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Current state of mainstream music scene (Billie Eilish taken Grammys by storm..)

pavuol

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I don't know how to put this short. I consider myself as open minded music enthusiast and although I don't keep pace with new pop artists/trends, from time to time I "give some of them chance". So was the case, when I have just read about Billie taking so many awards on Grammys. So I listened the whole album (ok I admit, just once, will give it another try) and to be honest, I felt like an idiot, knowing nothing about music, despite being almost in my 40's... :eek:
I really don't want to raise some controversies or flame threads, but can you tell me guys, what is so sensational about her, solely "musicallywise"? Am I deaf alien, not feeling the excitement of millions of fans?
 

Oukkidoukki

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I listened too, didn’t care about the melodies either but even though english is not my native language I could sense that this person is probably speaking/singing the thruth (her truth), her own thoughts.........I might be wrong though...........it creates some kind of connection compared to songs where singer just singing........is it enough for grammy is another question....obviously this time it was.
 

Martin

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I’m going on 61 and absolutely love Billie Eilish. Her sound is unique. I have her EP and the LP that won all the awards as well as a few other odds and ends. I’d love a copy of the live at Third Man Records LP but unless you’re near their stores in Nashville or Detroit you’ll end up paying through the nose for it.

Martin
 

VMAT4

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I don't know how to put this short. I consider myself as open minded music enthusiast and although I don't keep pace with new pop artists/trends, from time to time I "give some of them chance". So was the case, when I have just read about Billie taking so many awards on Grammys. So I listened the whole album (ok I admit, just once, will give it another try) and to be honest, I felt like an idiot, knowing nothing about music, despite being almost in my 40's... :eek:
I really don't want to raise some controversies or flame threads, but can you tell me guys, what is so sensational about her, solely "musicallywise"? Am I deaf alien, not feeling the excitement of millions of fans?

Maybe you too old to be the Grammy's "Target Audience"?
 

LeftCoastTim

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There is a lot going on with her music.

For example, there is unique structure (around 6:16 mark
).

There is strong minor key. Most pop music tends to be happy-bright, but her songs are dark-sad-serious.

She sings with strong emotion. There is lot of color in how she sings the words. Probably very hard to pick up as non English speaker.

Her tunes are catchy, and became very popular with her age cohort and smashed many sales records.

And she is/was 17!

Hopefully her career grows instead of burning out.
 

VMAT4

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There is a lot going on with her music.

For example, there is unique structure (around 6:16 mark
).

There is strong minor key. Most pop music tends to be happy-bright, but her songs are dark-sad-serious.

She sings with strong emotion. There is lot of color in how she sings the words. Probably very hard to pick up as non English speaker.

Her tunes are catchy, and became very popular with her age cohort and smashed many sales records.

And she is/was 17!

Hopefully her career grows instead of burning out.

I just listened to the first few bars of Bad Guy. She's different. I'd listen to her over Katie Perry or Taylor Swift. Maybe as different as Gang of Four is compared to The Clash. The title of her album, When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? reminds me of the Gang of Four quoting Joseph Conrad, "We live as we dream, alone."

Outside of that I can't say much more than I no longer have an affinity for bleakness as I did in my adolescence. I prefer the Travelin' McCourys tonight.
 

DuxServit

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I really don't want to raise some controversies or flame threads, but can you tell me guys, what is so sensational about her, solely "musicallywise"? Am I deaf alien, not feeling the excitement of millions of fans?

The Grammy is not about merit, its about the music business & dealmaking.

There is no way to independently validate the ”popularity” numbers of a given artist. The best available stats today would be YouTube hits. Even that can be manipulated.

Heck, we don’t even know accurately how many plays an artist gets on the various streaming Platforms. It’s whatever the streaming services say they are.
 

Martin

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MSNBC story: Rigged? could this why Fox News story: Grammy ratings tank .

I think people are sick and tired of “celebrities” spouting their political beliefs simply because the have a stage. Who gives a flying f—-? I don’t watch any awards shows for this very reason. Just because you’re famous that does not mean I want to hear your political views.

Martin
 

VMAT4

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I think people are sick and tired of “celebrities” spouting their political beliefs simply because the have a stage. Who gives a flying f—-? I don’t watch any awards shows for this very reason. Just because you’re famous that does not mean I want to hear your political views.

Martin

As far as political views go, I'd like to think we all prefer to form our own independent of what others think. As I heard the late Dr. Wallace Fisher say, from the pulpit, "I'm not going to tell you who to vote for. You should know!"
 

Webninja

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Switched on Pop is a fun podcast that breaks down popular music and analyzes the song structures. They do review Billie‘a songs and talk about some of the clever production her brother adds.

I like listening to a wide range of music and recently there has been interesting artists in the pop category, including Billie.
 

solderdude

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people differ, tastes differ, money rules.
It is just a certain (but big) segment in a certain industry that has access to most media.
One does not need to look follow it.
There are enough different types of music and recording qualities to go around for everyone.
They merely receive less focus on public media.
Plenty of quality musicians, music and recording still exists but will go unnoticed.
 

b1daly

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There have been profound changes in how recorded music is created, leading to almost ”apples to oranges” difference in contemporary pop vs music created in the 20 century, and all the way back to prehistoric times.

There’s a lot to it, but one big change is the reliance in the most popular genres on digital instruments to create sounds. These instruments are almost entirely programmed, not performed in real time. It turns out that digital instruments are not very “expressive“ as performance instrument. But with careful and imaginative production can be made to express by being ”programmed,” a non-real-time process.

The parallel is imperfect, but it has made producing music more like animation vs live action in movies.

Essentially, this is a more “cerebral” process and less “physical.”

Digital instruments are also abstract themselves. They are embodied in matter, but there is no “analog“ between the motion of the molecules in the instrument (a computer) and the sound that comes out of the speakers They don’t actually make sound, they make numbers. In many cases, when listening to electronic music you are hearing first generation sound production.

Historically making music was an activity involving the brain, moving muscles, moving molecules, in real-time.

This is largely gone in music production. With Billie Eilish most certainly.

Where this thread has still not been broken is in the vocals, which still contain a connection to physical activity in the body. And a lot of weight is carried by the vocals in modern pop music.

There is a similar aspect in visual animatio, where human actors are still required for the voice, to actually complete the illusion and allow full expression by animated characters.

Most modern pop “leaves me cold” and I think the core production process is part of it.

It‘s not that it’s inferior, but that there is a deep difference from the kind of music I grew up with, which formed cultural context for what music “means” to me. So I do recognize that someone like Billie Eilish is doing some cool stuff, I just don‘t “get the feeling” from it.

As a quick reference to what I’m talking about, compare any modern pop to the greats of classic rock. Apples and oranges.
 

Soniclife

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I really don't want to raise some controversies or flame threads, but can you tell me guys, what is so sensational about her, solely "musicallywise"? Am I deaf alien, not feeling the excitement of millions of fans?
Why bother yourself with this, it's good to be open minded and try new artists, but if you don't like them, you don't like them, and it does not matter what other peoples opinions are.
 

Wombat

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Does anyone take entertainment industry self affirmation seriously?
 

maty

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Billie Eilish,

http://dr.loudness-war.info/album/list/year?artist=Billie+Eilish

index.php


Only the live recordings have good DR. The others, studio, only we need with a cheap audio system and few watts to obtain the SPL at the room.

Such is the current misfortune with commercial music. It is so compressed that only cheap audio equipment is required. It only matters that it sounds loud on mobile phones and YouTube, not the sound quality -> bad time for the audio industry will continue and worsen.
 
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digicidal

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Does anyone take entertainment industry self affirmation seriously?
This. Despite the fact that nearly all of these "awards shows" have been losing market share consistently for years... it seems like they keep popping up all over the place. I'm sure some of that does have to do with politics (can't say, haven't seen the data) but I think for the most part, with the advent of social media, youtube, etc. - those who have an endless appetite for celebrities and their lifestyles... have a much better avenue for that.

And the rest of us who couldn't give a tiny rat's ass about them or what they're doing/buying/voting for/sleeping with/etc. weren't likely to watch their televised circle-j in the first place. ;) We might buy their albums or watch their movies... but we're much less interested in the worship and adoration aspects that award shows embody. Before the information age, they meant something... now they're too "slow to update" I think.


Then again, I'm out of the demographic for pretty much everything already (as are most here) so maybe the wrong crowd to ask IMO. As far as Billie Eilish herself and her music... I actually think it's pretty well done and creative(ish) for the genre. I certainly prefer it to many and can understand how it would appeal much more to me if I were in my late teens myself.
 
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Frank Dernie

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I will be 70 in a few weeks. I was introduced to Billie Eilish when I asked my 13 year old granddaughter if she would like to listen to something.
I like it and it is more interesting than most of what I hear and her little singing foibles don't annoy the daylights out of me like so many do.
 
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