Life's too short.

I think every new movie with a cast that isn't 100% white should have a disclaimer at the beginning like those late-90s Girls Gone Wild commercials:

WARNING: This motion picture contains actors of colour in lead roles that some Caucasian audiences may find unsettling or offensive. Viewer discretion is advised.

Just to troll the neckbeard dudebros who spend all their internet time bitching about how "woke" any film with a nonwhite actor in a lead role is.

Thinking about mainstream pop music.

How do the songwriters of mainstream artists like Charli XCX or Dua Lipa write songs? I would think the lot of it is done on a computer. Like, you have some sort of thing that appropriates a guitar, bass, drums, etc., and then just layer sounds. If this is the case, then why have human players onstage? Why not just a laptop with whichever singer and backup dancers? Just watched a few minutes of the start to a Dua Lipa live performance where all of the dancers had a bells-and-whistles visual introduction on the screen behind them, but the band received no such acknowledgement. Why even have a band onstage? Why replicate something that you obviously have no use for?

Michael Jackson didn't sound like Prince, Prince didn't sound like Madonna, Madonna didn't sound like U2, U2 didn't sound like Duran Duran...I'm not a back-in-my-day guy, but there should be a universal acceptance that the factory farming of mainstream pop music has gotten completely out of control, right? And why are they still abusing autotune? Any type of artistic credibility you might have is dismissed or obscured one autotuned vocals start. Why purposefully eradicate all sense of individuality?

I wonder if the US is currently in a position much like the later-period USSR where the overwhelming majority of the population is fully aware (whether they can consciously articulate it or not) that the current system is absolutely fucking them over and is only working tremendously in favor of the small handful of elite jackoffs who insist that everything is going just fine and dandy as is, but are actually scared shitless that their power and status is at risk of crumbling every passing day towards revolution. idk.

rsmurphy wrote: Sun Aug 07, 2022 6:54 pmbut there should be a universal acceptance that the factory farming of mainstream pop music has gotten completely out of control, right?

Probably. But at the same time, there is right now a wealth and diversity of interesting and captivating mainstream or might-be-mainstream pop music like I have never seen before - Willow Smith, Jenevieve, Joyce Wrice, Jhenée Aiko, PinkPantheress, H.E.R., Kali Uchis, María Isabel, Caroline Polachek, Hope Tala, UMI, Ama Lou, Ari Lennox, Jorja Smith...

kokorodoko wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 2:31 amProbably. But at the same time, there is right now a wealth and diversity of interesting and captivating mainstream or might-be-mainstream pop music like I have never seen before - Willow Smith, Jenevieve, Joyce Wrice, Jhenée Aiko, PinkPantheress, H.E.R., Kali Uchis, María Isabel, Caroline Polachek, Hope Tala, UMI, Ama Lou, Ari Lennox, Jorja Smith...

This morning I had a fine time while going through your suggestions, so thank you for that. A thing I found interesting is that they all paint vistas of soul and r&b but each depiction is unique in their own right, you know? They don't sound forged from the same r&b factory. Could still detect autotune, tho. Such an uninspiring method to record vocals - it broadcasts as a business decision instead of a creative one, no matter how slight or egregious.

Out of all of your picks I enjoyed Hope Tala the most as theirs sounded the most musical with delightful and soaring instrumentation. I'm surprised I didn't find Kaina in your picks. Their Next to The Sun record was one of my favorites from a few years ago. If you're not familiar you should give it a go whenever the spirit moves. "Could Be a Curse" gently maps liquefying melodies over a placid clip-clop groove.

Willow Smith. You know, I'm undecided about kids of über rich celebrities making music. Do the rich really have something to say, and if they do is it interesting and relatable enough to be expressed through song? Yeah, it wasn't Willow's decision to whom to get born, but still. That said, their live performance of "Meet Me At Our Spot" kept me watching.

Cool! Legit glad you took the time and wrote some impressions. You're on point with your description. I'll check out Kaina too.

I know there's autotune on some Jenevieve songs and normally I would reject it but I don't mind it on those. I feel it melds with her voice and makes it more haunting.

rsmurphy wrote: Mon Aug 08, 2022 10:29 amI'm undecided about kids of über rich celebrities making music. Do the rich really have something to say, and if they do is it interesting and relatable enough to be expressed through song?

I don't know. Schopenhauer was what we would today call a trust fund kid and he wrote some interesting stuff. It probably depends. I wouldn't assume that rich equals vacuous. Likewise that "from the street" equals interesting. I've sure heard a lot of uninspired poetry of that sort.

I have never thought about that fact when listening to Willow. The only thing that stands out is that some of the early songs (Ardipithecus) are very teenagery. But I love that too. Everything is very, very honest.

This too is a fine live clip.

kokorodoko wrote:I wouldn't assume that rich equals vacuous. Likewise that "from the street" equals interesting.

No argument there. Pussy Galore made exhilarating noise rock, and to your latter point I don't have the energy to count all of the terrible hip hop that is "from the street." There are no absolutes.

It just occurred to me that punks will always go slumming while some rappers and r&b artists will want to exude the worst in excess and materialism. I guess if you have it you want to hide it, but if you've never had it you want it all. Strange world.

In a TV show or movie if at some point there's a PA system in the plot there's a 95% chance that there will be a short burst of feedback when a character takes the mic. The odds move up to 100% if a character is nervous or about to say something controversial.