chairdriver Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I love. She needs to get round to writing more good music to go with all the stunning performances she does.
Coolness Bears Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Gets better everytime. I currently love Grizzly Bear - Cheerleader Audio Helped keep me relaxed while playing Street Fighter 4.
Ramar Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Yeah she is. I wish her music matched up to what she projects, but some of it is brilliant, a lot is good/ok. A fair amount is awful (but it feels like she tried). Anyone see Paparazzi from first night of her Uk Tour?! I love. So essential. I'm not a fan of over blown pop shows, that stupid monster adds absolutely nothing to the performance. It only leaves me with the question "whats the point?".. I get her fame monster gimmick, but whats the point of it being on stage.
chairdriver Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I'm not a fan of over blown pop shows, that stupid monster adds absolutely nothing to the performance. It only leaves me with the question "whats the point?".. I get her fame monster gimmick, but whats the point of it being on stage. What's the point in seeing someone live [who's music isn't that good] if they were to just stand at a microphone and sing? The whole reason Lady Gaga stuns is because she does joke things on stage which are far more interesting than your bog standard concert. Without the monster, it would have been just another performance of Paparazzi that we've all seen and heard before. Normally I'd be like "..." at the idea, but the fact of the matter is the Monster is really well done. Reminds me of the Alien queen.
Paj! Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Yeah, I'm all for stripped-down stuff (my 3 favourite albums ever are lo-fi, almost acoustic stuff), but as Chair said, with a song everyone knows, she wants to try and make the whole spectacle more..spectacular. Plus it's probably more engaging in real life.
Ramar Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 What's the point in seeing someone live [who's music isn't that good] if they were to just stand at a microphone and sing? The whole reason Lady Gaga stuns is because she does joke things on stage which are far more interesting than your bog standard concert. Without the monster, it would have been just another performance of Paparazzi that we've all seen and heard before. Normally I'd be like "..." at the idea, but the fact of the matter is the Monster is really well done. Reminds me of the Alien queen. She doing stand-up as well? I'm just not all for over the top non-sense, this coming from someone who had tickets for This Is It. All I'm ever interested in is the music when it comes to a gig. If I wanted to see someone prance about with a plastic monster I'd go to the theatre.
Ramar Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Aren't you in to Muse? The username is Ramar, not Stuwii. But to answer your question no, I've disliked most everything Muse since Absolution.
Jon Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 One thing that infuriates me is people altering songs when playing them live, I want to hear the original song as it was originally concieved when it was written, not some jumbled up mash up. I'm sick of hearing about Lady Gaga. I don't doubt her musical ability but I can't turn on the news now without her doing something freakish or making a spectacle of herself - all of which certain people define as cool, just because it's different. Some people have confused different with being better, it's not.
chairdriver Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 One thing that infuriates me is people altering songs when playing them live, I want to hear the original song as it was originally concieved when it was written, not some jumbled up mash up. Literally the opposite of my position on music. Why should a song be set in stone? - especially if it was written ages ago. One of the best concert experiences I've ever had was when Bjork played Hyperballad, but at the end of the song instead of fading into strings, there was an explosion of sounds, and green laser lights and it merged into Enjoy. I can't turn on the news now without her doing something freakish What's she done that's freakish? It's hardly like she's Marilyn Manson or something. Like killing puppies on stage or whatever that rumour was. or making a spectacle of herself - all of which certain people define as cool, just because it's different. It's not cool because its different - it's cool because she's wearing Alexander McQueen clothes, crying blood, and hanging herself on stage. Some people have confused different with being better, it's not. That's a massive sweeping statement. In the cases where the artist is obviously trying to be different just because, then yeah, but in the case of Lady Gaga its not the case she's different - she's just putting on a good show, in typical gay icon splendour - its just few have the originality to match her performances.
Ramar Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 It's not cool because its different - it's cool because she's wearing Alexander McQueen clothes, crying blood, and hanging herself on stage. Hanging yourself on stage is cool?..
chairdriver Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Hanging yourself on stage is cool?.. It's cooler than just ending the song by bowing and saying "Thank you very much". And it worked in the context of the "story" of Paparazzi; she's a bog-standard pop star (The Fame), and then dies and comes back as the vastly better Fame Monster.
jayseven Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I think elvis and his millions of fans would disagree with you there, Chair.
Paj! Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I disagree with JonSt/agree with Chair RE: Performance of songs. Bit pointless seeing people just roll out album versions note for note. (Ok, if it's worse live, you'd prefer album versions. :p) If they can/want to add elements to make the songs come alive on stage/in concert, I support it. If only for the artists themselves. how fucking boring would it be to perform the same song, the same way, 100+ times on a single tour? Let alone if that's like a staple hit you do on every tour. --- That said, one doesn't have to use lights and effects to put on a good show, a good performer/band can have a "star quality" than just brings all eyes to them anyway. That's rare though.
Jon Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I disagree with JonSt/agree with Chair RE: Performance of songs. Bit pointless seeing people just roll out album versions note for note. (Ok, if it's worse live, you'd prefer album versions. :p) If they can/want to add elements to make the songs come alive on stage/in concert, I support it. If only for the artists themselves. how fucking boring would it be to perform the same song, the same way, 100+ times on a single tour? Let alone if that's like a staple hit you do on every tour. --- That said, one doesn't have to use lights and effects to put on a good show, a good performer/band can have a "star quality" than just brings all eyes to them anyway. That's rare though. I don't care how boring it is for them, I pay good money to come and see them and expect a certain level of performance in return. The way I see it, artists who can sound like their releases live are the ones that have spent longer honing their performance and craft. There's nothing like the atmosphere at a gig when a crowd favourite comes on. Doesn't really work the same when the song sounds completely different to what everyone knows it as.
Paj! Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 You're right to an extent, it's a bit "..." if they completely change it if it's worse. But what if it's better? Chair's example is actually REALLY good. The lush electronic track Hyper-Ballad suddenyl mashes with Freak by LFO (IIRC) for the last portion, which in turn helps segues into the more heavy electronic part. Also all the beats are played live on this: A REACtable, which gives the songs a different identity live, the beats are more frenetic in cases and it's just a lot more satisfying than a backing track or something. It's shows that she wants the live experience to be a unique one, that the music is still put together like a normal band, rather than just played in the background. People can pour their heart out performing live, making songs that much more powerful (over mentioned, but that Tori Amos is a good example). Are you saying that they should stick EXACTLY to how it is without trying to improve it?
Razz Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 The Waitress from UTP and the one from TVAB are stupidly good examples as well. But I won't divulge or I might get shot.
Jon Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 You're right to an extent, it's a bit "..." if they completely change it if it's worse. But what if it's better? Chair's example is actually REALLY good. The lush electronic track Hyper-Ballad suddenyl mashes with Freak by LFO (IIRC) for the last portion, which in turn helps segues into the more heavy electronic part. Also all the beats are played live on this: A REACtable, which gives the songs a different identity live, the beats are more frenetic in cases and it's just a lot more satisfying than a backing track or something. It's shows that she wants the live experience to be a unique one, that the music is still put together like a normal band, rather than just played in the background. People can pour their heart out performing live, making songs that much more powerful (over mentioned, but that Tori Amos is a good example). Are you saying that they should stick EXACTLY to how it is without trying to improve it? Not at all. I saw the Foo Fighters a few years back and one song they did that still remains a gig highlight for me was just Dave Grohl with an acoustic guitar doing a stripped version of Learning to Fly. Not necessarily that the performance was exceptional but more the context in that it was played. It wasn't that long after 9/11 and it just seemed to connect the audience to him. It's very much subjective what people consider to be an improvement, the majority of people will pay their money expecting to see the songs they love performed more or less or they love them.
Ramar Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I don't mind stage presence or song embelishment. I just don't get the point of huge monsters on stage, the same way I don't really have time for dance routines.
ipaul Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 I don't mind stage presence or song embelishment. I just don't get the point of huge monsters on stage, the same way I don't really have time for dance routines. Why not just play the album? If you go to a gig and there is no alteration on the music and there is nothing interesting aesthetically, then it makes for a pretty poor concert. Concerts should be as much about the spectacle and the experience rather than solely the music in my opinion. More specifically, what's wrong with dance routines? They make things interesting, they hardly ever detract from the experience.
Jon Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Why not just play the album? If you go to a gig and there is no alteration on the music and there is nothing interesting aesthetically, then it makes for a pretty poor concert. Concerts should be as much about the spectacle and the experience rather than solely the music in my opinion. More specifically, what's wrong with dance routines? They make things interesting, they hardly ever detract from the experience. They do when they performer can't sing properly for wondering where her right arm is suppose to be.
ipaul Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 They do when they performer can't sing properly for wondering where her right arm is suppose to be. But then that's more a problem with the shitty performer, not the concept of putting a dance with the music. Which I should probably ask, is it just practicalities or the whole concept that annoys you?
Coolness Bears Posted February 19, 2010 Posted February 19, 2010 Does anyone have an invite for Spotify? Your friendly neighbourhood Coolness Bears does. Also I didn't know Bitch Brigade had an album out. It's been out for 3 days already. Fortunately it was on iTunes i was slightly surprised.
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