Bingo, you have put into words a couple of things hovering in the back of my mind; that white music (or indeed non-white pop music music) without black influence lacks intrigue. The Beatles, The Who, The Velvet Underground, Soft Machine all started as R&B acts. Mona Evie and Jvcki Wai, my favourite recent Asian acts, are heavily influenced by trap, as are 4s4ki and Zheani. The best metal bands still have a Hendrix influence.
And then there's Olivia. Like her, grateful for her taste, but she's a dummy that's been put in place of something more real. Nice act lately Olivia, but have you heard of KatieJane Garside? Someone who could and still does do original things with the blues? And could never, ever be as careful as you are to stay within the lines?
The bigotry of low expectations sums up perfectly what's wrong when white critics drink the poptimist koolaid. For me, poptimisim is a positive thing - it means having high expectations of pop, knowing how good it can be, not pretending to find genius is what is, for the most part, just most successful.
Also, something I’ve only realized recently is that rock guitars are boring now because rock guitarists are no longer competing with jazz soloists. Eight Miles High - Coltrane, I Heard Her Call My Name - Ornette Coleman. When I started soloing properly, my goal often was to phrase it and relate it to the chords like Lester Young coming in on a Billie Holiday track (if not like Billie herself). Now, it’s as if solo is a dirty word, improvisation is a lost concept, syncopation is uncool, everything lead guitar in rock music must be blended and four-square.
Is this supposed to be an album review, or an evaluation of how music criticism treats mainstream pop stars? If it's the former, I feel like you need to actually engage with the music more than you do here. Like judging off of this review, I know nothing about what the album sounds like, nothing about the themes of the album, nothing about the strengths and weaknesses of the album, only a tiny bit about lyrics of one song. This does not stand up as an album review.
It's fine if you want to write about how Olivia Rodrigo and other popstars are received by music critics. But if you are aiming for that, directly call out the "everyone" who is "treating her with kid gloves". Is everyone Pitchfork? Rolling Stone? Stan Twitter? You describe adults who praise her music as "fucking marks", but why is her music inherently embarrassing for adults? Is songwriting about big feelings and cringe misadventures automatically bad? Do you think that the media narratives around her stardom overshadow her music? If so, what are they?
He literally explained the low expectations multiple times, using critic polls, general critical acclaim, exact song & lyric examples, and used Swift by name along with the references to others and older tracks by name (and clear unnamed reference to Sabrina Carpenter) it’s a blog post, not a major publication piece, if it was, I’m sure he’d no doubt go into more detail. I don’t feel a way about her one way or the other, it just shows how the reaction to it, especially by stans, fits his point lol
This is where we just disagree, I think it’s sufficient for what it is, short & direct, formless, sure, but that’s fine, it’s not a major pub piece, hence the usage of n words lmao. Him sharing the piece on Twitter doesn’t mean it’s now no longer a blog piece, just like it wasn’t when people did it when tumblr was hot, and the amount of QRTs and views shows people have been spending time on it, just compare it against the numbers on his blog post about Vince Staples new album.
a very small beef I have with this record I haven't heard that I probably won't listen to ever is the title: the word 'so' makes the phrase less poetic than
you seem pretty sad
for a girl in love
five syllables each, bang bang
the word 'so' absolutely ruins it. pedantic yes, but words and the Swiftian overuse are also kind of the point.
I don't think I've ever felt more ragebaited by a piece of criticism. Quite frankly, I wish you had spent more time shitting on the album instead of the ironic garbage about thinking "Olivia seems like a nice girl though!" BS. Ha Ha, it's an essay about critics treating her with kids gloves where you insist on compliment sandwiching your distaste for her artistic output with what a sweet girl she is. Where is the meat beyond the fact you don't like the "Taydaughter" style of lyricism? If you think she has "good taste", I would much rather hear about the ways in which you feel she fails to live up to that taste then the vague complaint that other people like that she sounds like the things they also like.
I can’t understand people’s deep aversion about pop. For whatever reason, it sits with a much larger audience than the elitist snobby BS music people flaunt, so it’s the more democratic and egalitarian genre; aka working folks’ music.
Let go of some that cynicism and you’ll open a new world of possibilities. You don’t even have to do that, but at least understand why some people enjoy the genre so deeply. Enjoying things at face value is still enjoyment; isn’t that what we live for ?
I like it. I don't like the way it's gatekept now so we don't get the wild cards and the freaks. It gets all its ideas from other genres now and waters them down and gets more homogenous every year. Because that's the business model for choosing what tops the algorithm.
So as not to be a hater, this is what I've liked in the charts as well as anything else in my top 10, in recent years - Sports Car, I Luv It, and the whole of C,XOX, a pop album flawed enough to be believable as one person's experiment with all the good ideas. All obviously made under black music influence, to drive home Eli's original point.
Bingo, you have put into words a couple of things hovering in the back of my mind; that white music (or indeed non-white pop music music) without black influence lacks intrigue. The Beatles, The Who, The Velvet Underground, Soft Machine all started as R&B acts. Mona Evie and Jvcki Wai, my favourite recent Asian acts, are heavily influenced by trap, as are 4s4ki and Zheani. The best metal bands still have a Hendrix influence.
And then there's Olivia. Like her, grateful for her taste, but she's a dummy that's been put in place of something more real. Nice act lately Olivia, but have you heard of KatieJane Garside? Someone who could and still does do original things with the blues? And could never, ever be as careful as you are to stay within the lines?
The bigotry of low expectations sums up perfectly what's wrong when white critics drink the poptimist koolaid. For me, poptimisim is a positive thing - it means having high expectations of pop, knowing how good it can be, not pretending to find genius is what is, for the most part, just most successful.
Also, something I’ve only realized recently is that rock guitars are boring now because rock guitarists are no longer competing with jazz soloists. Eight Miles High - Coltrane, I Heard Her Call My Name - Ornette Coleman. When I started soloing properly, my goal often was to phrase it and relate it to the chords like Lester Young coming in on a Billie Holiday track (if not like Billie herself). Now, it’s as if solo is a dirty word, improvisation is a lost concept, syncopation is uncool, everything lead guitar in rock music must be blended and four-square.
Is this supposed to be an album review, or an evaluation of how music criticism treats mainstream pop stars? If it's the former, I feel like you need to actually engage with the music more than you do here. Like judging off of this review, I know nothing about what the album sounds like, nothing about the themes of the album, nothing about the strengths and weaknesses of the album, only a tiny bit about lyrics of one song. This does not stand up as an album review.
It's fine if you want to write about how Olivia Rodrigo and other popstars are received by music critics. But if you are aiming for that, directly call out the "everyone" who is "treating her with kid gloves". Is everyone Pitchfork? Rolling Stone? Stan Twitter? You describe adults who praise her music as "fucking marks", but why is her music inherently embarrassing for adults? Is songwriting about big feelings and cringe misadventures automatically bad? Do you think that the media narratives around her stardom overshadow her music? If so, what are they?
It’s both, he mentions specific moments in the album that he didn’t like, to help his overall thesis.
He literally explained the low expectations multiple times, using critic polls, general critical acclaim, exact song & lyric examples, and used Swift by name along with the references to others and older tracks by name (and clear unnamed reference to Sabrina Carpenter) it’s a blog post, not a major publication piece, if it was, I’m sure he’d no doubt go into more detail. I don’t feel a way about her one way or the other, it just shows how the reaction to it, especially by stans, fits his point lol
This is where we just disagree, I think it’s sufficient for what it is, short & direct, formless, sure, but that’s fine, it’s not a major pub piece, hence the usage of n words lmao. Him sharing the piece on Twitter doesn’t mean it’s now no longer a blog piece, just like it wasn’t when people did it when tumblr was hot, and the amount of QRTs and views shows people have been spending time on it, just compare it against the numbers on his blog post about Vince Staples new album.
615 words and I’m unsure you articulated a single criticism of the album?
there's three in the third paragraph! disagree with them if you want but they're there, plain as day!
a very small beef I have with this record I haven't heard that I probably won't listen to ever is the title: the word 'so' makes the phrase less poetic than
you seem pretty sad
for a girl in love
five syllables each, bang bang
the word 'so' absolutely ruins it. pedantic yes, but words and the Swiftian overuse are also kind of the point.
I don't think I've ever felt more ragebaited by a piece of criticism. Quite frankly, I wish you had spent more time shitting on the album instead of the ironic garbage about thinking "Olivia seems like a nice girl though!" BS. Ha Ha, it's an essay about critics treating her with kids gloves where you insist on compliment sandwiching your distaste for her artistic output with what a sweet girl she is. Where is the meat beyond the fact you don't like the "Taydaughter" style of lyricism? If you think she has "good taste", I would much rather hear about the ways in which you feel she fails to live up to that taste then the vague complaint that other people like that she sounds like the things they also like.
She has some good songs and seems like a cool person but a lot of it just Taylor with guitar
I can’t understand people’s deep aversion about pop. For whatever reason, it sits with a much larger audience than the elitist snobby BS music people flaunt, so it’s the more democratic and egalitarian genre; aka working folks’ music.
Let go of some that cynicism and you’ll open a new world of possibilities. You don’t even have to do that, but at least understand why some people enjoy the genre so deeply. Enjoying things at face value is still enjoyment; isn’t that what we live for ?
counterpoint: this egalitarian music is controlled by a very small set of incredibly rich vested interests who manipulate cultural tastes
I like it. I don't like the way it's gatekept now so we don't get the wild cards and the freaks. It gets all its ideas from other genres now and waters them down and gets more homogenous every year. Because that's the business model for choosing what tops the algorithm.
So as not to be a hater, this is what I've liked in the charts as well as anything else in my top 10, in recent years - Sports Car, I Luv It, and the whole of C,XOX, a pop album flawed enough to be believable as one person's experiment with all the good ideas. All obviously made under black music influence, to drive home Eli's original point.
Somebody has to say it <3
https://thelastchord.substack.com/p/review-olivia-rodrigos-you-seem-pretty
lmao