Billie Eilish

[ra990]

As far as pop music goes, Billie and Finneas are a huge step up from the usual crap. I'm certain the distortion on the tracks is 100% intentional and used for dramatic effect. It's not conceivable that this much distortion got past everyone involved in the production of the record unless it was intentional.

 

[TankTop]

It’s appalling that some hear are ripping her music simply because it doesn’t fit their idea of audiophile. I get that this website is waging war on poorly performing expensive audiofoolery equipment but to rip an artist for taking poetic justice in some tracks in the name of expressing themselves shows some here are are shallow in their artistic appreciation. It’s obvious that there is intentional distortion in some tracks but the majority are extremely complex to the point most don’t even know what they are hearing imbedded in a soundtrack. Sadly many have completely missed the point of ASR and are inserting their bias on artist without weighing all the facts and are publicly embarrassing themselves. The complexity of the music and the fact it was recorded on rudimentary equipment displays the genius of Finneas talent and Billie’s developing voice. You are ripping an artist for being artistic, perhaps some here should contemplate their motives, ASR exists to uncover poorly performing equipment that doesn’t honestly reveal the artists intentions but not to rip an artists honest artistic expression. It’s obvious from the soundtracks complexity that Billie and Finneas have a solid grasp on the production of their music.

 

[diddley]

 

[StevenEleven]

Classic FM's take on Billie Eilish:

A new Billie Eilish song is actually based on a Gustav Holst hymn – and it’s very beautiful:
https://www.classicfm.com/composers/holst/billie-eilish-goldwing-hymn/

How good is Billie Eilish’s singing voice, from a classical music perspective?
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-...-eilish-voice-analysis-classical-perspective/

The classicfm.com discussion is interesting. I think it has merit.

I'm listening to the new album right now as I have enjoyed this thread.

I can give my opinion just for fun but this stuff is so so so so subjective, still, it's more interesting to me than arguing over whether to shave off a little bass from the Harman curve (as I tend to want to do). My opinion here probably says as much or more about me than the it does the music.

The distortions in the bass and the voice are obviously intentional. I think it would have sounded much better with less or close to no distortion but I agree it is an artistic choice. It's fair game IMHO to question it aesthetically (and I do) but to criticize it technically seems a little short-sighted. It's not a deal killer and the effect has its merits but yes, I would have preferred a cleaner recording style, I think it would sound way way cool with clean bass lines and a clean voice. So I put that in the category of an opportunity missed in terms of production to knock it out of the park. As it is that distortion will just date the music as the years go by and obscure some of cool and more musical stuff that's going on, IMHO.

The words are very interesting. They are not stupid and they are engaging. From me, that's a large compliment. The poetry aspect of them seems cool and insightful.

I wish the song structures were more complex and adventurous. They are on the mundane side for my taste. I wish the instrumentation was not so sparse. I wish the chord structures and harmonies were much more adventurous. I wish there was more craftsmanship on display in terms of the musicianship, that is, folks playing their instruments. She is adding some R&B type of nuance into her singing vocabulary and the feelings of the music which is a nice addition.

I wish she would extend her signing considerably in terms of dynamics and volume. Maybe it's not her strongest suit but I think artistically she would grow if she extended herself in those directions so she had that amongst her brushes to paint with, so to speak. To me her style of phrasing gets redundant. I hope she'll stretch in that area too. She obviously has great facility over pitch and great musical feeling. I feel there is a ton of room for growth in other dimensions of her voice as an instrument.

I feel it's all enough to enjoy multiple listens. Time will tell if it holds up in terms of gripping human feeling and interest in the way the best music does, or if 30 years from now it will be more of nostalgia and nice memories. I would guess the latter. There is not quite enough going on, IMHO, and there is too much sameness in the style of melody and harmony and song structures from tune to tune. There is the potential for her to get a lot better, IMHO. I hope she will continue in directions where her reach exceeds her grasp, and if so, we may see much, much better in the future.

Or she could decide she kind of likes being rich and famous and not take a lot more chances and she will drift off quietly through the decades as so many talented artists do. In the big picture, is she a Joni Mitchell or a Carly Simon? I think that's the general range of talent and accomplishment we're in (but in the context and styles of the here and now), and I'm guessing something more toward the latter.

That's my opinion. Worth damn near nothing and no one will have the same opinion but maybe it's interesting to someone.

 

[TankTop]

That’s funny but have you seen Billie lately in Gucci head to toe? Obviously she’s smarter and knows how to keep her daddy out of her contract (it was probably Finneas). Britney could sing and dance but was no artist, just a true sex icon at the age of 15. Yes, that’s what dirty old men look at.

 

[tonyo123]

Maybe there is distortion added to specific instruments (like bass guitar) during the mixing and that would be intentional. But, compressing to clipping adding distortion is a result of the mastering - likely the record producers wanting it to play loud. Unfortunately, this affects the entire song smearing instruments and voices during moderate-to-loud sections (to all loud). Not sure how this could be intentional. It's grating (to some) in an otherwise well-recorded and mixed record. Many artists participate and sign off in the final mixing, but, they don't stay around for the various masterings. Hopefully, the vinyl version is better.

 

[abdo123]

BTW Billie Eilish's music is very dynamic compared to everything else right now. I use -16 LUFS loudness normalization (sound check) in iTunes and the algorithm doesn't reduce the gain of bury a friend at all (a very very good song, a single from her debut album).

While the equally popular Blinding light by The weekend is reduced by 7.3 dB

Fast Car by Tracy Chapman is boosted by 1.5 dB.

In Conclusion, Billie's music is almost at the same loudness level as music from the 80s.