PepperJane wrote:
This week did have a lot of entries, hence fewer reviews I guess. There were some that didn't engage me (perfect way to put it) and I guess I keep listening to those until I come up with something that I'd suggest is why that is, or that might turn that around, as an audience member, skewed by knowing the incredible talents (people) that I know (hence I concur with your everywhere ordinariness line). Usually by that stage I've either also/instead found something that connects to me. Takes more time, but that's what community is about... and why so often I'm guilty of procrastinating past the review 'relevance' timeframe.
Anyway, pick a song?!! (Or I can send you my repertoire excel file)
Yeah, it takes more time, that's the crux of it. And the reviews for so many entries could almost be identical, sometimes it's a matter of coming up with a new way to write the same review for the twentieth time. I remember years ago a friend of mine submitted a comic book to a publisher of comics, and he got back a form letter with a few dozen paragraphs of critique on them ("The art isn't good enough", "The story is not compelling", "This isn't the kind of thing we publish", etc., though they were more complete thoughts than that.), and someone had just made check marks next to the 3-4 critiques that applied to his submission. I've pondered whether that was a good thing to do or not. It does acknowledge this conundrum of how to give the same critique over & over.
For me, the most common response I have for an entry here has always been "Nice enough. Band sounds good. Vocals are problematic, lyrics maybe a bit lazy, and musically it needs to be more unique." I'm one who appreciates effort above all else. If I hear a song and think "I could write that song in fifteen minutes" or "I've heard five hundred songs that sound exactly like that" then it's tough for me to be glowing about it.
I also rail against what I perceive as "lazy cool", where artists anoint musical laziness as some sort of statement. In my experience, those artists are usually just trying to hide their own insecurity about their art. It's easier to act like you don't care than to have the bravery to try and possibly fail. And "lazy cool" has been so legitimized in the culture that, sadly, attention to craft and detail and high standards may now come across as being stuck-up or "artsy". So sad. The same insecurities that have given rise to "lazy cool" were evident back in music school in a different way, when student composers of modern classical music commonly wrote music that was so dissonant that no one could tell what they were even doing, and the composer could hide behind that. "Well, you just don't get it, but _I_ know what I meant." <--- That defense pisses me the hell off.
"Here's I made you a casserole."
"Ugh, it tastes terrible"
"Well, you just don't get it"
I used to be around here a lot. My post total next to my avatar is a bit misleading though, because I haven't been around in a few years, so I'm sort of a newbie all over again. I was known as a very tough critic, and that's justified. But I'm not unsympathetic by any means. I just have very very high standards. When I listen to SF songs, I'm looking for effort, and individuality. I think the bravest, most honest thing an artist can do is to be unique, to not sound like anyone else. And for me, that's definitely the music I'm most attracted to. I strive for it in everything I write as well.
One last metaphor: When I think of art, I sometimes imagine the artist is sitting at the shore of a shallow lake. There are rocks and stumps sticking up in the lake. The artist decides to see if he can hit them with rocks. Now, if he throws rocks at the big stump 7 feet in front of him, he'll hit it pretty often, but really, how much of an achievement is that? I picture him hitting it or coming very close with regularity, but no one watching him remarks on it. If instead he takes aim at that stump 50 feet away, he's much less likely to hit it, but everyone takes notice that he's going for it, and cheers him on. The ironic thing is that he likely won't ever hit that stump. But when he misses by just a few feet, people will cheer the effort. It's so telling: No one cares when he hits the stump 7 feet away, but when he misses the faraway stump by a yard, people still cheer the effort. "Oh! You nearly hit it!" I guess I have no interest in people hitting stumps that are 7 feet away.
As far as a song you should cover, I thought about it for a few minutes, and couldn't really come up with one. I thought of something by Alanis Morrisette maybe, and then I thought of "Honey Molasses" by Jill Scott, (but I think that one just came to mind because I love that song so much, not because it would necessarily be appropriate for you!)