SOLANGE KNOWLES, omg the return of

pop as will-this-do tickbox exercise there

― lex pretend, Wednesday, October 3, 2012 10:59 AM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark

oh please, this applies no more or less to solange's entire career

it was more about max's description! which did not sound like it stacked up to a song that's particularly noteworthy.

I don't get what the issue is with Dev Hynes' songwriting

oh it's not as if matt and others actually pinpointed it musically, not sure what else you would like

No, I guess I mean 'I don't get it' in the sense that I'm not identifying the alleged shortcomings in the songs myself. Sure, the melodies are simple, but so are most melodies in pop music, so that's not really a valid criticism, imo. Although, apart from this and "Everything Is Embarrassing" I've only heard a couple of tracks by Hynes.

Is less the melody and more the vocal rhythms or lack of them, they sound incredibly ponderous.

yeah it's kinda meant to be suggestive of this bleary, droning, numbed torpid mumblecore inarticulacy indicating longing and heartache beyond words or whatever. simple is real cos of ~how hard it is to feel things~, to be decisive and put a fine point on it is too painful if not even by implication dishonest. the whole thing's of a piece, you got the washed out instagrammed visuals, the 80s comfort blanket for the emotional foetal position... blah blah the familiar prepack set of lies agreed upon

it's all v boring

i get the objection, it's prob valid depending on your priorities, this is very evidently a song to ~vibe out~ to not a song with a vocal melody that's designed to grab you and not let go. if all the songs are like this than yeah it would be a problem.

the backing track is an absolute monster tho--crank that shit on speakers, it's got so much thump.

I'd just like to point out that the melody has been stuck in my head for the last hour or so and I'm in no rush to extinguish it.

this song is okay? I don't feel very strongly one way or the other about it?

the video is ridiculous though, whoever edited it basically makes Solange look like she has no conception of rhythm half the time

I love the song. To me, the simplicity of the vocal phrasing acts as a wonderful counterpoint to the propulsiveness of the beat. If the writer of the song only ever wrote songs with simplistic vocal phrasing, I would understand the criticism, but in this case it sounds like a deliberate device. The vocal (and keyboard) phrasing doesn't need to be complicated because there's so much movement in the beat.

The first time I watched the video, I thought some of the editing was off, but I've grown to like it. I think there's some kind of juxtaposition of calm/stillness with kinetic/frenetic energy. Again, I think it's deliberate.

yeah, the verse is kinda unremarkable, but i like the chorus a lot. reminds me of 'like a prayer'

yeah it's kinda meant to be suggestive of this bleary, droning, numbed torpid mumblecore inarticulacy indicating longing and heartache beyond words or whatever. simple is real cos of ~how hard it is to feel things~, to be decisive and put a fine point on it is too painful if not even by implication dishonest. the whole thing's of a piece, you got the washed out instagrammed visuals, the 80s comfort blanket for the emotional foetal position... blah blah the familiar prepack set of lies agreed upon

this is actually a pretty accurate description of what I love about this song.

When I listened to this I didn't think 80s so much as Madonna specifically (for the vocal line, not necessarily anything else), but probably 80s Madonna. That could be because Madonna is the only pop singer I've heard. Anyway, I find it boring.

(I can't listen again right now to check if the Madonna comparison still makes any sense to me.)

There are only two minor things I don't like about this and they have nothing to do with the melody. One of them is a slight misstep in the harmony of the chorus (or is it the verse?) and the other one is I could use a break from the little squeal of the beat -even though I like it it tends to slightly grate towards the end. BTW, does anyone else hears a bit of Kleerup in this song?

Great track, but not feeling the video.

Leaving aside the colonial stuff, I guess 1950s style is the thing at the moment?

not sure what you mean really, but the men in the video are sapeurs.

Oh, OK...

Now more confused.

she's interviewed about it here: http://www.thefader.com/2012/10/02/interview-solange/

song is good but video is better imo. i like her really awkward dancing and will pretend that it is somewhat intentional.

yeah it's kinda meant to be suggestive of this bleary, droning, numbed torpid mumblecore inarticulacy indicating longing and heartache beyond words or whatever. simple is real cos of ~how hard it is to feel things~, to be decisive and put a fine point on it is too painful if not even by implication dishonest. the whole thing's of a piece, you got the washed out instagrammed visuals, the 80s comfort blanket for the emotional foetal position... blah blah the familiar prepack set of lies agreed upon

it's all v boring

― r|t|c, Wednesday, October 3, 2012 1:11 PM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

::throws flowers on the foot of the stage::

Listened to Losing You tonight for the first time. Not sure i heard the same song people here are talking about. What I heard was lethargic and bland. Uptown Girls - I'm Losing You is 1million times better than this. Is there a remix that isn't slow a dull?

no

Is THE the "Video Games" of 2012?

doh I hate it when I have a brainfart on the word I meant to emphasize.

Is THIS the "Video Games" of 2012?

Well, reading over the interview, it's certainly an interesting set of practices, a culture. But my initial reaction was just wondering why this track for that imagery. Not sure that it fits, but maybe it doesn't really have to.

also like a tiny bit of vampire weekend/paul simon x gosling's drive along the transverse axis of poeticised mundanity sort of thing going on

― r|t|c, Monday, 11 June 2012 12:07 (3 months ago) Bookmark

said this about 'pyramids' some time ago just to fold in the africa (and toto 'africa' for that matter) angle into the dismissive mix, same shit might as well apply

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m8yopr696N1qgo4xpo1_500.gif

unsurprisingly i have a better one of that which i was saving :/

i guess i often wonder to what extent a (self)critical articulacy precludes vibing out music (for want of a better term), like otherwise you become wholly subject to this muggy personal fog but try and think about how the thing in question works on you and the illusion shatters

like (conversely) with the carly rae jepsen lp in my own world i mightve stayed where i was at with the initial listens but in trying to essay my reservations i ended up throwing it all out and liking the thing a lot instead

the lamp n plax chillwave show might suggest a degree of critical thinking wrt vibes but tbh that's all coming from the whole art school self sustaining hall of mirrors industry, shit is just inculcated

honestly i'm not trying to be all "see thru the bullshit sheeple", all art appreciation is a set of lies agreed upon but i guess i am saying yeesh maybe tell yourselves some more interesting ones idk

some real thursday-afternoon-ass posting right thurr

loool for fun i'm on the rtc/some dude/lex side on this one, i think b/c i like the beat & feel like so much more could have been done it feels lazy

rtc plz post the better clueless jpg/gif thnx

yes please post better one, I have no qualms about reusing.

http://i.minus.com/ibjCSCemAyeiTL.gif

haha remarkably similar to the one i was actually *this* close to posting earlier

http://i.imgur.com/tO1BS.gif

Ahhhh, what particularly makes that one is the eyebrow at the end (xpost)

i always forget homegirl is in a better place :(

::does saddest 'rolling with the homies' dance ever::

rolling with the homies, hopefully (XPOST)

maybe i will make some personalised gifs of myself for people to throw on messageboards when i die

all i can really think of when i hear this is it must be a bitch to be HER sister

this strikingly orig thought stated by matt dc two years ago i see

;_;

every time i hear this i think it's going to turn into time after time by cindy lauper.

if only

i liked this interview http://www.thefader.com/2012/10/02/interview-solange/

This song is amazing!!!!!!!!

― bell biv devo (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, October 2, 2012

I think it's the "Twin Peaks" synth that kills me.

'True' EP out Nov 27

1. Losing You
2. Some Things Never Seem to Fucking Work
3. Locked in Closets
4. Lovers in the Parking Lot
5. Don't Let Me Down
6. Look Good With Trouble
7. Bad Girls

http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1696317/solange-knowles-true-tracklist.jhtml