1. This song is very very good 2. If it debuts at #1 on the Hot 100, it will definitely be A Moment for pure songwriting 3. The half-generation of kids who first discovered music through Lorde is already ascendant
To me, this feels a touch like gentrified indie pop in a way that Lorde and Billie are not, but it's also great enough that I don't care. Potentially big things ahead for her
Bruce Springsteen + The Smiths --> Arcade Fire + Broken Social Scene --> Lorde --> Troye Sivan + Phoebe Bridgers --> Olivia Rodrigo
Anyway, it ultimately doesn't mean that much if it doesn't top the Hot 100... Rodrigo seems to be the right person at the right place at the right time, with the songwriting chops to back it up. Excited to get in on the ground floor
also expecting Life Is Strange-themed AMVs to pop up around drivers license immediately
The celebrity-confessional side to drivers license feels much more Ariana than Taylor to me, btw. Taylor was usually a little bit coded or crafted; Ariana embraced the drama of the moment and let it spill out
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I only know a few Waxahatchee songs, but Katie Crutchfield has a very..... interesting vocal style where it sounds like she's singing from the very top of her throat
Fire is a very strong composition and her singing probably works on an emotional level, but I find it difficult to listen to. It sounds like technique that'll make you go hoarse, then actively damage your vocal cords from strain
Anyway, whether or not you like the song... Yes, the act of singing is deeply personal, but discussion about the voice - THE #1 instrument - is almost totally absent from popular music criticism. We're really doing singers a disservice imo
I have never listened to Avril Lavigne's monster debut album Let Go.
so @punkgoespod bought me a brand new CD copy yesterday, and we're livetweeting my first listen starting... NOW
There are bigger albums I haven't heard, but none as significant to my generation... I know every radio hit and single cover, but never considered myself enough of a fan even to pirate it lol
but at this point, it'd be like me not knowing Hybrid Theory! sooooo let us begin!!
The tone and delivery of most YouTube essayists is sooooooooooooo didactic it's infuriating
they talk at you instead of allowing you to listen. Podcasts >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> YouTube
problem is too many YT essayists treat what they do like high-school debating instead of criticism, or an art form unto itself. They present conclusions they've come to, instead of taking you on a journey in real-time
So I loved Taylor Swift's Miss Americana documentary, but I want to apologise for an article I wrote that appears in the film, and give context for its headline, which I did not write.
In July 2016, I wrote a piece for Noisey/VICE Australia about the Kim/Kanye/Taylor feud, in the wake of Kim leaking their "Famous" phone call on Snapchat. The popular opinion at the time was that Kim had "exposed" Taylor - but I didn't think Taylor had lied.
I wanted to deconstruct the pettiness of the celebrity-industrial complex, and offer a path forward for Taylor. Here's the contention of the piece (it's no wonder I'd later love Reputation):