09-08-2007, 06:19 PM
> There isn't an artist today you can't say that about, so what's the point of that?
Actually, there are a whole lot of modern performers who don't need timing, pitch correction and vibrato or phaser effects done to their voices in order to pretend that they can sing. I'm no fan, but if you need the name of a pop star, among them is (surprisingly) Kelly Clarkson who has repeatedly been in battles with her recording company and tour promoters to prevent them from altering her voice (with mixed success).
My work occasionally touches the music business and I have relatives who are studio engineers. Who gets what done to their voices is a popular subject.
You want the names of some modern performers with genuine musical talent? There's the Dixie Chicks (not a fan, but they can sing in the right key and play their own instruments), Lisa Loeb (ditto, and isn't she a cute little girl for all that she's pushing 40?), David Broza (does popular "world music" count?) the guys from Phish (just take it for granted that I'm not endorsing the acts from now on, but merely mentioning them because they don't need their voices re-made practically from scratch for an album), Paul Melançon, Soul Couging, Melissa Etheridge, Fiona Apple, Natalie Merchant, the late great Johnny Cash, Green Day, Aimee Mann, Belle & Sebastian... and that's just what I pulled off of today's random iTunes playlist.
> The key is, which songs have "you" listened to before today?
As for BEP's recent stuff, the good Lord has kindly let me find distractions when that cr@p comes on the radio or tv. I've heard it, but (thankfully) not so often that I know the names of their cr@p "songs." Tell me, how many of them DON'T consist of the same one or two short phrases repeated with little variation?
As for the pre-Fergie BEP stuff, have YOU heard any of it? I have. Those guys were being passed off as a novelty act whose music was so bad that it made Tiny Tim sound harmonious. Their music was most popular as an abject lesson in what NOT to do as musicians.
Actually, there are a whole lot of modern performers who don't need timing, pitch correction and vibrato or phaser effects done to their voices in order to pretend that they can sing. I'm no fan, but if you need the name of a pop star, among them is (surprisingly) Kelly Clarkson who has repeatedly been in battles with her recording company and tour promoters to prevent them from altering her voice (with mixed success).
My work occasionally touches the music business and I have relatives who are studio engineers. Who gets what done to their voices is a popular subject.
You want the names of some modern performers with genuine musical talent? There's the Dixie Chicks (not a fan, but they can sing in the right key and play their own instruments), Lisa Loeb (ditto, and isn't she a cute little girl for all that she's pushing 40?), David Broza (does popular "world music" count?) the guys from Phish (just take it for granted that I'm not endorsing the acts from now on, but merely mentioning them because they don't need their voices re-made practically from scratch for an album), Paul Melançon, Soul Couging, Melissa Etheridge, Fiona Apple, Natalie Merchant, the late great Johnny Cash, Green Day, Aimee Mann, Belle & Sebastian... and that's just what I pulled off of today's random iTunes playlist.
> The key is, which songs have "you" listened to before today?
As for BEP's recent stuff, the good Lord has kindly let me find distractions when that cr@p comes on the radio or tv. I've heard it, but (thankfully) not so often that I know the names of their cr@p "songs." Tell me, how many of them DON'T consist of the same one or two short phrases repeated with little variation?
As for the pre-Fergie BEP stuff, have YOU heard any of it? I have. Those guys were being passed off as a novelty act whose music was so bad that it made Tiny Tim sound harmonious. Their music was most popular as an abject lesson in what NOT to do as musicians.