RE: the pop market

On Mon, 1 Dec 2003, William Mazur wrote:

> Many of Ecto's former darlings now get a good deal of negative press
> here. Examples being Sarah, Jewel and even Tori. Do they get the
> negative press because their music is really not that good anymore OR
> because they have gained mass acceptance and they aren't OUR darlings
> anymore? Now we have to share them with the world and the reason is
> because they SOLD OUT to commerciality. That is why they now have this
> wider audience. I really wonder sometimes. Perhaps the answer is
> somewhere in between.

this comes up a lot, but in these cases, i really don't think so. i think
one of the things that drives this perception most -- and makes this a
divisive issue on ecto -- is the nature of the lyrics written by these
artists. i think a lot of people on ecto are happy listening to something
centered around an enjoyable voice, a strong melody and an appropriate
supporting arrangement.  as a student of music engineering and production
i can even find a lot of things to admire in the craftsmanship applied to
platinum artists. but for me to really _love_ something i have to be able
to either accept the words (or be unable to understand them! cf cranes,
cocteau twins, etc.).

kilcher's early material -- before _pieces of you_ -- was funny! sharp and
witty as often as it was poignant. i didn't care much for the first record
NOT because it was popular, but because it only showed one side of an
artist who was capable of more diverse (and, to me, more fundamentally
inteesting) work.

the first time i heard mclachlan's "i will remember you" i thought it
sounded like the result of a contest to write a high school graduation
theme song. it's pretty, but says almost nothing.  it didn't seem to have
any of the passion that underlay "fumbling."

amos is a little different, i admit. i don't hear the tendency toward
unchallenging lyrical material that i have with the other two; instead she
seems to get more and more eliptical. i think she continues to be
more interesting as an artist, but it seems unlikely to me that she'll
release another record with the immediacy (and lasting appeal) of
"earthquakes."


all personal opinyuns and ym will almost certainly v

-- d.