Taylor Swift - 1989

"shake it off" is definitely her worst ever lead single. the rap :(

wait did she really say something about jimmy jam & terry lewis???

i did not hear it but i was shouting at my bf to shut up. but i think maura was making a joke

oh :(

"proper pop album" :(

"shake it off" sounded very catchy but the spoken word/rap/"sick beat" bit made me do a full body cringe and I EXPECT BETTER FROM YOUUUUU TAYLOR

"shake it off" is definitely her worst ever lead single. the rap :(

OTM

oh it was a joke about 1989 i get it now

i haven't heard this song yet but "we are never ever getting back together" is one of the three or four least greatest songs on red

"proper pop album" :(

i'm down

mystified by the single though

it's a snappy lil number but v. indistinct and the rap is going to be hard to get over

I AM GETTING MJ VIBES AM I WRONG FOR THIS

I LOVE IT ALREADY DON'T CARE

I AM SURE THE ALBUM WILL HAVE MORE SWIFTIAN LYRICS

THIS.
SICK.
BEAT.

LOLLLLLLLLL

There better be the sound of the Funky Drummer on this album.

this is the kind of song that requires a killer middle-eight to elevate it from catchy ringtone into something truly POP and holy shit does the rap let it down

oh fuck this song

http://cdn02.cdn.justjared.com/wp-content/uploads/headlines/2014/08/taylor-swift-1989-album-artwork.jpg

so down

oh my
what a inglorious tune

The "rap" breakdown makes me think of Avril's Girlfiend.

THIS IS SO FUCKING GROOVY

i never miss a beattttt-ah!!!

these VOCALS ok girl

Liked it more on 2nd listen, not that hot on the vid tho

terrible

I GO ON TOO MANY DATES

confirmed that i can sing the hook without searching youtube

It feels very "pop for 2014" to me in that it sounds like it's made to appeal to the crowd that is suffereng from "EDM Fatigue" and that likes stuff like "Happy" and "All About That Bass".

No thinkpieces about the video. Please.

yeah the jam/lewis thing was me writing real time fan fiction, sorry everybody

singing at the top of my lungs

HEARTBREAKER'S GONNA BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK BREAK

an electric pop anthem complete with the "Hey Ya" inspired horns that have taken music by storm this year

gimme just one track that's taylor-gone-latin freestyle and i'll be happy

This pop song sounds like other pop songs shocker wtf

No thinkpieces about the video. Please.

There's some unfortunate twerking though.

confirmed that i can sing the hook without searching youtube

so can i, which somehow makes it worse

the video is terrible

the "fakin' fakin' fakeeee" adlib near the end is KILLING me

gimme just one track that's taylor-gone-latin freestyle and i'll be happy

deep prayers for this one

new charli xcx single > this

getting Hey Ya vibes

um

third listen and i don't care / i love it

THEY'RE FAKIN' FAKIN' FAKEEEEEEEEEE

my coworker's reaction is my favorite: "i feel like if i heard this when i was out and kinda drunk i'd be like yeeAAAAHHHH"

"haters gonna hate" is the most odious expression of the last 40 years so I'm not feeling generous

yeah it's gonna be huge with the 'tonight's gonna be a good night' set

also: pop stars really don't know what the fuck to do with horn sections besides treat them as rhythm guitars or something

The beat sounds a lot like the beat for "Happy," with the open hi-hat hit moved in the measure.

I mean it's a pretty standard drum beat but it jumped out at me.

otm

this is like everything i didn't even know i needed!!!

gonna assume her inspiration for the song's FUNK and album title came from her playing the 1975's "girls" incessantly on the streets of nyc this summer

this is about as ebullient as a cardiac arrest

reserve the right to like this at any time but the song is totally megahan trainor's second single and the video looks like an snl sketch

Yeah my immediate reaction was "wow this is the perfect midpoint between "happy" and "all about that bass" how timely."

This is part of the genius of max martin which stands apart from whether you like the results, his stylistic shifts are so utterly ruthless.

i'm surprised she went with something so ordinary

I dunno, the same is true of "We Are Never...". The pop move last time made more sense once we heard the other Martin joints, retrospectively making the first single sound better.

I think I was in the minority here in recoiling at Red, precisely for how little Martin and Shellback and Swift have in common.

Out of the way too many songs around in the past couple years that sound like this one, this one has one of the best melodies. I just don't know what to do with the lyrics and the rap break, though.

i mean from afar i should probs be slightly disappointed or w/e but then every single part of this song is a total earworm and makes me want to dance giddily and it is so funky and THEY'RE FAKIN' FAKIN' FAKEEEEEEEE

the fella over there with the hella good hair

It's not a rap. It's more like the "shit is bananas" bit from "Hollaback Girl". Though not as good as that obv.

I'm drinking a Soy latte
I get a double shot
It goes right through my body
And you know
I'm satisfied,
I drive my mini cooper
And I'm feeling super-dooper
Yo they tell I'm a trooper

1989 is a touchstone; Taylor's songwriting and sonic evolution surprises us more than ever before. Heavily keyboard and beat driven, the pop sensibilities that have always been the hallmark of Taylor’s music now move front and center on 1989. "I spent two years making 1989. Two years gives you enough time to grow and change and let things inspire you. I was listening to a lot of late 80's pop music and how bold those songs were and how that time period was a time of limitless possibilities. In thinking about that, this album is a rebirth for me. This is my very first documented, official pop album. 1989 is the most sonically cohesive album I have ever made and my favorite album I have ever made," said Taylor.

(Formal press release action)

I mean I'm totally cool with Swift recording a Fine Young Cannibals album or Cosmic Thing

some of you should look away now lol

http://oi59.tinypic.com/ncxvk9.jpg

well "we are never" was hyper-pop but it still sounded like her. it was a pretty easy bridge to envision, and i think the same is true for "22" if not exactly "i knew you were trouble"

maybe i'm just feeling weird about there being no twangy guitar trojan horse-ing the new sounds in

yeah it's not a rap

NO FUCKING WAY

"For the record this is my very first documented pop album," she added.

Taylor Swift & Ryan Tedder

she used an ampersand

this is a well written song, the hook is good. i just think the beat is ugly and cheap sounding and a bit too on the nose.

if this sounded like "stay stay stay" i'd be down

girl if you're going to be evoking the year that pop gave us like a prayer and raw like sushi and rhythm nation 1814 and hats you gotta come a bit harder than ryan bloody tedder

Haha

if your last name is "Antonoff" you should probably go by "John"

Taylor Swift recording a Daisy Age album

The way she describes her inspiration I'd expect this to sound like HAIM, but there is no way. Be cool if it sounded like Paula Abdul, though.

She should collabo with Stephen Bray.

a taylor swift / fred schneider duet would actually rule

If she had a huskier voice I'd suggest she hook up with Patrick Leonard.

GUYS

The way she describes her inspiration I'd expect this to sound like HAIM, but there is no way. Be cool if it sounded like Paula Abdul, though.

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, August 18, 2014 6:05 PM (12 seconds ago) Bookmark

"shake it off" doesn't *not* sound like haim

i'm kind of hoping it's a bunch of songs that sound like "ain't it fun"

this thread moved from disgust to the ilm brand of contrarian popist embrace in hyperspeed

YEAH JORDAN

This is going to be her biggest single, no? Smart move! I don't love the song/video but good on her for going straight to the heart of the will-spend-money-on-music-demographic

I'd be down with Swift continuing in this vein. Like, "1955" could be her rockabilly record, "1977" her punk record, "1994" her Disney soundtrack, "1969" her West Coast psychedelic album...

for whatever reason i'm intrigued by taylor + jack antonoff

"2009" brings in the Animal Collective influence...

I've never been intrigued by Jack Antonoff.

for whatever reason i'm intrigued by taylor + jack antonoff

he cowrote "sweeter than fiction" if you'd like to be less intrigued

and ryan tedder created "hold on" by colbie caillat which is the greatest song of all time

IN TAYLOR I TRUST

I'd rather have "1994" be her Tarantino Soundtrack.

people have elevated ryan tedder material before

because if you place the material at ground level, brad, you suffocate

haha

Also I feel like prolego and uberweiss's definition of FUNK is very different from mine.

lol alfred

The single is OK I guess. But one thing for sure I don't wanna be caught listening to it by my friends. Haven't said this regarding a Taylor song before :(

well "we are never" was hyper-pop but it still sounded like her

yeah WANEGBT sounded like knowing self-parody (well, initially it just sounded like self-parody i guess). "shake it off" sounds like anyfuckingone else.

also even one or two more shiny ~pop joints on red would have completely sunk it, and there were only like 3 in the first place. doesn't look like that ratio will be true of 1989 :/

w/e MarkoP you know this is better than peak MJ

the cinematography of this video is gross

"22" kinda underperformed, so i'm a little surprised/intrigued that she's doubling down on letting her young fans know she's older than them

as much as i'm down, very much stated that i'm down with the direction of this record itt, i wish nathan chapman were involved

share j0rd's misgivings about the cheap sound of the beat, max martin's got a very narrow "horn" synth preset

you know who else made a wacky video about not being able to dance? genesis

you know who made a better cheerleader cheer? The Jonas Bros.

http://portalpopline.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/taylorswift-cht.jpg
http://i.ytimg.com/vi/qOyF4hR5GoE/hqdefault.jpg

Irritated this is bad bc i just, this week, learned to love Taylor Swift.

hey, nathan chapman could still have produced track #11 maybe!

feel like late '80s/early '90s pop had its fake synth horns more kaleidoscopically arranged at least

can only think of "every heartbeat" at the moment though

hope a song on this sounds like "every heartbeat"

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/playing-possum-19750619

With Playing Possum, Simon has largely abandoned plaintive balladeering for a blunt style that means to be aggressively sexy. Aggressive it is — and characteristically ingratiating — but not particularly sexy except on one song, "Attitude Dancing." Easily the most exciting Carly Simon cut since "You're So Vain," "Attitude Dancing" boasts nifty nonsense lyrics by Jacob Brackman and one of Richard Perry's tour de force productions: strutting horns, razorsharp string lines, perfect backup vocals by various luminaries and Jim Gordon's impeccable, essential drumming. Simon's vocal is genuinely sassy; she even lets herself growl a bit.

Simon's new, bolder stance was probably inevitable — it's certainly welcome — since her previous four albums have defined a slow but steady movement away from the "sensitive singer/songwriter" role toward that of "rock" songstress.

tell me this is on spotify soon, i can't listen to real songs yet

and ryan tedder created "hold on" by colbie caillat which is the greatest song of all time

IN TAYLOR I TRUST

― uberweiss, Monday, August 18, 2014 6:12 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

oh nice to meet you, i'm the other guy in the world who likes that song

tedder still best treated with suspicion though

songstress

LOL: https://mobile.twitter.com/CountryMusic/status/501483161101279232

i haven't even bothered to put this on my ipod :/

so it's long enough

We need a backlash

it started off with a backlash!

i'm home now so i can dance with my cats to this as taylor intended

the cats will not comment

they're extremely frightened

to be real i think taylor's sensibility is extremely visible in the vocal it's just been floated over to different production

hey

i might buy a physical copy of this, which would be crazy considering i don't do that

this is p fun, im down

brad's got a cat for you, start dancing

he better have enough for all of us. loan me one!

http://ceripadley.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/crazycat.gif

true

brad, can I come over with some gin do you have cats

Holy fucking shit

This >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> We Are Never Ever I Can't Even Remember The Rest Of The Name Of That Song

"haters gonna hate" is the most odious expression of the last 40 years so I'm not feeling generous

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, August 18, 2014 5:48 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark

I see where you're coming from but it is what it is

so the song impacted you then

Decided to action that post after listen-hearing the songmusic

Strangely enough the comeback single that this most reminds me of is "Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)"

I am so excited about

http://i.imgur.com/2zysVFA.jpg

Tho

On first listen it doesn't irritate me the way "We Are Never" did on first listen -- but "We Are Never" grew on me and (for better/worse) had more identifiably Taylor touches than this does. So I dunno. I do agree with this:

this is the kind of song that requires a killer middle-eight to elevate it from catchy ringtone into something truly POP and holy shit does the rap let it down

... because as I was listening ambivalently I thought, "Well, one of her killer bridges could elevate this," and then there was the opposite of a killer bridge.

have you seen the bridge?

Those gated hi hats (I think that's what they're called) gave me a nice http://i.imgur.com/iHHBUZ1.png scare

Yeah I thought of "Umbrella" as well, though that comparison paints this in a pretty unflattering light.

Eh the comparison for me ended after the horn patch started playing

also: pop stars really don't know what the fuck to do with horn sections besides treat them as rhythm guitars or something

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, August 18, 2014 5:48 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

Do agree that she should have taken the message of the song to heart and gone Full Skammunism

Right now imagining Taylor Swift doing the Save Ferris version of Come On Eileen and I am besides myself

aaah a better chorus and this would have been one of the pop songs for the ages, and i've always considered Swift's forte was big anthemic fun choruses. i was waiting for it and it never really happened, i really want to enjoy this song.

Taylor Swift - 1996 (her SkaCore album)

Taylor Swift - 1999 (her Prince covers album)

1999 is her nu-metal album

xpost shit fuck ass piss goddammit

that's not how "family reunion" goes

this song's gonna be a big hit

i love this song

wonder if any of the involved parties have ever heard "bubble pop"

ok, so the song is two times better without the video. anyone wants to predict thesinglesjukebox's score?

LOL: https://mobile.twitter.com/CountryMusic/status/501483161101279232

― lex pretend, Monday, August 18, 2014 3:56 PM (Yesterday)

what did this say, seems to have been deleted?

uh no, "bubble pop" is 10x the song this is, bad dubstep interlude >>> bad taylor swift rapping. xposts

this is terrible, but I can already tell it's going to be massive

xposts
http://imagizer.imageshack.com/img540/9408/hOFX7U.png

that's sweet

"This sick beat" rivals "Now go stand in the corner and think about what you did" for cringe inducage.

i woke up this morning and all I really felt like playing was "mean"

they're similar in sentiment and this works as a continuation/fulfillment of what she was singing about there but back then she was taking shots as a small-town girl taking refuge in a fantasy of what the future could one day bring - one day i'll be living in a big old city/i'll be big enough so you can't hit me etc. - and now she's got out and escaped to the biggest of cities the dynamics feel different. do you really need to sing about haters when the world's now at your feet? it felt bratty in mean but at least that felt like an uncertain defence mechanism against bigger forces. this is being heavily positioned as her big city nyc album that she's been driving towards since her debut (that small town a thousand miles away in her rear view mirror now) and i like how she talked in the livestream about her inspiration from late 80s nyc bohemian freedom, doing whatever you want and loving who you want (i have too many #queertaylorthoughts) i just hope she has some serious songwriting about dealing with all that doesn't only just feel like a victory lap. and i hope her identity isn't subsumed too much by max martin. 9/16 songs is an awful lot.

she talked in the livestream about her inspiration from late 80s nyc bohemian freedom doing whatever you want and loving who you want

wow

that video is like watching your grown-up kid make unfortunate choices

plus as a bald man the thing about the "hella good hair" just hurts.

song sounds even worse in the cold light of day. oh god, even apart from the obviously terrible bits like the spoken word/rap and the horrible video, the lyrics are so basic. the woman who wrote "tim mcgraw" at 16 is resorting to scavenging through katy perry's bin for rejected lyric sheets??

i mean yeah i was not enthused by WANEGBT on first listen for similar reasons but this is a hundred times worse

I'll just give her the benefit of the doubt and assume those lyrics were written entirely by max martin or whoever the producer was. I mean,

I stay up too late, got nothing in my brain
That’s what people say, that’s what people say
I go on too many dates, but I can’t make them stay
At least that’s what people say, that’s what people say

seriously..

there is no way "I go on too many dates, but I can’t make them stay" was written for anyone in music besides taylor swift, and likely *by* swift, given how much shit she's taken from tabloids for exactly that

IDK, they feel like her lyrics. It isn't rigid / perfect in that max martin sort of way. There's awkward numbers of syllables.

And yeah, unapologetically basic is the new aesthetic.

here for unapologetically basic anything/everything

I go on too many dates
*trademark knowing chuckle*
but I can’t make them stay

Earl Sweatshirt Slams Taylor Swift for “Inherently Offensive” Video

the taylor swift video is offensive but anyone in odd future can sit alllll the way down given that "being offensive" is their entire fucking shtick

Loving the big echo-ey MUAH's!

should i buy keds, guys?

gotta say, if you take out the problematic bits then the video's really fun to watch

this is basically taylor swift wanting her very own 'Problem', isn't it?

taylor's manager a few months ago in an interview was talking about how best to avoid ariana's "ascendancy" release as if she were her chief competition

I guess with the max martin productions that's where they see her right now

*and release schedule

I listened to this, and my youngest daughter, in another room, was humming it when I got back into the room. "what was that?" she asked, and I explained. "it's not very good," she replied, then continued humming it.

Getting a strong Avril meets Fergie vibe with a "I think everyone forgot about Hey Ya!" twist. Or that video for "Intuition" by Jewel; anyone remember that?

The strangest thing is this whole "It's so 80's!" undercurrent. I understand that half of the people writing these pieces were probably born in the early 90's, but like, there is absolutely nothing 80's about this song.

^otm.

Like maybe I can hear a little Belinda Carlisle or something in the melodies, but this is firmly a mid-2000s joint.

The only 80's tune I can think of any resembelance is Toni Basil's Mickey, and that's probably only for the chearleader-esque chant part. But definitely not anything from the year of the album title.

the people who mention "late '80s" are likely doing so because taylor herself brought it up in the presser, as far as I can tell. this isn't that, though. it's pure disneypop -- jobros' "pom poms," bella thorne's "call it whatever," nods to "dancing on my own" and "come on over baby"

there's also the fact that the video is so so so so phil collins

he liked a twerpy horn section on the uptempo stuff too

phil collins? more like high school musical

any superstar who makes a wacky video where they prance around in front of a variety of pop archetypes as if they don't belong there owe phil a royalty

but this ain't a binary, yes this max martin pop resembles disney pop and yes this superstar horn-fueled tomfoolery resembles phil collins

it is funny how "Mickey" has become this singular touchstone that Gwen and Avril and the JoBros and now Taylor have all kind of used for YAY CHEERLEADERS '80S POP YEAH shorthand

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoTz3WgZm4c

xpost -- Does that make Nirvana the exception that proves the rule?

more like "jerk it off"

more like "ienjoysnotclogs"

he liked a twerpy horn section on the uptempo stuff too

to be fair that horn section was earth wind & fire

Or that video for "Intuition" by Jewel; anyone remember that?

"First documented pop album" made me immediately think of

http://www.jewelwiki.com/uploads/Albums/0304/0304-front.jpg

he liked a twerpy horn section on the uptempo stuff too

to be fair that horn section was earth wind & fire

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, August 19, 2014 5:39 PM (5 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

womp womp

pretend i said "chipper" instead of "twerpy"

i was always under the impression he recorded the horn charts himself while wearing a variety of funny hats

i mean that's just part of his artistry, that he gives you that impression

http://res.cloudinary.com/dyfxt8ggh/image/upload/c_scale,h_377/v1381843804/Patrick_Bateman_Christian_Bale__You_like_Phil_Collins_American_Psycho_2000_film_daqwex.jpg

it is funny how "Mickey" has become this singular touchstone that Gwen and Avril and the JoBros and now Taylor have all kind of used for YAY CHEERLEADERS '80S POP YEAH shorthand

― some dude, Tuesday, August 19, 2014 12:07 PM (56 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i watched Five Easy Pieces the other day and Toni Basil was listed as being in the movie according to the opening credits but i never spotted her

She's the less butch lesbian hitchhiker.

Basil also plays the New Orleans hooker who isn't Karen Black in Easy Rider.

this isn't as bad as i thought it would be from ppl's descriptions but still... yikes. the video is horrible.

any superstar who makes a wacky video where they prance around in front of a variety of pop archetypes as if they don't belong there owe phil a royalty

― da croupier, Tuesday, August 19, 2014 1:06 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

http://planetmcal.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/david-lee-roth-just-a-gigilo-310x168.jpg

but i keep cruuuuising

Toni Basil also choreographed Talking Heads a bit.

maybe don't click on this link if you're a taylor swift fan.

https://twitter.com/Tayswiftsong/status/501737788484882432

:///////////

i think i'd do anything to relive the news ed sheeran would be on red 2 years ago now

:(((((((((((

Come back, Snow Patrol guy, all is forgiven.

forgot "just a gigolo" but it's funny where taylor and phil like to suggest they're more approachable and grounded than the pop scenarios they mock, david's just mocking - he's the host

Her next album will be all duets.

my favorite song on the last record is "holy ground," bring it on

I already heard this song out in the wild today when I went to grab lunch.

How were yr fries

http://i.imgur.com/lUDm9pk.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDAPwdHKmO4

boohoo
plenty more years for classic swift ballads down the road and we've already had plenty. i'm excited about this current phase!

she did say 'heartthrob' is one of her favourite albums of all time

heard it on the radio back-to-back with Katy's "This Is How We Do," was like dueling horrible spoken word bridges

she did say 'heartthrob' is one of her favourite albums of all time

yeah i was like "this doesn't strike me as different from the approach taken on heartthrob"

Not devastated considering most of my least favorite Taylor songs are slow (except Change and Haunted)
Oh and I'm actually really happy with Shake It Off. Too early to say, but it may surpass 22 and my favourite MM song she's done.

Isn't the last song on the album an Imogen Heap co-write? Can't imagine that being an upbeat bop

http://grantland.com/hollywood-prospectus/haters-keep-hating-taylor-swifts-shake-it-off-will-take-over-the-world/

i love when people break out a big prop crystal ball to make the bold prediction that Taylor Swift will gasp continue to be hugely successful

song's gonna be huge but alienating not just the country crowd but the wee ones with an album of pop songs flaunting twentysomething-hood does have some commercial risk

maybe she'll let florida georgia line do their magic mike thing as an opening act

we can cry New Jersey all we want but at this rate any inevitable drop in sales would probably be a minor "Like A Prayer sold less than True Blue" kind of nitpicking.

yeah i don't see her going away or anything

even if she dropped a full-on Erotica, like Madonna she'd have a soundtrack ballad out within six months

heard it on the radio back-to-back with Katy's "This Is How We Do," was like dueling horrible spoken word bridges

oh god the horror

hope a song on this sounds like "every heartbeat"

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, August 18, 2014 3:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

i love when people break out a big prop crystal ball to make the bold prediction that Taylor Swift will gasp continue to be hugely successful

Seriously. Like, Lady Gaga has been demonstrably unsuccesful for the past couple of years - disappointing sales, low or no-charting singles - and yet she remains a huge star. I don't know what it would take these days to knock someone who sells millions and sells out stadiums down a few pegs.

well by what metric are you saying "huge star" because in terms of selling millions gaga has been knocked down a few pegs

Yeah, but no one can tell.

She's a household name that sells out huge venues that attracts broad and diverse crowds.

if you're saying "but she still gets to wear funny clothes on award shows and tour" well jeepers give it a minute, cyndi lauper could still go gold on album number 3 too

Just saying by pretty much any standard Gaga is a star on her original terms - no country crossover remake etc. - and that's after several setbacks.

her considerably underperforming third album is less than a year old, dude! people don't just evaporate

it's not like you have a few whiffed singles and suddenly you can't even do a t-mobile ad

hope a song on this sounds like "every heartbeat"

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, August 18, 2014 3:45 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

― Man, when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot, I mean she was (intheblanks),

otm

I've actually wondered how many whiffs it takes to de-star a superstar. It seems like at a certain point you're pretty much set for life.

even more so in the internet age

Well yeah cyndi Lauper has a tony and vanilla ice is big in drywalling or something but trust me they went down a few pegs. You may not "de-star" but you can down-star.

I've actually wondered how many whiffs it takes to de-star a superstar. It seems like at a certain point you're pretty much set for life.

― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, August 19, 2014 8:51 PM (29 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the answer is artpop

(i.e. one large whiff, usually at album time)

I bet it tastes lovely though.

like chicken

Sorry if this is obvious - goes to Alfred's post yesterday. "Horns" sound intentionally dinky/one-note as, like, goofiness. Wouldn't necessarily affect whether someone likes it or not, but I don't think it was an effort to get real with a horn section.

the horns feel beside the point to me, the organ/synth (?) under the chorus is the only thing that makes me think the song could seriously grow on me

Wondering Sound roundtable includes our lex:

http://www.wonderingsound.com/feature/taylor-swift-shake-it-off-review-conversation/

is that supposed to be a reason to click that link

lex aside, that was some of the worst writing i've ever read about taylor swift. have these people listened to her albums or just checked out some of her videos?

couldn't facepalm enough about bringing beyoncé out of no where into this. i know music critics are still not over bey dropping her album outta nowhere ppl love pitting women against each other but this has got nothing to do with her

nah it's a legit point to mention how two global pop stars react to the male gaze.

huh I thought that was a good discussion :shrugs:

the idea that the video is a stab at beyoncé am attempt to reaffirm pop queen status after BEYONCÉ was just total sub-Stan Wars level shit

*or an

I agree with their general assessment of this song but completely disagree with a lot of their reasoning and their view of Taylor as a whole. And yeah, the Beyonce mention was out of left-field and not really relevant.

Grasping At Straws: A Roundtable Exercise

Not gonna read a roundtable (my social media feeds and this thread will be roundtable plenty thanks) but i don't think it's totally Stan Wars to see this video as an attempt to undercut artists who show more effort than her in regards to choreography, costuming, etc (with a more direct gaga tweak than beyonce). A light-hearted one, but definitely a calculated approachability move.

yea there are def some tone deaf points in that discussion

I agree with this excerpt from a Hopper response:

In a strange way, her dancing with them is maybe a modicum “better” than Taylor tunneling out from underneath these legs and looking up with this smirk, like “Isn’t this wacky? I don’t even understand? This is so not me.” That smirk highlights the chasm between the guileless white pop star playing dress-up with her Cuban link chains and the capable brown ass shaking above her. It’s a really cheap move that plays on the historic, racist mythology about black women’s sexuality in order to underscore her own.

although I'd say "It’s a really cheap move that plays on the historic, racist mythology about black women’s sexuality in order to quash her own." She lets the dancers do the work of parodying the Lily Allens and Miley Cyruses.

xxp i think that's misreading things. if she's positioning herself against anyone here it's against those she views as too self-conscious to try and dance ("the cool kids" in 22), not those who try too hard! she *loves* dancing (see any award show she's ever attended) and although she knows she's rubbish at it she's being taking classes to improve for some time now so as to incorporate it into her live shows

You can say you love to dance and still make a mockery of those who are good at it by prancing around in front of them sloppily with you as the focal point. It's more of a "hooray being yourself" than a "fuck coordinated people" gesture obv, but the undercutting is there just as much as it was in Phil Collins videos.

Still extremely confused by these Phil Collins references

If you say "I can't do that, golly I'm just me" in an advertisement for yourself, you're clearly saying that not being the things you're prancing in front aren't necessary efforts to make

See the videos for "don't lose my number" "I can't dance" etc. Phil made a lot of lighthearted videos about the absurdity of himself as a pop figure while promoting himself as such.

No, yr not. xpost

Again I'm not accusing her of malice, just canny self-marketing.

I think yr accusing her of being Taylor Swift making a video in mid2014 and that's precisely the extent of her crimes

Sorry alb but you outed yourself as a hater recently so I'm gonna have to shake you off

The video treats dance the way it treats race. As something you don't have to be concerned about understanding because the only important thing is me. The theme is Unapologetically Basic and it comes across as irksome the way wilful ignorance from people of privilege always does.

Also as a promo video no? (I shd prb see it I guess)

wait have you not even heard the song? did you not get my delicious reference to it? were you just scrolling around ilx, saw people were talking about cultural subtext in a creative work and decided you had to tell them they were wrong?

Course I've heard the song, and seen a million stills. Don't think I saw/got yr delicious ref tho

oh see this is a song about shaking off haters and you're dismissing my take on this video you haven't seen after recently announcing you've hated my presence on ilx for a decade so i made a delicious reference to you being a hater and shaking you off

are you sure you've heard this song? i can't believe you'd miss that

I just hated yr poppunk , not you for a decade! I should've noticed that tho, yeah. I don't actually like this song much, makes it hard to listen to too much/pay attention to

*thing

dude i can't believe you're going to make me quote yr hatorade but

God da croupier yr schtick is a billion times more predictable and boring than hers, fuck off and come back w more insights into how pop punk ws amazing and ceaselessly trying to lol a messageboard is worthwhile

― sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Saturday, August 2, 2014 10:20 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Hey it's been like 12 years of this, a man can only read so much

― sonic thedgehod (albvivertine), Saturday, August 2, 2014 10:24 PM (2 weeks ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

and it was following a lorde lyric homage not an appreciation of pop-punk. haven't written one of those since the aughts!

anyway see the video then tell people they're thinking too hard

Oh yeah. Well, sorry. I like Lorde and I guess it revived memories, whatever. Sorry AM.

xpost I am clearly frightened of the video bt will try and see it tomorrow

is now a good time for me to say that my overall reaction to the video, which mostly features extremely rich celebrity musician Taylor Swift dancing very poorly in front of a bunch of mostly-anonymous professional dancers who make much less money than her, fit directly into the authenticity-based arguments that people generally use to describe their Swift fandom (she writes her own songs, she plays her own instruments, she's singing about her own experiences, she's taking her specifics and making them relatable to others) and that this was maybe the most hilariously honest portrayal of Taylor Swift, multi-continent sensation, I've seen to date

like, aside from one or two songs, I've always felt like she's been ineptly prancing in front of my face, and now she's released a video that's mostly her ineptly prancing in my face, and it's kind of hilarious

she's making a more aggressive foray into pop qua pop (she's already hugely pop, so it's more of a framing thing) and this video gives her a chance to acknowledge her insecurities (that she'll never be a good dancer, never be one of the cool kids) while trying to frame it in relatable terms (all the jus' folks dancing with her and the band). while her "lol butts" joke is less contemptuous than lily allen's and less co-opting than miley's (i'm sure it was a conscious choice to also have her goofin on ballerinas, gaga shit, not just hip-hop, etc), it's still self-promotion at the expense of the owners of said butts.

the reason i keep mentioning phil collins is cuz he's another guy who's obviously succeeded on his own terms (don't really want to debate whether either of them are good, they're obv good at roping folks in) but still felt the need to head off potential criticism in relation to his pop peers in a similar fashion, and similarly came off like a bit of normcore douche

closed out of the roundtable page when i read "David Turner misses when pop was about the music." [sry if that person posts here or something]

peak phil collins is about twenty times as good as peak taylor swift, though i doubt taylor swift's career will more likely burn out than fade away into a dusty collection of artifacts from the alamo.

i doubt i think!

i'm curious how she'll navigate her market changes but based on the evidence to date she's madonna-level canny, and while phil lasted impressively long on the pop charts for a balding drummer he got a far later start than she did so i don't think she's going anywhere

when phil was taylor's age he was still doing one-or-less song a genesis album and staring at peter gabriel's butt on stage

I love Taylor Swift music. I love pop music. Is this is Swift's vision of pop music, I'd rather have her ditching it altogether and going back to country.

That being said, I wasn't too enthralled with WANGBT when it first came out, and then Red came and it was so good that the semi-disappointing single was enhanced by all the other great songs around it in the album. So I'd like to hear 1989 before jumping into any conclusion.

"shake it off" is definitely her worst ever lead single. the rap :(
― lex pretend, Monday, August 18, 201

I love this song. I am currently not concerned about understanding dance, though.

it's like that great lee ann womack song, "I hope you dance (as long as you've had lessons)"

heard it on the radio today!

cuz markers gonna mark, mark, mark, mark, mark

when phil was taylor's age he was still doing one-or-less song a genesis album and staring at peter gabriel's butt on stage

― da croupier, Wednesday, August 20, 2014 1:14 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also being one of the great rock drummers of the 70s iirc

seriously, i'm not much a Collins stan at all, but that's the most reductive description i've ever read of his 70s work

think croup just meant that he wasn't the front man

Long interview in which taylor says she identifies as feminist http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/aug/23/taylor-swift-shake-it-off

ty!

It would be wrong to express my regret if anyone is offended by my description of phil Collins' level of stardom and singer/songwriter experience at 25

I think at this point as many people owe Phil Collins an apology as believe he owes *them* an apology. It's a wash. But i will say, singing at your kid's school band recital seems like something T. Swift is destined for in 30 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Jmc6TZ5Guw

she's destined to have children and accept a request to spice up their school recital? what an awful fate.

didn't watch the clip, so if he just stumbled on stage screaming "y'all know sussudio?" then i can understand it being sad

Collins was seven miles northeast of me?! fuuuuck

If Taylor doesn't have kids in 30 years I'm sure she'll be cool with performing at any kid's school band recital.

i really liked the snl performance. the beat sounds pretty dinky on the recorded version so i think the fuller live sound really helped out.

sort of made me think that the song would've been much better if it was recorded by mark ronson instead of max martin.

by snl performance i mean vma duh

i was gonna say i didn't hear about that

you guys need to hang on in that Collins At The School Assembly thing until they do "Land of Confusion," it's tremendous

sort of made me think that the song would've been much better if it was recorded by mark ronson instead of max martin.

otm x infinity

Toby Sideburns
3 months ago

Whats wrong?? Stundents? Yes? Timing bad. Very bad. I like PHIL COLLINS original! Only! But this > this makes me sad!! :(

I guess it's just bad music journalism, but this description (from the Guardian interview):

At this year’s ceremony, she seemed determined to eclipse that with a rendition of the bruised All Too Well, a song allegedly inspired by her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal. Her performance was fierce and focused.

has nothing to do with this terrible performance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BidCMrrJXA

Not that it necessarily matters much. I was under the impression that post-rockist criticism was supposed to focus less on values that stem from 60s/70s rock criticism, but the reception of Taylor seems to foucs quite a lot on her being very authentic, writing her own songs etc. Why is this so?

On another note it's nice that Taylor sees her self as a feminist now, but sad to hear that "As a teenager, I didn’t understand that saying you’re a feminist is just saying that you hope women and men will have equal rights and equal opportunities. What it seemed to me, the way it was phrased in culture, society, was that you hate men" - amazing how this conception is still around, way to go class propaganda by the enemy!

Yeah, I'd like to think she's more thoughtful than that. That's such a cartoony and reductive belief to hold.

tbh this is the part that bothers me: 'a song allegedly inspired by her relationship with Jake Gyllenhaal."

like, who cares?

wuh? i loved that grammy's performance

taylor swift highlighted letters in red in her lyric sheet to reveal clues about who the songs were about - she's very complicit when it comes to framing some of her songs in "you're so vain" terms

sorry, she used gratuitous capitalization, not highlighting

http://www.vulture.com/2012/10/who-is-each-song-on-taylor-swifts-album-about.html

5. "All Too Well"
Hidden Message: MAPLE LATTES
As Vulture's Kyle Buchanan points out, "Taylor Swift and Jake Gyllenhaal Share Thanksgiving Maple Lattes" is the third result when you Google "maple lattes." (The song is also just brutally specific, with references to hanging out at Maggie's house and plaid days and the trip upstate when they went apple-picking. Advantage Swift.)

Yeah dug the grammy gig

the Grammy gig is the one on which someone overlaid the Ryu gif kicking her in the face, right

To me her vocal just sounds insecure in the grammy's performance, as if she's either very nervous or not a good singer by traditional standards. I don't mind her not hitting notes, but the shakiness in the voice is annoying.

this is because she is not a good singer by traditional standards

her whole thing with dropping hints in the cd booklets about who each song is about is probably something her fans like a lot -- if taylor's appeal is based heavily on how "normal" and "relatable" (see: "you belong with me") then participating in this sort of quasi-gossip with them adds depth to the realism

but if you don't care it's pretty easy to ignore

i haven't really gotten "feminist" from TS, either in her music or interviews, though i haven't read the one linked the other day

imo i don't have the right to discuss whether a woman is or isn't "feminist" unless she actively campaigns for women to have fewer rights than men she's ahead of me just for being a woman

she says she used to think feminism was about hating men but through her friendship with lena dunham she learned that it's about equal rights and so is TS

imo i don't have the right to discuss whether a woman is or isn't "feminist" unless she actively campaigns for women to have fewer rights than men she's ahead of me just for being a woman

― da croupier, Monday, August 25, 2014 2:07 PM (2 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

as a critic your responsibility is more than rendering your judgment of whether a record has cool sounds, tho. if it's germane to her art and how it's consumed, it should be written about

quite a few women (in Denmark, in far right parties) campaign for fewer rights (under the guise of rights: women should have the right to stay at home with kids and not earn their own money etc.) a bit off topic sry

obviously, if she were due for some sort of takedown on those grounds (and i'm not suggesting she is), ideally the article would be written by a woman

my point is that she's a feminist whether or not she says she is unless she goes the full phyllis schafly. and bearing that kind of effort, any dude judging any woman's degree of feminism is full of shit

I agree that it seems meaningless to debate who's more feminist, but it should be fair - as a man, too - to discuss feminist politics (not that TS has any that I know of)

no one is debating whether a man can discuss "feminist politics," but whether a man can stand in judgment of a woman's status as feminist

people on the long-end of the rights stick shouldn't be deciding whether those on the short ends are doing enough to even things out

http://thenewinquiry.com/features/is-taylor-swift-a-feminist/

omg that's crazy

i think...we are coming from the same place, but i'm reluctant to declare it completely off-limits. it certainly isn't the kind of thing that could be done correctly in a pitchfork review or something

i mean if someone like SFJ, to pick a man with an audience and a decent-enough word count, were to make a text-based examination of TS's gender politics a major theme of a piece of his in the new yorker, particularly if he drew on and cited some earlier published work on the topic from female writers, i don't see why that wouldn't be ok.

amazing how this conception is still around

have you ever set foot outside the city?

because taylor swift will always be more of a feminist than SFJ, just for being a woman who lives her life as if she has the same rights as SFJ and inherently has to fight to do so, rather than being a man who is willing to accept that she has the same rights as him but benefits from the stasis on that front (and jesus did you have to pick the guy who wished the arcade fire treated race more like mick jagger does)

i may not want to hear beyonce express her desire to "cater 2 u" but that in no way makes me more of a feminist than beyonce

beyoncé didn't say she was a feminist in an interview until last year, and even then she said that the word can be "very extreme" (this was before ***flawless)! but if you were to judge beyoncé's feminist credentials based on that you'd look a bit ridiculous.

Sheryl Sandberg, so much to answer for.

men with really strong views on the parameters of feminism are extremely suspect imo i.e. http://flavorwire.com/429583/why-beyonce-makes-me-want-to-die

(which is to say that i mostly side with croupier here)

"flavorwire"

fuckin hell that article

yeah that article is...not an example of what i am talking about. but this is not a discussion i feel the need to continue

[Edit: Some follow-up thoughts on this piece, and the way I addressed its subject matter, here. -TH]

Would be amazing if she decided to go all Blondie and late 80s Fleetwood Mac on us, but that single does not give me any hope.

"is x a feminist" (or the somewhat shrill need for her to define herself as a feminist) is a basic and reductive question, and a red herring. i don't think it's impossible for a man to analyse a woman's gender politics well, though most of the time this doesn't happen.

it's nice that taylor swift now defines herself as a feminist, and is smart enough to retrospectively define who she used to be as a feminist even when she shied away from the word. less nice that her social politics seem to have become more off-putting now. hanging out with lena dunham may have been her feminist awakening but i can't imagine it did much for her racial politics and awareness of appropriation.

At age 24 she's allowed to do mistakes, especially when there is so little education about racial politics and appropriation in general. I'm not defending the video, but I don't think she's approaching Lily Allen territory yet.

http://i.imgur.com/qEkt3Pc.gif

http://excusememe.com/pics/images/1300861443_tumblr_li4ukoewpf1qf3tjjo1_500.gif

This song is so good I want to gently slap my thighs.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2014/08/29/taylor_swift_shake_it_off_is_no_1_here_s_how_she_did_it_video.html

Man how come I didn't know about "Highway don't care"

Fantastic

This single is growing on me... It sounds really fucking good on a bad sound system.

wasn't a fan at first but then i heard a tiny clip used as a bumper before a commercial break on the MLB Network, went "...oh" and went and listened to it six times in a row

i just try to ignore the terrible rapping bit

tbh the spoken bit in WANEGBT makes me cringe too :/

It's great, I got pissed off abt the video furore and only listened properly a couple days ago, can't stop now (xpost yeah that "sick beat" line ius just disconcerting)

still a total riot

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/taylor-swift-1989-cover-story-20140908

a katy perry diss song suddenly makes everything so much better

and yesssss at a song about how sexy harry styles is in white t-shirts <3

lol i was sure the harry styles relationship wasn't real

best mental image to come out of that interview = t-swift rapping "backstreet freestyle" off by heart

and yesssss at a song about how sexy harry styles is in white t-shirts <3

― prolego,

I especially love when you can notice that the hair on his chest is drawn with a dry erase board marker

this story is insane

Swift leads the way into one of her four guest bedrooms. "This is where Karlie usually stays," she says – meaning supermodel Karlie Kloss, one of her new BFFs, whom she met nine months ago at the Victoria's Secret fashion show. There's a basket of Kloss's favorite Whole Foods treats next to the bed, and multiple photos of her on the walls. Against another wall, there's a rack full of white nightgowns. "This is a thing me and Lena have," says Swift – meaning Lena Dunham, another recent friend. "We wear them during the day and look like pioneer women, fresh off the Oregon Trail."

c'mon

OMG, this sounds like Jewel cover story level nuts. reading now!

"I need lunch like, whoa"/"Oooh, get a boatload."

I wish these were song lyrics.

@MEDIA_MINX • 19 minutes ago
"She’s left country behind, sworn off dating and built a fortress around her heart," add "her" before country and you've got the plot to Frozen.

idk the story was kind of boring, not really that fascinated by all the security she has to have or the things in her home

"shake it off" is sounding better to me now, it's not great but certainly better than "mine" was as a lead single lol

idk the story was kind of boring

I love how boring it was! It was like watching a turtle in a terrarium. A very rich turtle with famous turtle friends.

Wish he at least prodded a bit about what 'weird 80s' means for the record but I guess we'll find out soon enough.

Or yknow asked any questions about music

^

Writer at one point says she sounds jaded. I'll say. Reading it alone made me feel depressed tbh

Or yknow asked any questions about music

This is otm, and one of its many pleasures (for me). Like the Jewel piece way back when, it's as much about the writer as it is about its subject, perhaps more so. I refuse to believe Taylor Swift is the sum of what's indicated by this piece, so my suspicion is that the writer (or his editor) decided to go all surface and make that the subject. Paired with the pictures (wet shirt on the beach! supermodel open-mouth!), the non-stop name-dropping, the humble-brag luxury (she's just like one of us except for the all the myriad ways in which she is not!), it plays perfectly into the the pre-packaged story of Swift going pop. It's facile to the point of surreal, steadfastly refusing to even minimally challenge Swift or the reader, as if smugly satisfied that the surface story is all we need and all we want. And Swift, bless her, totally allows it to happen. She's no dummy. I mean, emptying your wallet so a fan can get a better birthday dinner than Chipotle? That's awesome. I've never loved a subject so much yet hated everything about it and the world she's willingly pursuing in such equal measure. Totally depressing, totally banal, totally fascinating. It's like an auto-tuned article.

I am easily amused.

lol

love her bringing 4 diff iced coffees for the reporter (and herself presumably?)

TS seems trusting of reporters and ready to go with their flow, sometimes that allows her to ramble on amazingly candid about her future career and artistic choices, sometimes it's all interior design and fast living. She may be jaded about some things here but she seems very enthusiastic about attacking trite accepted wisdoms said and written about her.

Total pro without coming off a control freak, or, conversely, without coming off a control freak who is trying not to come off a control freak, which is some feat for a person who spends such a huge part of that piece complaining about covert surveillance and the steps she takes to keep out prying eyes and/or keep others from inappropriately monetizing her personality/brand. It's really well put together, almost like propaganda: neighbors hate her seawall, but she thinks she improved it; everything about her music is on hardcore lockdown, but she is accessible enough that a fan can spontaneously hang with her in the wild; she's owns a second apartment to house her security team and even her security goon shudders at the number of shoes he has to haul around, but she still bumps into her furniture and spazzes out over muffins and playing dress-up, the big goof.

Against another wall, there's a rack full of white nightgowns. "This is a thing me and Lena have," says Swift – meaning Lena Dunham, another recent friend. "We wear them during the day and look like pioneer women, fresh off the Oregon Trail."

SHOSHANNA HAS DIED OF DYSENTERY

the essence of most arguments i get in with people about taylor swift is that everyone thinks she's marnie and she's so clearly actually shosh

it's true

heard someone was talking shit about "mine"

switchblade.jpg

Heading back downstairs, she passes an antique lamp with the inscription CALADIUM SEGUINUM on it. Swift took Latin in high school, but says she isn't sure what it means. (Later, I look it up. It turns out it's a homeopathic remedy for male impotence.)

Amazing

The new song came on the radio and my daughter, in the back seat and I swear unprompted, started griping: "I liked Taylor Swift better before. I can't even tell this is her, it sounds like everybody else. I liked her better when she didn't want to sound like everybody else."

CALADIUM SEGUINUM

is this issue out yet?

walgreens still had the one with the robin williams cover

Taylor Swift goodwill tour continues unabated:

http://www.today.com/entertainment/taylor-swift-sends-touching-instagram-message-bullied-teen-fan-1D80126920

TBF, this is a lovely gesture, even if in the end it's All About Taylor. She's kind of the positive analog to Amanda Palmer.

It's like an auto-tuned article.

Dude. A+

is this issue out yet?

I got mine in the mail yesterday, and RS usually hits retail on Thursdays/Fridays, although this is frequently hit and miss (my sister and my mother both work merchandising for a magazine distributor, and I've heard that some chains perennially get RS up to a week late).

ah awesome! thank you

Josh's daughter OTM.

Anyone knows the story of this? http://www.buzzfeed.com/aemunreza/secrets-hijabis-will-never-tell-you-zdtt?sub=3450046_3897328&utm_term=1uprzfy

That was not the Taylor Swift album news I was hoping for.

she won an award, she wanted to hug the person giving her the award, the person giving her the award could not hug her back due to holding the award, the person holding the award didn't appear to be happy about this chain of events, and then the gif ends

some writer heard the album at a fan event last weekend and was tweeting about it. said it's all pop except for two ballads, one that was written with chapman

did they mention anything more about any more bad rapping?

i'm a) surprised there hasn't been a second promo single yet b) absolutely dreading further material now

yeah it feels like we're due for another song from this

feel like this album is going to be taylor's attempt at remaking "heartthrob"

Shake It Off's still doing well, so a second single probably won't even be announced until around the album release date aka mid-late October.

shake it off can keep me alive for at least two more years

anyone watch her iloveradio performance? she did a great synth pop ballad version of "love story"

Details of her next release:

“Taylor lives her life with an open heart, and by sharing her personal stories through music, art and fragrance, she helps inspire her fans to follow their heart, to be their own artist — to do incredible things. Channeling Taylor’s inherent ability to see beauty in the world, she encourages her fans to do the same.”

http://www.popjustice.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/screenshot_904.jpg

by sharing her personal stories through...fragrance

Any word on a "pour homme" version?

by sharing her personal stories through...fragrance
― Greer, Thursday, October 2, 2014 1:49 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i use my personal fragrance to tell people personal stories about what i had for dinner last night

http://images.fanpop.com/images/image_uploads/Pepe-Le-Pew-cartoon-classics-756140_314_192.jpg

http://paperplanes.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/PePeLePew.jpg

the phrasing is awkward but sounds + sights + smells are sufficient to establish a narrative imo

Loving him was floriental.

That looks like a Taylor Swift wax figurine in the ad.

is she going to do that thing where she drops promo singles in the weeks leading up to release?

I'm late to this thread, so three weeks after the fact irl lol at SHOSHANNA HAS DIED OF DYSENTERY!

Channeling Taylor’s inherent ability to see beauty in the world, she encourages her fans to do the same

this is beautiful gibberish

is she going to do that thing where she drops promo singles in the weeks leading up to release?

She's just going to douse herself with her perfume then walk around every major market for a couple of months. By the time the album is released, people will be primed.

Channeling Taylor’s inherent ability to see beauty in the world, she encourages her fans to do the same

this is beautiful gibberish

and a dangling modifier!

I misread that as Channing Tatum.

This cover version has sort of given me some hope for the next album.

I have no idea what the original version sounds like. I really like most of her cover versions, and the way she manages to pull off even her shittier choices.

have you heard beirut? the original sounds exactly like any beirut song ever. it is actually creepy. also creepy that beirut's last album was called "the rip tide." conspiracy? i'm not going to jump to any conclusions, but i've alerted my local police force just in case.

anyway "shake it off" should give you hope for the album because "shake it off" is incredible

i don't get you people

yes "shake it off" is still incredible.

I GO ON TOO MANY DATES :D

promo single "out of the woods" coming out tuesday btw

anyway "shake it off" should give you hope for the album because "shake it off" is incredible

otm

yeah I love "Shake It Off"

anyway "shake it off" should give you hope for the album because "shake it off" is incredible

i don't get you people

i've alerted my local police force just in case.

― linda cardellini (zachlyon),

contender for worst song of the decade so far

"Out Of The Woods" is written by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff (Bleachers, Fun) and produced by Jack Antonoff and Taylor Swift with vocal production by Max Martin for MXM Productions.

psyched

sounds a bit like holy ground from the v lq snippet floating around. huge drums

can't decipher anything from the snippet

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-M5SW8QvmY

what a weird studio setup. there's a reason this type of thing is usually done with a chair and not a couch.

"Out Of The Woods" is written by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff (Bleachers, Fun)

Excitement level plummeting.

idk antonoff's responsible for one of my favorite singles of the year but idk how that'll translate to taylor (his last song with her "sweeter than fiction" was... all right)

also i like fun.

2014 is truly the year of disappointment when it comes to pop stars i had an emotional investment in

The song isn't even out yet.

truly

sounds kinda new wave-y which i guess is unsurprising given antonoff's involvement

vocally sounds like she's singing in a lower register than normal

jack antonoff was also responsible for introducing her to lena dunham, so there's that

I actually liked the Bleachers album and their last song together was alright, so this might be good. The clip sounded somewhat promising. Chorus might be too repetitive for my tastes if it doesn't unfold into something more complicated.

anyway "shake it off" should give you hope for the album because "shake it off" is incredible

It's like a low quality xerox copy of the most ubiquitous pop songs from the last 2 years. Even if I liked it, I can't imagine it ever rising to the level of "incredible". The pop attempts from Red were actually all superior.

Chorus might be too repetitive for my tastes if it doesn't unfold into something more complicated.

had the same thought

what are the immediate antecedents of i. the parpy synthy brass loop and ii. the annoying, goofy rhythm in shake it off, they both immediately recall something but i can't place it

it's harmonically either 'interesting' or 'this person doesn't quite know how to write a pop tune', idk

the live versions of "shake it off" remain noticeably superior imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8PaXlh8E5w

Ok the Tightrope comparisons are starting to make more sense

more i hear shake it off (and that live version helps) more i think it's an ok song that should have been produced and arranged in a completely different way.

http://www.tonaltrends.com/shake-it-off-taylor-swift-sync/4586174865

the more I hear "Shake It Off", the more I hope ebola takes me from this wretched earth

the more I hear "Shake It Off", the more I hope ebola takes Rick Scot

xp i feel that way too, it's like i'm just not worthy of living on a planet that has produced something as perfect as this song

So scrub my skin with Dear John
Chain my tongue with Starlight
Stuff my nose with Sparks Fly
Coat my eyes with Last Kiss
Fill my ears with Haunted
Stick my legs in Fearless
Tell me lies about Shake It Off.

Out of The Woods is "out there".

fuuuuuck

Im crying

REMEMBER WHEN YOU HIT THE BRAKES TOO SOON
TWENTY STITCHES IN A HOSPITAL ROOM
WHEN YOU STARTED CRYING BABY I DID TOO
BUT WHEN THE SUN CAME UP I WAS LOOKING AT YOU
REMEMBER WHEN WE COULDN'T TAKE THE HEAT
I WALKED OUT, I SAID I'M SETTING YOU FREE
BUT THE MONSTERS TURNED OUT TO BE JUST TREES
WHEN THE SUN CAME UP YOU WERE LOOKING AT ME

completely overwhelmed rn

sorry to everyone who gets to read this later/tomorrow

including me

*presses play again*

i'm right there with you

i can't even deal with this

why is everything she does perfect

what even is this

this is insane

IN THE CLEAR YET GOOD

when the sun came up YOU WERE LOOKING AT ME

this is good. chorus feels slight the first time but it really builds.

nice twist on the "holy ground"/"state of grace" blueprint

heartthrob 2014

link fwiw http://fearlesslyonfire.tumblr.com/post/99964939010/out-of-the-woods-taylor-swift

you can totally hear antonoff in this but unlike "shake it off" this is 100% taylor

great backing vocals

yes the background vocals throughout, i'm fucking done

the last 30 seconds of this are *_*

the repetition is like being caught in a doomy loop of your own thoughts

great song! waaaay better than Shake it off.

hope whatever i just posted is coherent

I'M MESMERISED IDK WHAT IS EVEN HAPPENING

it's like claustrophobic & shit does that sound smart

who knows anymore

the repetition is like being caught in a doomy loop of your own thoughts

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, October 13, 2014 11:56 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

nah i feel this

unable to construct sentences, i am within the woods

this song is really really good

when we decided to move the furniture so we could dance
baby like we stood a chance

two airplanes flying FLYING AND I REMEMBER THINKINGGGGGGGGGGGH783RHTENGENHG7HGB7 7HBC HBV GBFGHTFH5EWYGTR

you have to laugh at grown men sitting around listening to taylor swift

just my $0.02

*places candle in front of sprawling RIP FRANK KOGAN mural*

bitch arent you named after a pokemon

this is much better than shake it off and is just a pretty good song all round.

pretty sure missingNO is a random ilx post generator at this point

I was expecting the worst, so I'm pleasantly relieved. The vocal melody is the same four-cornered box almost every pop song is built on now, so it's pointless to fault her for that. Production is aces, though.

EmoTaylor 4eva

This song and Shake It Off seem like terrible bedfellows on the same record.

Robyn with less Euro.

her last album had "i knew you were trouble" and "22" sandwiched by three classic singer songwritery joints and it turned out fine

kenny mellman just called it "Kate Bush like" which is a good connect. I can hear Robyn in there too.

I don't buy the "Kate Bush like" descriptor at all. Just because it's heavily rhythmic? This is more like "Shout" by Tears for Fears.

I can hear that too!

yeah the sequencing on red would totally boomerang between modes, and i can at least see the drum programming here feeding nicely into the drum loop of "shake it off"

moods* not modes

Can't stand "Shake It Off," but I like this one a lot. I like how the tempo is just two or three beats fast enough to keep it peppy, which should help me tolerate it longer should it catch on and approach ubiquity. FWIW, it sounds like she's been listening to M83, but this may also be the first T Swift song I've heard where I've actually been impressed by what she's doing vocally, if not the melody than the hypnotically repetitive lack of melody, which works. It's rhythmic but kind of ... airy? Not claustrophobic, like a lot of dance music. Light on its feet. Hmm.

Robyn with less Euro.

― Hinklepicker, Tuesday, October 14, 2014 12:28 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm. the production is killing it here.

fwiw I think this is pretty strong and I think "shake it off" is a crime against humanity

Actively dislike that chorus even in context, great verses and middle 8 though.

i maintain that "shake it off" would be great if it sounded like an amy winehouse song instead of someone playing an amy winehouse song on a $25 keyboard

love her vocals here, the mesmeric circuit of the chorus, the deliverance experienced as stunned relief, pretty much everything

heartthrob 2014

― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, October 14, 2014 2:50 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yep

these are the contents of my head

you guys this new song is very CHVRCHES and also i hear annie lennox's "why?" in the vocals

also this may be unrelated to taylor but i feel like annie lennox is having a low-key renaissance right now, or maybe she has for years but it feels especially evident now

Right? her version of "i put a spell on you" is entirely trustworthy; kinda curious about the new album
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nF6sJriQbx4

GOOD

Holy Florence & the Machine. Good track.

oh this is so good thank fuck

can she stop misdirecting with her first singles already though, my heart can't take it

all those classic taylor motifs still there - screaming colour, going back to december, dancing around household objects <3 <3 <3

judging from OOTW, i'm assuming jack antonoff also co-produced the version of "love story" taylor performed at iheartradio

Antonoff's production may lean Churches but this immediately reminded me of her earlier stadium rock songs.

I'M SO RELIEVED THIS IS SO GOOD

it's most obviously jumping off "holy ground" and "state of grace" obv; the other comparisons are all a bit squinty. chvrches - production details maybe but they've never had a SONG like this. kate bush - well, "hounds of love" specifically, thematically and percussively and backing vox wise, but weirdly i feel like that's probably accidental? idk it's TAYLOR more than any influences and it's that i'm so relieved about

WHEN THE SUN CAME UP YOU WERE LOOKING AT ME

wow my ipod just went on to "shake it off" and smh i can't even last 10 seconds into that especially now i have this

the production is the worst thing about this, right? the drums don't boom like on the similar red trax and those electro squiggles right at the climax are so unnecessary

"heartthrob 2014" is so otm

In a good way, love that record
This sounds great, to 'Shake it Off' how I found 'Trouble' to 'WANEGBT'

This is incredible. "it's TAYLOR more than any influences" is OTM

crying tears of joy rn

I'M SO RELIEVED THIS IS SO GOOD

― lex pretend, Tuesday, October 14, 2014 3:51 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

So relieved

I don't really care what other songs this sounds like

I am just very happy :) :) :)

"heartthrob 2014" is so otm

― nxd, Tuesday, October 14, 2014 8:46 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, my first response was "She really did like that Tegan and Sara album, huh?"

Good track on first listen. I need to hear it loud through good speakers to really appreciate it, I think.

love it, not nearly as much as shake it off tho

GOOD

― difficult listening hour, Tuesday, October 14, 2014 2:14 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark

Line of the year imo

ugh that dude vocal sample part of this reminds me of the terrible futureheads hounds of love cover :-(((((

wow my ipod just went on to "shake it off" and smh i can't even last 10 seconds into that especially now i have this

― lex pretend,

how is it you still keep this around

The song's arrangement layers '80s and contemporary elements, especially when it comes to the synthesizers. "I used a Yamaha DX7 a lot on that song, which is so uniquely '80s, but then countered it with a super-distorted Minimoog Voyager in the chorus," Antonoff says. "That sounds extremely modern to me. It's that back-and-forth."

For one part of the track, he says, "I just chopped this piece of my voice singing and started looping it over and over. Then I started banging on some drums I had in the room and stomping on the floor and sampling all these sounds to make this big bombastic looping beat with the sample on top of it."

Sounds like Jack Antonoff alright.

this sounds more like taylor's own "haunted" than any references being thrown around

i'm still listening to it

the middle eight, just...holy christ so good

such amazing use of climactic echo on this track

The mirror of "I was looking at you"/"You were looking at me" is one of those trademark Taylor touches, the camera doing a 360 pan of this relationship.

Ok this is really great.

OK I'm crying too. Maybe I was a bit too anxious about this new album, with the disappointment Shake it Off was and me wanting 1989 so badly to be good, so this is some kind of release too. Kate Bush connections are OTM, backing vocals and echo especially, and it also reminds me of Umbrella.

So hopefully this continues the trend of pedestrian first singles followed by great albums that she's been on for her last three records.

Damn you Taylor you don't want to release this in office time when a grown man doesn't want to be seen crying!!!

wtf at all this crying

Stop crying everybody. lol xp

Thematically it's also linked to Back to December and All Too Well.

Just thinking of Taylor Swift makes me well up. When I said I liked the song? I meant to say it is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. Also, I am 12 years old.

Damn you guys a man lowers his guard and this is what he gets, what insensitive machines the system has made of us.

naw man, I'm saying. My tears have welled up in their ducts to a Taylor Swift song before. Not this one even by a mile though. It's a good song though. Very relieved that there is no lyrical attempt to judge the song's own beat.

When I said I liked the song? I meant to say it is the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. Also, I am 12 years old.

me irl

They moved the furniture and got down to this. sick. beat.

You want to cry, listen to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-BeYgX3XDs

I respect the right of anyone to be moved by anything, but let me know when T. Swift does anything this heartwrenching.

thanks josh!

very considerate of you!

:)

I didn't even need Kathleen Edwards nor Taylor to be crying tbf, but thanks all the same :)

All those Canadian love songs and their hockey references maple syrup pull yourself together Josh

When I see someone buying Grade A syrup instead of Grade B just because it's been drummed into them that getting an A is better than getting a B, it makes me sad and then I cry.

i have cried to kathleen edwards songs before and it's a distinct experience from crying to a t swift song though i think both experiences are about as sophisticated as each other

I've cried to "Holy Ground", but not this new one.

I cried once.

that Kathleen Edwards song was a sock in the gut. Jesus, Josh.

I'm now picturing Alfred as a stoic baby.

I cried once.

i thought you might have some advice to give on how to be insensitive

I'm simple but I'm no fool.

I'm now picturing Alfred as a stoic baby.

― Herbie Handcock (Murgatroid),

My birth was a 6 out of 10

It's a great track and better than anything fun.'s done. I definitely hear "All Too Well" and Kate Bush, and the chorus phrasing reminds me of "Mr. Brightside." The vocals are very interesting and deliberate.

Thing I like least are the lyrics; though they're classic Taylor, some of them stick out a little too much ("screaming color", "sun came up").

so this song's about James Woods huh

phew this song is much better than shake it off

Everyone's shaking off "Shake It Off".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLUTCix-gog

this is very t.A.T.u.

seriously "all the things she said" is maybe 90% of this (but the last 10% is crucial)

So this is the first single of Taylor Swift I love (after having hated the former). But this is great. I've not knowingly heard music of her before. Which is the best album to start with?

You're gonna get different answers for estimable reasons. I love Speak Now best.

Red is pretty great too and especially if you wanna stay more pop than pop-country at first.

Also, can I just, "Two paper airplanes flying, flying, flying"

Thanks Alfred! Was afraid I'd get flag posted for asking my question, not knowing her music, but I've only known Swift as a cultural ~phenomenon~. But this single is great and addictive and I need more. Am on 'Speak Now' as we speak!

Xp thanks S. Clover! Defo think I'd enjoy the pop over pop-country more.

Naw, man, we're all learning here.

<3

Yeah if you like this I'd work backwards. "State of Grace" and "Treacherous" and "Holy Ground" off Red especially.

fearless is imo her most consistent but speak now is my personal favorite

Bateau, I would rep heaviest for Fearless personally

All different answers, as Alfred predicted :) But thanks all, Tim F., Josh and Forks, am working my way through this. Quite the epiphany when something suddenly *clicks*. Thanks again!

i would've just recommended you do it chronologically, makes most sense that way. i don't think i have a "favourite" swift album, they've all been exactly right for the moment they came out

yeah listen to everything she's ever created in order is the obv answer

pref starting with this tune she wrote at 12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OnfsWd3EPv8

everytime i hear that it gets stuck in my head for a week stop

savage garden

sad to see her on C4 just now appearing in a 'skit' w/ jamie 'orrible

I adore the debut but IME it leaves people cold if they're not already into country (which, why, but it is what it is).

If listeners balk at her crossover attempts, it's the purest distillation of her talents, if uneven.

xxp: is it worse than the Jimmy Fallon skit?

I adore the debut but IME it leaves people cold if they're not already into country (which, why, but it is what it is).

― Tim F, Tuesday, 14 October 2014 22:37 (28 minutes ago) Permalink

It might be the most ear-wormy of her albums. IMO, Fearless is her best, but if you're into the pop side, start with Red and work backwards.

"Out Of The Woods" feels like Taylor's "XO".

we're one more song away from a secret lion king influence in pop thoughtpiece

^^^

xxp was singing this in my head yesterday and it turned into XO

update: still on loop

IMO "Fearless" is probably the best starting point. 6 years and 2 records later, the songs there are still, in my opinion, among her best. That being said, "Speak now" is my personal favorite and the one I find the most cohesive. Anyway, Red is also pretty great and I would definitely go for the first one after having heard those three; it's surprising how accomplished her songwriting was at such an early time in her career.

IMO "Fearless" is probably the best starting point. 6 years and 2 records later, the songs there are still, in my opinion, among her best. That being said, "Speak now" is my personal favorite and the one I find the most cohesive. Anyway, Red is also pretty great and I would definitely go for the first one after having heard those three; it's surprising how accomplished her songwriting was at such an early time in her career.

― cpl593H, Wednesday, October 15, 2014 9:03 AM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Let's not discount the fact that her writing partner for much of the first two records was Liz Rose (mother of Caitlin). She wrote "Tim McGraw," "Teardrops," "You Belong With Me," and "All Too Well," along with a handful of other great pop country tracks of the last decade (check out Little Big Town's "Sober" for starters).

But Taylor wrote "Our Song" and "The Outside" solo and deserves all the praise in the world for it; the album came out when she was like 14 or 15 years old. Her songwriting chops are undeniable. She wrote all of Speak Now solo, which is absolutely mental--17 tracks charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

There's a clip of another new song floating around (I would guess from a commercial) that sounds very Carly Rae Jepsen imo.

http://eyesopen.co/post/100073155419/and-thats-how-it-works-how-you-get-the-girl

Oh wait, it's from this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okTokQgOo6I

Gah, that just reminds me that this thing doesn't come out for two more weeks.

But Taylor wrote "Our Song" and "The Outside" solo and deserves all the praise in the world for it; the album came out when she was like 14 or 15 years old. Her songwriting chops are undeniable. She wrote all of Speak Now solo, which is absolutely mental--17 tracks charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

Indeed, though I'm not sure about it, I wouldn't be surprised the reason why Speak Now sounds more of a whole was the fact she wrote it all by herself. "Our Song" and "The Outside" are the ones I find the most surprisingly precocious in the first album; "Fifteen" does the same for me in "Fearless".

Agree on Liz Rose's greatness too.

I think Taylor's approach to co-writing is interesting -- it has obviously always been important to her to be known first of all as a writer, and "Speak Now" was a deliberate statement in that regard. But having done that, she's been happy to go back to collaborating. I think that actually says a lot about her confidence. (Not that that has ever been in doubt.)

I'm no expert in country music but I can see how coming from that field, where the songwriter as the sole auteur myth is less established, partnering with collaborators comes as something organic and natural.

That being said, performing her own songs has always been a big deal for her. Correct me if I'm wrong, but there's not a single song in any of her albums that's not at least partially written by her. And I think I read somewhere that very early in her career she rejected some deals with major labels because they wanted to impose songwriters of their choice on her.

yeah she's (co-)written every song she's done

imogen heap & jack antonoff have both already said she wrote basically all the lyrics to the songs they did with her on this album and their role was mostly the music around it

The friendship blossomed into a collaboration when Antonoff sent Swift a track that he had been working on, and she begged him to send the demo her way. "That actually ended up being a song called 'I Wish You Would' which is going to be on her album," he says. "We first worked on that song together and realized we kind of have a good thing, and the next thing we did was 'Sweeter Than Fiction' which was on the ['One Chance'] soundtrack, and after that we did 'Out Of The Woods' and another song called 'You Were In Love.' So 'Out Of The Woods' was the third thing we worked on together, and probably the easiest. I sent her the track for it, and she sent back a voice note with the verse and chorus in what felt like five seconds. And it was just perfect. It's eery how similar it is to what the final product is."

Yeah, reminds me of the story I heard where Johnny Marr sent Kirsty MacColl a demo of what became "Walking Down Madison," just to get her reaction, and she basically sent it right back with words and melody as it is now, blowing his mind. It's so hard to gauge the contribution of big acts surrounded by all-star teams of writers - who does what, how much, etc. - but to her credit Swift has managed to shape stuff from some huge heavy hitters, like Max Martin, to suit her personality. The sound may change, but it's totally her, which I respect, even though I make fun of her.

lol I heard Echosmith's "The Cool Kids" on the radio and for a sec thought it was a new Taylor song.

guess echosmith is finally happening

i can't believe their parents let them leave the basement without a chorus that actually rhymes

Worst chorus to a song that is naggingly catchy ever.

Further research confirms they have suddenly become huge in Australia with this song in like just the past week.

baffled by everyone saying the chorus is weak -- it's not, the repetition actually makes sense ("are we out of the woods yet" echoing "are we there yet" etc)

To be clear the last few posts are about "The Cool Kids".

ok

still heard it a ton about "out of the woods" though

chorus is great, "good" as happy gasping escape from (+ simultaneously resolution to) annular melody, also from woods, unity of form+content, v nice

I like "Out of the Woods" but her trick of turning encounters into ecstacies is hardening into a manner ("The rest of the world was black and white/But we were in screaming color") and for me wearisome when heard in sequence, although who knows where it'll fall in the album.

on first listen i thought "well its instantly more memorable than anything by chvrches"

also that it made me want to listen to "boom clap" (not that it couldn't grab me after a few more hears)

"echosmith" is a hilarious name. i imagine them busy at work in their foundry hammering out echoes.

I mean, it's an image worthy of verlaine, but in this context it just seems ridiculous

baffled by everyone saying the chorus is weak -- it's not, the repetition actually makes sense ("are we out of the woods yet" echoing "are we there yet" etc)

― katherine, Wednesday, October 15, 2014 3:11 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The repetition makes sense and I still don't like it.

http://media.tumblr.com/1a157af266c436c47f1d2910570c3ee6/tumblr_inline_mxio0kOLnB1rvxky4.jpg

"echosmith" has the same number of letters as "rilokiley"

same producer as the last rilokiley album too

I don't know what an Echosmith is, but it makes me think of Echobelly. Plus the Smiths. Which makes sense, because Echobelly sounded like Morrissey, iirc.

I like "Out of the Woods" but her trick of turning encounters into ecstacies is hardening into a manner ("The rest of the world was black and white/But we were in screaming color") and for me wearisome when heard in sequence, although who knows where it'll fall in the album.

― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, October 15, 2014 5:25 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

Gah can't unsee this now

i find the echosmith charming b/c the way the 'indie' aesthetics have been so shamelessly grafted onto teenpop has surely made someone angry

yeah that's the best part about it I agree.

i agree but unfortunately it is also boring

what -- indie aesthetics?

lol

"out of the woods" and tove lo's "timebomb" keep mashing up in my head

Interesting. I've been listening to both "Out of the Woods" and "Timebomb" pretty heavily, and they haven't been combining in my head. I think it might be because "Timebomb" mashes up in my head with Jane Sibbery's "Map of the World", and "Out of the Woods" doesn't. "Timebomb"'s melodic repetition seems more suspended to me, where "Out of the Woods"'s repetition seems yearning and cathartic. If that makes any sense at all.

Yeah. I hear the repetition as the sort of thing you do when you're trying to convince yourself of something, i.e. that this relationship is going to last.

1. Welcome to New York
2. Blank Space
3. Style
4. Out of the Woods
5. All You Had to Do Was Stay
6. Shake It Off
7. I Wish You Would
8. Bad Blood
9. How to Get the Girl
10. Wildest Dreams
11. This Love
12. I Know Places
13. Clean

14. Wonderland
15. You Are In Love
16. New Romantics

http://www.billboard.com/articles/6289064/taylor-swift-1989-tracklist-alleged