What is the sound of now?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

In yesterday's conversation about Pizzicato Five and pop, Cis drew a kind of distinction between pop which obeys current sonic rules and pop which refuses to (apols if my precis loses a lot of subtlety).

This interested me and got me thinking what the current rules of pop might be - not just in terms of sound, but attitude, look, emotional content, trends, etc.

What characterises late 00s pop? What is happening now which wouldn't or couldn't have happened before? What will allow a kid in ten years time to identify music from now? (in the way that a music fan who had never heard records or seen pictures of Suzi Quatro, or A Flock Of Seagulls, or Ned's Atomic Dustbin might be able to put them in place and time)

Comments

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

one thing i like is that out of the post-bootlegs thing there are more cases/it is more acceptable for pop stars to not so much sample a song but use it's key characteristics be they the chord sequences, bassline or simple guitar hook as the backbone for a whole new song e.g. Jamelia's 'Beware Of The Dog', Sugababes 'Whatever Makes You Happy', Rihanna's 'Shut Up And Drive'. i think it's become more blatant thus more acceptable thus more blatant thus...

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

Hello Mutya

was george michael singing over the top of flawless, mere weeks after flawless peaked (quite low?), part of this, or was that a weird one off thing?

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

(They were three years apart, dude - The Ones peaked at 7, George at 8)

No worse than Hucknall ripping off The Goodmen in the space of 8 months for 'Fairground'.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

(ok everyhit is working again - it was two years between Give It Up & Fairground, apols)

[(Anonymous)]

'Fairground' is a good example of it happening years ago yeah - altho the 'Give It Up' sample is really just a drum loop the Goodmen surely sampled from something else anyway.

[katstevens.livejournal.com]

Indeed, it was sampled from 'Fanfarra' by Sergio Mendez. That didn't chart though.

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

ooh that was me btw

i want to hear 'Fanfarra' now

[carsmilesteve.livejournal.com]

i'd settle for hearing the goodmen, i think i may still have the 12"...

[chezghost.livejournal.com]

'mere weeks after flawless peaked'

weren't they several years apart? perhaps The Ones one was re-released because they knew whaty GM was up to.

i think it counts anyway yes. Michael used samples before (Shoot The Dog, Fastlove) but this went beyond that as forming the actual basis of his track.

[jauntyalan.livejournal.com]

jebus but my memory is shit :-(

[blue-russian.livejournal.com]

do you think that's the actually result of bootlegs or of P.Diddy's wholesale recycling/theft of Kashmir and Every Breath You Take?

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

I doubt it's entirely a result of those - they were commercially successful but much maligned for doing that kind of thing - something changed sensibilities in the meantime and I don't think it was Diddy.