― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 18:10 (eighteen years ago) link
Some of Have a Nice Day's lyrics convey what would be an interesting dissatisfaction if they weren't so evasively abstract, though here's one that's kind of engaging (and intrigued rather than dissatisfied): "She wakes up when I sleep to talk to ghosts like in the movies/If you don't follow what I mean, I sure don't mean to be confusing/They say when she laughs she wants to cry/She'll draw a crowd then try to hide."
For what it's worth, one of the tracks, "Who Says You Can't Go Home," is Top Twenty on the country charts: a Cougar-wannabe number that's neither terrible nor good.
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 18:16 (eighteen years ago) link
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 18:24 (eighteen years ago) link
(I wonder why that happened.)
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 18:34 (eighteen years ago) link
http://cdbaby.com/cd/kingwell
― xhuxk, Tuesday, 28 March 2006 19:03 (eighteen years ago) link
http://cdbaby.com/cd/kingwell2
― xhuxk, Tuesday, 28 March 2006 19:06 (eighteen years ago) link
>"I saw The Angels gig at the Palace in 2000 and it absolutely knocked me out. I was one of a dozen girls in a room of about 1500 guys who just went off and knew the words to every song. That gig got me thinking about how to create some kick arse rock n' roll that girls would dig as much as guys."<
>A four track EP featuring a cover of Fischer Z's 1980 smash "So Long" plus 2 originals.<
and yeah (as reviews on those pages say) i definitely hear the easybeats and suzi quatro in there, too.
― xhuxk, Tuesday, 28 March 2006 19:19 (eighteen years ago) link
(paraphrased from a long rant:) I think the "personality" is related more to the teen pop star system, connected to film/TV cross-platforming. There's nothing actually "new" about it except for the genre of music it's being applied to. Stephen Thomas Erlewine discussed this in his AMG review of I Am Me (but as a weakness of the album). Confessional rock creates a kind of personal narrative that a lot of other pop formats don't, and in this sense the star -- Lindsay, Ashlee, occasionally Hilary maybe -- lets audiences into a seemingly personal story in a way an anonymous (Veronicas) or unknown (maybe Avril or Michelle Branch when they first became popular?) can't necessarily. Maybe whatever qualities make Lindsay compelling as a movie star also make her compelling as a singer, even if its not the singing that stands out.
I guess my problem with Erlewine's criticism is that it relates to celebrity gossip culture, which I Am Me is certainly in conversation with, but not dependent on for resonance. It's Ashlee that sells the songs, not just the idea or celebrity of Ashlee (one reason why Lindsay's confessional album doesn't hit as hard...despite a few good songs, I just don't get the feeling that she's in control of the material she's singing, particularly the covers, maybe because so much of the material itself is weak).
― nameom (nameom), Tuesday, 28 March 2006 20:04 (eighteen years ago) link
Anyway, Lindsay's musical personality in "First" was strong enough to jar me in its difference from the character she played in Herbie: Fully Loaded. Not that personality is everything. I don't think Kelly Clarkson's musical personality is anywhere near as strong as Lindsay's, but I think she made an (even) better album. (Didn't think so at first, by the way.)
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Thursday, 30 March 2006 01:49 (eighteen years ago) link
Not that a cross between Shooter and Lindsay wouldn't be worth something...
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Thursday, 30 March 2006 02:12 (eighteen years ago) link
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Thursday, 30 March 2006 02:41 (eighteen years ago) link
"1.) superstition is not a religion.
"2.) one time I saw a guy getting a BJ in the car next to me on the freeway. and I was with my parents.
"3.) my electric blanket is on.
"4.) In This Hole by Cat Power makes me cry everytime.
"5.) I took 7 tylenols once. it was a really bad headache.
"6.) a boy needs to come home"
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Thursday, 30 March 2006 02:45 (eighteen years ago) link
Btw, I wish that someone here with better fashion sense than I (and that would be almost anyone who posts here) would say something about Ashlee's various magazine-cover appearances over the last few months: Cosmopolitan, Seventeen, Elle, and Jane. She's endeavored not to look remotely similar on any of them.
Also would like to know what you make of the various photos in the I Am Me CD booklet.
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Thursday, 30 March 2006 02:52 (eighteen years ago) link
― nameom (nameom), Thursday, 30 March 2006 02:57 (eighteen years ago) link
Ashlee seems to have a pretty sharp sense of humor about her music (the "LIKE YOU" bit in "I Am Me" is gold!), I imagine she gets a kick out of those ultra-posed pics. Skye is maybe more transparent about which songs she's "in" on.
Can't comment on fashion, as I have none.
― nameom (nameom), Thursday, 30 March 2006 03:12 (eighteen years ago) link
Whereas I think it's a bit of a truism about adolescence that we don't necessarily feel like there is some stable concept of ourselves that we can point to and say "that is what I am". "I am me" in this sense doesn't necessarily mean "I am this singular thing". Rather, it can mean "I am not prepared to a conform to a singular thing outside of myself; I refuse to play by other people's rules". The "me" in "I Am Me" stands in for the inadequacy of any other word to "cover the field" in describing what "i am..."
The incongruent (as in, compared to one another) setpiece shots in the CD booklet might in this sense be a tongue-in-cheek elucidation of the album title rather than an attempt to undermine it; their incommensurability bearing witness to Ashlee's sense of internal fracturedness.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 30 March 2006 04:20 (eighteen years ago) link
That seems more reasonable. I wonder how the cover (and maybe album) might be received simply as I Am... "I am me" is definitely a statement worthy of further analysis...the "to be or not to be" of teen pop?
― nameom (nameom), Thursday, 30 March 2006 04:53 (eighteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 13:09 (eighteen years ago) link
1. lily allan (u.k. i guess?) "LDN"2. wir sind helden (germany) "von hier an blind"3. aly & aj (u.s.a. i guess?) "rush" (this reminds of joshua clover i think it was calling beth orton's song with the chemical brothers i think it was a cross between fairport convention and silver convention, except this blows anything by beth orton out of the water)4. mahsar (iran) "vase chi"5. tinchy stryder f. wiley (u.k.?) "uptown girl"6. cansei de ser sexy (brazil) "let's make love and listen death from above" (a reference to how skye likes death from above 1979 these days?)7. light beat (tunisia) "nhary liel"8. amy diamond (sweden) "what's in it for me"9. saian supa crew (france) "la patte"10. dx7 (spain) "el plan semanal"
(and even that #10 one is pretty good, i admit)
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 14:20 (eighteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 14:48 (eighteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 14:51 (eighteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 15:05 (eighteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 15:10 (eighteen years ago) link
Yeah, this is part of it. Though what was that Hilary Duff song I mentioned way upthread? "Wake Up"? Is that more disco in my memory (or my memory of its video, anyway) than in its actual sound? I forget.
>wouldn't "L.O.V.E." count as r&b, albeit more Gwen than Teena?<
Yeah, I'll buy that. And also more Led Zeppelin than Teena, right?
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 15:24 (eighteen years ago) link
http://cdbaby.com/cd/mckee
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 15:43 (eighteen years ago) link
http://cdbaby.com/cd/hollistunes
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 16:15 (eighteen years ago) link
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 16:27 (eighteen years ago) link
Well, if the story's true, Kelly C. told Max Martin to redo "Since U Been Gone" with more drums and more guitars, which in the abstract could easily equate to "afraid to be too catchy," even if it actually amounted to an insanely catchy song, and that could very well have been why Kelly did it. But it's more likely that catchy didn't enter into it. I see what chuck's saying, but my suspicion is that the textures they're going with are just more appealing to their ears--they're not as dense, not as showy. Certainly in the case of Robyn the road to indie leads not away from pop but through Neptunes-y / Prince-y (hip-hop-y?) minimalism. But someone should probably interview Ashlee or someone and ask, if they haven't already (I don't keep up enough).
― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 30 March 2006 16:39 (eighteen years ago) link
The songs are solid, and more significantly there are three of them even though the show's only aired once. The show's theme is already climbing up the RD Top 30.
Soon she'll probably be credited under her real name. I'm pretty sure that Miley Cyrus has a deal with Hollywood Records in addition to "Hannah's" soundtrack on Disney.
From YouTube: Best of Both Worlds, Who Said, and This Is the Life
― nameom (nameom), Thursday, 30 March 2006 16:51 (eighteen years ago) link
I guess part of what I'm saying is that I wish teen-pop now had a little more "Pour Some Sugar on Me" or "Talk Dirty to Me," a little less "Love Bites" and "Every Rose Has Its Thorn." Does that make sense to anybody? Is it my imagination, or are most teen-pop hits *power ballads*?
― xhuxk, Thursday, 30 March 2006 16:57 (eighteen years ago) link
― Eppy (Eppy), Thursday, 30 March 2006 16:58 (eighteen years ago) link
I think that using new wave as the mediation point can make even the sillier material (like "Wake Up") seem oddly serious or earnest, in the sense of "this could be on one of the The O.C. soundtracks." It's that implied "soundtrack to adolescent life" vibe that comes off this stuff in waves. Something about "Wake Up", for example, announces, "Yes, I am a silly, fluffy, inconsequential song, but in the right time and place I could change your life."
Whereas with freestyle-pop, for example, it certainly can change your life, but it does so without necessarily announcing that possibility in advance.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 30 March 2006 20:56 (eighteen years ago) link
The Ataris.
― Zwan (miccio), Friday, 31 March 2006 01:47 (eighteen years ago) link
Humorful: Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson, Skye Sweetnam, Brie Larson, Marit Larsen, Robyn
I can't tell if she's being funny or not: Hilary Duff, Hope Partlow
Funny in her remake of "These Boots Are Made for Walkin": Jessica Simpson
I forget if they're funny: Aly & AJ
They probably think they're funnier than I do: Veronicas, Bon Jovi, Morningwood, Crazy Frog, Pink
Person who would do an amazingly great version of "Pour Some Sugar On Me": Ashlee Simpson (remember Xhuxk, I'm the one who says that there is a lot of Mutt Lange in John Shanks); "La La" seems very Joan Jett (but better); Ashlee's Deborah Allan disco-slut imitation during the "You make me feel like fire/Is this love, or just desire" break in "Burnin Up" is (1) an approach to disco by way of disco, (2) an extravagant bit of scenery chewing, (3) brilliant, (4) hilarious. It's exhibit 1 in my case for Ashlee playing dressup on I Am Me (of course every dance* song that contains a line such as "You make me feel like fire" is scenery chewing).
Although "Burnin Up" has a dub reggae arrangement, its main vocal melody is a sexy itchy vocal descent that sounds not at all like reggae but rather like "Habañera" from Carmen. It too is fun(ny).
*Not to mention nondance songs like Courtney Love's Robert Plant imitation on her (great) "Life Despite God": "Run away, your head's on fire/Can't tell the difference between hate and desire"; this too is a great bit of scenery chewing, even if it isn't disco.
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Friday, 31 March 2006 04:59 (eighteen years ago) link
I once gave a teacher the lyrics to "I Am a Rock" as an example of great song lyrics. But I was only 14 or 15. Since girls mature faster than boys, you'd think Brie's "I Am a Rock" phase would have ended a couple of years ago.
― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Friday, 31 March 2006 05:05 (eighteen years ago) link
NOT FUNNY. "I Am One of Them" to thread!
Brie's "I Am a Rock" phase would have ended a couple of years ago.
True, but I still haven't read any Henry Miller. Something to be said for a girl who claims to spend $60 on books in one go (w/ no mention of CDs, DVDs, etc). Also, is any of the new Lindsay humorous at all? Dahv has been mentioned before...
― nameom (nameom), Friday, 31 March 2006 05:40 (eighteen years ago) link
However....
>there is a lot of Mutt Lange in John Shanks<
...reminds me that Mutt produced Def Lep's power ballads, as well. So I still stand by my claim that too much teenpop is just way too slow (and also too "emotional," which is often not better than being fun.)
― xhuxk, Friday, 31 March 2006 15:02 (eighteen years ago) link
― Sterling Clover (s_clover), Friday, 31 March 2006 15:39 (eighteen years ago) link
What a DORK! That guy in the church band -- the drummer to be exact. He is way into me. I know it!! But all he does is look. Well I got sick of waiting for him to say something.
So right before the Youth Group tonight, I just walked up to him. I said -- Hey. We should hang out. You're in a band -- I need a band. (Plus I heard that some guys like girls that can approach them...guess he didn't.) He said, "I have to go pray now." ...all I could say was Amen!
I'll just take that one as a compliment. TOO BAD!!! Nobody can figure that guy out!
― nameom (nameom), Friday, 31 March 2006 20:34 (eighteen years ago) link
― Haikunym (Haikunym), Friday, 31 March 2006 20:45 (eighteen years ago) link
― Haikunym (Haikunym), Friday, 31 March 2006 20:46 (eighteen years ago) link
'LDN' is getting its official release as a 7"-only single on April 24th. Also, for excitable New Yorkers, Lily will be DJ'ing on http://www.eastvillageradio.com between 8-10 tonight, your time.
Popjustice has been getting in a lather this week about the respective returns of Siobhan Wot Used To Be In Sugababes and Alesha Wot Used To Be In Mis-Teeq. In both cases, they have a point.
― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Friday, 31 March 2006 21:18 (eighteen years ago) link
From Ireland, was on Regal, may still be. Myspace heeee-yah.
― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Friday, 31 March 2006 22:31 (eighteen years ago) link
Liking those Pennsy cdbaby new wave-synthed teen-rock disco-metallers Hollis more than I expected, especially ("Chemical," "Waiting," "Better Day," "Fade," "Automatic") when they can the gnu-metal shtick and let their girl Holly get her Patty Smythe and maybe Benatar on. "Fade" has '80s Bryan Adams riffs, and I can actually imagine people moving their thing to "Move That Thing," the song that quotes "Into the Groove". "Torn & Broken" and "Keep Me Down", where they try to act tougher, aren't quite so fun. But thumbs up regardless.
― xhuxk, Saturday, 1 April 2006 19:36 (eighteen years ago) link
― Eppy (Eppy), Saturday, 1 April 2006 20:02 (eighteen years ago) link
Also curious if Devo 2.0 are being played on Radio Disney given that the album was released by Disney. They're not in the Top 30.
― Tim Ellison (Tim Ellison), Sunday, 2 April 2006 06:09 (eighteen years ago) link
I suspect Disney labels get special treatment in being added to the general playlist (ex. "Hannah" was never actually voted into rotation), but Devo 2.0 seems to live or die by the two-step voting process like everyone else. The kidz still get their new wave from Hilary Duff.
― nameom (nameom), Sunday, 2 April 2006 06:48 (eighteen years ago) link
But I love every song on the album. If I'd heard it last year it probably would have been my third favourite of the year (I like it much more than Autobiography actually, though maybe that's because I heard it first so it hit me harder). I even love the powerballad "Say Goodbye", which has some awesome lyrics:
"Maybe/you don't/love me/like I/love you/baby/'cos the broken in you doesn't make me run"
Something about that line is so ace, maybe it's that it drags out the simple first part so much, then all the meaning is actually so tightly compressed in the second half.
― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Monday, 3 April 2006 06:08 (eighteen years ago) link
Yep, there's been some, Tim; search above!
― xhuxk, Monday, 3 April 2006 12:03 (eighteen years ago) link
― William Bloody Swygart (mrswygart), Monday, 3 April 2006 12:12 (eighteen years ago) link