they come up with some decent analogy's? I mean sure, music is a pretty hard thing to pin down, and I respect a lot of what they're trying to achieve by making comparisons. But the biggest shortcut to thinking has got to be the labelling of some new band or singer as "The Next XXXXXXXX" or "America's answer to XXXXXXXXX"
As I said, its pretty hard for reviewers to continually come up with new ways of describing music. Some do it well. Pitchfork (despite all their hipstery) the AV Club, and Drowned In Sound all put out good reviews. And don't get me wrong - theres value in making comparisons, it allows us to have a point of reference.
What I'm getting at is those reviewers who dismiss something instantly. Put in in a "same" box without weighing its own merits. Specifically, new UK Soul Singer Duffy seems to have fallen into this trap. Its not hard to see comparisons between Duffy and Amy Winehouse, they both sing Neo-Soul, have a retro sound and look, and to be completely fair, both released fairly similar hooky singles.
But a quick listen through Duffy's album, 'Rockferry' reveals an altogether different artist. Whereas Winehouse pulls a retro soul influence in her style, and lavishes in a rebellious image, Duffy actively seems to be trying to BE a soul singer of old. Amy Winehouse might be channeling the spirit of 60's and 70's northern soul, but Duffy appears to want to carve herself a place among them.
So, calling Duffy "The Next Amy Winehouse" sells everyone short. Winehouse, who's music has its own merit, Duffy, who is trying to build a career in an insanely competitive industry, listeners who need good commentary to make a decision, and most of all the writers themselves, who come across as having made a lame shortcut instead of actually trying to come up with something constructive and intelligent to write about an artist.
Anyway, here's something from Duffy...
May 20, 2008
May 16, 2008
May 8, 2008
Poor little, oft neglected blog
It's been a while, but these fingers have been putting themselves to better use. Sorta. I've been doing a lot of letter writing to friends at home and abroad. Just cos.
Anyhoo, now I'm back, feeling particularly sarcastic and with a head full of 90's metal to give you an insight into my roots, such as they are.
Yes, the simple truth of it is, I was a teenage metaler. Sure, in the late 80's I was listening to what most 10 year olds listened to. A random selection of crap that I saw on TV and liked the videos for. Yes good ol' RTR Countdown. In fact as I started intermediate I was favouring the current style of pop/r&b - Color Me Badd, Snap and countless other atrocities that represented popular music circa 1990.
Then I met a dude who share with me the delights of metal.
Ozzy Osborne was first, rapidly followed by Iron Maiden and Motorhead. I was enthralled. Sure, I'd heard metal before. I was a fan of Def Leppards Hysteria, and of course Guns N Roses had released Appetite for Destruction a couple of years earlier, but never to this scale.
I started getting into other metal acts, more of the time. Faith No More, Prong, Sepultura, White Zombie and Pantera. Oh yes, groove metal. Turns out that I got into metal just at the right time. The bad old days of 80's Glam were behind us, and the unspeakable horror of nu-metal hadn't even been conjured up by the evil sods in corporate music HQ. There are those who argue that metal reached its zenith in the 80's with the powerhouses of thrash - Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. I would argue that those people live in an alternate reality where they don't understand what good metal is. I would also argue that most of those bands released their best work in the 90's. Anthrax pulled the intense 'Sound of White Noise' out of the bag. Megadeth's 'Countdown to Extinction', and Slayer unleashed 'Seasons in the Abyss'.
Older legends of the genre aside, a new new breed of metal was forming. Inspired by the 80's thrash scene, Pantera released 'Cowboys from Hell'. Machine Head, Sepultura and White Zombie all put out brilliant albums in this style.
Nirvana's emergence as the 'next big thing' (oh how I loathe Corporate music HQ) signalled the beginning of some of the best hard music of the decade - Soundgarden and the fantastic Alice In Chains all led the charge, and other more punk influenced hardcore like Biohazard and Helmet stayed underground.
And after than it all fell apart. Bodycount influenced rap metal and all of a sudden the decade was drawing to a close and we had the abomination that is nu-metal.
Heres a wicked track called 'Walk' off Panteras best album 'Vulgar Display of Power' to get you rockin.
Anyhoo, now I'm back, feeling particularly sarcastic and with a head full of 90's metal to give you an insight into my roots, such as they are.
Yes, the simple truth of it is, I was a teenage metaler. Sure, in the late 80's I was listening to what most 10 year olds listened to. A random selection of crap that I saw on TV and liked the videos for. Yes good ol' RTR Countdown. In fact as I started intermediate I was favouring the current style of pop/r&b - Color Me Badd, Snap and countless other atrocities that represented popular music circa 1990.
Then I met a dude who share with me the delights of metal.
Ozzy Osborne was first, rapidly followed by Iron Maiden and Motorhead. I was enthralled. Sure, I'd heard metal before. I was a fan of Def Leppards Hysteria, and of course Guns N Roses had released Appetite for Destruction a couple of years earlier, but never to this scale.
I started getting into other metal acts, more of the time. Faith No More, Prong, Sepultura, White Zombie and Pantera. Oh yes, groove metal. Turns out that I got into metal just at the right time. The bad old days of 80's Glam were behind us, and the unspeakable horror of nu-metal hadn't even been conjured up by the evil sods in corporate music HQ. There are those who argue that metal reached its zenith in the 80's with the powerhouses of thrash - Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. I would argue that those people live in an alternate reality where they don't understand what good metal is. I would also argue that most of those bands released their best work in the 90's. Anthrax pulled the intense 'Sound of White Noise' out of the bag. Megadeth's 'Countdown to Extinction', and Slayer unleashed 'Seasons in the Abyss'.
Older legends of the genre aside, a new new breed of metal was forming. Inspired by the 80's thrash scene, Pantera released 'Cowboys from Hell'. Machine Head, Sepultura and White Zombie all put out brilliant albums in this style.
Nirvana's emergence as the 'next big thing' (oh how I loathe Corporate music HQ) signalled the beginning of some of the best hard music of the decade - Soundgarden and the fantastic Alice In Chains all led the charge, and other more punk influenced hardcore like Biohazard and Helmet stayed underground.
And after than it all fell apart. Bodycount influenced rap metal and all of a sudden the decade was drawing to a close and we had the abomination that is nu-metal.
Heres a wicked track called 'Walk' off Panteras best album 'Vulgar Display of Power' to get you rockin.
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