Odds and Ends 008

1.      1.  There is no fundamental difference between this description and the typical pop process in the music industry for as long as I know anything about it, which dates roughly to the period 1895-1910.

2.       2. I could easily cherry pick out of context Cole Porter refrains that make him sound exactly as clever as John Seabrook apparently wants Ester Dean to sound. Having listened to Rihanna and Nicki Manaj rather closely lately (I happen to have Nicki Manaj in my ears as I type this now), I can also assure you that the verses often if not always contain poetry of similar quality to Porter’s. This is a statement about the positive talents of contemporary hip hop writers, but it is also a statement about the overreach of those who think that Cole Porter (and Smokey Robinson and John Lennon) are writers of the reach and scope and meaning of, oh I don’t know, Toni Morrison or Mike Davis. (The absurdity of my jump from lyricist straight to fiction writer and nonfiction writer is much of the point: lyrics are a functional part of music, are of strictly delimited scope, and the very best lyricists ever, who might even include Ester Dean, are best taken only in context.) (Except Lisa Walker of Wussy. She, and only she, writes page poetry worth reading. No wonder no one listens to Wussy.)

3.       3. For several decades, roughly what we call the 1960s through the 1980s, a separate pop process of “collective band creation”, rather than specialized professional producer-songwriter-​frontperson/image person/singer collaboration, was roughly as typical of the pop charts as the one described in the New Yorker. Prior to Dylan and the Beatles (and the turning point is that narrow, though of course singer-writers like Holly and Berry, neither of whom was “pop” in their original context, paved the way to an extent), there was no other pop process; anything that happened through a different process was simply marginal to capital. What has happened since the early 1990s is different again: what I’ve been calling the “pop process” has become just one among a variety of boutique processes. A large one, by all means, and one which mainstream media has greater interest in than, say, the band process of Arcade Fire (who nevertheless sell out arenas in at least some markets). But as a percentage of music listeners, the pop charts define a smaller share than ever, simply because all music has been boutiqued. Music in general is a specific interest, not a shared culture, and within music we are all divided into types of audiences far more radically by downloading and the careful branding of music/club spaces than we ever were by radio. So claiming that there are an especially small number of producers and writers that dominate pop music now is true enough in itself, and similar to noting that all the most successful Broadway musicals of the post-war period had music by a tiny number of composers-lyricists.​ But the music we remember from the period doesn’t just come from Broadway, and in fact by percentage Broadway is a tiny portion of it.

For what it's worth, I don't have any plans for new polls anytime soon. I knew they were somewhat polarizing, but I hadn't realized to what extent until last night's posts. With the exception of the most recent one, EW polls seemed to generate some degree of discussion and enthusiasm, and that's part of why I kept them going. I have no great desire to shove anything down anybody's throat, and the last thing I want is to contribute to making EW a less welcoming and enjoyable place.

Polls cause no harm-what can possibly be the beef?

Caught Bonnie Raitt on Letterman the other night- an American jewel-

as if I needed to be reminded of that.

It was expecting an Odds and Ends column since I have so many new releases not yet reviewed, thing is I don't own any of these. The Bonnie was the only one I was tempted to buy, something to do with the Dylan covers. And speaking of Dylan covers, his "Thunder on the Mountain", racy lyrics and all, figured to be the highlight of the new Wanda. Truth is the horns kinda ruin it for me. Would have been more interesting if she was lusting after Alicia Keys than Jerry Lee.

I'll pick these up on iTunes and make a nifty playlist. My only physical purchase for today will be the new Loud-O. I see that on Saturday that the Billy Bragg and Wilco comes out. I see there is the option of downloading the new disc without buying the first two, not sure about buying a physical copy of the same.

Just played the Loudon for the first time, and yes it's more "busy" than usual (cameos, overproduction, spoken words, an "interlude") - but several great songs jumped right out - and whether or not the Dame Edna holds up - it sure made me chuckle - and a few others made me sniffle.   Though perhaps it's allergies?    Even on the artists we know and love - you can't grasp an album until you've played it at least three times.