First up we have Ellie Goulding's new track, Burn. Clearly hoping to capitalise on the success she's enjoying in the club with her Calvin Harris duet I Need Your Love, Burn has Ellie continuing in a similar vein. Dance floors beware!
Burn is taken from the re-release of second album Halycon, now called Halcyon Days, and a useless fact for you: a version of the song was originally recorded by Leona Lewis for her Glassheart album!
Demi Lovato time! Single number two from Demi gets the video treatment, and unsurprisingly for a song entitled Made in the USA there are patriotic themes peppering the visual. I'm not mad on the song, something slightly generic about it, but kudos to Demi for getting her fingers dirty and co-directing the video.
This video isn't for a new song, but is for an accompanying remix that has been doing the rounds recently. Summertime Sadness was released in its original format June of last year, but probably hoping to capitalise on this year's summer this Cedric Gervais remix now also has a video.
Awww, check Britney Spears looking more alive (literally) than she has in a decade! It warms my heart! That alone is the reason I'm posting the video for, The Smurfs 2 tie-in, Ooh La La. The song itself isn't brilliant, though it isn't anywhere near as terrible as I was expecting it to be. Actually I'm a little afraid of giving it a second listen in case I start to enjoy it. Let's move swiftly on.
Okay, this isn't strictly a video- it's more a picture with music playing over it- but I like Regina Spektor so I thought I'd post it. You've Got Time is definitely a different sound from the quirky singer-songwriter, but me likey!
There are a lot of comments about it being from "a series" on the YouTube page, so I'd imagine it's been used for a television show or something. Hopefully it'll open up this wonderful artist to a wider audience.
And finally we have Beyonce. This video was taken from a live show in the States and was her first performance of Bow Down. Just be prepared for crazy fan screaming before you watch. You have been warned! There's also a weird, brief promo thing featuring the song- so check that out too. (Apparently it's for her website.)
Thoughts?
Isn't Beyonce supposed to be a feminist, right? Then why is she using degrading words for women like "b**ches" in her song? Weird...
ReplyDeleteIt is a song specifically to shut people up. You know here haters and critics, not to every to every single person who looks up to her. Lol
ReplyDeleteBitch =/= A woman.
ReplyDeleteIt's just as degrading to assume that she is automatically talking about a woman, like bitch and woman are two interchangeable terms.
-Sincerely, A feminist.
Surprisingly, I like the remix of Summertime Sadness.
ReplyDeleteI wonder can Demi do those low notes live? I like the vocal delivery, the lyrics are decent but the instrumentation is so typical pop blandish. That was the only bad thing I can point out from the song.
ReplyDeletealthough i don't give a crap if she is referring to women or men when she says bitch, she does say, "I know when you were little girls" before the bow down part.
ReplyDeleteI think she shaded Wendy Williams and the team of hookuhs that claimed she wasn't pregnant.
ReplyDeleteI love you.
ReplyDeleteShe can't, she dodges them.
ReplyDeleteWell it is a shame considering the fact that I like her delivery. Maybe if she is sitting on an acoustic set? lol IDK.
ReplyDeleteProbably not, those are Eb's and she loses comfort below G3 live.
ReplyDeleteI've never really listened to the song, just the 'bow down' part.
ReplyDeleteLooking at the lyrics though, It seems she was targeting a specific group of people who made comments on her pregnancy and marriage?
But from the general vibe of the song it seems to be a shot at everyone in the game right now, plain and simple, "Bow down bitches".
I just felt the need to say something to that guest post. The guest post made it seem they wanted to revoke Beyonce's feminist card and whatnot LOL. That's like if an atheist said "thank god" and someone retorted "Pfft. I thought you were atheist".
Thank you Hannah :)
ReplyDeleteWell.....;-)
ReplyDeleteBeyonce and Jay-z share each other's last name, they go by Knowles-Carter respectively. No one gave up their name.
ReplyDeleteOpie I didn't mean literally thanking god lol, there are plenty of atheist out there who hold no such belief in any form of after life and higher power yet will throw out "Thank god" "God dammit" " Oh my god" and whatnot.
I agree with the last sentiment. I'm guessing the sexuality comment was directed at a certain 'Lady' popstar?
First to the last. Actually no, that's a different point. She does actually claim to be Bi. I am talking about non famous folk who go around claiming to be gay yet enjoying sex with the opposite sex on a regular basis.
ReplyDeleteThe atheist thing went not to whether you yourself believe to really be thanking god but to the fact that you by using those phrases ARE by proxy validating that nonsense of a god. ;-)
http://www.beyonce.com/tour-dates
I am genuinely pleased to see Britney looking so much better than she has done in years. And I hope that's for real and not a video effect.
ReplyDeleteThe only video the actual music of which I enjoyed was Regina Spector's.
i love bey but seriously i cannot get over the fact that bow down is just such a horrible song
ReplyDeletebrit looks great but seriously ooh la la.... such a bad song
i like regina ALOT but im still on the fence about the song
glad shes trying to mix it up though
i have also been obsessed with ellie ever since i heard lights - but honestly this song
"burn" just doesn't do it for me plus ive heard leona's take on it and i prefer her version
as for demi i think its a great vid but the song - like people are saying - sounds so generic
I am furious DD didn't post about Marina's Part 10: Lies' video.
ReplyDeleteMight have been too new Ricky?
ReplyDeletePerhaps, perhaps, perhaps!
ReplyDeleteStill... *sigh*
Okay. http://cache.ohinternet.com/images/e/e6/Okay_guy.jpg
Great video though eh? :-)
ReplyDeleteYes, it was quite straight to the point, without much gimmicks. Just emotions.
ReplyDeleteshes so beautiful id go str8 for her lol
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
ReplyDeleteSo baby come with me and be my Ooh la la <3! She is soooo cute it makes my heart all warm <3.
ReplyDeleteShe's not calling WOMEN bitches, she calls haters bitches :P. Kind of like when Britney says "It's Britney, bitch!"
ReplyDeleteChild, this is so pointless. We can simply collapse your unimaginative spamming.
ReplyDeleteWhy don't you go see a therapist. If only for some occupational therapy.
Eh, I don't really like the lyrics. They're so generic and predicable and sometimes don't make sense (Their love won't break because it was made in the USA? Bye. China would've made more sense anyway)
ReplyDeleteIt's odd, Marina always releases a new part to the Electra Heart series around the time DD post these spam posts, but Marina never makes it into the spam :((
ReplyDeleteLol, those lyrics made perfect sense. It is a patriotic song, of course. It basically is saying since their love was founded on trust and care, everything else comes on like a foreign entity, hence their love "was made in the USA." This song is also a type of satirical price. I don't know which OEM it is taking cracks at but I'm pretty sure all the american OEMs looking for cheap labor in other countries rather than making stuff in the U.S. You know, there is nothing better than the quality of home? That is the sense o get from this song.
ReplyDeleteShe's obviously not talking about an automobile.
ReplyDeleteYeah that makes sense, but the absolute basicness of the lyrics doesn't convey that concept imo.
ReplyDeleteIt's a joke.
ReplyDeleteI think she delivered lyrically. I prefer her to Taylor Swift lyrically because Demi will go down to dark places where Taylor would drown.
ReplyDeleteDon't know why you decided to bring up Taylor, but ok. Taylor's lyrics are much deeper imo although Demi sometimes discusses darker topics. However, she discusses those darker topics with predictable, generic lyrics that don't dive deeply into the dark subject. I prefer deep lyrics about lighter topics to lyrics of mediocre depth about darker topics.
ReplyDeleteLet's get real now. "Made in the USA" was a desperate plea to be "Party in the USA" and it failed. The patriotism in the song's lyrics don't make any sense and instrumentation is generic as they come. Why are people over-praising this girl? Seriously, enough.
ReplyDeleteLol, you know how I like to try and strike nerves. TBH, I don't even listen to taylor enough to know how dark her lyricism is. LMAO
ReplyDeleteI don't think Demi gets that dark...I mean there's "For the Love of A Daughter" but really nothing else.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention, Demi doesn't write that much of her own content...
ReplyDeleteI fell for it xD
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on the patriotism not making sense and the generic production, but I don't know about the Party In The USA thing...Don't think that was intentional.
ReplyDeleteLOL Well...your leg is very easily pulled when it comes to Taylor. ;-)
ReplyDeleteYeeaaahhhh don't see how "Made in the USA" and "Party in the USA" are related...besides the last 3 words in the name...
ReplyDeleteDon't like the "Summertime Sadness" remix...
ReplyDeleteYup, I get defensive xD
ReplyDeleteMine is too. An American made automobile?...
ReplyDeleteLOL I'm too slow, I just got it now.
ReplyDeletexD
ReplyDeleteHahaha so did I..get it only just now.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I can't trick a pony twice....We'll see in the oh'so unpredictable future. lol
ReplyDeleteThere is an interview in which Demi says she wanted to make a "grown up" Party in the USA, it was intentional. Look at the wikipedia page, it has many blurbs about this.
ReplyDeleteThey are... It was her intention to make her own "Party in the USA". There are interviews in which she says this.
ReplyDeleteNo there aren't. I just scanned the wiki and not a single mention except that the song has been compared to Party in the USA, that's it.
ReplyDeleteHmm.. since Ellie is calling the re-release Halcyon Days, I'm assuming it's going to have more upbeat numbers? Just a hunch.
ReplyDeleteI saw the article somewhere... It's on the internet. It might've been her producers that were interviewed.
ReplyDeleteThen find it and link it.
ReplyDeleteIt's on the internet...therefore it must be true!
ReplyDeleteBillboard called the song "a grown up version" of Party in the USA.
ReplyDeleteHaha no there aren't.
ReplyDeleteSigh, and he never seems to post it the next time he has a video spam :<
ReplyDeletefound it -http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1705202/demi-lovato-new-album-sound.jhtml
ReplyDeleteGood thing Serendipity IS located in the US because it sure isn't visible for those of us outside it. MTV is always like that...nationalistically ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteStrange, I can get access to MTV UK. Here's a little excerpt for those outside the US. "Evigan also helped conceive "Made in the USA," which he considers Demi's answer to Miley Cyrus' massive "Party in the USA." He said, "It's like our love was made in the USA. It sounds kind of cheesy but it could be the biggest song of the year because it's that 'Party in the USA' kind of vibe like love song."
ReplyDeleteThanks. :-)
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAre you okay?
ReplyDeleteAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAre you retarded?
The first Summertime Sadness single mix was the best. Toetally made me fell in love with the song. This one is just... Not good enough.
ReplyDelete"Evigan also helped conceive "Made in the USA," which he considers Demi's answer to Miley Cyrus' massive "Party in the USA." He said, "It's like our love was made in the USA. It sounds kind of cheesy but it could be the biggest song of the year because it's that 'Party in the USA' kind of vibe like love song." That is his opinion, but he doesn't say the song was made as such or that Demi wanted a more mature version of Party in the USA. I don't doubt that was the intention, however there are no solid statements saying so.
ReplyDeleteThe whole tour is centered around female issues (like most of her discography :v), and even if the tours name bothered me (A LOT) at first, after watching some videos of it and taking a look at the tour book it really seens to me to be sarcasm, and a pretty agressive one, considering Beyoncé still is frequently reduced to "Jay Z wife" by both media and a part of the public.
ReplyDeleteAnd as Serendipity said, she is not Mrs. Carter, she is Mrs. Knowles-Carter, and Jay Z is Mr. Knowles-Carter.
Stay Awake is being included and that was originally a Halcyon bonus track. It's definetly a "shut down the dance floor" type track so you're probably right.
ReplyDeleteShe is mrs Knowles-Carter in private. the tour is NOT called Mrs Knowles-Carter. It is called Mrs Carter.
ReplyDeleteIf getting hitched is a "female Issue" ..indeed, she sings about female issues. But just because something is a female " issue" , doesn't mean it's a feminist one. And just because a woman does it, doesn't mean it's a feminist act.
And if it's sarcasm, it still is not really a feminist act because...plenty of women wouldn't take their husbands names. To do so and then complain you are Jay Z's wife...is disingenuous.
But actually, I am guessing the only media that do so is rap/hip hop oriented one and the only audience members who do that are Jay Z fans. I think Beyonce in the general media was already too big a name in her own right. Bigger than Jay Z in fact. I suspect in actuality in mass media more often Jay Z is referred to as Beyonce's husband than the other way around.
So you might as well claim the sarcasm is intended the other way around as well.
Again I say...you don't see Jay Z name his tour the Mr Knowles tour in response to being called the husband of Beyonce.
Considering I read people calling her "the wife of Jay-Z" or even worst, "she only got famous because of Jay-Z", I'm pretty sure it wasn't only rap/hip hop oriented material as I don't consume rap/hip hop oriented media (and the times I did so, they actually were pretty respectful about her). We still live on a society women are defined by who they married, and we still live on a society that always try linking the success of women with their relationship with men. I'm just sharing with you, who I assume doesn't know much about the tour as you don't like/follow her (and that's ok, I don't know much about the artists I don't like/follow either), why I believe that maybe this tour name could not be that literal. She names a tour after her husband, but she didn't get his name when she married. The tour's name and promotional material gives the idea that being with Jay-Z makes her "a queen", while the overall message of the tour is that of female empowerement and how many of her songs are about, as a woman, being successful by yourself and not because of your man. Still, I'm not saying the tour is feminist as I didn't actually watched it in full quality to actually take my take understanding it, and even if I did, I'm pretty aware feminist is not a homogenious block and some stuff is indeed considered feminist by some people and not considered by other people. You said Beyoncé can't be feminist based on the tour name (and you are being pretty conclusive when you do so), and I'm just saying, that based on what I could find about the concert, maybe (and as I didn't watch the tour neither am a personal Beyoncé friend to ask her about it, and as I said, had problems with the tour name myself) she isn't being literal over her, but using sarcasm to make an statement that can be or not be feminist.
ReplyDeleteWell any article that claims " she just got famous because of Jay Z" obviously is not exactly written by a knowledgeable person now is it? ;-)
ReplyDeleteAs a matter of curiosity..where DID you read those things?
I am a woman and no, "we" don't live in a society which defines where women are defined by who they married. I live in a society where that is only done by some women themselves.
Are you pasting that stuff about Feminists not being a homogenious block? Because you posted the same thing before. (ps just in case you want to know for future use.. .it's spelled homogeneous)
Indeed it is not a homogeneous group. But some things we do all agree on. And that is that not every act by a woman is a feminist act. Or that every female issue is a feminist issue.
And no, I did not say Beyonce can't be a feminist based on the name of her tour. I said the name of that tour is not a feminist act. It doesn't really matter how people who know her career and who do know her personally interpret it. Most who see a poster for a Beyonce tour are not going to get much more than.." hey a certain mrs Carter is touring." And if they already know that is actually Beyonce, they are only going to register..
" Oh, Beyonce is going by her husband's name now".
But fyi I do not think Beyonce's work is feminist. I do not think " you should a put a ring on it" is all that feminist a statement. Seeing as it says basically..if a man puts a ring on a woman's finger he owns the rights to her body.
Nor do I think her visual imagery choices shows much feminism.
I had a pretty intense day today and I'm a little sleepy, so I will answer point by point:
ReplyDelete1 - Maybe I missunderstood you over here, them, but I do read it as "she can't be feminist because of the name of the tour":
"Before I start...this is not about private live but,
i don't think you can be called a feminist if you call a tour of you singing and " dancing" your ass off under the name The mrs Carter tour or some such.
I mean, is the husband doing the singing and dancing? Did he before they got married while she established herself?
No and no. So no to being a feminist if you after signing a piece of paper suddenly give up your identity for your husbands name."
2 - Considering the tour is being really successful and the tickets aren't all that cheap, I believe people are well aware of who is performing. A "certain mrs Carter" wouldn't be able to sell out arenas and stadiums around the world, as this is something that needs some time building a career before working smoothly (our dear Lady Gaga didn't know that). Anyway, when you say the tour name can't be a feminist act as people may interpret it on other ways, well, this mean sarcasm can't be considered a valid way of expressing views of the world or that no art is never political as everything on both art and comunication is pretty much open for interpretation according to the viewer's background. I disagree about being or not being a fan doesn't matter on the sense that if the tour really has this concept (what I never stated as a fact, I'm waiting to watch it), it only can be understood by actually watching the thing. On the same way you can't review a book based on its cover or a movie by its title.
3 - "Indeed it is not a homogeneous group. But some things we do all agree on. And that is that not every act by a woman is a feminist act. Or that every female issue is a feminist issue." We agree over here...
4 - "I am a woman and no, "we" don't live in a society in which women are defined by who they married. I live in a society where that is only done by some women themselves." I'm pretty sure this could be read as blaming a social group by its own problems as it was isolated from the rest of society. A lot of women do define themselves and others by who they marry, but a lot of men do the same... I don't really believe most people on position of power being men and women being defined (by a big part of the society, both men and women) by who they marry is just some unlinked coincidence.
5 - Thanks! I will remember the "homogeneous tip! English is not my first language and one of the reasons why I engage on this kind of discussion is to actually keep the language fresh on my mind, so, corrections are always very very welcome! =)
1: don't read it as anything other than it says.
ReplyDeleteThe terms of condition was clear...I don't think you can be called a feminist if you call your tour after your husbands name.
Like i said, it doesn't send a feminist message. Insider jokes do not count..they can only be understood by insiders.
The last line was a general statement to any woman who goes around calling herself by her husband's last name after getting married. It's their own choice but I don't think it can be called a feminist one.
2: yes the people who bought a ticket , one would hope, knows who they are going to see. But I wasn't speaking about fans. I said generally people who see that announcement.
No matter how well the ticket sales go, that is always but a small percentage of the people who are going to see a poster hanging in a city or hear/read showbiz news etc.
I was speaking of the general message that is send out by it.
That is what the majority of people will get. Not any " concept" nor how that concept is actually played out.
Indeed a lot of so called art is not generally understood. Only again...by insiders.
Feminism is a political movement aimed AT society on a whole. Not a message just for insiders.
4: No, I meant that you and I do not live in the same society. You live in Brasil. I live in western Europe. Different societies with different views on women and their positions AND their choices. There is no "we live in" is what I meant to convey.
I btw don't know about Brasilian society but most certainly where I come from men have not been defined by whom they marry for decades. I dare say a century.
Women were a little longer and in some small circles still are. But as a "society", we frown upon such a defining of a woman and if a well know person would publicly do so, he would be generally ridiculed.
also any social group imo is always at least partially to blame for their own position. Most of the time power is granted as much as it is taken.
5: I hear you, it's not my first language either and I indeed see discussion such as these as an opportunity to practice my English( and I personally btw find this a pleasant one. A genuine exchange of views. :) )
I most certainly didn't mean to correct you for any other reason than that I noticed you spelled it different but incorrectly both times I saw you use it. :-)
1 - Got it. =)
ReplyDelete2 - Well, Beyoncé (or any other artist) can't do much more than comunicating with her own public, and once she tries way too much to make her work reach people out of her public, she puts herself on the risk of losing what made this public hers once. Feminism is a political moviment and it's not just for Beyoncé fandom, but one of the functions of both art and pop culture is translating complex concepts to ordinary people. I like Beyoncé, and even if I admit she has some pretty bizarre "feminist" positions sometimes, I do believe (as naive as it may be) that she takes those positions not only because there's a market share for it or because there's no other popstar working around the gender issues of women of color (that are different of those of white women on may ways), but because it's a theme I believe she probably identify herself with... And I admire her for it, even if the result is a little problematic from times to times.
4 - We don't live on the same society and as an north american performer she doesn't live on the same society as both of us... And maybe this causes some problems for both of us on the way she do her stuff. A lot of things that are well solved over there or over here may still be interesting for her fans to have a public person singing as a subject. I also saw north american feminists praising and bashing Beyoncé with the same intensity, so, even if she is not 100% seen as someone in touch with the moviment, she is not 100% seen out of it either.
5 - I really like being corrected when I'm wrong, it's one of the most efficients ways of learning. =) As someone who makes a living by writing, I MUST have an above than average knowlegment of my language... And sometimes I see myself correcting people when they are writing/saying something... Not out of arrogance or to call that person dumb (if this was the case I wouldn't even try :V), but just because it will help that person. So, I can understand you. :) A friend of mine got really offended once I corrected him on a grotesque spelling mistake on the title of a college project and I never really understood why... What did he prefer? Delivering it wrong? :P
I'm in complete agreement regarding 5.
ReplyDelete4 partly agree because the sad thing is, having lived long enough to have seen US entertainment and societal development over a good number of years,, I say was a time when women's cause had moved on further but the pendulum swung back a bit again I think.
I noticed that a while back in discussing Madonna and..won't mention her name so as not to attract the stans. ;-D
In some ways US society was more enlightened 25 years ago than it is now.
2. Really, I was speaking of the message of that tour title only originally.
Which is a message which reaching more than just her fans.
When it comes to her lyrics I do not consider her a feminist because the message isn't much of a feminist one plus much of it is written by men actually. ;-)
Generally speaking though as far as who she can reach..I don't think I can go with the excuse she can only reach her fans. I don't believe you are much of an artist if you go around deliberately catering to your already fans.
But then...never thought she was an artist in that sense. She is a pop singer/actress. Her main business is selling albums. Not creating meaningful art.
Which is fine as far as I am concerned. As long as you, or in most cases your fans, don't go around claiming it is more than that.
But having said all that...as an individual, she very obviously is very independent and in control of her own live. That is definitely a feminist " lifestyle" so to speak.
2 - Well, even if her lyrics are written by men she is the one picking those she wants to sing according to what she wants to convey... On this sense the message is as hers as it is from the producers (and I honestly prefer that over self-penned bad music, or bad self performed good written music). But I agree with you she won't be cited on feminist theory books by her body of work so far (and maybe never :v).
ReplyDeleteWhen I said about reaching the fans, I meant that she can't really expect to release stuff easy enough to be totally understood on the first glance by everyone... And most of those who will take a 2nd or 3rd look at her releases are her fans. Even if I agree with you she isn't an artist on the "art producer" sense (called her an "artist" as society usually does with anybody that works on creative areas), even pop music can be multi-layered when it comes to meaning, and a lot of the most recognizible pop music is. I'm not saying she has a lot of depth on her body of work (she has some stuff that do, still, it's far of being the majority of it), but some stuff will need some knowlegment of her past releases and overall position, on the same way it happens with any other artist or popstar.
And fans are stupid... This is the conclusion I came after seeing the same stuff happening over and over again on any fanbase I got it touch with, so, I try to ignore what they say about their idols when it's way too far from reality. I never really saw Beyoncé claiming her work to be far more than what it is, like that beloved person of us, damn, not even Madonna claimed she was producing more than what she is :V. But back to B, she always seemed pretty aware that she is producing pop music, and that it's not up to her to produce an artistic revolution.
Agreed. I never got the impression she claimed to be more than she is as a singer.
ReplyDeletehe is not my cup of tea but I have no issue with Beyonce really. Just dislike irrational fans claiming nonsense. Dislike that even when they do so about my favorites.
Also agreed on better well written songs by someone else than poorly self written stuff. My remark only went to whether I would consider such a work feminist.
As a Kate Bush fan, I also agree.... pop music can be art and can be multi layered. These days Florence Welch and Marina Diamandis spring to mind.
I can relate to that... Sometimes you will see me bashing my faves out of disconfort of what a part of the fandom says... I love Beyoncé and she is pretty much my 2nd favorite anglophone popstar (Madonna coming first). I do find her to be really talented, but no, Beyoncé can't sing and dance at the same time (and she almost never try doing both at the same time), she does get a lot of suspicious songwriting credits and she is way too safe (or was, I feel that this is changing after she get rid of her father). She should never direct one of her concerts DVD again too... I Am... World Tour register was a disaster.
ReplyDeleteLOL You pretty much summed every claim Beyonce stans made that I argued at some point on this here blog.
ReplyDeleteI never really got the "she can dance and sing at the same time" thing, actually... Girl can sing, and even if she did sound like a lifeless robot while doing so for most of her career, I'm really feeling her since 2008 or so, and she is an OK dancer for popmusic standarts (and this is how most popstars dance anyway: Ok. Just Ok. Those who are amazing dancers like Madonna or J-Lo were dancers way before they started singing), but she almost never try dancing and singing at the same time... And I'm not even claiming she lip-synchs (what she does sometimes, but I'm starting to believe the only american popstar not lip-synching is, surprise, Miley Cyrus), but because she doesn't even pretend she is not singing while dancing. The microphone is far way her mouth, the voice heard is the original recording track, and during some songs (Videophone, Dance 4 You) she isn't even holding a microphone. At the same time, while she is singing her verses she is standing still or walking most of the time.
ReplyDeleteLol! it's not intentional!!
ReplyDeleteSORRY! It's not on purpose!
ReplyDeleteIt's okay. I forgive you <3
ReplyDeleteYou can be my marina alarm clock. Email me when anything new comes from her please!
ReplyDeleteYou forgot about Pink.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, I have argued Beyonce stans on that dancing thing. I really don't think she is such a great dancer and also noticed the things you raised there regarding her supposed singing and dancing at the same time.
I also never understood why it should be so special...any showgirl does the singing and dancing all the time.
Oh yeah, P!nk! I have some problem with her... I just can't get into her music. Skill-wise she is probably the best performer over there, and still, I can't get through her concerts because I just can't like her material. I personally don't care much about lip-synching if the performance is good enough (Madonna does that often, like this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTaXtWWR16A) but is very rare the performance being good enough.
ReplyDeleteWell, like her or not, I just meant she sings live...even while dancing.
ReplyDeletePersonally I love Pink. I do hate lip syncing. But as far as Madonna goes, there is a lot there to compensate for the lip syncing. And after so many years...I got to accept she lips. LOL
But imo...of all the supposed great Super Bowl Half time shows...for my money Madonna's was the best one. :-)
And even if I love Beyoncé, hers wasn't nearly as good. There's a rumour they want Britney there next year, that would be pretty interesting having 3 pop divas in a row.
ReplyDeleteSurely that is but a rumor? I don't think artistically she is up to that challenge but mostly I don't think mentally her people and/or she herself, should put her under that much pressure.
ReplyDeleteIf I'd had to guess though, I think we sooner see Mumford and son there. they seem to have reached a point of popularity which my very well put them on the official list of possibles( if such a list exists LOL)
There's a rumour her medications where a big part of the way she was performing lately, and that X Factor was a kind of a final test to see how she would react on uncontrolled situation (as it was live television) without the chemical suport. I started following Britney recently (like, 2 or 3 years ago) when I noticed her comments about fame were far more interesting than the one's by a certain italo-american girl. Watching the fan recordings to her recent tours, she did had some strong days and some pretty bad ones, what makes me think about the medicine rumour being real.
ReplyDeleteStill... I believe in the end I just wished to see her kicking some ass after everything that happened, haha.
I am actually disappointed she is repackaging the album. And being even more honest I don't like Burn. Its totally throwaway in my opinion. Halcyon was a thing of beauty to me and packaging it with this rubbish (thanks again Ryan Recycling Tedder) just diminished the quality of the product.
ReplyDeleteI am with you, the original version blows this out of the water!!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Opie, the only one here I feel that is musically interesting is Regina...talk about classy stuff! As for Ellie, I am unimpressed! Britney had me cringing in all the wrong ways and Beyonce had me nodding off....there goes my in depth and intellectual input for the morning haha
ReplyDeleteI'm not a fan of the re-releasing everyone is doing, I cannot wait for the trend to die down.
ReplyDeleteWith ya there ;)
ReplyDeleteShe can - but tends to get softish.
ReplyDelete