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From | CarolineGoodbye <carolinegoodbye99@gmail.com> |
Subject | Re: Duffy |
Date | Mon, 23 Feb 2009 18:53:33 -0800 |
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Perhaps this didn't make it through...
On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 12:27 PM, CarolineGoodbye <
carolinegoodbye99@gmail.com> wrote:
> You know, I retract that.
> I feel lame for writing that. Everyone knows they retouch photos. Whatever.
> I'm nothing to look at. Duffy's a cute girl and she can sing.
> Who cares what she looks like is all I'm sayin'.
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 12:04 PM, CarolineGoodbye <
> carolinegoodbye99@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Oh god. Yeah, they make her look like a "young Bardot" in photos, but in
>> real life, I'm afraid she's just a normal person. Normal BRITISH person at
>> that. Freckled, short, messed up teeth, just like the rest of us dolts. I
>> wish heavily retouched images of women (or men) wouldn't influence people's
>> opinions of pop stars, especially people who claim to be purveyors of fine
>> music.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Feb 23, 2009 at 11:21 AM, John L. Micek <jlmicek@verizon.net>wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> I would say Duffy's talent could fit in Dusty's pinky fingernail. No
>>>> comparison there whatsoever, other than to say the former is perhaps trying
>>>> to capture something that came naturally to the latter. Is Duffy better
>>>> than her contemporaries? Say...Fergie? Definitely. Lilly Allen? I think
>>>> so. Amy Winehouse? If Winehouse doesn't kill herself, she could rule the
>>>> roost.
>>>>
>>>
>>> It probably is more appropriate to place Duffy in the broader context of
>>> her contemporaries -- Winehouse and Adele. Fergie's not an apt comparison --
>>> she belongs in the pop firmament with Gwen Stefani and Christina Aguilera
>>> and that ilk. And, to my way of thinking, Lily Allen may not be an apt
>>> comparison either, since she and Kate Nash seem to belong to what I'll call
>>> a more 'confessional' school of songwriting. So she has to be judged among
>>> the practitioners of the new Northern Soul.
>>>
>>> I'll preface my remarks by noting that I put "Rockferry" in my top 20 of
>>> last year's records, along with Nash's "Made of Bricks." I love Duffy's
>>> voice, and do find it reminsicent of Dusty Springfield's. But to try to draw
>>> direct analogues between the two of them is foolhardy. You can't put an
>>> acknowledged legend beside a young vocalist with one album to her credit. It
>>> does both of them a disservice and puts a tremendous burden on the younger
>>> artist that she can never hope to live up to.
>>>
>>> Of the three, Adele is probably the most naturally talented vocalist, and
>>> I love "Chasing Pavements," though I found the rest of the record a little
>>> lugubrious. I also enjoyed "Back to Black," but sometimes I wonder if Mark
>>> Ronson won't someday outclever himself with his production style. Certainly
>>> that record wouldn't have been the document it was without the presence of
>>> the Dap-Kings, who classed the proceedings up measurably.
>>>
>>> In interviews and performances, I've found Duffy the most personally
>>> enagaging. She's bright, funny and friendly, and that has gone a long way
>>> toward winning my affections. The fact that she looks like a young Bardot
>>> doesn't hurt much either -- to be blunt. But that's not the sole yardstick
>>> I'm using to measure her with. For my money, when it comes down to songs,
>>> "Mercy," and "Warwick Avenue," were two of the catchiest nu-soul tunes I
>>> heard last year.
>>>
>>> I'm not sure how personally committed Duffy is to continuing to record in
>>> this style. In interviews, she can be evasive and non-committal about the
>>> whole business, leaving open the suggestion that the record was largely
>>> shaped by Bernard Butler's personal whims and a legion of A&R men. I'll be
>>> curious to see where she goes once she has a few more records under her
>>> belt. She and Adele both seem like they have tremendous promise. As much as
>>> I appreciate Winehouse's talent, I fear her demons have probably overtaken
>>> her.
>>>
>>> John Micek
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>
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