Is this the first horseman of musical "you're old"?

bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
edited May 2011 in Strut Central
Contemporary British blue-eyed female soul is not on my radar, but I saw a live performance of Someone Like You by Adele at the Brit Awards and I was struck. I would say maybe I was just in the right mood, but why make excuses? Rolling in the Deep is also amazing to me. (John Legend can bite a big fart for ruining yet another song, by the way. Just can't keep his middle-of-the-road mitts off!)
I've not heard her full records, but I like almost every single/YouTube video.

Yay or Nay, efriends?
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  Comments


  • apart from the jamie xx remix of rolling in the deep, no.

    tepid pop music.

    also, this attitude doesn't endear her to me: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2011/may/25/adele-tax-grievances

  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    i dismissed her out of the gate as a winehouse clone.

    am i TRULY missing something with her?

  • hogginthefogghogginthefogg 6,098 Posts
    vintageinfants said:
    i dismissed her out of the gate as a winehouse clone.

    am i TRULY missing something with her?

    This is the camp that I'm in. All I know is that co-workers with highly suspect musical taste seem to be into her. My assumption has been that she is a safe alternative to Winehouse, but perhaps I'm wrong.

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    I loathe Winehouse and definitely don't put them into the same category.
    Adele is way more pop, safe and clean imo.
    Church ladies will like Adele.

  • ketanketan Warmly booming riffs 3,170 Posts
    Not a fan, but not really a close listener of her stuff either.

    Incidentally, I just read the article about her fear of taxes (linked above) and one commenter described her music as "mum soul". Thought that was worth forwarding along...

  • HollafameHollafame 844 Posts
    I think she is super talented, has a unique voice, makes some good music, and I respect the fact that she has achieved the level of fame she has without any kind of mainstream sex appeal or sensationalism.

    That being said, her recorded work verges on over-produced. I ride for her live performances.




  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    i for one like winehouse's disheveled grit. its that cliche'd "edginess" that kept me listening. adele seems too oatmeal-y to truly ride for. will pole about her catalogue for a pulse though.

  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    *poke

  • leonleon 883 Posts
    HOLLAFAME said:
    I think she is super talented, has a unique voice, makes some good music, and I respect the fact that she has achieved the level of fame she has without any kind of mainstream sex appeal or sensationalism.

    That being said, her recorded work verges on over-produced. I ride for her live performances.

    This. The first time i saw her (performing her first single on TV live) it was fairly easy to see she was going to be really succesfull because of the voice/appearance and being pretty young (19 at the time??). The single was 'chasing pavements'.

  • Hotsauce84Hotsauce84 8,450 Posts
    bassie said:
    why make excuses?

  • Options
    Hmm, never heard before. I just listened to the first 2:25 of the second video HOLLA posted. Thanks for sharing.

    I guess this is very stylish vocals. Perhaps meant for an ear different than mine. Oh well, kudos to those that play it.

    As for being musically old. Liking different musica doesn't have much to do with age. I figure age has a lot to do with how you feel.

  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    NorthernDealer10 said:
    Hmm, never heard before. I just listened to the first 2:25 of the second video HOLLA posted. Thanks for sharing.

    I guess this is very stylish vocals. Perhaps meant for an ear different than mine. Oh well, kudos to those that play it.

    As for being musically old. Liking different musica doesn't have much to do with age. I figure age has a lot to do with how you feel.

    serious question:

    are you 19?

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    Sia > Adele

  • FrankFrank 2,373 Posts
    I find her vocal style to be corny and annoying.
    She is completely soul-less. She also has the charisma and the sex appeal of a grazing cow.

  • vintageinfantsvintageinfants 4,537 Posts
    HOLLAFAME said:


    this is very irksome for me.

    she's NOT trying to pretend that it's a reggae song, but she IS.

    it's that vapid white-person over(under)-enunciation lyrical delivery of a stripped down song that merely lends itself to a reggae style that reeks of "i'm not trying to subvert a culture but look how much 'soul' i have" style of singing.


    ps. i am white.

  • CinisterCeeCinisterCee 863 Posts
    I like Amy Winehouse's voice, and for some reason that's all this chick reminds me of when I hear her, but it's not her. So similar it's like whoever is doing Kermit's voice now after Jim Henson died. It just doesn't feel the same. Adele's vocal stylings do not resonate here.

  • waxjunkywaxjunky 1,849 Posts
    Barely 23 and doing her thing. I'm okay with it.

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    Some of you guys are over-thinking this. Surely not giving a fuck about what other people like should also include being able to remain blissfully indifferent to artists like Adele. I don't think there's anything wrong with her stuff, personally. Whilst it's not the kind of thing I'd ever actively seek out, I find it likeable enough. My girlfriend plays it and it doesn't give me the vapours or bring me out in hives, so, y'know, what's the problem?

    It's very easy for the strain of music-nerd that congregates on here to get all pissy about it and dismiss it as pablum for undiscriminating pallettes, but well-crafted MOR pop-soul has always had popular appeal. It's a waste of time getting upset about Adele's music the way people did on here when Winehouse broke big, and half of SS was acting like she was robbing the very food from Sharon Jones's table. But the fact is, anyone who sells millions of records automatically gets dismissed as someone making music for morons, whether they are or not. As for Adele herself, she does a remarkably good job of avoiding the pop-star bullshit which seems to go hand-in-hand with the sort of success she's currently enjoying so, if nothing else, she's proved it can be done. Good luck to her, but my world don't stop either way.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    The first time I heard her sing, I remember being pretty damn impressed. Then I heard her first singles and soon realised her pop stylings were not for me, but she can still belt out a tune.
    She has shades of Moyet & Lennox, although she not quite up to either mantle. A lot of people seemed to be touched by her Brits performance, so she must be doing something right.

    Apart from that, I can only cosign what Doc said.

  • BeatnicholasBeatnicholas 1,005 Posts
    prefer Amy overall, i still think she's brilliant. however Adele doesn't make me run screaming to switch off the radio like La Roux, Dido or Florence do so she must be doing something right. sooner or later she'll do something strut-cosigned i'm sure, its a question of what production they go for. and maybe the Jamie remix will persuade them she is capable of more stylez.

    nb i hear Florence is a good singer IRL, i don't really like the way she sings on her records though. maybe the next album will be better.

  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Deep iPod Music

  • MjukisMjukis 1,675 Posts
    I feel old watching this. Especially 7:30 onwards.

  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    Mjukis said:
    I feel old watching this. Especially 7:30 onwards.

    the white boy soccer hooligan hand motions and chanting at 9:03-9:04 are amazing. what a bunch of clowns.

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    leon said:
    HOLLAFAME said:
    I ride for her live performances.

    This.


    Yes. Hard to say now how much I'd like her if my first exposure wasn't a live performance.

    I feel fine about liking her songs. And it's good to surprise yourself now and then.

  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    I have not ingested enough Winehouse to compare the two properly, but I have gone back to listen to some of her live performances to see if I hear commonalities. I kinda do, but would say it's not anything limited to just these two women. I also think Adele can sing Winehouse's beehive off, but I wouldn't fight anyone over it.

  • batmonbatmon 27,574 Posts
    winehouses production is part of her appeal.

  • JuniorJunior 4,853 Posts
    Yeah I think Doc and Okem summed this up nicely. Despite her being the dominating force in the UK charts for some months now I haven't really been that exposed to her so I'm not suffering from the over saturation I've had with a lot of suddenly massive artists.
    Rolling In The Deep is a pleasant enough song that I probably wouldn't turn off and someone played me her cover of The Cure's Love Song the other day which was predictably over produced but rather nice in a Zero 7ish way.
    Songs like the above mean I don't really see her as someone filling a hole left by Winehouse and in my mental filing she fits more easily into the kind of Moyet artist that Okem mentions - part of a long tradition in the UK for female singers.

  • OkemOkem 4,617 Posts
    rootlesscosmo said:
    white boy soccer hooligan hand motions



    Flagrant abuse of the 'speaketh not, on what thou does not knoweth' ruling. You're off.

  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,955 Posts
    They can both sing, but IMHO Winehouse has the better voice. It's far more distinctive to my ears; riddled with esturine slurs. I mean, how many singers can get away with "Strenff" and not make the audience snigger?

    I can listen to about 50% of both artiste's output. Glad they are doing things on their terms and not being given the cookie-cutter ride from The Record Company.

  • rootlesscosmorootlesscosmo 12,848 Posts
    Okem said:
    rootlesscosmo said:
    white boy soccer hooligan hand motions



    Flagrant abuse of the 'speaketh not, on what thou does not knoweth' ruling. You're off.

    did you watch the specific moment of the video I referenced? that's exactly what they look like. ivebeentomanyUKsoccergames-related. it's that taunting the cop in the street post-game type thing going on. just my first reaction; don't take it personal!
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