(no subject)
I could tell, reading this exceedingly silly article by John Harris in the Guardian review section this morning that it would, in all likelihood, cause severe offence to zenith. My particular 'favourite' bit was, when he was talking about the Arctic Monkeys who by all accounts (okay, the account of my Indie Rock fan cousin) are indeed quite decent.
The lyrics are the work of Alex Turner, a 19-year-old in the habit of storing his early lyrical drafts on his mobile phone, whose musical tastes represent a bridge over at least one of the fault-lines that may have caused rock's verbal decline. "I used to be into hip-hop at school," he says. "I really admired rappers: the ones who seemed to have something to say. I still really like Roots Manuva - he has brilliant words." Of late, he has also immersed himself in the work of some of music's great social commentators. "I love the Smiths' lyrics," he says.
Which really just goes to show what he's completely ignored for the entirety of the piece, that if you want to hear wordplay and flow in modern music, head to a genre where it's really valued rather than moaning on about how things were better 'back in the day' in a genre where the tune has always been more important than anything else. Try listening to some stuff out of your box John and give us some positive recommendations as to what we should listen to if we fancy a bit of lyrical finesse in our music. The Arctic Monkeys recommend was a start but get positive! Music is there to be enjoyed isn't it? It's just... there are plenty of ways to have a go at Coldplay that judge them on their own, musical, terms. For instance why don't they let the lead guitar drive a bit more. Jonny Buckland is extremely talented and all their best stuff puts him to the fore. Or as someone noted the other day why don't they have a few more 'rockers' on their albums, the general effect of 12 tracks of their style of slightly earnest ballad is only to increase the sense of samey dullness which so many brand them with. Are they afraid that their audience will desert them if they vary a bit? Gah, I don't know. I suspect this is why I don't write about music very much. Update: Ah, Beagle tells me that it was Sasha Frere-Jones who wanted more variety in Coldplay's work.
Which really just goes to show what he's completely ignored for the entirety of the piece, that if you want to hear wordplay and flow in modern music, head to a genre where it's really valued rather than moaning on about how things were better 'back in the day' in a genre where the tune has always been more important than anything else. Try listening to some stuff out of your box John and give us some positive recommendations as to what we should listen to if we fancy a bit of lyrical finesse in our music. The Arctic Monkeys recommend was a start but get positive! Music is there to be enjoyed isn't it? It's just... there are plenty of ways to have a go at Coldplay that judge them on their own, musical, terms. For instance why don't they let the lead guitar drive a bit more. Jonny Buckland is extremely talented and all their best stuff puts him to the fore. Or as someone noted the other day why don't they have a few more 'rockers' on their albums, the general effect of 12 tracks of their style of slightly earnest ballad is only to increase the sense of samey dullness which so many brand them with. Are they afraid that their audience will desert them if they vary a bit? Gah, I don't know. I suspect this is why I don't write about music very much. Update: Ah, Beagle tells me that it was Sasha Frere-Jones who wanted more variety in Coldplay's work.