smoe.org mailing lists
ivan@stellysee.de
| From | bob_hutton@standardlife.com |
| Subject | Re: essence of power-pop |
| Date | Tue, 8 Jun 2004 16:31:26 +0100 |
[Part 1 text/plain us-ascii (2.7 kilobytes)]
(View Text in a separate window)
Sorry, never meant to stir up controversy with my early morning ramble :-)
KEVIN SAID:
Surely this method of describing rock and pop music is not limited to power
pop.
Well, I'd agree up to a point, although I think that power-pop is one genre
which actually revels in NOT making claims of sounding original. Other
genres have many acts who would have you believe that no-one has ever
sounded the way they do, even though their claim is patently false. Like I
said before, I don't think this self-referential stance is a bad thing - if
I did, I'd never buy as much stuff from NotLame as I do! I just sometimes
think that someone out of the power-pop loop would find it curious.
BRYAN SAID:
When Bob Hutton talks, people listen
Oh, Bryan - if only this were true, the world would be a finer place (just
kidding)...
THEN BRYAN SAID:
Huh? I'm now trying to figure out how a writer
might describe a band's sound, in a review on a
website (let's also add for the purpose of inticing
the reader to actually want to *buy* the CD )...
but to describe their sound *without* making a
reference to another band who have already
clearly established the sound the band in question
(the one with the CD) is going for... maybe it's
too early for me, pre-coffee -- but I can't figure
out what you'd say in the review...what do you
mean, Mr. Hutton?
Guilty as charged Bryan, I didn't think of the "marketing-tool" aspect of
those short reviews. Plus don't get me wrong, I like reading Bruce's
hyperbole as much as the next auditeer. Maybe though, the fact that the
band in question are "going for" the sound of another group as a reference
point reinforces my comments. I think that power-pop bands tend to be more
"arch" in the sounds they make (lets slip in a Monkees riff here, or a
snippet of Beatles there .... and lets have lovely Beach Boys harmonies on
the chorus). In other genres, the influences will show through, sometimes
more than others, but possibly not as deliberately?? Feel free to disagree
though.
AND FINALLY FROM JOSH:
Over the last 12 months I've played Aerovons and Vinyl Kings more than all
my Beatle records combined-- not because they are better, but because I
know
every "whoo," every brush of the guitar string, every horn line on every
Beatle song. They hold no mystery anymore. They have not become less
great. But they have been thoroughly discovered.
Maybe, this is as good an answer as any .... in the same way that pets are
surrogate children for some people, then our current bands are surrogate
Beatles/Kinks/Who/Raspberries etc. They may never fully capture the
intensity and qualilty of the originals, but we have to make do, cos
they're all we're gonna get.
B^)
For assistance, please contact
the smoe.org administrators.