Gaga Palmer Librarians
Jun. 1st, 2010 08:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gementSeveral months ago, Neil Gaiman linked to a quick song by Amanda Palmer about the philosophy of art called Gaga Palmer Madonna. It's funny, it's thoughtful, it's accompanied by ukelele, and I was humming it for weeks.
The same week, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics linked to several different versions of Lady Gaga's Poker Face, which I'd never heard. He later linked to a mashup assembled by someone who followed his advice and LISTENED TO THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I clicked on the mashup link. I heard some really powerful singing mixed up in there. I went and listened to all the versions.
Here is the official music video version of Poker Face. This is a version of Poker Face Lady Gaga did for BBC Radio One.
I could personally only get through about 30 seconds of the music video version. The vocals were flat-as-in-the-opposite-of-dynamic and the video seemed to entirely consist of a pop singer's skin being exploited by the media machine.
Then I clicked on the piano and wail version. I actually have a Pandora station named "Piano and Wail." Smoky alto, torch song with gospel aftertaste. Gah. I am a complete sucker for every single trick she uses here, and I am in envy of her breath support. I even like her hat.
To my shame, my first very strong reaction was, "If she can do that, why on Earth is she wasting her breath doing that fake stuff?"
And if someone talented wants to make pop music, why should we worry when there's so much other shit wrong?
Oh. That. Right. I can translate my statement directly to "Why are you spending time making music that you chose instead of music that I like better?" Just a touch of entitlement there. They're both performances, they're both finely calculated for exactly the effect they produce, and they both please a significant fraction of outside observers (which is to say, they're popular).
So that was my visceral realization of that principle, which I've been meaning to write about for months. It got me thinking about, for example, where I draw the "I know it when I see it" line on something like a loaf of bread being classified as art, craft, or production. The answer to that one is surprisingly complicated, and includes the number of loaves made at once, the origin of the recipe, the quality of the ingredients, the historical number of loaves baked by the baker, and whether they put the little decorative cut on the top.
Post-script: I now enjoy humming along with the original version of Poker Face. It grew on me. Like a fungus. A really catchy fungus. Having since learned that Lady Gaga has a pretty aggressive history of performance art, I can even almost appreciate the music video. (Before I knew that, I think it was hitting my consent buttons, because I rarely expect young female pop stars to have much say over their public presentation.)
So! Open comment thread for discussion of our personal reactions to pop art/high art/folk art. Where do you catch yourself viscerally drawing such lines, and do you philosophically agree with those emotional divisions?
Why did I finally get around to posting this?
The library school of which I am an alumna did a parody version called "You can use my catalog." The business librarian looks like she was born to wear a tiara. If you know any iSchool staff or current students, or just like really dorky librarian humor, this video was made for you. (Featuring Nancy Pearl, Mike Eisenberg, antelopes, and my roommate Eric!)
Um, most of these people don't usually wear skirts.
My birthday is tomorrow. I will announce plans later. Meanwhile, if you are looking for a small fool-proof gift and haven't thought of something more specific, I'm a sucker for clear crystal prisms (rainbow throwers). There will be at least one opportunity to hang out at my house in a celebratory fashion, and I will definitely not expect gifts. Company is awesome.
The same week, Ryan North of Dinosaur Comics linked to several different versions of Lady Gaga's Poker Face, which I'd never heard. He later linked to a mashup assembled by someone who followed his advice and LISTENED TO THEM ALL AT THE SAME TIME. I clicked on the mashup link. I heard some really powerful singing mixed up in there. I went and listened to all the versions.
Here is the official music video version of Poker Face. This is a version of Poker Face Lady Gaga did for BBC Radio One.
I could personally only get through about 30 seconds of the music video version. The vocals were flat-as-in-the-opposite-of-dynamic and the video seemed to entirely consist of a pop singer's skin being exploited by the media machine.
Then I clicked on the piano and wail version. I actually have a Pandora station named "Piano and Wail." Smoky alto, torch song with gospel aftertaste. Gah. I am a complete sucker for every single trick she uses here, and I am in envy of her breath support. I even like her hat.
To my shame, my first very strong reaction was, "If she can do that, why on Earth is she wasting her breath doing that fake stuff?"
And if someone talented wants to make pop music, why should we worry when there's so much other shit wrong?
Oh. That. Right. I can translate my statement directly to "Why are you spending time making music that you chose instead of music that I like better?" Just a touch of entitlement there. They're both performances, they're both finely calculated for exactly the effect they produce, and they both please a significant fraction of outside observers (which is to say, they're popular).
So that was my visceral realization of that principle, which I've been meaning to write about for months. It got me thinking about, for example, where I draw the "I know it when I see it" line on something like a loaf of bread being classified as art, craft, or production. The answer to that one is surprisingly complicated, and includes the number of loaves made at once, the origin of the recipe, the quality of the ingredients, the historical number of loaves baked by the baker, and whether they put the little decorative cut on the top.
Post-script: I now enjoy humming along with the original version of Poker Face. It grew on me. Like a fungus. A really catchy fungus. Having since learned that Lady Gaga has a pretty aggressive history of performance art, I can even almost appreciate the music video. (Before I knew that, I think it was hitting my consent buttons, because I rarely expect young female pop stars to have much say over their public presentation.)
So! Open comment thread for discussion of our personal reactions to pop art/high art/folk art. Where do you catch yourself viscerally drawing such lines, and do you philosophically agree with those emotional divisions?
Why did I finally get around to posting this?
The library school of which I am an alumna did a parody version called "You can use my catalog." The business librarian looks like she was born to wear a tiara. If you know any iSchool staff or current students, or just like really dorky librarian humor, this video was made for you. (Featuring Nancy Pearl, Mike Eisenberg, antelopes, and my roommate Eric!)
Um, most of these people don't usually wear skirts.
My birthday is tomorrow. I will announce plans later. Meanwhile, if you are looking for a small fool-proof gift and haven't thought of something more specific, I'm a sucker for clear crystal prisms (rainbow throwers). There will be at least one opportunity to hang out at my house in a celebratory fashion, and I will definitely not expect gifts. Company is awesome.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-01 11:34 pm (UTC)I confess I had a very similar thought about her. The very first time I ever heard her, was finding a video on YouTube of her AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING live performance of "Paparazzi" on the MTV Video Music Awards. Then later I went and watched the official music video, which... wow.
I was certainly glad I'd heard her live first, because if I'd heard her recordings first, I'd never have sought out anything else of hers. She has a beautiful, HELLA powerful voice. What jarred me about her recordings wasn't about the pop style at all; it was that she was deliberately disguising, *diminishing* that power. You know how you can sing up in an imitating-a-little-girl kind of voice, on purpose? Under all the vocal effects and pop music, under the autotune, she's doing *that*. *That's* the part I don't understand.
And I've been meaning to post about it too, except I didn't really have a coherent point about it.
I remember wondering why on earth I kept hearing people sneer at her for all the theatrics and costumes. I *like* the theatrics and costumes! Plus it's not so different from what Madonna used to do; it's not *copying* Madonna, but it's sort of the next logical step after Madonna, if you see what I mean. And then having that thought made me realize that Madonna did the *exact same thing* with her voice-- listen to any of her earlier stuff, "Lucky Star", "Holiday", etc., it's all that little-girl voice, and we didn't get to hear her natural, powerful singing voice until much later in her career. (And seeing her live was the same 'woah FUCK!' experience.)
I wish I knew if it was a record-label-pressure thing, a what-sells-when-you're-getting-started thing or not. That wasn't my first thought; Lady Gaga just doesn't strike me as someone who gets manipulated.
But as far as a line between whether something is art, craft, or production? Oh man, I got nothin'. I don't think about those distinctions because they're impossible to draw. If anything, I think the others are just a subset of art. It's all art if you've put a bit of your soul into it.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 12:46 am (UTC)and like mine toward bread. I mean... BREAD. When I can be passing petty judgments in my head on the validity of bread? It's time to look at where those judgments come from.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-02 03:26 pm (UTC)Her music isn't my cup of tea, but I recognize that she is incredibly talented.
Also, happy birthday. :)