Meanwhile, a LA Times article excerpted here on FmH asserts that the reason why the superlatively bland "jazz" singer Norah Jones is so popular is as a reaction against the domination of the charts by hip-hop. (It appears that there's nothing more safe and comforting than the bourgeois, ossified, whitebread contemporary form of what was once regarded as a scary and dangerous (and very black) musical genre; remember the infamous scare quotes from 1930s marijuana prohibition hearings linking the evil weed with "Satanic" jazz music and interracial sex?)
Which all ties in with Ben Butler's assertion that classical traning and codification are killing rock, as they did jazz, using the example of George being the worst band in Australia as a Terrible Example.
Posted by: yesterday's hero | http:// | Tue Mar 9 05:28:30 2004
Don't be fooled. Norah/Geetali is the harbinger of a new Indian cultural imperialism. In twenty years' time everything in the top ten will be in Hindi! Bollywood will have replaced bling-bling! "Come back, Fifty Cent", you'll say; "all iz forgizzle!"
Posted by: Graham | http://grudnuk.com/ | Tue Mar 9 12:05:02 2004
Twenty years time? Have you been to the UK recently?
Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Tue Mar 9 14:23:34 2004
Still, Norah Jones isn't exactly Nitin Sawnhey, is she?
Posted by: billy | http:// | Tue Mar 9 17:42:31 2004
dont forget syncopated taint.
Posted by: mihaly | http:// | Wed Mar 10 17:08:11 2004
I won't have it! Don't you dare abuse Norah Jones. Please. Please. Don't do that. Just as the torch song was coming back as a viable music gendre again. Next thing you'll be dissing Diana Krall. (you know, if you just give it a chance, maybe jazz will be a useful entrence to - whatever).
All I want to say is; music whatever it is - wants to be popular. and you can choke on it of you choose, but without an audience, music has no meaning. If you get me.
Posted by: acb | http://dev.null.org | Wed Mar 10 17:39:13 2004
This is my blog, and as long as you keep visiting it, you'll very well put up with what I write in it.
Posted by: Graham | http://grudnuk.com/ | Thu Mar 11 12:06:19 2004
I think Diana Krall is kinda hot.
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Posted by: gjw | http://the-fix.org | Mon Mar 8 23:22:57 2004
Classical training did kill rock, back in 1988. Vai. Ywingie. Man-O-bloody-War. All that "we are vikings", mixolydian-mode-double-tapped solos, rubbish. But most people realized it was crap and started listening to Nirvana instead. Maybe the spell is starting to wear off, finally.