thread to dis hyped releases that you don't get/don't like/wanna complain about

I've first-hand seen indie film production houses who've garnered Oscar-nominations for their past work absolutely set this success as a benchmark, and make production choices with the goal for a repeat colouring their decision-making. Similarly, certain album-makers or adjacent administrative bodies absolutely make decisions with a goal of "widespread critical acclaim" (as opposed to, say, an effective realization of a nebulous artistic goal), just as others are aiming for "chart success" or "usage in the club". This isn't to say that Sault are doing this by any means tho. Taylor Swift wrt Folklore? probably.

I remember when Tegan woke up one day and said "that's it, I'm tired of this" and told Sara that they were gonna start making hit records, and they changed their process. Interestingly, they always had an audience, but zero critical attention; critical adulation only came when they made the deliberately decision to "make hits"

xxp such as this “Black Pumas” group

@fgti: Cleo Sol "A Rose in the Dark" is from the same Sault people, but her voice is centered and ergo might appeal more? Idk, it's basically neo-soul though and while often quite lovely isn't as much fun as, say, Ari Lennox imo

xp that post does clear it up for me, thanks!

to expand: the "bait" being an influence on the artistic process rather than a recognizable set of generic sonic signifiers makes sense to me

Personally, I think of Swift’s lyrics as sort of in the realm of ’80s Paul Simon (coming from a very different perspective, of course). You may find them cloying / insincere / limited in their pov / whatever, but that doesn’t make the album any less good (for me).

I gd love that Cleo Sol album and didn't know there was a connection, thx :)

lol what a disaster for this thread :)

_ I'm having a hard time imagining the musical equivalent of Oscar-bait or w/e_

not critics’ lists but there is certainly such a thing as”grammy bait”

lol what a disaster for this thread :)

Attenborough voice: even here there is life

lol breastcrawl

btw you can win a grammy with this one simple trick: change your last name to Marley

Ah so I haven't checked out those releases but I'll do so!

― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, December 12, 2020

'5' and especially '7' remain Sault's best work--as good as the two 'Untitled' records are, and with interesting expansions of their sound, the first two albums remain the most front-to-back thrilling.

lol breastcrawl

btw you can win a grammy with this one simple trick: change your last name to Marley

Don't say I didn't warn you when Naira wins a "best reggae album" grammy

I’ve always wondered if “Naira” Marley is a play on “Bob” Marley, seeing as he grew up as a Nigerian kid in London.

wee-bey.gif

also how am I only just finding out about the existence of this? https://www.bbc.com/pidgin

Dunno, the whole thing just doesn't sound felt at all. Whenever her music is playing I get the sense that someone is trying to grift me, and the attempt is about as convincing as an MLM scheme.

― pomenitul, Saturday, 12 December 2020 18:31 (three hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

thread is useful in reminding me of the typical quality and utility of other people's opinions

Your taste in music is among the absolute furthest from my own on this board. Did you really need a reminder?

No, but I occasionally need reminding that a lot of ILM has not meaningfully advanced beyond a “this music is bad because my whiny girlfriend in college used to like it” level of thinking about music.

Welcome to the 'thread to dis hyped releases that you don't get/don't like/wanna complain about'.

on no! FITE! oh NO!!

Yeah sorry I forgot that this thread is supposed to be a safe space for marination in unreconstructed and unoriginal thinking.

I thought pomenitul's observation was evocative, if not informative

I think the comparisons of TS to Hershey’s and Skittles in this thread (as opposed to, presumably, more “gourmet” or “nourishing” fare) provide worthwhile insights into how certain ppl think about music.

oh I thought those were comparisons to Merseybeat and skiffle. seemed weird but whatever.

lol

ftr I intended this thread as one to complain about specific releases, not gonna thread police but imo "this artist is garbage" posts can go into one of the many musical challops threads, I'm more interested in critiques of the releases themselves (sure, the lines will blur)

Snark aside, I think this thread serves a useful purpose and I mostly enjoy following along. I don’t post much because I don’t spend much time thinking about music I don’t click with, and (as this thread occasionally makes clear) it’s genuinely hard for most people, myself included, to come up with interesting things to say about music that one is not inspired to spend time with.

To my mind the most interesting negative criticism tends to be more along the lines of constructive criticism, where you can see what would be a better-executed of the basic concept more starkly precisely because the end result almost gets there - if we must use gastronomic metaphors, less “this is like skittles whereas I am a gourmet”, more “this curry could have used some fresh coriander as a garnish.”

This salad dressing is the jam

sorry but I find Russian dressing trite, it lacks sincerity

trying to think of what else I hated this year, it's been such a weird year

Chris Forsyth is def an "I don't get the hype" category, 3rd rate Neil Young moves to my ears

Sault could use more seasoning

Brandy? More like White Claw. (not joking here; don’t get the enthusiasm for that record)

"Kick me under the table all you want, I won't shut up, I won't shut up"

-Donald J Trump

(I will say it's in fact super cool how she chases that chorus up & down the scale throughout the song)

What the fuck is this Yves Tumor shite?

now that's the spirit!

(ps yr wrong)

Relentlessly negative criticism can be constructive insofar as it implies that your time would be better spent paying attention to another – preferably undersung – artist. It is a vengeful meting out of justice, a rhetorical act of revolutionary Terror aimed at upending the status quo for the sake of aesthetic equality.

Still, I do agree that, in most cases, the pedagogical approach ('here is where you messed up, Timmy; now let me tell you how you can improve…') is the best and most civilized way of practicing the art of naysaying.

But that was never this thread's premise, was it? I mean, just look at OP's introductory post (and were you even targeting specific releases there, sleeve? ha!).

Relentlessly negative criticism can be constructive insofar as it implies that your time would be better spent paying attention to another – preferably undersung – artist. It is a vengeful meting out of justice, a rhetorical act of revolutionary Terror aimed at upending the status quo for the sake of aesthetic equality.

I guess i could vibe with this Benjaminian rhetoric more if it amounted to something more in practice than “this is shite”.

More innovation and pomo reconstruction in yr hate pls xp

I don’t disagree, Tim, I just... *points to thread yet again*

The Work of Art in the Age of Everyone Bitching Online

New Board Description.

I guess i could vibe with this Benjaminian rhetoric more if it amounted to something more in practice than “this is shite”.

I don't think pom was just saying "this is shite", though: "I honestly find her songs indistinctive and unmemorable", "her shtick just reeks of corporate artifice (which is fine in and of itself) even as it pseudo-earnestly pretends to be more than that (this is the part I find insufferable)", and "the whole thing just doesn't sound felt at all" are saying more than that, although maybe not in terms you consider valid.

Not much more!

Though it’s true, I typically cringe away from critique which is grounded in projecting onto the artist, especially in a context where one is not motivated to extend the artist the benefit of the doubt and doubly-especially when the projection goes to whether the artist is authentic or being sincere - I mean, positive projections are also usually a bad idea but at least more thought, and more content actually derived from the object of critique, tends to go into them.

I took an interest in her around the time of Fearless/Speak Now bc "Love Story" was pretty, I got excited that someone was getting jangly guitar pop on the radio, and the persona was endearing. In the end, I found both music and lyrics too thin (I've expanded elsewhere) to hold up for long, and with some of the directions she went in since then, even the surface charm started to get lost for me - and I tried a lot. Would never deny that she has a striking voice and skill for writing a hook.

Sounds fair to me.

Hm

I just intentionally listened to three back-to-back singles by The 1975 in hopes that I might have something to contribute to this thread but I’m disappointed to report that I enjoyed them

The lyrics are unappealing to the nth degree and I would sooner gun the singer down rather than have him date a relative but the music is a wonderful fusion of Tears For Fears and Collins-Genesis so as you were I guess

It seems to me, Tim, that 'projection' in your lingo means something akin to 'unpleasantly extraneous elements that I, Tim F, do not hear in the music I love'. Incidentally, I am not interested in knowing whether Taylor Swift really is sincere (that much is essentially unknowable), but whether her music *sounds* sincere does matter to me given the subgenre in which she operates. The work's more or less radiant 'aura' of sincerity has a bearing on whether I am emotionally invested in her songcraft or not.