I can't stomach the idea of Lana Del Rey - not because she is a manufactured creation or because she can't sing her way out of a paper bag, but because she is a bootleg version of Fiona Apple. I'd blame it on my nostalgia for the 90s, but Fiona's new album makes it painfully clear that the former is no where near her lane of excellence.

RANDOM note, a couple weeks ago I was at my local karaoke bar, and some girl gets up on stage and sings AMAZINGLY and the whole crowd goes mad. This week, I come into the bar, and the DJ who runs the show is shrieking in disbelief: apparently that was Fiona Apple and NOBODY HAD NOTICED.

Onwards:

I will always love Celine Dion before they went all melodrama-pop with her, likely starting around Power Of Love and peaking with her Let's Talk About Love. I know that she's melodramatic on her own, but the songs just add this extra layer of Velveeta that's just plain nauseating. I generally love her 1990-93 era, mostly because they had no idea how to market her, and were willing to try anything in a video, hoping something would stick. Like this:

I generally feel that the mainstream American music scene is broken and has been for a long time, and I really loathe the fact that instead of the masses rebelling against it, the download revolution has only made bad mainstream American music more saturating worldwide. I'll take 20 Emeli Sandes and 6 Jamie Lidells over Rihanna (I know she's not American but you know what I mean), or Usher any day.

I agree with you about Celine, but this is, for whatever reasons, one of my very favorite songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih1945e4q7I

I agree with you about Celine, but this is, for whatever reasons, one of my very favorite songs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ih1945e4q7I

I always loved that too. That was, I consider, the very last time Celine ever showed the hint of her early 90s sound. After that, it was basically all chest-thumping and pseudo-classical shlock.

I was just listening to some of the Bad album and I was reminded that I think a lot of Michael Jackson's music starting after Thriller comes across as very overly produced and suffocating.

I was just listening to some of the Bad album and I was reminded that I think a lot of Michael Jackson's music starting after Thriller comes across as very overly produced and suffocating.

Probably a reflection of his sense of personal suffocation, being such a mega-celebrity at this point, it kind of...fits his world in a way. I do think that going for an exclusively electronic sound hurt that album more than it helped. Thriller at least walked the balance between live instrumentation and synth. Also, lacking input from Rod Temperton is widely considered to have hurt MJ musically more than most anything else.

That's crazy about Fiona Apple! LOVE her.

Kanye West helped Taylor Swift's career become bigger than it would have been without VMA gate. Just Because she writes her own songs that doesn't mean she better's than someone who doesn't. No, I don't hate her.

I'm starting to get tired of that "Call Me Maybe" song.

I like Nickleback.

Edited September 17, 201213 yr by lovely_m

RANDOM note, a couple weeks ago I was at my local karaoke bar, and some girl gets up on stage and sings AMAZINGLY and the whole crowd goes mad. This week, I come into the bar, and the DJ who runs the show is shrieking in disbelief: apparently that was Fiona Apple and NOBODY HAD NOTICED.

What I wouldn't have given to be a part of that audience.

I'm glad that you had the pleasure of seeing my girl perform unfiltered, though.

I LOVE "I Need A Man" by the Eurythmics!!! The song and music video is so entertaining.

I like all Alanis Morissette songs but I think she is so ugly.

I prefer Andy Gibb over The Bee Gees.

I hate the fact that Jennifer Lopez mucked up Very Special. Though I am not a fan of Mariah Carey's sampling, it works on some level.

I wish Mariah Carey would use her vocal talents more and "sexy whisper sing" less.

Listening to Michael Bolton and Patti LaBelle out scream/shout each other was a mind numbing experience for me. I still wonder why they did it.

I hate the racialization of music in America. I detest the term "blue-eyed soul' as if all white people have blue eyes and no black people have blue eyes.

The very notion implies that black people all have this innate rhythm and none of it comes from imitation. It is sort of like the idea that every musician who picked up an instrument knew how to play it instinctively and never had to learn a note. Sure some people have natural talent but others have to work at it.

No, I don't think that Jennifer Hudson's several minutes of melisma makes her any more soulful than Adele or even Toby Lightman for that matter.

I'm glad that no one told Paul Young, Mick Hucksnall, Level 42, The Style Council or others to stay in their lane or I would have missed out on some fantastic music.

And I'm glad today that no one is telling Jamie Woon, Ed Sheerhan, or Alex Clare that they can only be placed in a box where only Robin Thicke can fit at this moment.

I'm also glad that Teena Marie didn't stay in her lane either despite whoever might have tried to discourage her.

Oh and I like Kelly Rowland's verses on Bootylicious and Lose My Breath better than Beyonce's. I love Debra Wilson's parody of her.

I prefer Andy Gibb over The Bee Gees.

In disco, I agree. He had some gorgeous disco pop. They were better at producing disco than actually singing it. My favorite (and I always associate it with The Nanny - not a bad thing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JUdT3s_fGM

The two songs of his I listen to (or think I can sing) the most:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dqCmGQKmGnw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e9P7aXDpJA8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

The first time I ever heard of Andy Gibb was because of reruns of this show when I was 4 years old, on the Family Channel, in 1993:

The first video was his first appearance, though, not his second.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7pJ-zigRp4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBySTzMPzhA

In disco, I agree. He had some gorgeous disco pop. They were better at producing disco than actually singing it. My favorite (and I always associate it with The Nanny - not a bad thing):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JUdT3s_fGM

The two songs of his I listen to (or think I can sing) the most:

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dqCmGQKmGnw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e9P7aXDpJA8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

My three favorite Andy songs!! Love is Thicker Than Water always shows up on Andy Gibb Radio on Pandora whenever I'm driving through miles and miles of thick canefield with the sun shining bright in the cloudless sky. Absolute perfection in every single way.