Christina Aguilera and the Hideous Cult of Oversouling
To me, the horrific part of Christina Aguilera's rendition of the National Anthem -- and "rendition" is an apt term for it, because she kidnapped the song and shipped it out to be tortured -- was not her mangling of the words, but her mangling of the tune itself: to paraphrase the great Chuck Berry, she "lost the beauty (such as it is) of the melody until it sounds just like a (godawful) symphony."
This is the same grotesque style -- 17 different notes for every vocal syllable -- that has so dominated the pop and R&B charts for years. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are relatively minor offenders, but singers like Aguilera -- who admittedly possesses a great instrument -- just don't seem to know when to stop, turning each song into an Olympic sport as they drain it of its implicit soul, as if running through the entire scale on every single word was somehow a token of sincerity.
It's called melisma -- the bending of syllables for bluesy or soulful effect -- and what's creepy about the way it's used now is that it perverts America's true genius for song, as evinced by its creators in the world of gospel and R&B, like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.
You will hear more of this tonsil-twisting insincerity -- to your eternal sorrow -- if you watch any episode of American Idol.
The great Jerry Wexler -- who produced both Ray and Aretha -- coined a great term for it: "oversouling." He described it as "the gratuitous and confected melisma" that hollows out a song and drains it of meaning. Wexler, who knew more about soul than any producer before or since, said:
"Time and again I have found that flagrantly artificial attempts at melisma are either a substitute for real fire and passion or a cover-up for not knowing the melody... Please, learn the song first, and then sing it from the heart."
It's a crime that many untalented wannabees commit at the end of their performance along with overblowing (fake uncontrolled power) that renders everything offkey
The worst display of this was on some Oprah episode where they had "Talented" kids come on and sing. This girl was about 6 and came with her best Xtina impression, which sounded exactly like she was trying to vomit up a kidney. Not one word was discernible.
You could see everyone in the studio looking to hide. Apart from the girl's manic mother.
Punk drummers who don't know how to play a convincing backbeat (lay the fuck back!)
Hey Pickwick
There's a remote possibility that some of the main motivating factors in punk might have gone an inch or two over your head.
I don't care. You can play fast and hard without sounding all stiff and static like a German marching band.
I should add that after the Monomen and the Estrus Records sound caught on in the nineties, all the neo-garage bands had sucky drummers who all came from the hardcore scene and couldn't groove for shit. Always had to speed things up even if the song didn't call for it. This might have been fine for the Ramones, but I seriously hated seeing that mode of thinking carry over to garage rock proper.
Christina Aguilera and the Hideous Cult of Oversouling
To me, the horrific part of Christina Aguilera's rendition of the National Anthem -- and "rendition" is an apt term for it, because she kidnapped the song and shipped it out to be tortured -- was not her mangling of the words, but her mangling of the tune itself: to paraphrase the great Chuck Berry, she "lost the beauty (such as it is) of the melody until it sounds just like a (godawful) symphony."
This is the same grotesque style -- 17 different notes for every vocal syllable -- that has so dominated the pop and R&B charts for years. Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston are relatively minor offenders, but singers like Aguilera -- who admittedly possesses a great instrument -- just don't seem to know when to stop, turning each song into an Olympic sport as they drain it of its implicit soul, as if running through the entire scale on every single word was somehow a token of sincerity.
It's called melisma -- the bending of syllables for bluesy or soulful effect -- and what's creepy about the way it's used now is that it perverts America's true genius for song, as evinced by its creators in the world of gospel and R&B, like Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin.
You will hear more of this tonsil-twisting insincerity -- to your eternal sorrow -- if you watch any episode of American Idol.
The great Jerry Wexler -- who produced both Ray and Aretha -- coined a great term for it: "oversouling." He described it as "the gratuitous and confected melisma" that hollows out a song and drains it of meaning. Wexler, who knew more about soul than any producer before or since, said:
"Time and again I have found that flagrantly artificial attempts at melisma are either a substitute for real fire and passion or a cover-up for not knowing the melody... Please, learn the song first, and then sing it from the heart."
The ice cream truck in my neighborhood that plays the first few bars of Fur Elise. Seems to me an odd choice of music for peddaling ice cream. I've never seen anyone buy ice cream from him either.
The ice cream truck in my neighborhood that plays the first few bars of Fur Elise. Seems to me an odd choice of music for peddaling ice cream. I've never seen anyone buy ice cream from him either.
Comments
This is good advice for life in general.
Don't Worry, Be Happy- Bobby Mcferrin
Money For Nothing- Dire Straits
DJ's played these songs until I hated them. What's funny is, I actually like Dire Straits. Bobby Mcferrin is talented, but not my "cup of tea".
William
It's a crime that many untalented wannabees commit at the end of their performance along with overblowing (fake uncontrolled power) that renders everything offkey
You could see everyone in the studio looking to hide. Apart from the girl's manic mother.
Hey Pickwick
There's a remote possibility that some of the main motivating factors in punk might have gone an inch or two over your head.
I don't care. You can play fast and hard without sounding all stiff and static like a German marching band.
I should add that after the Monomen and the Estrus Records sound caught on in the nineties, all the neo-garage bands had sucky drummers who all came from the hardcore scene and couldn't groove for shit. Always had to speed things up even if the song didn't call for it. This might have been fine for the Ramones, but I seriously hated seeing that mode of thinking carry over to garage rock proper.
*ducks and runs*
That would make Michael Bolton a major violator then.
http://santorum.com/
"would make"? Boltons a top 5 all time "major violator" in every possible sense of the word.
yeah. i'm quoting myself.
THATs how much i hate these songs.
Meatloaf
All these rappers that say huh huh huh huh before they start rapping.