Taylor Swift

[Elliot Kane]

Figured. She's not even remotely in your line of interest, musically, nor is it likely she ever will be. The heaviest she's ever likely to get was the collaboration with Def Leppard, and I don't think they're really heavy enough to interest you, either.

I adore her, musically speaking, but I don't expect everyone else to

[Flix]

It's not so much that I need my music to be heavy, I just need it to be good. ;D

Seriously, though, I think I judge music by vastly different standards, being a lifelong musician. The music is first and foremost, not the relative singing talent of some front-person. And by music, I mean the instrumentation. I could compile a lengthy list of music I adore that has no distorted guitar or metal vocals, music that's as calm, pretty, and soothing as anything (and I have represented my musical tastes as such occasionally - not always best to put on Bloodbath on the first date!)

I can probably acknowledge that Taylor, Miley, et al have vocal talent, with range, clarity, accuracy, and just plain quality of their voices. But the music they sing over is...so bland and boring. And of course, the music they sing over dictates the notes they can sing, the combinations of pitches, and harmonies they can use. It limits them to vanilla sounding radio stuff. The musical equivalent of the magazines in the book store.

But I need music to transport me places, show me things, make me feel things, sometimes strange emotions and moods I don't even quite recognize, sometimes achingly familiar, like a memory that might be a dream or just deja vu. The epic fantasies of music.

[Elliot Kane]

You're right, we do look for very different things. I can still appreciate good musicianship when I hear it, but it's not my primary focus by any means. My love affair is far more with the human voice and a good singer will catch my ear far faster than a good musician. If what I want is great music, I'll put on Mozart, but mostly it's not.

Taylor is not a fantastic singer and I'll be the first to admit it (Though Miley is, I have to agree. People saying she can't sing always mystify me completely), but Taylor does have a voice that falls very pleasantly on my ear. She is more capable than outstanding, judged on a purely vocal level, but combined with her incredibly catchy songs (Written by herself), musicianship, and her obviously sweet personality she just hits all the right notes, for me. If I didn't like her songs, I wouldn't be a fan, but the rest is all icing on the cake, if you get me. The overall talent is both obvious and utterly phenomenal.

I suppose music to me is not about the journey, it's about the communication and sharing of ideas, thoughts and feelings. That's probably the real secret of Taylor's appeal to me: she's a fantastic lyricist; a great communicator. The way she manages to put her life into her songs and at the same time hook into some pretty universal truths is breathtaking (Fifteen is the obvious example, there. Is there anyone who was ever fifteen who can't see their younger selves in that song?). She builds connections with her audience few other artists can really equal.

I like and listen to literally hundreds of artists - bands as well as soloists - in many genres and from many different periods. Many are/have better musicians or singers and a few are even better lyricists (No-one can beat WS Gilbert!) but Taylor... Taylor is special. Not sure I can entirely say why. She just is.

At least until I find the next 'latest greatest', of course! ;D

[Flix]

Ah, there's another sticking point with me: the lyrics. I love the esoteric, the fantastical, lyrics for me can be opaque, dreamlike, dense. I'm definitely NOT interested in "this is what it's like to be a teenager, I have feelings and crushes and I'm changing" - no matter how deftly written, they're still songs about things that are only important to a teenager. I just read the lyrics to Fifteen - great example. I listened to the lyrical 'equivalent' of this kind of stuff when I was in high school -songs that dramatized young romance, break-ups, understanding yourself.

I don't know why but I've disconnected from those kind of lyrics - maybe it reflects my growing introversion, who knows, but I'm moved more by lyrics such as these than Taylor-style lyrics:

Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain
Opeth - Morningrise

(Yeah, there's some typos in the transcription. Hard to find lyrics that aren't flashing with 35 ringtone ads)

[Ubereil]

Apr 27, 2010 17:39:24 GMT Elliot Kane said:

(Fifteen is the obvious example, there. Is there anyone who was ever fifteen who can't see their younger selves in that song?).

Every Swede out there, because 15 isn't our freshman year, it's our last year of Elementary School. Apart from that kind of obvious smart alecry, that's not how I remember the start of high school at all.

As for what makes music work for me (an interesting subject, that one). It's not like Elliot whose main interest is the human voice. I'm more in line with Flix that it's the music that's important, though the voice singing is part of that music to me. It's not important to me that the music is skillful (I got the impression it is to Flix).

I don't really know what it is anymore that's The Thing for me, I just know I look for music I like (well durp...). Meaning music that invokes feelings in me that I like (music that makes me nauseous isn't something I activly pursue). I can't really say what kind of music does that, but music has to be interesting (which I think means that it has to have some kind of surprize twist to it, but I'm not sure). What I've experienced of Taylor Swift's music so far is how incredibly flat it is. I find that it's very uninteresting.

I believe another thing I need is a certain level of empathy, the musicians have to sound like they're serious in what they're portraying. I can't say if Taylor's any good at that, I haven't been listening to her music enough.

Übereil

[Flix]

Haha I watched that commercial again. EK is the guy hanging onto the fence, "No, not yet!!"

[Elliot Kane]

That guy can only dream of being me! ;D

***

More seriously, I think it's very interesting that we have three very different viewpoints on music. Definitely explains why we rarely if ever agree on what constitutes 'good' music. Also helps explain why we all (IIRC) rate Queen so highly. Freddie was an amazing vocalist and the musicianship of the whole group is highly exceptional. And as their songs can take some surprising turns (Bohemian Rhapsody[/i] especially), that should get the Ube vote.

I suspect the true appeal of music for Ube is that he has to feel some kind of personal connection to it; feel that it relates in some way to him - though I could easily be wrong. Would that make sense, Ube?

***

Flix - yeah, we definitely have different ideas of what make for good lyrics, although we might agree on Neil Peart (of Rush) who I consider a superb lyricist and whose work often contains fantastical elements.

[Ubereil]

Apr 27, 2010 20:58:02 GMT Elliot Kane said:

More seriously, I think it's very interesting that we have three very different viewpoints on music. Definitely explains why we rarely if ever agree on what constitutes 'good' music. Also helps explain why we all (IIRC) rate Queen so highly. Freddie was an amazing vocalist and the musicianship of the whole group is highly exceptional. And as their songs can take some surprising turns (Bohemian Rhapsody

[/i] especially), that should get the Ube vote.[/quote]

Queen have made some good songs (Bohemian Rhapsody in particular is great). I haven't listened all that much to them though, apart from Bohemain Rhapsody I haven't heard any song I like a lot.

Apr 27, 2010 20:58:02 GMT Elliot Kane said:

I suspect the true appeal of music for Ube is that he has to feel some kind of personal connection to it; feel that it relates in some way to him - though I could easily be wrong. Would that make sense, Ube?

It makes sence, but it's not a correct analysis. I certanly like that kind of music a lot (and I'd say most of my favorite music is that kind of music) but I also like some music (can't say how much it is) that isn't all that relatable. I'm an AC/DC fan and, knowing me, you can't really say they make music that sounds a lot like my life, can you? Megadeth is another example of a group that doesn't sing about anything I'd say relates to my life a lot.

Übereil

[Elliot Kane]

No, I have to admit I can't see you relating to AC/DC, Ube (Nor Megadeath). Great group, don't get me wrong - love them myself - but from what I know of your life they're about as relevant to you as Taylor would be. Maybe there's no single over-riding factor for you, when it comes to music?

[Elliot Kane]

Time 100 article on Taylor by Stevie Nicks