Justin Timberlake in 2013

I don't really see the point in focusing on the bio of the artist, especially in the case of a pop star like JT where it's not like he's got a particularly interesting life or part in History with capital "H"...
and anyway, in any form of art, I don't care about the author's life, personality, etc (the old debate about the artist/the art, especially in cases like Celine, etc).
for me, only the art matters.
most of the times I don't know anything about the personal life of the artists.
and if for some reason I get particularly interested in the artist I can dig up to know more about him/her but that's something else.
anyway, back to 20/20, I can totally enjoy it without knowing/caring whatsoever about the context of its creation...
it's only popmusic (and I like it) !

This thread is bringing back fond memories of all the times I've argued with Alfred about the relevance of biography.

normally I don't like focusing on the bio of an artist (or writer, filmmaker, whatever), and it results in a lot of bullshit generally and distraction from what artists are really doing, but with celebrities (which Justin is) you almost have to -- to a certain extent -- because they do.

I'm reading one on Isherwood now!

xpost

Four or five spins later: i can't get with Suit and Tie or Spaceship Coupe or Mirrors or Blue Ocean Floor but the rest of the album is loads of fun, fuck tha haters

you named like half the album

i don't really see how this album can be viewed through any lens but marriage, but that's just me. the fact that it's to a famous actress is irrelevant tho, there's nothing interesting about their relationship.

The arrangements (esp the vocals) are amazing and gorgeous. I think that's where "Mirrors" (too stiff and bombastic) and "Blue Ocean Floor" (too bare) fall down by comparison to the rest of the record.

i named like 40% of the album; the six other tracks are quite good and some of them are excellent
so a more reasonable title might be 20/260 Vision

But I love how the bombasticness of Mirror collapses in the quite lovely outro. I really think that song is made better by it's length.

the more I listen to the album, the more I like it.
I know (almost) everybody finds it awful but I think "blue ocean" might be the most moving song he's done yet !
simple and beautiful.
obviously this album can't be compared to the previous ones as far as "hits" are concerned but as an album I think it's my favorite, now.
it's very smooth.

A friend sent this link to me: http://howupsetting.tumblr.com/post/45998580240/when-the-now-infamous-janet-jackson-incident

as bad as i feel for janet for the bs surrounding the super bowl incident but the cw that's arisen that it's responsible for killing her career is somewhat off imo - her career needed a defibrillator at that point already, the incident just made a true comeback that much more difficult (madonna might've been able to spin it, but someone like janet was never gonna be able to as the following months proved). i'm not sure how much damita jo (which came out a couple of months later anyway) would've been a hit under the best of circumstances. she was nearly 40 and this wasn't the 80s when the radio had plenty of time for middle aged folk. i remember at the time wondering if timberlake's reaction (which was pretty understandable - survival's the first instinct - and if he didn't 'defend' her or whatever he didn't exactly throw her under the bus entirely) would have any serious negative impact for him, it might've helped him that it came in a down point in the cycle for him post-justified and pre-fs/ls. have just been assuming he's a likely super bowl performer (though it being in new jersey next year probably = bon jovi right?), i guess it's possible his attachment to that incident would cause the league to block him though considering they didn't blink at the outrage over beyonce's performance this year i think they've moved on as well.

One can argue that Jackson was in the beginning of a career decline that no wardrobe malfunction would have decelerated and still think he cut his losses pretty ruthlessly.

it ain't show friends

but how quickly one dismisses T-Lake depends on how much you think he sucks already (I don't).

I really really don't think JT was clearly paying attention to channel orange, though. nothing here is even remotely like channel orange. (not even Blue Ocean Floor!)

Don't know if I buy that Janet's career needed a defibrillator at that point. My opinions aside on what All For You would go on to represent for her later period musical output, it was at the time a well-received album critically and commercially and the singles did very well for the most part, so it seems odd to say her career was in need of resuscitation following that album. I don't think it's a coincidence that she went from having three top 5 hits with tons of radio support to having all the singles from Damita Jo save for one failing to even chart on the Hot 100 and received very limited radio support, especially when the only thing to happen between these two album releases was the Superbowl incident. The first single from Damita Jo was even released the very next day after the Superbowl, so I think it's fair to say it had a serious negative effect.

Yeah I don't like how CO has become a shorthand for "long electronic introspective music."

yeah i wasn't on board w/ jt immediately, i always favored bsb plus i remember him kissing and telling about britney on stern and was offended (reminded me of the kennedy quote about nixon: 'no class'), think it took til the third hearing of 'like i love you' to buy in. dude shot an awful movie in town here a year or so ago - everyone i know who dealt w/ him had nothing but good things to say about him and he gave the record store i used to work at a shoutout on twitter so totally believe dude really is a bro. at the same time have always wished he could sing half as well as usher.

pretty sure if you said, "Hey, bro, I love you but you're no Usher" he'd agree and wouldn't look like Nixon thanking Ike for something.

Have to agree with the linked piece in that the urgency with which some folks are eager to crown him is a bit...disquieting. Especially the weird postracial warm and fuzzies feeling he apparently inspires in those who feel compelled to write about him so breathlessly. Rolling Stone had already crowned him new king of pop in 2003 when he only had Justified under his belt. But clever marketing is a hell of a drug.

damita jo still went platinum (which is fucking amazing tbh), all for you had crazy promotional muscle behind it and only went double platinum, following up the velvet rope which with even more promotional muscle (SIX videos) only went triple platinum - half of what janet and rhythm nation sold (a damn shame as velvet rope might be her best album). i could buy that the super bowl incident caused the label to cut their losses earlier than they might've otherwise, but arguably so did her failing to recover (she didn't do snl til april) or her career already on a downward slope or just yknow she was middle aged in a market that had very little time for middle aged artists. also yknow damita jo was her weakest post-control album by far at that point.

rolling stone declared rock back on the basis of the vines first album

it's funny when there was that questlove quote about timberlake not doing like mj hooking up w/ teddy riley and sticking w/ his 'quincy' in timbaland instead of working w/ say diplo i blanched at the thought of timberlake working w/ diplo and then remembered o right i fucking loved 'climax'. but timberlake couldn't pull off 'climax'.

JT just seems like an avatar for 30somethings who miss when chart pop USED to be cool and can't be bothered to figure out if there have been any worthwhile producers since the heyday of Tim/Neptunes

I just caught a bit of the album release special on the CW and JT gave me a vibe of... edward norton

at his dorkiest he gives me a Norton vibe. From "The Honeymooners."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsiIPY_vzFU

I didnt ask for it

i miss edward norton

what is coke snortin'

well played

o man remember this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbaW0HZ_Qy8

the era when actors boasted Clinton hair.

lol

this didn't actually happen but i'm gonna just outright lie here and say that griel marcus did a riff on norton's character in primal fear as a clinton analogue in a real life top ten from back then.

you could've brought Greil Marcus a chocolate brownie in the shape of Willa Cather and he would've seen Bill Clinton.

anybody read his doors book? lex you read that thing?

Cather's?

Anyone heard "Mirrors" on the radio yet? 2nd single and it's hanging out in the twenties on the Hot 100. I think it really works as a single through after the five-minute mark (which is pretty awesome), but not really with the three minute or so coda.

"Suit & Tie" has kinda surprisingly turned out to have some legs on radio so i think it'll be at least a month or two before "Mirrors" really gets heavy airplay

S&T has been "Adorn"-like down here in how quietly it's become omnipresent.

bite your tongue

"Mirrors" is really well-written. There are only two verses! And then three times through the chorus, but the thing is fifty seconds long!

Love that they pull off doing the third time through the chorus with the instrument dropouts and the handclaps. And the "whoa-oa" background vocal is from some Buggles song and maybe some other '80s song.

bite your tongue

― Stephen Thomas Duttywine (some dude),

point your toes

A+

Wonder if Trevor Horn has heard it yet.

Checked and the Buggles song is "Elstree."

kinda diggin' this Justin Timberlake is the personal representative of Dr. Yakub on Earth interp tbh