It's Smooth!

THE CRITICS HATED the Carpenters, saying that Karen's voice was invariably bland and that Richard's arrangements were almost always MOR. But then, they've never forgiven Bob James for creating 'Smooth' jazz either. The Carpenters and Bob James have similar characteristics: both musical acts are highly professional, polished, and extremely popular. And, natch, they're both smooth on the ear.

That of course is the point. We don't always look for something demanding or challenging or adrenalin-boosting; sometimes we want to just go to a party and unwind, smooch a little, cuddle a little, and maybe enjoy a slow dance or two. And that, exactly, is why we bought the Carpenters Singles album by the millions.







Listen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfixkzWT6qw

Remixing the art

Remixing the art, as opposed to the art of remixing... Originally, vinyl singles had an A side & a B side, the B side being a different song usually written & recorded specifically for the single. Frequently these B sides were very good-- sometimes becoming bigger hits than the A sides. The Beatles' Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single is just one example. Then came CD singles & our first experience of remixes rather than different tracks. Frequently these remixes were no good & we thought, 'What the heck? We're being cheated here!' But we didn't realise for a while that remixes have little to do with the original song. The remixes were often there to provide a better drug experience (think House, Rave, etc). Then the remix became the single itself to revive interest in the original single & album it was culled from (think commerce here). Nowadays of course the single is moribund, replaced by the video of the song. The record companies haven't realised this yet & so they are complaining about 'music piracy'. I think if they started selling albums in video single form, they would probably start making money again.

posted from Bloggeroid