Pop

Posted on 2008.02.28 at 22:00
Current Location: 75409
Current Music: Aguilera - Back To Basics

I don't do Top 40. Only because of

galinda822 to I know who Christine Aguilera is, as she posted a YouTube music video awhile back. And I don't have time for YouTube videos. I almost never watch them. However, she never posts them. Thought I'd give it a go. Wow. She did a 'Andrews Sisters' style song. I like the Andrew Sisters. The video was a 1940's WWII re-creation. Very well done.

drax0r and I were in Best Buy and he ran off into a section looking for speakers. I heard some Middle-Eastern beats (think 'Putumayo') and turned my head. I was staring at a belly-dancer on a 72" High-Def screen watching a Blu-Ray concert. They had some comfortable chairs set around it. I sat down. The beat increased. The camera swung from the belly to the entire dancer. She began singing. I thought it was great!

drax0r emerged and I approached the television - the DVD case was adjacent it. "Have you ever heard of..."Shakira?" Well of course he had.

I told my wife later that evening that she would've really enjoyed it and she smacked me for not buying it while I was there. "There were three - I didn't know which one to get!" So I got them today. All of them. And the double-disc Back to Basics from Christine Aguilera because she wanted that one too. And that's the one which surprised me. She borrows from so many different sounds - era's long gone, of ages past. Big Band, Soulful Jazz. And though the CD is marked Old-Skool "Hi-fi" it actually includes elements of lo-fi; that is, scratchy 78's, monouralistic radio broadcasts, etc. I would be amazed by the production value alone of this CD, or the quality of the songs in the creative way she brilliantly ties together these different sounds in entire songs. But I have to admit - I wasn't expecting her to sound so damn good. What a voice. What a singer! I guess what I'm listening to is considered, "Pop" and if so, color me impressed.

14 comments

Comments:

whester at 2008-02-29 04:22 (UTC) (Link)

I personaly Have been put off by Christina Aguilera in the past. Many artist lately have lost the real feel of music I havn't been abl eto to feel the emotion that many great artist have been able to convey in the past. Shakira I do like but only for high enegry and a great mixture of world music. I will look into Back to Basics maybe she has done something great.

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ehowton at 2008-02-29 06:46 (UTC) (Link)

I've never heard anything she's ever done that I'm aware of. I agree about the real feel of music though - And I'd assumed Top 40 had absorbed it all. This album (well, Disc 2 as

uniqueblo pointed out) has elements of music which once was.

And she really does have an incredible voice.

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codekitten at 2008-02-29 20:01 (UTC) (Link)

i find it amusing that you don't know anything she's done. she was EVERYWHERE for 5 years or so.

i've never listened to/bought anything before this album either...but this one is really fantastic.

i will say i went back to listen to other albums and this one is the one where she hit her stride. don't think you would love her previous stuff. fyi.

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ehowton at 2008-03-01 04:40 (UTC) (Link)

I gotta be honest - I'd heard the name. At first she was a dark-haired emo turned tramp turned shor-haired flapper? Everytime I was aware of having seen her, she looked like someone different than I'd seen previously. I stay pretty confused about these things.

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ehowton at 2008-03-05 16:24 (UTC) (Link)

...this one is the one where she hit her stride.
I like the orchestrations in this album.

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codekitten at 2008-03-06 19:59 (UTC) (Link)

yep, she tackled a whole lot on this album.

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photogoot at 2008-02-29 04:32 (UTC) (Link)

High-Def concerts are the best! There is something about the excellent sound quality laid over the rich textures offered by a 1080 high def image that is wondrous to me. Everything old is new again in high def.

Shakira is a splendid example of feminine curvy-ness... She makes me feel swirly inside. Kinda like drinking two Monsters within 30 minutes.

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ehowton at 2008-02-29 06:52 (UTC) (Link)

Yes sir, you, in particular would benefit from actually purchasing the DVD concert. I've seen what you like to watch, and while I agree that watching the sweat roll down some middle-aged man's face as he stands under stadium lighting whilst yearning once more for the glory he had on the stage in his youth is fascinating, I'm not completely oblivious to a little eye candy. All things being equal, I don't watch concerts for the arousing content. What I saw was a nice combination of both.

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uniqueblog at 2008-02-29 06:19 (UTC) (Link)

The second CD is amazing; the first is passable.

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ehowton at 2008-02-29 06:47 (UTC) (Link)

You are absolutely right - all those elements are found solely on that second disc. What's up with that anyway? It was an expensive purchase, that's for sure.

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galinda822 at 2008-02-29 21:50 (UTC) (Link)

I've always thought she had a fantastic voice. She came up at the same time as "Britney Spears" and in my opinion has always been the better singer.

Candyman is probably my favorite video. I love it!

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ehowton at 2008-02-29 22:08 (UTC) (Link)

That's another singer I've never heard. The only think I've heard about her is that she's a psychotic crack-whore.

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galinda822 at 2008-02-29 23:37 (UTC) (Link)

She sucks - always has, always will.

They're now saying she's schizophernic!
I think she really just a crack-whore. :)

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ehowton at 2008-03-01 04:38 (UTC) (Link)

In order of having seen women who've shaved themselves bald: