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Author: breno
Date: 06-21-12 16:32
Depending on who's defining "faults" vs. "virtues", none of the following would get past the "Let's Laugh at the Deluded Losers" audition stage of American Idol based on their vocal skills, yet they've each given more of lasting value to the world with any single performance than all the winners of AI combined ever will:
Neil Young
Bob Dylan
John Lydon
Johnny Cash
Robyn Hitchcock
David Thomas
Daniel Smith
Mary Margaret O'Hara
etc. etc.
Also dead today: Leroy Nieman, yet another person I could've sworn died years ago. The real shocker in that category, though, was when Sam Drucker from Green Acres died last week. I would've bet large sums of cash that he'd been gone since the early 80s or so.
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Author: totaji
Date: 06-21-12 19:51
Everything after Classical music (Ludwig Van...) is gloriously faulted. The notes added to the major scale to make blues are faults. Those faults help us understand ourselves. Distortion added to guitars is a fault.
Having said that... Lou Reed's and Leonard Cohen's deadpan deliveries make them appreciated by an elite few ;)
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Author: HollowbodyKay
Date: 06-22-12 08:56
Quote:
none of the following would get past the "Let's Laugh at the Deluded Losers" audition stage of American Idol based on their vocal skills, yet they've each given more of lasting value to the world with any single performance than all the winners of AI combined ever will:
Neil Young
Bob Dylan
John Lydon
Johnny Cash
Robyn Hitchcock
David Thomas
Daniel Smith
Mary Margaret O'Hara
etc. etc.
Yes, perhaps.
But American Idol is far, FAR more given to orthodoxy when it judges what is and isn't "singing." Said voice must be within .0005 degrees of Whitney Houston or it isn't worth their time. So nearly everyone fails if they cannot ululate like a yak in heat. With perfect pitch, of course.
Anyway, Hitchcock can sing. Haven't you read the blurb on the back of the Storefront Hitchcock DVD? Something along the lines of "... His rich and supple voice shines." Uh-huh.
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Author: Michael Toland
Date: 06-22-12 09:22
My problem with the singing standards set on American Idol (never mind the problems I have with, well, everything else about it) is that they emphasize technique over character. All the singers listed above have character - they have distinctive, immediately recognizable voices that interpret their own work better than anyone.
My girlfriend used to watch Idol, so it was on a lot in the house the past couple of years. It always bugged me when the judges would rag on a contestant who sang, say, a soul song just fine the week before, but struggled with a country song that week because it wasn't their area or didn't fit their voice. Like it was a sin to do one thing well and not worry about other things to which the singer isn't suited. To me that always underscored the central premise of the show: to create a perfect-voiced puppet to be manipulated by producers, management and record companies, not to make music.
I'm sorry, I just highjacked a perfectly respectful thread with an American Idol rant. As if that show matters anymore.
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Author: Delvin
Date: 06-22-12 11:01
I've only watched Idol once. My wife and I knew about the show, of course, but it never sounded like our cup of tea, either as music or as television.
One of my wife's best friends, however, won't miss it for anything. One evening we were over at her house, and chose to stick around when the show came on. We both found it pretty boring. In fact, the next day, we happened to use the same phrase to tell others what we'd thought of it: "What's the big deal? Karaoke singers on TV."
One of the contestants (a blond with a sleeve tattoo) caught my attention, but not by singing.
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Author: breno
Date: 06-22-12 11:12
A friend of mine can't understand why I don't love Idol/The Voice/X-Factor etc. "But you love music!" he says. "This should be up your alley!"
I can't figure out how to explain that loving music is the reason that I DON'T watch those shows without sounding like an elitist dick, so I just say I don't care for the format.
But anyway, back to Sarris. Erik, I've read that quote about Kubrick plenty of times, but have never read the piece it was from. What were the faults that Sarris was identifying?
Here's Ebert on Sarris:
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120620/PEOPLE/120629992
Post Edited (06-22-12 11:17)
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