For about 15 or so years now, there's been feelings that pop music has been kind of repetitive. But if someone asked you to point out what's repetitive, what would you say? Lyrics don't count either; if the lyrics or the rhythm/melody of pop music itself were a legitimate point to make, then we might as well just call everything repetitive, because every genre is repetitive in that respect.
Hi, Broken Social Scene? Message from Death Cab For Cutie: Fuck off.
"Okay, MrIndieDay, we get the presumptuous crap. Give us your specific reasons beyond music and/or lyrics, you dick."
Fine, excessively-pushy-reader. Here's Part Two of the "Nature of Pop Music":
Miley Cyrus - "Can't Be Tamed".
Alternatively titled "First Step into Whoredom"
Comparisons: Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera.
Disney is a land of opportunities for white kids who already have them, and Miley Cyrus breaks no new ground in that. Aided/vicariously lived through by her father Billy Ray Cyrus, Miley managed to land her own Disney sitcom "Hannah Montana", a show I know nothing about, but presumably is a homage to "Debbie Does Dallas", in which she shamelessly has sex with Disney executives in the state of Montana.
Assuming it's a sitcom and not a loose biography.
Through that (The show, not intercourse), she found herself a career in music. Signed to Disney's Hollywood Records, she produced the company's quota for poppy drivel with her first (un-Hannah Montana) album. Much like, oh say, Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera did almost exactly 10 years earlier.
Sluts always seem so hopeful at the beginning.
Artists and pop music in particular tend to capitalize on trends, hence why Spears, Aguilera, and Jessica Simpson exploded in about the same year or so. That's a given. So the question is what occurs from that initial shitty stage. Most artists don't evolve in the same fashion; some remain the same, some mature in their sound, others stop altogether by the second album.
What makes Miley Cyrus a case worth following is that, holy shit, she's following the same exact path as Britney Spears and Aguilera. It's a definitive formula, and they're parlaying it right in front of our faces. They debut with simple teen pop albums, followed by a sophomore album with sexually charged "adult" material.
Looking at the album covers side by side makes it all the more uncanny.
"Happy-Go-Lucky Toothy Jailbailt Smile " Albums:
Okay, admittedly, Christina Aguilera has always been a bit of a cumbucket. But here are their sophomore releases:
"Look at my Stomach and Deadpan Face, aren't I a Grown Whore" Albums:
They all have the same attributes! Exposed abs, lack of facial expression, their hands clutching something, clothing with some set of straps on them. It's unreal. They really did this three times over.
I may be preaching to the choir here, but here's an angle you may want to arm yourself with that means more than just "Pop music sucks" (Also I wanna stand on an Internet soapbox for 15 seconds):
The fear isn't simply the corruption of innocent kids or some family values-related garbage, but it's the idea that music corporations truly believe we're this generic and easily entertained. That we'll repeat "2+2=4" 3 times over and still drool with happiness. It's a fucking insult and a half.
We should be challenging major corporations to create higher quality products for the sake of advancing human culture and intellectuality. Not letting them slap us in the mouth and tell us to drink the kool-aid anyway.
No, this doesn't mean they need to produce Muse's "Resistance" music with Arctic Monkeys' "Humbug" lyrics, but goddamnit, don't let them give us this recycled shallow garbage either.
Not that it matters, because we've already proven ourselves the dumb monkeys they think we are.
[Can't be Tamed's in its debut week sold] 102,000. This new entry is Cyrus' eighth album to make the top three in less than four years (counting Hannah Montanaalbums). Five songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Can't Be Tamed," which jumps from #16 to #12.
Fuck.
At least I have new jack-off material.
This.
ReplyDeleteWas brilliant.