sam smith: another adele/emeli sandé or something more interesting?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB-5XG-DbAA

he's been hyped as the next big thing since the disclosure and naughty boy records hit uk airwaves over the past couple of years, and this year he has perhaps predictably smashed in the uk with two #1 singles and his debut lp currently sitting at #1 in its second week on the albums chart. meanwhile, following "la la la" and "latch" both belatedly becoming top 20 hits in the us in recent months (with the latter still rising) and "stay with me" fast-tracking its way up radio playlists into the top 10 (partly aided by clear channel's payola "on the verge" promotion), it appears he's slated for big things on this side of the pond too. the album releases stateside in a few days and hits sez it'll probably come in at #2 behind lana del rey's.

so obviously his commercial prospects are bright, but is he any good? or is he just yet another artist initially straddling dance and r&b before being revealed as the next iteration in 'new boring'? i don't love "stay with me" but i don't hate it either, and the track of his that was posted in the summer jams thread is actually pretty nice. for now i put him in a similar category to mnek in that despite having done some compelling stuff, often with other artists, his potential as a solo act remains mysterious to me.

but what say you?

The amount of leeway ILM gives not to pop (which is a good thing) but music which is nakedly designed to make a few people very rich (which only incidentally crosses over with pop) is somewhat depressing. This is obviously a load of horseshit (I'm listening to it, stifling hara-kiri) and not even interesting as a mass-cultural phenomenon. Just say no, ILM, find something else to listen to.

I'll say that it was momentarily catchy - I'm listening to something else, so have forgotten it - but while it was playing, it mined an incredibly simple chord-progression (that we wouldn't need goon tie to expose), used incredibly hackneyed (and annoying) gospel chorus tricks to add a bit of whoa-ohh, and generally did all it could to appease a short attention span and a cloyingly generalised sentiment. A song for all those who want a lover to stay with them, without nuance, complexity or ambiguity - just the words 'stay with me', on a sad chord progression, on a human face, forever! Buy my singles that so thuddingly compartmentalise your lives into easy-to-access emotional boxes!

Fuck all art like this.

"music which is nakedly designed to make a few people very rich"

the line here probably does not fall where you think it does

I mean, I know I have tendencies towards dismissing entire swathes of music as chum for hordes of idiots but I like to flatter myself into thinking that I express these opinions in a manner that doesn't make me come across like a total jackass who is less interested in music and more interested in being a smart tastemaker

sam smith: another adele/emeli sandé or something more interesting?

the first one

but is he any good? or is he just yet another artist initially straddling dance and r&b before being revealed as the next iteration in 'new boring'?

the second one

this guy suuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. "Latch" has been p much my least favorite track to hear out clubbing and I figured out how the chorus of "Stay With Me" went before I even heard it

just putting this here without comment:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1134509/City-banker-sacked-spending-company-time-sons-pop-dream.html

haha wait, what

(re: Sam Smith, I think he's got a great voice and I hope that one day he finds a song more interesting than the ones he's currently singing)

lol xps

wow no way

I'll admit I like some of his songs, like maybe a third of his album is good. Both "La La La" and "Money On My Mind" are obnoxious as hell though.

lmao

thank u katherine

it's the daily mail so I am sure certain aspects of this are exaggerated, but still. there was even a video for one of his early songs but it has dropped off the internet, maybe the last copy. also I didn't find this

sam smith is terrible (in a very boring way, in a that-mail-story-makes-total-sense way) but those lj posts are worse

lol ok the first post is vmic but i stand by the second one

Latch is great but it's goodness doesn't have much to do with Sam Smith.

I think Sande could write better and more exciting songs than the ones she chooses to sing, I don't think this guy has "Next To Me" in him never mind a "Heaven". Also if he doesn't have "money on his mind" and "does it for the love" then all his music should be free.

The UK has artists like Jessie Ware, MNEK, Katy B, Disclosure but they keep trying to send and promote to the US stuff like Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande and now this dude.

yeah my beef is entirely with the artless pricks in the latter group, not the artists in the former. surely a defensible position?

'artless' as shorthand for 'i deeply suspect their motivations to be corporate'

I figured out how the chorus of "Stay With Me" went before I even heard it

― The Reverend, Friday, June 13, 2014 2:57 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah i got a couple bars into it and went wait, this is just "I Won't Back Down" by Tom Petty

"The UK has artists like Jessie Ware, MNEK, Katy B, Disclosure but they keep trying to send and promote to the US stuff like Jessie J, Ed Sheeran, Emeli Sande and now this dude."

to be fair, in my experience, US audiences (that is, people who do not post on ilx) tend to think the first group is uninspiring to actively awful, even when exposed to them -- except, lately, disclosure, and I wouldn't necessarily have called that.

it's chicken and egg, in other words -- do people really, really like sam smith because that's the guy they're promoting, or are they promoting sam smith because that's the stuff people really, really like?

Pretty obviously the latter IMO

Fair point. The latter certainly do appeal to the sensibilities of adult contemporary listeners more than the former do.

I have a stereotype in my head of who is into Jessie J and it doesn't match my stereotype of adult contemporary listeners. (Granted, this is largely because the biggest Jessie J fan I know is my gay sister-in-law, who now that I think of it is hugely into Cyndi Lauper as well so maybe I need to interrogate my stereotypes a little more closely)

lol i think that further piece of information doesn't exactly throw a wrench into it

poor choice of metaphor tbh

when someone young can pull off a nostalgic old soul vibe that appeals to moms and dads and grandparents, that's a license to print money (Josh Groban, Norah Jones, etc.). if that artist also appeals to some listeners their own age, doubly so (Adele, Alicia Keys, etc.).

I intensely dislike his voice. Dud.

i like "La La La" because the lyrics of the song fit his weird trembly baby voice

that's very insightful re: norah jones, alicia keys, etc. and i'm sure that phenomenon is at play here. at the same time tho i never would have guessed he'd have this amount of appeal among ppl his own age in america since, despite his hip dance track appearances, he's rather unstylish unlike adele and alicia

I intensely dislike his voice. Dud.

gotta say this was a shock

Latch is great but it's goodness doesn't have much to do with Sam Smith.

Not much, maybe, but some. Most everything else I've heard from him gives me major meh if not outright zzzzz, but if his star ascending is what it takes to turn "Latch" (which, again, I find myself on the exact opposite side of the spectrum from Rev when it comes to what I want to hear in clubs) into a surprise, belated hit in the U.S., so be it.

The amount of leeway ILM gives not to pop (which is a good thing) but music which is nakedly designed to make a few people very rich (which only incidentally crosses over with pop)

― Who whom kissed? (imago), Friday, 13 June 2014 19:01 (Yesterday)

this is a fairly serious false binary, also invites speculation as to which luminaries didn't suffer the taint of trade somewhere behind them

sam smith is despicable

I liked some of the stuff he did before the album ("safe with me", the disclosure / naughty boy features), but his sandéfication has been really dismaying and has played out so inevitably and inexorably. idk if that's who he always wanted to be or if the label pushed him that way and he just doesn't care because now he's getting $$.

one ancillary issue that i'm sort of glad has been cleared up to be a non-issue is that he was finally able to have his "coming out" moment in the "lover to lover" video. it seemed like pronouns were being used very carefully and the issue was being tiptoed around in the first couple of singles and videos even though it was this massive elephant in the room. are there any other gay pop stars currently in their prime that are as commercially successful as this guy?

i don't know how much to read into the stuff with his mum. he certainly wouldn't be the first pop star to have a pushy, wealthy parent.

this is a fairly serious false binary, also invites speculation as to which luminaries didn't suffer the taint of trade somewhere behind them

sam smith is despicable

― Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (nakhchivan), Saturday, June 14, 2014 12:46 AM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

wasn't meant to be a binary. there's a heavy intersection, as I said, but 'pop' is the artistic process, whereas venal careerist cunts like sam smith who nominally trade in 'pop' are the charmless exploiter-figures who happen to have colonised *part* of pop & i have no idea why ILM pays them any serious attention at all, except as case-studies of stardom-seeking privileged above artistic creation (another phenomenon of our times!)

i'm aware that in saying that i probably strike discord with the majority of you stardom-junkies. something to be said for 'pop' incorporating stardom, performance etc as well - i receive it perhaps on overly musicological terms

he's a boring performer and his stardom is irritating. there, happy?

the bar for being the subject of a moderately well attended ILM thread is pretty damn low. as it should be. the idea that there should be a lofty cred test barrier of entry for being the topic of conversation around here is ludicrous.

eh, I'm kinda happy for this thread to exist so long as it's wall-to-wall abuse tbh, which it basically has been. kiu

yeah but you have lots of threads to abuse us in

how many pop threads do I wade into, all moron guns blazing semi-informedly? that's right - only the ones whose perpetrating artists are rudely emblazoned on every other fucking metro advert i see. and haim. ;)

haim had quite a lot of metro adverts here too, tbf

i'll probably end up kinda liking haim in ten years, yknow. they're a world apart from the horror of sam smith

wasn't meant to be a binary. there's a heavy intersection, as I said, but 'pop' is the artistic process, whereas venal careerist cunts like sam smith who nominally trade in 'pop' are the charmless exploiter-figures who happen to have colonised *part* of pop & i have no idea why ILM pays them any serious attention at all, except as case-studies of stardom-seeking privileged above artistic creation (another phenomenon of our times!)

― Who whom kissed? (imago), Saturday, June 14, 2014 12:58 AM (16 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I have limited interest in this guy (though I am intrigued that andy k appears to like his album) but I think the idea that all these pop stars who veer adult-contemporary are just soulless corporate hacks is itself a product of wishful thinking about what our generation (in the broad sense) is "into", as if this sound can only be the product of corporate perversion of artistic intentions.

I fully believe that Smith is making the music he wants to make, and is being "true" to himself in a way that recording a whole album with Disclosure/Naughty Boy etc. would not be.

I'm just not dying with anticipation to hear the result.

venal careerist cunts like sam smith who nominally trade in 'pop' are the charmless exploiter-figures who happen to have colonised *part* of pop

case-studies of stardom-seeking privileged above artistic creation (another phenomenon of our times!)

none of these terms seem to make a lot of structural sense, art vs non art, non venal vs venal pop stars, careerist vs non careerist pop stars, the pop world which is colonized vs that part of it where its autochthons get along really well with one other, sam smith's debilities occur at the level of talent, the rest is implying dark motives and hideous character defects to one dumb looking face

i like your attack but it's too conspiratorial in this instance

I don't think - or I can't detect that - there was an artistic intention beyond wanting 'to be a star' through the most direct available route. Obviously he'll have music he prefers, music he's grown up with, but I genuinely think he's chosen to play the music he thinks will make him the most famous. For all I know he's a big Miles Davis fan, but isn't learning the trumpet any time soon. Of course, I can't prove his intentions, and ultimately his music is ours to interpret. But there are ways of veering adult-contemporary, and on my two listens through the single that began this thread I couldn't detect any sophistication at all. You may disagree.

Debility of talent is a symptom of wanting the buck of stardom too easy, maybe?

venal/careerist/artistic = a question of degree not a binary, yes

Any and all concerns about venality, non-art and the corporate machinations that have put him on the radio are secondary to the fact that I just don't think his music is very good. No need to bring arbitrarily constructed dichotomies between artistic creation and stardom-seeking into this.

I find it amusing that imago can't relate to this music on any level and yet pretends to have privileged insight into the mind of its makers.

dude, I can guarantee that literally everyone in this thread being set up as the supposed "artistic" "alternative" to sam smith who is signed to a major has people at that label involved in their career whose primary goal is making money

Yeah, but I'm perhaps trying to ascribe his music's badness to his degree of inveiglement within such processes (I know there are 'corporate popstars' who make decent or even good music, but for me the stink of demographic planning drips from his every facet). His stardom has been a really, really quick fix IMO.

I can relate to it! It had a big, dumb, sad tune and the lyrics appealed to big, simple emotions that I and everyone experience, albeit in much more complex ways. Then it lost my interest.

I don't think Sam Smith shows any sign of working against or even parallel to the wishes of his kingmakers, unlike many popstars. Unlike even Justin fkn Bieber!

justin bieber currently seems to have as sound a careerist instinct as miles davis or xenakis did

there are always questions of degree and it isn't altogether clear that this smith nudnik is so much more careerist than whichever luminary

plus there's a bit more going on in "stay with me" than "for all who want a lover to stay with them" -- not saying that "oops, I did it again, I crave intimacy from this one-night stand" is academy award-level characterization, but it is a bit more nuanced than that

iirc the pre-fame track that was floating around a while back was astonishingly bad.

lj isn't it easier to think that maybe sam smith makes bad music coz he isn't a very interesting or thoughtful or talented guy, all reasons behind people making bad music from the least commercial to the most.

why am I defending sam smith this is awful

To clarify: I didn't bring those artists into this because I think they provide a more artistic alternative to sam smith or anyone else, I just think they make far more compelling music.

(One of) Pop music's strengths is getting across complex emotional states and boiling them down to a simple but effective message. Sometimes all you need is "I wanna dance with somebody who loves me". Whether or not it works is down to things like the strength of the performance and the song. Smith just doesn't convince me to invest. The tune can be big and sad, the lyrics can be simple and that all can still work. Just doesn't here imo.

Not really interested in whether he gets along with his "kingmakers".

Fair, good post.

I will close my attack by saying, in response to Merdeyeux, that "he isn't a very interesting or thoughtful or talented guy" surely feeds into his artistic motivations too, but we're getting too far from the text here, I suppose, which is where my argument falls apart

go back, read all Tim's posts, think about what you've done

Terrible artist; interesting thread.

I just finished reading Bedsit Disco Queen yesterday, and one of the strongest take-home messages from that book was: the idea that you can read an artist's "intentions" based on your concepts of their (perceived) audience is one of the most misguided ways you can approach music.

Now I'm going to have to go and scrub my browser to get the Daily Mail's cookies off it. Ugh. :-/

the phraseology "[artist x] is [music/film/literature] for [snarky description of perceived monolithic fanbase]" is one of the very worst there is

interestingly enough one of the few major outlets to really persist with it is vice (fucking self-appointed voice of a generation clive martin, ughhhh)

half-wondering if with that fiendishly bland opening post dyl always intended to be the montresor to imago's fortunato

jingle jingle

it mined an incredibly simple chord-progression

LOL

If only this was more like "Tales of Topographic Oceans"

So to paraphrase imago's posts here, he believes that artists shouldn't have money on their mind and should be doing it, doing it for the love?

I think the better response to that song is 'that's a terrible false dichotomy that helps prop up a world of unpaid internships where whole careers are virtually out of reach for people who aren't backed up by rich parents' rather than 'I don't believe you'.

the phraseology "[artist x] is [music/film/literature] for [snarky description of perceived monolithic fanbase]" is one of the very worst there is

i agree! but i don't do it myself.

sam smith is afaict about stardom, which is a metaphor for money, and not even that if you're on his exec team. but he does perpetuate the Great Lie that 'it could be you'

rtc that has left me floored btw

jfc

plodding, earnest, totally sincere and in love with the music soulboys have been mooning around the UK music scene since the year dot

that's a powerful projector you got there

lol that post was over-exasperated, dial it back a bit

I can relate to it! It had a big, dumb, sad tune and the lyrics appealed to big, simple emotions that I and everyone experience, albeit in much more complex ways. Then it lost my interest.

I tend to think of this as the reverse-magic-trick fallacy: when we hear music that we want to dismiss, our experience is of seeing through it, like we're watching a magician's show but can see the wires: "I can see why other people like it, but really it's just X, there's no magic here."

But this "seeing through" is not the same as "seeing" at all.

It's only when we begin to actually relate to music - that is, to position ourselves in relation to it - that music begins to seem infused with that quality of genuine connection that we associate with music that we're into.

This can be instantaneous, the first time we hear a piece of music, or it might take some time to work, or it might never happen. Typically, the more primed you are to believe something (typically because you're already invested in the stylistic signifiers) the faster that effect.

But I can think of countless examples of stuff I dismissed in this way and then much later fell in love with, became enchanted by, as if I was watching the same trick but somehow I couldn't see the wires or anymore, and I was convinced by the magic.

Not saying this will ever happen to anyone in this thread with Sam Smith, but I think as a general rule the critical stance of "I get it but I don't like it, and I don't like it because I get it" should be approached with some care for the above reason.

half-wondering if with that fiendishly bland opening post dyl always intended to be the montresor to imago's fortunato

lol i didn't imagine he would even bother wandering into this thread! but it has made for an interesting read in the end.

in pace requiescat.

also xps to monotony above i'll agree that his fairly casual coming-out has been somewhat heartening even if it did seem very deliberately unfurled

I dunno, I sorta feel like if record company strategy had been brought to bear on the issue he wouldn't always look like he's in theatre make-up.

I tend to think of this as the reverse-magic-trick fallacy: when we hear music that we want to dismiss, our experience is of seeing through it, like we're watching a magician's show but can see the wires: "I can see why other people like it, but really it's just X, there's no magic here."

But this "seeing through" is not the same as "seeing" at all.

It's only when we begin to actually relate to music - that is, to position ourselves in relation to it - that music begins to seem infused with that quality of genuine connection that we associate with music that we're into.

This can be instantaneous, the first time we hear a piece of music, or it might take some time to work, or it might never happen. Typically, the more primed you are to believe something (typically because you're already invested in the stylistic signifiers) the faster that effect.

But I can think of countless examples of stuff I dismissed in this way and then much later fell in love with, became enchanted by, as if I was watching the same trick but somehow I couldn't see the wires or anymore, and I was convinced by the magic.

Not saying this will ever happen to anyone in this thread with Sam Smith, but I think as a general rule the critical stance of "I get it but I don't like it, and I don't like it because I get it" should be approached with some care for the above reason.

― Tim F, Saturday, June 14, 2014 1:07 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

ah Tim! must you ever be the rock upon which I am fated to dash myself

Is imago l0u1s jagg3r? I haven't been keeping up

do I scent the musty approach of a well-worn ad hominem

I don't think - or I can't detect that - there was an artistic intention beyond wanting 'to be a star' through the most direct available route. Obviously he'll have music he prefers, music he's grown up with, but I genuinely think he's chosen to play the music he thinks will make him the most famous. For all I know he's a big Miles Davis fan, but isn't learning the trumpet any time soon. Of course, I can't prove his intentions, and ultimately his music is ours to interpret. But there are ways of veering adult-contemporary, and on my two listens through the single that began this thread I couldn't detect any sophistication at all. You may disagree.

Debility of talent is a symptom of wanting the buck of stardom too easy, maybe?

― Who whom kissed? (imago), Friday, June 13, 2014 6:34 PM (Yesterday)

i'm often interested in your thoughts on & taste in music, but i can't get on board w/ this. afaic, "debility of talent" isn't even a thing in itself, much less a symptom of something else. it's a perceptual phantom, an artifact. you detect no talent because you've framed "talent" in such a way as to exclude whatever it is that dude is actually good at. period.

personally, i wouldn't equate perceived "sophistication" with the presence of legitimate art. art exists in an infinite variety of forms; some seem sophisticated to me, and some don't. i hardly imagine, however, that my perception of such things means much to anyone who isn't me. i mean, you say you can't detect "artistic intention" at work here, but what on earth is "artistic intention" in the first place? how do we detect it? (once you get an answer together) really? really really?

i get that you don't like this shit. i don't either. but going any larger than that without tongue very firmly in cheek seems a bit absurd.

personally, i get tired of "the amount of leeway ILM gives not to pop" artists "straddling dance and r&b" (if you'll forgive the frankenquote), but happily chalk it up to personal/generational differences of taste

"...ILM gives not to pop"

lol

"debility of talent" was nakhers' introduction, in fact, and I'm interpreting it as a perceived (by me) lack of ability to make classic (loaded, subjective term) pop music when he has all the money he could want to do so - nothing about the song I heard seemed to have anything about it to differentiate it from the throng, or indicate that it could be a major cultural force beyond its imminent moment. these are highly personal projections, of course, but i feel one can comment on 'talent' from an outside perspective as long as you frame it subjectively & accept that some degree of 'talent' does exist, if not to the degree you'd desire

your second point is harder to counter. tim f has already made it very eloquently (in the post I admiringly quoted). my only comeback would be that i really don't hear anything particularly unusual or novel being attempted, which for me bespeaks either pastiche or artistic exploitation, depending on your view. (if you go to a blues bar, you wouldn't accuse the players of exploiting the form, but is not the whole concept a joyful & worthwhile pastiche of the culturally-accepted blues experience as well as an iteration of it?)

yuk @ changing horses from 'one' to 'you' mid-stride there

yeah, that tim post was brilliant, esp the single-sentence 2nd paragraph. boom.

my Clear Channel station played "Latch," 18 months after I first heard it.

A week ago, a DJ on mine said "new from Disclosure, this is 'Latch'!"

Look, they had to cross an ocean.

Look, "Bohemian Rhapsody" went to #2 in 1992.

New from Queen, this is Bohemian Rhapsody (ft. Sam Smith)

Something something Coldplay.

look "white noise" would be an infinitely better crossover than "latch"

maybe that'll happen next

I don't know that Aluna has a vocal that mainstream America is willing to get behind; people will get behind an airy kewpie-doll voice (see: Ciara) but

Dammit

As I was saying, Aluna has a core to her sound that works well on that track but I don't know if it plays well to what US radio is looking for

Ciara's smooth though. Aluna's occasionally jarring.

I would've said the same thing about sam smith's voice though

And though "Body Party" reached #22 in the US, it's not like radio stations are falling over themselves to play Ciara.

Latch is the worst Disclosure song and this guy's flaccid voice is the main reason why, and that Naughty Boy track would not be harmed in the slightest by removing him altogether.

I've not heard his solo stuff but he's such a terrible fit for current UK dance pop that I'm actually glad he's doing whatever else he's doing instead of getting in the way of music I actively listen to.

Admittedly that hasn't stopped producers putting Sande all over everything.

The thing about White Noise is a that it has a massive nagging hook that's nothing to do with the vocals, which Latch conspicuously lacks.

I've no idea what plays well on American radio, mind. Do they even play much massive stadium EDM?

harsh to not give an option stating he's not even nearly as interesting as Adele tbph

lol I just realized I live near a Sam Smith Park ;_;

Good thread.

Also I hadn't realized that "Latch" had become a hit in the U.S.! I think I noticed that it had debuted at #99 but missed its ascendance. Haven't heard it on the radio yet.

The thing about White Noise is a that it has a massive nagging hook that's nothing to do with the vocals, which Latch conspicuously lacks.

I've no idea what plays well on American radio, mind. Do they even play much massive stadium EDM?

― Matt DC, Monday, June 16, 2014 4:20 AM (5 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lots of big hits in the US in recent years have been those dance tracks where a lot of the hook is a long instrumental riff. I seriously doubt anything from Disclosure would be a pop hit right now if not for Sam Smith's career taking off, though, "Latch" entered the charts here right on the heels of "La La La" and his SNL booking.

"latch" is def riding the sam smith wave to US radio but i think that song helped legitimize him -- even here -- to the point where it could even circle back like that in the first place

also this is a loose anecdotal hypothesis but based on having seen some disclosure and EDM shows, there is more audience crossover than you might think and i think there was a slow groundswell from that base that elevated "latch" in america finally as well

Yeah that def seems true. I think the dance features did a lot to set up his album

It makes zero sense that Ed Sheeran's album is more upbeat, and at times, dancier than Sam Smith's, considering the latter has built up his rep on dance numbers (not incl. "Stay With Me", I guess).

"restart" is incredible, i'm really mad that sam smith isn't trying to be millennial darryl hall or something

Yeah, we got stuck with chromeo dude

Update: Just heard "Latch" on the radio yesterday afternoon.

it's been getting radio play across the country.

Update: Just heard "Latch" on the radio yesterday afternoon.

― jaymc, Monday, June 23, 2014 5:50 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fascinating and important update in the career of a major label artist

lol

I heard Ed Sheeran yesterday and it wasn't a pleasant experience.

there's some Ed Sheeran song getting play on VH-1 that is an uncanny Timberlake impersonation, it's kind of incredible

fascinating and important update in the career of a major label artist

No, it was an update on my post from Saturday in which I said I hadn't heard it on the radio yet.

good, i was dying for an update on that post

lexxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

they def play "latch" on z100 all the time

where would ilm be without americans saying "I heard a thing on the radio"

very true, it's in the board's dna

ya interrupting the other vital work that goes on like

American radio only plays like 5 songs at any one time so it is a big deal when a new one is given the nod -- and noteworthy when one is inducted into the mainstream pop landscape months after its release. Also major label or not, non-Calvin Harris UK dance on the US charts is a new, interesting development, imo. Like what's next, Rudimental?

Anyway thank you for giving me a chance to explain myself on the I Love Music board's Sam Smith thread. Best wishes.

"restart" is incredible, i'm really mad that sam smith isn't trying to be millennial darryl hall or something

― le goon (J0rdan S.),

http://replygif.net/thumbnail/639.gif

where would ilm be without americans saying "I heard a thing on the radio"

I'm more a fan of "I heard this blasting from cars that drive past my place really slowly at night".

just swinging by right quick to say that id like to thank you all for reminding me of the name of the dude from saturday night live that bored the living shit out of me.

vocally he reminds me of antony without the high notes or range

music made by running a regression model on what would sell

I'm more a fan of "I heard this blasting from cars that drive past my place really slowly at night".

― MarkoP, Tuesday, June 24, 2014 10:21 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"heard 'axel f' from a passing lorry whilst in the loo at halftime of the footy match"

sorry ill get me coat *goes to the back of the queue*

can I join you for a fag?

Tried to give more of this album a proper listen and I had to give up. I think I'm actively repulsed by something in his voice, but that causes more of a reaction in me than whatever else is going on in this mostly boilerplate collection of stately, predictable ballads.

I FUCKING LOVE THIS ALBUM AND FUIUD

I think his voice only really works on "Latch" and "Stay With Me". The other songs I've heard him sing have been super boring.

"Restart" is so sweet

i do like "restart" a lot but zzzzz for most of the rest

undeniably he works a narrow range of moods on this but that seems quite deliberate and he works them beautifully imo

lol I was talking to my coworker and he called Sam Smith "the male Adele" and I was like "...yes", except he meant it as a compliment

he's Bobby Darin.

He's the male Bobby Darin.

bobby darin never resembled a Goth frog so hurdle #1 says no

Kevin Spacey....as Sam Smith

Adele is not all that great but she's still so so so much better than Sam Smith

look, i said FUIUD

Wrote a big check to Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne.

http://www.factmag.com/2015/01/26/tom-petty-now-gets-songwriting-royalties-for-sam-smith-stay-with-me/

For all the zillion times I've heard "Stay," that never leapt out at me. But totally obvious now that they mention it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiWYmjBzx7s

as the people's wizard i will now let you kids in on the smart play

"latch" is a great song but fuck his solo stuff

restart is the jam
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGzHgo7n4jM

It's not like "Stay" is such a remarkably original melody, I'll bet the similarity was completely accidental. Still, serves you right for coming up with such a lazy tune.

Yeah, so many songs sound like bits of other songs that it's kind of mysterious to me which ones get singled out as violators.

the ones that make a shitload of money

yeah I was gonna say

There is that. I have a lawyer friend who does copyright work, a certain amount of her time is taken up with aggrieved lawsuits from people who are positive that somebody heard their song on Soundcloud and ripped off their I-IV-V progression. (Think she defended Marilyn Manson at one point.)

haha

get this little shit out of here. career needs to be ended right now

http://www.gq.com/entertainment/music/201502/sam-smith-new-rat-pack

But I feel like class and romance have gotten lost. We've become a bit lazy, not just in terms of music. I miss the days when girls would wear full long dresses and just stand onstage and sing. That's what I'm trying to bring back: that timeless element. I want to create music that people will be listening to in fifty years, you know?

lol what a creepy fuck

"I long for the days when gays didn't have to have sex with men."

lol at the first line of that article making it sound like he's some impoverished piaf story when his privilege is well-documented

samsmith, a humble working-class maker of sams

Even if you overlook the basic misogyny there it's a particularly galling example of unjustified rockism.

Maybe it would be if it had anything to do with rock music

wat?

i think i must have heard approx thirty seconds of this guy's music but he's p much the worst isn't he?

I saw an old TV show with Bobby Darin, he's definitely trying that style/class of singer.

(i.e. I think that's what he meant by class)

I don't mind his stuff like "I need to know now", that's fine.

But, strikes against: "Stay" is such bullshit he's lying. and "Money on my mind" is the title yelled out loud and the "I don't have.." and "I do it for love" is whispered, so as not to put off people who want to join in that like money. "Price Tag" Jessie J is the same for that.

But, strikes against: "Stay" is such bullshit he's lying. and "Money on my mind" is the title yelled out loud and the "I don't have.." and "I do it for love" is whispered, so as not to put off people who want to join in that like money. "Price Tag" Jessie J is the same for that.

― Mark G, Wednesday, January 28, 2015 9:42 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm, this is part of my beef with "royals" as well

this kid is very dumb but his music is good!

Tom Petty:

"About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident no more no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all."

Id like to see Sam Smith write something that sounds familiar to a Don Henley solo joint

"to coin a phrase, sam is just a 'rebel without a clue'"

florida man is gracious

this kid is very dumb but his music is good!

― J0rdan S., Wednesday, January 28, 2015 11:44 AM (Yesterday)

his music is dumb too, it's very obvious in a lot of ways, but it sort of works. i ain't mad

Even if you overlook the basic misogyny there it's a particularly galling example of unjustified rockism.

― Matt DC, Wednesday, January 28, 2015 8:09 AM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Not really. I mean, he is all of 20. He is exactly the right age for that sort of rockist attitude.

(What would be justified rockism?)

I only just heard/saw this for the first time, but I feel like white pop singers using gospel choirs in their songs should have ended a long time ago, a terrible cliche.

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/v/t1.0-9/12188945_10153207783877844_6062410356947556230_n.png?oh=9785fcf98e798e53395c9630312e3138&oe=56C9071E

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/12065951_10153207783867844_3883925442568740776_n.png?oh=5fed85bc9f414fee1b61bf3fe1c7d33d&oe=56C3B11A

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10562961_10153207783862844_222341386279053576_n.png?oh=8f1f6762197fc3661b8a6b4d0630c033&oe=56B42D8E

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/l/t1.0-9/10985961_10153207783917844_6593474938330329148_n.png?oh=cf418acf0e9b7e91d607242210542089&oe=56BFC64D

booooo.

(booing "We will no longer play the Spectres song", for clarity yeah?)

IDGI. What is it about the other song that gives Smith's label/management team/whoever a legal claim against the station (however tenuous)?

Elvin Smith is Sam Smith's manager (one of three, anyway). I am faintly baffled that they'd be able to make 6 Music stop playing something that seems to fall within the demographic interests of the station. But if these emails are true, it's kind of a fascinating (and scary) look into how massive franchise tie-in bullshit marketing career-engineering works.

why has someone gone through the pretence of obscuring Bob Shennan's name in those emails

I'm with Tim F. Bob should let Elvin's lawyer come at him with all they've got, as I can't see that it'd'be much.

I privately brainstormed and the only thing I could come up with is if Radio 6 had been (jokingly) presenting the Spectres song as the "official new James Bond song" and - assuming consumer protection laws are roughly the same in the UK as in Australia - Sam Smith's management are saying that's misleading conduct. But it would be the presentation of the song rather than playing it that would potentially be actionable.

And if that was the case and it's not even properly identified in Smith's emails then IDK give up now dude.

(soz for being boring)

STAND DOWN!

UPDATE: The BBC has claimed that the emails are a hoax and the band has removed the FB post.

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/sam-smiths-manager-allegedly-bullies-bbc-into-stopping-playing-unofficial-spectre-theme-in-sickening-a6709091.html

Clearly Elvin has told Bob to say it's a hoax.

Baffled this fooled anybody for even a second.

Basically, this sort of thing goes on, but nobody's dumb enough to put it onto emails.

There's no way the 6Music guy would have said "Radio 6" in an email. And that's just for starters.

The Independent story above has been deleted (suspiciously!), here's a similar article.

Not suspiciously, apart from the UPDATE I posted above it all proved to be wrong.

Anyway, the mirror has it the band did a cover version. Which it wasn't, right?

I love music

— Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) November 6, 2017

lol

haha

New board description, 'As recommended by Sam Smith'.

well that's quite impressive after having to sing Too Good at Goodbyes 1000+ times

lol

just cringed through my initial responses to this thread. should have just called him a worthless hack and been done with it tbh

Less interesting than Adele/Emeli Sandé, amirite?

serious contender for most overrated debut of the decade

also nominating Hozier

did anyone actually rate his debut? or hozier's?

(i know they were both grammybait but that barely counts imo)

i'd like to belatedly apologize for starting this thread 3 years ago

hmm maybe just hype, Smith had an RS cover story and Hozier sold almost a million copies though

Every Sam Smith song sounds like a Kidz Bop cover of "Tears in Heaven."

— Louis Virtel (@louisvirtel) November 7, 2017

All noise dude summertime fun board and pickle bar
— Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) November 6, 2017

ban lj
— Sam Smith (@samsmithworld) September 20, 2017

I hate this guy's voice. It's like a more boring Justin Vernon.

Hozier by some distance better than this polished nothing

Is there a good reason this guy is being given one hours worth of primetime on BBC1 to plug his latest album? Licence Fee anyone?

people are cunts

No, I believe it's called "The Thrill of It All"

https://www.teenvogue.com/story/sam-smith-backlash-r-kelly-t-shirt-snl-afterparty

he's a fucking cunt moron, what do you expect. an insipid parasite

If you had started the thread like that we could all just have gone home.

Was a good read, though.

I thought I liked "Money On My Mind" but have checked it out again and the only good bits are when he isn't singing.

the bits where he whispers that he doesn't have: and that he does it for the love ?

Still, he's appealing to the people that like to sing loud songs about loving Money.

No, the instrumental coda only.

the bits where he whispers that he doesn't have: and that he does it for the love ?

jfc

It was on my top 50 tracks from the year, no idea why now, faintly embarrassing.

Just saw that t-shirt thing. What you said. xpost.

"how do you sleep?" is i think the second single of theirs in a row to have ended up growing on me despite initially leaving me cold