Is it just me?

[dave_bass5]

3 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

women with individual singing styles they will always be written about a quirky, odd etc 

Grace Jones and Bjork spring to mind, although i have another word for these voices....:-)

 

[BreadBin]

Yep, love those too!

[chris_b]

3 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I read this really interesting article a year or so ago that was talking about Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush and how more individual singing styles if you are a man, and you can be a musical genius with one (Eg Dylan) but with women with individual singing styles they will always be written about a quirky, odd etc 

I think the likes of Dylan, Leonard Cohen and Tiny Tim, get/got their fair share of detractors. I don't remember anyone being negative about Janis Joplin or Joni Mitchell's singing style.

We are plagued by journalists who chose to highlight "quirky", "odd" and many other negative and irrelevant points when they write about female artists, but these "hacks" are not at the serious or intelligent end of the writing/interviewing scale.

[mikel]

Well, just another "I don't get this artist/act. Well I do" Personal taste is it not? Why not post about things we do like, if you dont like something then dont listen to it. Simples.

[chris_b]

1 minute ago, mikel said:

Well, just another "I don't get this artist/act. Well I do" Personal taste is it not? Why not post about things we do like, if you dont like something then dont listen to it. Simples.

Yessssssss. . . . . !

[fleabag]

6 hours ago, LukeFRC said:

I read this really interesting article a year or so ago that was talking about Joanna Newsom and Kate Bush and how more individual singing styles if you are a man, and you can be a musical genius with one (Eg Dylan) but with women with individual singing styles they will always be written about a quirky, odd etc 

Bush is quirky, insofar as that she does not posess a mainstream vocal.  She's very distinctive and pretty unique.

But then i feel the same way about Dylan and others, like Tom Waits and John Martyn.  Quirky and distinctive.

[silverfoxnik]

2 hours ago, fleabag said:

Bush is quirky, insofar as that she does not posess a mainstream vocal.  She's very distinctive and pretty unique.

But then i feel the same way about Dylan and others, like Tom Waits and John Martyn.  Quirky and distinctive.

And those artists are all the better for it IMO.. 

The minute you hear them, you immediately know who's singing or who the artist is... which is 'gold dust' if you want to be a recording artist. 

 

 

[Maude]

14 hours ago, silverfoxnik said:

And those artists are all the better for it IMO.. 

The minute you hear them, you immediately know who's singing or who the artist is... which is 'gold dust' if you want to be a recording artist. 

 

 

Totally agree with that. 

But at the risk of sounding like the moaning old fart I've always vowed never to become, if Kate Bush were a new artist today then within three months of her first single reaching number one, every other record label would've got themselves a 'Kate Bush' in a bid to cash in on the success. I'm sure that's why there's a sea of female singers around at the moment with that 'quirky' breathey voice that sounds as if they have Icelandic roots in their immediate family. Nobody is distinctive in pop anymore because if they're successful the record companies flood the market with their own version. 

My musical journey started in the late 70's, early 80's and if I slip my rose tints on I'm sure there were far more distinct bands out there. Madness were instantly recognisable, as we're Duran Duran, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Cure and many, many more. 

The Cure were massive but I don't remember any other singers copying Robert Smiths style, or David Byrne, etc. Sure there were similar styles but not the carbon copies that flood the airwaves today. 

I'm sure A&R men were more focused on finding the 'next big thing' rather finding their version of the 'current big thing' years ago. 

OMG, I'm like, so old! 😁 

[thebigyin]

On ‎20‎/‎12‎/‎2018 at 12:55, kevvo66 said:

Just heard Kate Bush on the radio is it just me I can't understand a word she sings, some xmas dribble of a song, awful pure torture

Not heard the song, don't want to either, I feel your pain lol.

[silverfoxnik]

2 hours ago, Maude said:

Totally agree with that. 

But at the risk of sounding like the moaning old fart I've always vowed never to become, if Kate Bush were a new artist today then within three months of her first single reaching number one, every other record label would've got themselves a 'Kate Bush' in a bid to cash in on the success. I'm sure that's why there's a sea of female singers around at the moment with that 'quirky' breathey voice that sounds as if they have Icelandic roots in their immediate family. Nobody is distinctive in pop anymore because if they're successful the record companies flood the market with their own version. 

My musical journey started in the late 70's, early 80's and if I slip my rose tints on I'm sure there were far more distinct bands out there. Madness were instantly recognisable, as we're Duran Duran, Blondie, Talking Heads, The Cure and many, many more. 

The Cure were massive but I don't remember any other singers copying Robert Smiths style, or David Byrne, etc. Sure there were similar styles but not the carbon copies that flood the airwaves today. 

I'm sure A&R men were more focused on finding the 'next big thing' rather finding their version of the 'current big thing' years ago. 

OMG, I'm like, so old! 😁 

+1

This is made even more pronounced by the fact that mimicking production values in pop music now is a whole lot easier with sampling, Pro Tools, Logic etc, etc. 

Technology that should/could enhance and enable creativity has in fact dumbed it down even further.

Just my 2p worth of course.. 

[Dad3353]

22 minutes ago, silverfoxnik said:

+1

This is made even more pronounced by the fact that mimicking production values in pop music now is a whole lot easier with sampling, Pro Tools, Logic etc, etc. 

Technology that should/could enhance and enable creativity has in fact dumbed it down even further.

Just my 2p worth of course.. 

For balance, it could be said that recording, itself, has some not small responsibility in this. It's not been all that long that the only way to enjoy music at all was either to go to a 'live' show or play it oneself. Sheet music has been available for quite while, but being able, even to hear what any artist was like, still less imitate them, was a Rare Thing before Edison and the like rang the changes. Just sayin'. 

[silverfoxnik]

9 minutes ago, Dad3353 said:

For balance, it could be said that recording, itself, has some not small responsibility in this. It's not been all that long that the only way to enjoy music at all was either to go to a 'live' show or play it oneself. Sheet music has been available for quite while, but being able, even to hear what any artist was like, still less imitate them, was a Rare Thing before Edison and the like rang the changes. Just sayin'. 

Going way off topic here but, yes I'd agree that's also true @Dad3353

The proliferation of recording technology (like anything else that becomes mass market I guess) has inevitably lead to imitation /replication/duplication/plagiarism etc.. 

But having grown up as a young person obsessed with the music and careers of interesting, creative and in many cases, pioneering recording artists, I suppose what I'm saying is that we should celebrate individuality and originality whenever we can, and (going back on topic), for my money, Kate Bush is definitely one of those pioneering recording artists that's enriched the art form she's chosen to work in. 

Again, just my 2 drachmas worth.. 😊

[Dad3353]

+1 ^^

[Hobbayne]

 

[silverfoxnik]

Isn't that Pamela Stephenson, aka Mrs Billy Connolly..? 

[BreadBin]

1 hour ago, silverfoxnik said:

Isn't that Pamela Stephenson, aka Mrs Billy Connolly..? 

Yup 👍

[Hobbayne]

1 hour ago, BreadBin said:

Yup 👍

Very cleverly based on 'Them Heavy People'  And 'England My Lionheart'  😋

[peteb]

In fairness, perhaps it should be noted that, following posts in this thread on Basschat and the resulting press coverage, Ms Bush has issued a statement to emphatically deny that she supports the Conservative Party. Apparently the original statement was taken out of context and she was just pleased to see a female PM, who she thought was better than David Cameron... 

https://www.indy100.com/article/kate-bush-conservative-tory-voter-internet-rejoice-statement-hillary-clinton-2016-interview-8718606

 

[kevvo66]

That's a fare point ,the pm of any party does not really run the Country they are just puppets ,and there are bigger and more corrupt powers who actually run the country 🤔

[Barking Spiders]

On 21/12/2018 at 17:23, Japhet said:

Everybody has something that pulls their musical puke trigger. For me it's the pseudo operatic wailing of Bruce Dickinson and the like.

+ 1 x 1,000. I think this  might top my musical puke list as well though it's a close call between that and the tinny, nasal, trebly vocals of most girly singers of today like Sia ( e.g. that firkin awful Under The Christmas Tree Lights!) and the slurry p1ssed and just woke up style of Lorde (e.g. on her dire cover of Everybody Wants To Rule The World). 

viz KB, I cant deal her yowling style on Wuthering and Unbelievable yet she could sing perfectly nicely on tracks like Sensual World and Running Up that Hill. Mrs Spiders MKII was a huge fan and subjected me to pretty much KB's entire works.  Apart from Hounds I don't have much time for her other albums. I've noticed that peeps who like KN are also fans of Peter Gabriel who to me is very much her male equivalent. Not particularly a fan of him either though he's done several good tunes

[Jus Lukin]

-

Edited March 2, 2022 by Jus Lukin

[fleabag]

Either seem an acquired taste

[kevvo66]

Omg Toyah Wilcox oh dear awful

[4000]

2 hours ago, Barking Spiders said:

+ 1 x 1,000. I think this  might top my musical puke list as well though it's a close call between that and the tinny, nasal, trebly vocals of most girly singers of today like Sia ( e.g. that firkin awful Under The Christmas Tree Lights!) and the slurry p1ssed and just woke up style of Lorde (e.g. on her dire cover of Everybody Wants To Rule The World). 

viz KB, I cant deal her yowling style on Wuthering and Unbelievable yet she could sing perfectly nicely on tracks like Sensual World and Running Up that Hill. Mrs Spiders MKII was a huge fan and subjected me to pretty much KB's entire works.  Apart from Hounds I don't have much time for her other albums. I've noticed that peeps who like KN are also fans of Peter Gabriel who to me is very much her male equivalent. Not particularly a fan of him either though he's done several good tunes

Do you mean "Wow"? FWIW the 2 songs you don't like her singing on were early in her career and the others much later. I actually like her first 2 albums the most, but they're all great.

FWIW, I love KB, PG and really like Sia (wouldn't have described her as tinny and nasal at all). KB is my fave though. Horses for courses and all that.

Edited January 10, 2019 by 4000

[4000]

42 minutes ago, Jus Lukin said:

Indeed, a recording is still a new thing in the history of music and is still changing how it is percieved and made. It's also helped give rise to this silly thing of claiming royalties because some recorded pop song sounds a bit like some other one, despite being different material. While entire genres exist on the basis of similar sounds, note choices and stock rhythms, a song can be criminalised because it kind-of works like another one. But then, I suppose the one thing which hasn't changed is that all's fair when boatloads of money are at stake.

 

*Cough* Led Zeppelin *Cough*. "We've never even heard of Spirit, guv. Or any of them blues fellas. Or Bert Jansch. Or Jake Holmes."