Pop Music Divas

Pop music is the perenial sewer of bad taste, cliche lyrics, and in today’s music world really bad songs. This editorial might seem a tad offensive, but it is suppose to be, a bit offensive I mean. My tirade of the week, has been Kelly Clarkson’s song: Behind These Hazel Eyes. Take it for what it’s worth, but Clarkson won the American Idol competition and the song that Christinia Aguilera wrote for her on the first album was pretty cool. Miss Independent, really is a good song. It’s not great, but it is everything good pop music is suppose to be, a good beat with some silly lyrics that make you feel good when you are thirteen (or totally depressed at 32). Since U Been Gone hit the same mark for Clarkson, it is a fun song and you might even call it a remake of Miss Independent, but the song that radio is killing (I mean playing) is Behind These Hazel Eyes. There is something which Clarkson seems to lack as an artist and that is depth. It’s hard to really explain, but if you listen to Whitney Houston (before she became all crackish) or even Mariah Carey, who is a talented singer despite her crappy songs, you can hear a lot depth. You believe the stupid lyrics, you breathe in the moment sort of speak when they sing. A good singer does this. Right now Clarkson is still not there and her music lacks depth because of it. She may hit the high notes on her music, but she just does not sound believable to me. Perhaps it’s that I don’t really hear the emotion in her songs and I really can’t believe she’s really hurt by love or whatever, but emotion is what sells pop music and so Clarkson’s music is mostly a bad product.

Which brings me to the rest of the pop music world, which is littered with even less talent and emotional depth, that’s right I’m talking about you Hillary Duff, Lindsay Lohan, Ashlee Simpson! This is what happens when music is forced, overly produced, and mass marketed for no other reason than to sell and make money. But one can’t really blame Hillary, Lindsay, or Ashlee, cause they are not the ones who originated it. Nope, I’m talking about you J-Lo! What made you think you could even sing? And for us latin people, what ever possessed you to sing in Spanish? A far worse crime! Britney Spears and J-Lo have great beats, but the talent is not there. They can’t sing. Britney is better than J-Lo at it, but I have no idea why people compare Britney to Madonna. Madonna has class, she has smarts, and most of all she has good taste and a good read on what people will like. Madonna may overly produce her music, but it is always good and interesting, even if you may not like it, you can still appreciate it.

But even in this mire of bad music and pre-packaged bad taste, you have to give it up to Gwen Stefani as being one of the few pop artists that can not only sing with the likes of Donna Summer, but also do the whole hip-hop thing without sounding too wanna-be (a.k.a. Mariah Carey). Stefani is the cool rock-chick. I don’t even like Hollerback Girl, but I still end up grooving the beat and listening to the lyrics.

Feeling Like A Chick on iTunes

Originally written on Apr 1st, 2005.

Tonight I sat down and spent some of my last free Pepsi iTunes and I have to say that one of the most addictive features of the iTunes Store is the iMixes. These are collections of songs that iTunes users have put together and shared. It’s a great way to find songs that you never would have known about otherwise, and it also feels personal. It reminds me of the days back in high school, where I would let a fellow classmate listen to what was playing on my Walkman. You know before the iPod, there were these things that played audio tapes. Yeah, it is kind of ancient. I’ve had at least 30 different Walkmans though and only one iPod, so I’m definitely Old School. Anyway, back to iMixes… it sort of does make MP3 personal, cause you share your tastes with complete strangers and is not that what enjoying music is suppose to be about, you know the tribal dance, the unity of the beat, the connection to the same notes.

I was listening to this one iMix, The Great Cover Up Conspiracy, and they were all coversongs done by mostly women and I thought of my friend KJ and how amazing Tori Amos is. Her version of Enjoy the Silence is just haunting, it gives the song more meaning than the original ever did for me. There is a similar rendition of Comfortably Numb that hits better than the Pink Floyd version too; it does not rock, but it feels really deep. Sheryl Crow’s Gold Dust Woman has some nice guitar work, but by now Stevie Nick’s tenaciously harsh vocal is so ingrained in me, that I can’t forget it even if I tried to.

Needless to say I feel like a chick after hearing this iMix, and that’s just a horrible feeling for a guy.

The Return of Old School Music

I spent most of the weekend watching NBA basketball and looking up old school dance music, when I came upon DigitalDreamDoor.com and their music lists. This was a lot more helpful than most other sites, I’ve looked at cause most music sites don’t even mention dance music, let alone 80’s dance music. I had forgotten about such cool songs as White Lines (Don’t Do It), which incidently, I ended up buying at the local mall music store, cause neither iTunes nor BestBuy had it! DigitalDreamDoor’s 100 Greatest Dance/Jam Songs of the 80’s page was great for making me remember some of my early teen years. Before I got all depressed in my teen years and became a headbanger for Metallica and Iron Maiden music, I was very into the weekend radio dance music shows and Chicago House music, from the likes of Farley Jackmaster Funk, Steve Silk Hurley, and Marshall Jefferson. I’ve been hoping that Hurley would release a remastered CD version of his vinyl stuff, specifically his I Can’t Turn Around record from RCA. I think the original song was recorded by Barry White, but Hurley’s version is the dance bomb.

Even if you have no idea what House music is, or if you don’t like dance music, you should still check out DigitalDreamDoor’s lists, cause they cover other genres of music too, so there should be something interesting for you too. It comes in handy for when you don’t know what to get for your Free Pepsi iTunes.

Speaking of Free iTunes, I’m still waiting on my self-addressed game pieces to come. It’s been a week now. In the mean time I’ve gotten about 10 Free iTunes from Pepsi caps. Here are some of the songs I’ve gotten for free:

  • Do You Really Want to Hurt Me – Boy George And Culture Club
  • Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood – Eric Burdon
  • Bad to the Bone – George Thorogood & The Destroyers
  • Jeopardy – Greg Kihn
  • Volver Junto a Ti – Laura Pausini
  • I Don’t Wanna Know – Mario Winans, Enya & P. Diddy
  • Bandidos – Patricia Manterola
  • Angie – The Rolling Stones
  • Miss You – The Rolling Stones
  • Let the Music Play – Shannon
  • The Glamorous Life (Club Edit) – Sheila E.
  • A Fistful of Dollars – Starsound Orchestra
  • Pump Up the Jam – Technotronic

Right now, my personal favorite is I Don’t Wanna Know, by Mario Winans. It’s a cool slow jam.